htc leo

PS3 jailbreak demoed using an HTC HD2

September 13, 2010 | By Surur

There seems to be a fashion at the moment for jailbreaking PS3’s using odd electronics, including TI-84 calculators and Palm Pre’s.

We thought we would let HTC HD2 owners know that they do not have to be left out of the party.

Raddicon has uploaded the instructions for using the HTC HD2 for the process, which includes loading a special Android partition.

The instructions are:

Extract the Android folder on the root of your SD card.
Run CLRCAD.exe and haret.exe in the Android folder on your HD2. Boot the build until at home screen, ensure screen remains on.
Plug in the HD2 USB cable in to the Playstation 3 whilst the Playstation is turned off from mains.
Turn Playstation 3 mains power on.
Press the Power button on the Playstation then the Eject button as soon as the Power has been turned on.
And that should be it
Copy the backup-manager to an USB-stick and connect it to the PS3
Install the backup-manager in the “game” menu

Full details and downloads can be found at xda-developers.com here.

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Windows Mobile Barnes and Noble eReader gets major update

September 4, 2010 | By Surur

Pocketnow reports that the Barnes and Noble eReader bundled with the HTC HD2 has received a major update which brings it up to best in class functionality.

The software has received some UI improvements, such as a grid view for books, and some major functionality improvements, such as being able to read books lent to you by other eReader users, such as users of the Nook, and also lend books to others, the ability to easily bookmark pages, easily look-up words in the dictionary, a search feature, night mode, and a few more features.

Hopefully we will see a similarly full-featured client for Windows Phone 7 in the near future.

Read about all the new features, with many screen shots, at Pocketnow here.

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HTC HD2 inductive charging mod v2–now with extended battery

August 26, 2010 | By Surur

Hwangytangy9 has taken the mod of using the Palm Pre inductive cradle to charge an HTC HD2 to the next level, attaching the circuitry to an HTC HD2 extended battery for even longer away from the plug.

Have any of our readers contemplated this hack? Let us know below.

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HTC HD2… Simply Timeless

August 15, 2010 | By WenWP

When released, the HTC HD2 was a device for the ages. This new technology had something no other phone had, and much to my surprise, that statement still stands true for the most part with today’s new hardware. I have been trying to replace my HD2 with a more modern and newly released device. Now you may ask why? Well apparently I might have listened to a bit too much music and now my HD2’s 3.5mm headphone jack does not work properly. Now back to the story. I looked at all the new devices from Android to Android (no new Windows Phone device coming out anytime soon, Only WP7). I looked at the Samsung Vibrant for T-mobile and figured out while its new, it still pretty much mimics the HD2 but does not bring along the dual LED flash or the non buggy software. I looked at the Desire, but it does not have T-mobile 3G and the hardware is pretty similar to the HD2 except for the small screen.

After all this, it hit me. The HD2 was not made to just replace the HD1. It must have been made as HTC’s final device for Windows Mobile 6.5, and they wanted something that will never get old. I mean the spec sheet is still pretty hard to beat even with more advanced technology out there, and it still looks very sleek and slim.

At the end of the day, if you want to stick with WM6.5, it seems HTC gave you all they got and put everything into the perfect final device. Now let’s hope they do the same for the HD3 (which I should be buying if it looks sick). My HD2 is still in my pocket, it cannot be replaced at the moment with any current hardware out there.

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Robot controlled by HTC HD2

August 9, 2010 | By Surur

Its not the most elegant control scheme, but here we have a video showing a Protos 3 Robot controlled by a HTC HD2.

Protos III is a universal robot used for experimenting with Wi-Fi,Computer vision, line following, navigation and through WIFI. The vision system uses the build in webcam of the netbook and then sends the X and Y axes of the detected object back an Arduino unit through USB cable. The robot then steers and navigate to the target.

The robot has been used in a SWARM test where a number of robots are controlled from the same notebook via WIFI. Protos III.

The robot is a project by Calex64 and is written up in detail on Letsmakerobots.com.

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NaviGame – new augmented reality MMORPG for the HTC HD2

August 4, 2010 | By Surur

quest_logo NaviGame is a new game MMORPG-type game which blends reality and the virtual world by using the many and varied sensors on the HTC HD2, including the GPS, , G-Sensor and compass.

At present the game consists mainly of planting virtual trees to gather resources, and having to travel physical distance to move from tree to tree (the board is about 100 KM big in real life).

The software uses Philippe Wechsler’s free Tigre OpenGL engine

3 quests already implemented include:

QUEST 1: I’ve planted 10 trees on map (positions are bellow), your goal is to find one of them and get some seeds from it (Player -> Interact -> Extract -> Get seed). Note: Extract feature works only if you’re very close to tree. Now look into your inventory, Tree Seed should appear there. You can get another one or two from that tree.

