TamsPPC – the PocketPC Blog

A big thank-you goes to Hutchison Austria for doing what HTC could not: they provided us with a loaner of their version HTC Touch 3G at their own expense!
HTC’s Touch 3G is considered the spiritual successor to the original Touch – which is an iconic Windows Mobile product which has imho shaped the mobile market in a fashion similar to Compaq’s first iPaq. But how big is the 3G?

Our first size comparison candidate is the Palm Treo 680:

The device can in fact be considered similar to the extremely small hp ipaq rx4240:

Nokia’s N96 is a bit smaller, but a lot thicker:

The E75 is larger, but thinner:

Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 is a bit bigger:

Apple’s first-generation iPod touch is a completely different cattle of fish:

RIM’s BlackBerries tend to have similar sizes:

Finally, a comparison shot against another classic handset:

In the end, I have to openly admit that I am in love with the form factor of the Touch 3G. It fits snugly into the user’s hands and is a total pleasure to use; and furthermore appears much smaller than it is.

Can build quality stack up? Tune in soon for further info…

Use the discount code CHEAPSPBTV to get 20% off the program’s retail price in the TamsShop!

3G connections, faster CPUs and falling data have opened doors for various applications which used to be impossible in the past. Mobile TV is one of these areas: what once required clumsy reception gadgetry, is now offered for free by many carriers.

Unfortunately, carrier TV solutions are usually limited to a few “broad appeal” channels, and omit high-quality news and finance channels. SPB TV wants to fill the void – but can it stack up?

The home screen of the program contains a scrollable list of channels along with a preview of the currently-running program:

Some programs stream a TV program, which is displayed by SPB TV:

Reminders can be created easily – and are actually written into your device’s calendar discreetly:

Channels stream in very high quality, but can neither be recorded nor be kept playing while in the background. In fact, even screenshots turn out all black:

SPB TV allows you to hide channels which you do not want:

As already said before, SPB TV offers many channels which are not offered by any carrier solution. I am currently pursuing a list of channels, and will post it here as soon as I can get it from the company.

This review looked at version 1.0.0 b461 of SPB TV on an XPERIA X1 running its stock distribution of Windows Mobile 6.1. Three-G coverage was provided by Hutchison Austria. BTW: SPB TV needs 4850KB of RAM and can be installed onto an external memory card.

People who are happy with the channels offered by their carrier won’t need SPB TV. Everybody else should rush and pay the 15 dollars – the money is well invested if you need one of the TV channels on the go (think N-TV or BloomBerg) and are on an unlimited data plan…

A big thank-you goes to Hutchison Austria for providing us with a loaner of their version HTC Touch 3G!

HTC’s Touch 3G can be considered the successor to the original (and insanely successful) HTC Touch: while devices like the Touch Diamond used the Touch brand, they had very little in common with the original model. But can the 3G stack up?

Hutchison has traditionally been very discreet when it came to branding their high-end smartphones. This rule has also been observed with the very small box of the Touch 3G – it is free of any visible branding:

Opening the box unveils a single crate containing all the stuff:

The device itself comes packed up in a small plastic bag, and can not be accessed from the top:

Charging is accomplished via a wallwart, which has a standard USB port. The data cable then is plugged into the wallwart:

Some versions seem to ship with a headset:

Finally, a few shots of the accompanying paperwork:

In the end, there is nothing to dislike about the Touch 3G’s packaging (except maybe for the lack of wallwarts – but what do you expect for this amount of $$$).

Stay tuned for further info – this review continues soon!

If your Windows Mobile-phone is web-enabled, then this program is a must-have. Depending on your mobile-phone carrier and contract, browsing can be very expensive – all the more if you have no idea, how many data has been transferred.
An example: with my phone carrier, 1 MB costs 0,24€. Now if you’re a Youtube enthusiast and watch ~10 videos (one around 10 MB) in a week, you would have to pay 24€ only for internet!
Spb Wireless Monitor helps to keep your expenses low by counting the internet traffic and notifying when you reached a previous set limit. Let’s take a closer look:

After starting up the program, you will see this screen with the most important functions. Open up the first function and you will see statistics about the internet usage. The program differentiates between the different types of internet connections: USB, WiFi, the data plan of your mobile carrier or other connections available. After choosing the type of connection, Spb Wireless Monitor displays which program used how much web traffic over this particular connection. These statistics can be displayed as a detailed list or as a diagram – a very clear way to present them.

