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Tuesday
16Feb2010

HTC's offering: Legend. Desire. HD mini.

DateTuesday, February 16, 2010 at 11:30PM

I felt right at home, at MWC, after having sat through HTC's press conference this morning.

Why? Because their announcement actually felt like one that would typically be made at such an event. Every press event that I've been to so far has either been underwhelming or has brought absolutely no surprise.

Anyway, what's most important here are the products announced…

First up is the Legend, a Hero upgrade (in short) that gets a brand-spanking new aluminium-based unibody design, just like that of Apple's MacBook Pro line. Its display and electronics are huddled inside the empty space between the enclosing panels, offering a perfect fit for everything plus the removable battery. 

Two rubber-like panels are also used: one encasing the radio antennas and integrated loudspeaker; and the other acts as the battery cover. Even the on-board navigational device has been upgraded to an optical trackpad, where it was previously a mini-trackball on the Hero.

And then, there was the Desire, the ultimate Android device that Google would never have gotten their hands on. It takes on a somewhat-similar design to that of the Nexus One, but betters it through several different provisions: an optical trackpad; hard buttons over touch-based ones (situated below the display); and - most importantly - the HTC Sense integration (it's an updated version too, if I may add!)

Finally, the HD mini is a Windows Mobile 6.5.3 device offered as a shrunken-down version of the current HD2 model (you know, the one with the whopping 4.3-inch display - remember?) It will offer many of the key features found on its larger cousin, including: a capacitive-type touchscreen; Wi-Fi router capability; and the HTC Sense user experience. 

HTC's CEO, Peter Chou, also (very eagerly) speculated his company will become one of the top three smartphone makers in the world by the year 2013.  Given their recent performance, I am confident that this target is indeed very much reachable.

Release of the Legend, Desire and HD mini is expected for sometime in April, initially in the European region.

AuthorKinny Cheng | Comments Off |
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Tuesday
16Feb2010

Samsung announces Wave, first phone to run ‘bada’ platform

DateTuesday, February 16, 2010 at 3:00AM

Is there really space for so many open mobile platforms?

Apparently, there is - according to Samsung's official release of the ‘bada’ platform on the new Wave smartphone, also known as the S8500.  Hardware-wise, it's their first full-touch device to host a Super AMOLED display (3.3"), which is always a pleasure to view and to use, along with Bluetooth 3.0 and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

But, most importantly, the on-board 1GHz processor makes moving around the menus a breeze.

On other fronts, it features the typical TouchWIZ UI, but has been upgraded to 3.0 to offer greater functionality in areas that seem to matter most these days (concentrates on enhancing media playback and social networking capabilities).  The Wave also has multi-codec support for video (DivX, Xvid, MP4, WMV), support for virtual 5.1 surround sound, and is capable of playing back (and even recording) 720p videos too.

The Wave is due to be released in the coming months.

AuthorKinny Cheng | Comments Off |
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Tuesday
16Feb2010

Microsoft finally announces “Windows Phone 7 Series”

DateTuesday, February 16, 2010 at 1:15AM

Barcelona, Monday afternoon: Microsoft finally announces their next major release of Windows for mobile phones (I'm not calling it “Windows Mobile” because that's no longer what it will be called).

The Windows Phone 7 Series, which WM7 will be officially branded from hereon, attempts to start with a clean slate by providing users with a completely new user experience (UX) through its brand new interface design.

Some of the highlights of the new OS include:

  • A clean interface built simply by “live tiles”, laid out - and fully customisable - on a scrollable panel;
  • Unique use of typography (Arial Narrow?) used for headings, titles, and standard text throughout the platform;
  • “Hubs” that offer different user experiences for the many functions and services that are available to users out-of-the-box;
  • Improved social networking, media, and gaming capabilities out-of-the-box (Zune-like media treatment, XBOX Live gaming);
  • Designed for devices with capacitive-based touch displays; and
  • OEM-based customisations (like HTC TouchFLO) will no longer be possible.

I had a short stint with one of their prototypes - and my verdict: the product isn't ready.

It's all very fancy (the unique use of typography, the different types of transitions to simulate pace), and the stuff works as advertised. But the speed and reliability at which the items present themselves isn't something that I'd want to have to utilise on a daily basis.

Don't get me wrong. The Windows Phone 7 Series platform is a definite evolution from previous WM-based releases. But the radical change to a brand-new look-and-feel, setting brand-new expectations for both user and hardware manufacturer, is not going to be a simple feat.

Those Windows Mobile users hoping for something positively major may have gotten their wish today.

Yet, I believe this feeling will only be short-lived, up until the point when realisation finally hits about just how much Microsoft wants to maintain the control and uniformity of its latest OS/UI/UX development. The seemingly lack of customisation available to such devices won't go down well amongst its users, especially those who are currently “comfortable” with their WM device usage experience.

(And even with the list of device partners announced, I am curious as to just how well some - namely, HTC, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, who have already placed huge resources into the creation and customisation of the user experience - will take this. ‘Not entirely positive’, I would think.)

One day, this will come back and bite them hard - mark my words.

AuthorKinny Cheng | Comments Off |
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Monday
15Feb2010

No handset announcements from Nokia today…

DateMonday, February 15, 2010 at 10:10PM

 

I'm still at Nokia's MWC Press Conference right now, and some of us have just received our virtual press packs (in the form of a USB card).

For those rumour mills speculating the many different “series” of handsets coming from Nokia, you can lay those thoughts to rest for another time.

There won't be any handsets announced today, not according to the press releases provided to us.  Plus, all the talk on-stage right now is relating to the success of the company's services, namely Ovi Maps and the Ovi Store.

This is more a press conference for analysts, but not for handset journos like us…

AuthorKinny Cheng | Comments Off |
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Monday
15Feb2010

What are we going to do about you, Sony Ericsson?

DateMonday, February 15, 2010 at 7:30AM

I just got back from the Sony Ericsson press conference - and let me state for the record that I was far from impressed with what went down tonight…

Let's see - was it the part where they tried ever so vigorously to brainwash the audience into thinking how important it is for the user to smile when using their products? Or was it when they announced the so-called three (3) new products, all of which are based on existing designs that are still in the pipeline?

Or maybe it was when they showed how truly proud they were of the "Fab 5" - that is: the Vivaz; Vivaz pro; Xperia X10; Xperia X10 mini; and Xperia X10 mini pro, all being their products which are due for release to the global market in the first half of 2010.

By just reading that short list of handset models, you're probably already sighing in confusion and disbelief. I honestly didn't know how to respond when the slide for the X10 mini pro came up.

“What on earth is Sony Ericsson doing?”

All I can say is that, they seem to have their own ideas of working themselves out of the red.  To be fair, I do not believe that such a product strategy will absolutely fail. But its execution begs more questions then there are answers, with those not being restricted to just the aforementioned products, but also “the spot” in which Sony Ericsson is currently in.

In any case, feel free to check out the new products in detail at the following official product info pages:

And as with all press events, it was virtually impossible to get my hands on a device for a sufficient amount of time.  So therefore, watch this space for an update on a quick look at those devices.

AuthorKinny Cheng | Comments Off |
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