QUEST 2: If you already have your own Tree Seed, you can plant your own tree wherever you want (I recommend some place near your home, it will be easier to get wood from it in future). Now how can you plant the tree? Simply select it in your inventory and click Action -> Drop. Tree will be visible for you and for every other player after restart of the game. Yes, the in-game world will be very dynamic… You can also get next seeds from your tree

QUEST 3: Wait, until your tree grow (it takes a few hours). When you click „Extract“ on your tree, you can see how much of wood you can extract from it (Older tree = more wood). Now the real fun begins… Hold your phone like when you hold axe and make a move like with axe. Extracted value will raise and when you click OK, the extracted value will be added to your „Inventory“, just check it The tree you’ve extracted will be lost and you can plant another on that place.

Not the most thrilling missions yet of course, but its early days, and isn’t gold farming about 90% of WoW?

To get started read more at Shawn.cz here.

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Follow us on Twitter and win a T-Mobile HTC HD2! Only 900 followers to go!

August 4, 2010 | By Surur

The HTC HD2 is likely to be the pinnacle of Windows Mobile handsets, and to celebrate its release on T-Mobile USA we will be giving away one of these amazing devices to a lucky reader.

As regular readers know we are trying to give away the T-Mobile US version of the device while trying to increase our twitter follower numbers at the same time.

To win you need simply follow us on twitter – as soon as we hit 5,000 followers we will pick a winner for a T-Mobile HTC HD2, which has a no-commitment price of $450.

Unfortunately only US residents will be able to qualify for this give away, but if you are lucky enough to be in the USA, follow us on http://twitter.com/wmpoweruser.

Remember to re-tweet the contest – the sooner we get to 5,000, the sooner your HTC HD2 will be on its way

Edit: As we are very close to the launch of Windows Phone 7, the winner will have the choice of waiting for the first device to be released, and we will purchase it for the the no-commitment price if they so prefer.

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HTC HD2 gets (another) calendar hotfix

August 2, 2010 | By Surur

New HTC HD2 calendar hotfix now available

The HTC HD2 has just received another calendar hotfix (the last one was last year in December) which enables users to create annually recurring calendar appointments.

The hotfix, which is not applicable to the T-Mobile HTC HD2, should not damage your data, and can be downloaded here. A backup however is still always advised.

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Qi wireless charging standard finalized, XDA says maybe you don’t have to wait

July 26, 2010 | By Surur

The Wireless Power Consortium, consisting of heavyweights such as Duracell, Nokia and Phillips have finalized their Qi wireless charging standard for interoperability, meaning soon you will be able to charge any Qi-certified battery on any Qi-certified charger, bringing the wireless dream that much closer.

XDA Developers member Carnivore9 however could not wait for Qi-compatible batteries for his HTC HD2 to arrive, and inspired by an HTC Evo mod he ripped apart a Palm Pixi TouchStone back and forced wireless charging on his poor HTC HD2.

Fortunately his mod is non-destructive, but I think I will wait just a bit longer for the official accessory to arrive

Read more about his mod at XDA-Developers here.

Via Pocketnow.com and Engadget.com

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Dash Genie – a new type of car cradle reviewed

July 7, 2010 | By Surur

Dash Genie car cradle Dash Genie is a new type of car cradle that uses a special adhesive rather than brackets to adhere both the cradle and phone to your dashboard.

Available through MobileFun.co.uk for £14.99, Zepiii have given the cradle a good going over and published the above video showing the device holding the rather heavy HTC HD2 rather steadily over pretty rough terrain.

The adhesive does not damage the fascia and can be easily removed and moved from one car to another.

O2 HTC HD2 hotfix adds 900 Mhz HSDPA band

July 1, 2010 | By Surur

O2 HTC HD2, now with extra 900 Mhz UK primarily uses the 2100 Mhz HSDPA bands, but the lower frequency and more deeply penetrating 900 Mhz HSDPA band was recently introduced.

O2 started deploying the 900 Mhz band in 2006, and it seems they have now decided to enable the band on their flagship Windows Mobile handset, the O2 HTC HD2.

HTC has released a hotfix to enable the extra band, which should help improve performance inside buildings for owners of the device.

Download the hotfix, which should not damage your data (although a backup is always a good idea) from HTC here.

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ROM Review: HTC HD2 Energy ROM 23569 June 6th with CHT 1.8

June 27, 2010 | By Surur

The three home screens on Co0kie’s Home tab.

We are trailing a new segment on WMPU. Confusion about which ROM to use is a huge problem for most people thinking of flashing their device, and many users suffer with poorly performing stock ROMs due to paralysis of too much choice.

We have therefore decided to start publishing ROM reviews for specific builds of ROMs, and allowing users to rate these specific builds, which should help new users choose whether its worthwhile risking the flash.

The ROM includes multiple lock screens with widget support.

We are starting with NRG’s Energy ROM 23569 June 6th with CHT 1.8. This ROM is now about 3 weeks off NRG’s current release, but that has allowed us to get a good feel for the ROM, its features and particularly the stability of the ROM.