In addition, you can limit the time range of the data which should be displayed, for example the program can display only the transferred data volume of the last month. This is very useful, if you’ve a one-month volume flat. If you’ve previously entered the rate, Spb Wireless Monitor even shows how much you had to pay for your web trip.
Another nice feature are the notifications. The user can create as many notifications as he wishes. Spb Wireless Monitor can notify the user, if a determined volume or a determined cost-limit was reached. An example for a possible notification:

Notify me, if the daily volume exceeds 20 MB over the connection 3G Internet

If this notification is active, the program displays a pop up message, if you used your mobile 3G internet connection and downloaded 20 MB of data, or watched some videos on Youtube which were 20 MB big in total, or if you just browsed web pages…

For those who like to have an overview over their expenses on the desktop computer, the export function might be a handy feature. The user can chose the connection, and the time range of the data which should be exported, then with a tap on the ‘Export’-button, the chosen data will be saved to a file. Supported output file formats are HTML and comma seperated values (CSV).

The last option in the main menu calls up the configuration dialog of the Spb Wireless Monitor today screen plugin. By default, data of all available connections are shown on the today screen. In this configuration dialog, the different connections can be hidden or shown.

Conclusion

If you use your phone for mobile surfing, you should use this program – only then you have a clean and precise overview over your expenses and which program caused them.

Proporta’s screen protectors have become a staple food of the mobile industry over the last years, protecting thousands of screens (including the one of my trusty Treo 680). The recent rebranding also hit the screen protectors…are they still cool?

Large white envelopes have signaled the arrival of Proporta-branded goods in the past (shipping via UK)…these can be delivered to letter boxes and generally work well.

The blister saw a minor redesign, putting the installation instructions on the flip side instead of onto an extra piece of paper:

Its contents are the same as always – but they were completely rebadged with sentences stating their purpose in a tongue-in-cheek fashion:

Applying the screen protector is as easy or difficult as ever. Fortunately, the foils can be removed a few times…which makes putting them in place easier.

Writing on the screen has a paper-like touch…

In the end, the Advanced Screen Protector remain at their high level they had over the last 5 years – they are sturdy and minimize reflections. Unfortunately for them, screen technology and screen protectors have evolved in this time. The X1’s pixel pitch is so small that the display is very close to your eyes…and this is where the slight grain gets annoying (especially with small fonts).

Most PocketPC’s will work perfectly well with Proporta’s current screen protectors. People who want to get the absolute most of their XPERIAs screen must make a judgment call between protection and low reflectivity(which can be had here) and low grain(which must be sought elsewhere)….

Opera Mobile 9.7 is considered a magic box by many: features like 3D-accelerated scrolling, a powerful proxy in the backend and a variety of other options should theoretically give all other devices a run for their money. But can it really stack up?

Installing the program takes a few minutes – in case you already had Opera on your box, you will then find a total of two icons:

The new browser has a different start-up animation:

And furthermore has a different theme:

A zoom slider is finally available for comfortable zooming: the dreaded grey checkerboard now pops up a lot less:

Unfortunately, the rendering engine still has some eekers which were not present in 9.5 – the image below shows our sister site TamsPalm:

Surprisingly, Opera Mobile 9.5 gets it done without any eekers:

The status bar at the bottom is now a lot wider, which wastes screen real estate:

Closing tabs can no longer be done via a button at the top – it now requires two clicks:

Opera Mobile 9.7 furthermore does away with the highly annoying XML errors (ridiculed here) – which means that web sites like The Daily WTF can now be accessed easily…

In the end, the browser feels a lot faster than its predecessor…but can not stack up fully due to its horrible handling and rendering engine eekers. If Opera manages to get the rendering back in line, this could well be their next bestseller…

P.S. Stay tuned – SunSpider benchmark test reports follow shortly…

Use the discount code CHEAPERAIKO to get 20% off SecuWipe in the TamsShop!

The advent of Flash-based handhelds and smartphones brought us freedom from data loss…but came at a very high price: deleted data can easily be recovered from a flash chip. Aiko Solutions SecuWipe is the first file shredder for Windows Mobile…but can it stack up?

SecuWipe has a well-done home screen where actions can be triggered. Unfortunately, some dialogs take up to 20 seconds to open:

Wiping always follows the same scheme. You first select one or more victims:

Afterwards, the security level is specified:

Finally, the wiping process starts:

A very detailed help file explains program operation and available overwriting methods:

This review looked at version 1.0.0 of SecuWipe on an XPERIA X1 running its stock version of Windows Mobile 6.1. SecuWipe needs 636KB of memory and can be installed onto an external memory card. Program stability was ok except for some display eekers due to the 800×480 screen:

In the end, the high price of about 32$ after a TamsShop rebate of 20 percent makes this product too expensive for the average user. Security-conscious users will be happy though.

P.S. Don’t think about using the trial to wipe free space on a handheld before selling it – the trial version does not support this feature…

HTC’s CEO was extremely untalkative when it came to carrier partners and network configurations for the upcoming Touch Pro 2 – which is understandable, as the Touch Pro still has a few US markets to satisfy.

Nevertheless, the folks at the Boy Genius Report have uncovered very interesting screenshots from the inventory system of a Canadian carrier – the most interesting quote is below:

…
While nothing is confirmed, we have to think we’re looking at EV-DO Rev. A for both handsets along with dual-band GSM as the World Edition moniker implies
…

As of now, no further information is available – stay tuned!

Compaq led the screen technology front: its color devices always had very good screens, the 3600 saw the debut of so-called reflective displays which worked well indoors and outdoors. Unfortunately, the company stopped innovating after the hx4700 flopped…which is why the Data Messenger is one of the very few PocketPC devices which still have a QVGA screen. But can it stack up?

Our first competitor is Palm’s Treo 680. The iPaq manages to take the lead with a comfortable margin:

HP’s baby iPaq was one of the very few recent devices from HP which had an excellent screen – it ties with the Data Messenger:

Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 has a screen with an insane resolution…and manages to get out in front of the Data Messenger when it comes to color saturation:

Nokia’s N96 is next. As Nokia seems to use a different color temperature, comparing its screen against non-Nokia devices is somewhat difficult:

Finally, a little shootout against the Voice Messenger. The data messenger comes out in front:

Cutting a long story short: I feel that TFT development has now reached a point where large screen quality differences like the one seen in the Treo 680 review are history. All devices in this test have an excellent screen; the minimal differences seen in screen chromatographies are irrelevant for everyday users…

HP can be credited with bringing keyboards to the PocketPC: many (if not most) of their smartphone devices either had integrated keyboards or could be expanded with clip-on ones. The Data Messenger marks HP’s entry into slide-out keyboard devices…but can it stack up?

The device’s front is dominated by the large touchscreen and a variety of buttons: while the calling buttons are physical, all others are “capacitive” and don’t handle particularly well. The five-way is optical except for the center button…and isn’t too responsive either:

Sliding the device open reveals the keyboard, which is decently lit. Unfortunately, the layout is horrible – no Start button, keys in weird places, etc:

The speaker is at the back of the box:

SIM card, MicroSD slot and battery (1140mAH) can be accessed by removing the back cover:

Typing on the Data Messenger is extremely uncomfortable. Keys can not be distinguished haptically, have poor pressure points, are flat and way to close to one another. I found myself frequently hitting wrong buttons even after a nice bit of practice…even though the XPERIA X1’s keyboard is far from perfect, it is significantly better:

The top of the box contains a Treoesque silencer switch:

The stylus silo is at the bottom of the device:

I haven’t seen a good stylus for quite some time – the Data Messenger’s double-telescopic one is not too good either (next to the toothpick found on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1):

Camera button, MicroUSB port and 2.5” headphone jack are on the right side of the device. Don’t ask me what HP’s designers were drinking when thez decided to put the headphone jack under a flap lid though:

HP has shown an annoying tendency to play around with the keyboards of their handsets – while many of their concepts turn out to be revolutionary, HP’s incarnation usually suffers from usability problems. This time, however, HPs decision is nothing short of bone-headed…the Data Messenger’s keyboard is among the worst on the market. As such a box gets bought for data input, the horrible keyboard eliminates the device’s reason-d-etre…

Tune in soon for a look at the device’s display, camera and software package!