The ROM is a Windows Mobile 6.5.5 build, with the thin status bar and Start and OK key at the bottom. It runs Sense 2.5 and additionally features Co0kie’s Home Theme “Energy” style, which means the addition of 3 home screens with icons, the ability to add and move widgets around on the home and lock screen and a variety of other customizations which make the device a pleasure to use.

In general the ROM is incredibly speedy, particularly when flipping through HTC Sense pages, has proven to be incredibly stable, with a few freezes in the first day or two, and then absolutely none since.

The ROM lacks HTC Footprints, which is a real pity, as I actually use that digital postcard software a lot. It does however have a Recent Calls and HTC Documents tab in addition to the standard collection of tabs.

There is no HTC Footprints tab, but it does have recent calls and HTC Documents.

The ROM also comes with a huge collection of software, but NRG has made some choices to hide default apps like File Explorer in preference to Total Commander, which I disapprove of, as I find if I do not want to do anything complex File Explorer is easier to user. HTC Peep also does not seem to have an icon any more, and Messaging also had to be resurrected from the \Windows directory.

Battery life was about normal for a HTC HD2, in other words not great, but not atrocious either. The ROM comes with screen brightness set to maximum by default. Battery life can be saved by changing this to auto-adjust in settings.

Overall, while there were minor annoyances, the I can heartily recommend this build, mainly due to the stability in combination with great features.

The ROM can be downloaded here. Make sure to read the NRG HTC HD2 ROM thread for installation instructions.

If you do flash or have already flashed this ROM (the exact, specific build), let us know below what your experience is, including rating using the star scale in the comment box.

ROM Information

OS 5.2.23569 (23569.5.5.0)

Manilla 2.5.20121225.0 CFC

ROM 06.June.2010 WWE

Radio 2.07.50.27_2

Known bugs

Nil that we noticed.

Disclaimer

Users flash at their own risk. We are linking to the ROM, but did not upload it. Flashing a ROM may destroy your device and void your warranty. We are reviewing a specific build of a ROM, and the review may not apply to any other build of the ROM, even if by the same cook.

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Review of the Freedom Pro Bluetooth keyboard with the HTC HD2

June 24, 2010 | By Surur

Windows Mobile has supported Bluetooth keyboards for ages now, and Windows Mobile 5 introduced a standard Bluetooth HID profile, making it easier than ever to connect.

With Windows Mobile devices moving ever further from built-in keyboards the gadget has however become increasingly desirable. We have been given the opportunity to try the Freedom Pro Bluetooth keyboard with our HTC HD2, and are using this opportunity to report on our experience.

The Freedom Pro keyboard is powered by 2 AAA batteries (included) and also ships with a nice leather slipcase which appears rather sturdy. Unfortunately even when folded and stored in the case the combination is pretty large, certainly not trouser pocketable, but would fit in a large coat pocket or purse.

The keyboard, as can be seen from the picture above, is a full 5 row keyboard with clicky, responsive keys, and the keyboard appears to be about 90% size. Non-touch typers may however be annoyed by the split spacebar, which is really the only factor which gives away the split keyboard when lying on a flat surface. Another annoyance is the non-standard position of the delete key, which moves to the lower left rather than top right of the keyboard.

Included in a small hidden slot is a pretty nice stand, which will keep an HTC HD2 steady in both portrait and landscape mode, which given the HTC HD2’s aversion to landscape mode is a useful ability.

The keyboard has a more than generous collection of special function keys, such as to launch the web browser or e-mail. It even has keys to start and end a telephone call.

Unfortunately the problems start when this keyboard is paired with a HTC HD2. Due to using the Broadcom Bluetooth stack the drivers (which can be installed over the air directly to the device) do not work, meaning while the device pairs easily using the HID profile, most of the special keys do not do anything.

That is unfortunately not the end of the problems with the keyboard. The latch which keeps the keyboard stably unfolded is unfortunately itself not stable, and the whole device still flaps when unsupported.

The biggest issue however is with the HTC HD2 and Windows Mobile 6.5. The OS has been redesigned to primarily support touch, meaning in normal use, even with the keyboard, one ends up needing to constantly touch the screen to select menu its and so forth, an issue accentuated by the inability to install the drivers.

The keyboard paired easily with my laptop and PS3, and in fact now find main duty in the PS3 where its about 1000% better than using the controller to enter text in Playstation Home.

In the pro column, battery life is great (up to 60 hours of use), pairing is very easy to initiate, and the connection never dropped. The device however appears able to only maintain one pairing at a time, so users can forget easily sharing it between a number of devices without constantly having to re-pair.

Summary

They Freedom Pro Bluetooth keyboard is a good device, but its size, lack of great OS support and difficulty with drivers on modern HTC devices unfortunately does not make it suitable for regular use with the HTC HD2. A smaller keyboard that confines itself to only the actual supported keys (basically no function keys of any kind) would be a better buy.

Thank you to WirelessGround.com, who have a great selection of HTC HD2 accessories, for the opportunity to review this product.

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