HP’s iPaq Data Messenger is a device with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard…this traditionally leads to largish devices. Is the Data Messenger fat? Read on to find out!

Our first contender is Palm’s rather fat Treo 680. The iPaq is about as large:

Nokia’s N96 is a slider device too, but is smaller:

Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 can be considered a marvel of technology due to its slimness – it beats the Data Messenger by a margin:

The XPressMusic 5800 is very long, but also very slim:

Compared to Compaqs famous ipaq 37xx-series, the Data Messenger looks small:

HP’s baby iPaq is smaller though:

..as is Apple’s 1G iPod touch:

Finally, a few shots next to its closest sibling (the HP Voice Messenger):

Cutting a long story short: the Data Messenger is definitely not a small device. However, it also isn’t excessively large…people currently using a device like HTCs classic slide-out devices should have no issues with its size…

Landscape-QWERTY devices were initially one of HPs biggest sellers: the Jornada 720 still sees quite some use today. Unfortunately, Microsoft abandoned the handheld PC platform…which led to HP giving up on the form factor. Fortunately, HTC released a few very successful PocketPCs with slide-out keyboard…which has motivated HP to release the Data Messenger.

Long-term HP customers will note that the boxen have been redesigned yet again – they now come in a blue, more “peaceful” color scheme:

Opening the box unveils a paper stating “Welcome”:

Unfortunately, removing this paper and the flip lid below still doesn’t allow you to grab your device: it is covered in a PVC bag:

The rest of the box consists of a MicroUSB cable, wall-wart (now with separate cable) and headset:

HP furthermore stuffed loads of printed paper into the box:

In the end, HP’s latest-generation box definitely isn’t state of the art anymore when it comes to unboxing. But: all necessary things are on board (except for a memory card) – if this is the device’s only problem, it could become a top seller.

But can it? Tune in soon to figure out more…

Apples touchscreen devices managed to raise a huge ruckus due to their excellent YouTube integration. This was hardly surprising, as the mobile video application was preinstalled onto each and every device and was furthermore optimized to the devices hardware. Windows Mobile just got a native client – can in stack up?

After starting up for the first time, the product displays a disclaimer and a terms-of-use agreement. As of this writing, very few countries are covered:

YouTube Mobile’s home screen is pictured below – searching videos can be done via the text field. Unfortunately, the generation of the home screen can take up to 20 seconds, thereby defeating the idea of the mobile client in the first place:

The display of search results could literally be taken from a book of bad GUI design:

Finally, a look at video playback. The controls are hidden most of the time, and pop up only when the screen is touched:

Just in case anybody of you is asking himself about settings or options: there are none. Deleting search history and/or “private data” must be done from the Help menu:

This review looked at version 2.0.2 of YouTube Mobile on a Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 running its stock distribution of Windows Mobile 6.1. The program needs 1506KB of memory and can be installed onto an external memory card.

In the end, YouTube for Windows Mobile excels in nothing but eating up memory: the 1500KB can definitely be used more efficiently. The program is slower than the dedicated web site, and doesn’t offer significantly better video qualiţy. Fail!

Windows Mobile phones have evolved out of the PocketPC/Windows CE platform – a platform notable for its contact management power and multimedia handhelds. Phone support was an afterthought added in 2002…and even though the UI has improved a lot since then, it still lacks at least some of the polish inherent in other platforms. Resco’s Contact Manager wants to fix this – but can it stack up?

RCM consists of multiple modules which are integrated into a folder of the programs folder:

The program furthermore attaches itself to the ’start call’ key of your handset. While the screen may look a bit overwhelming at first glance, it is extremely useful – you can enter both numbers and contacts easily (in a T9esque fashion):

BTW: the little SMS icon allows you to SMS a contact directly…

RCM displays detailed statistics for each contact – you can easily find out whom you called when and how long you talked:

Resco Contact Manager furthermore acts as a threaded SMS viewer:

The real strength of RCM is its ability to handle contacts with associated photos. Once a photo is associated with a contact, the product displays it whenever the contact is referenced:

Unfortunately, the folks at Resco’s could not resist the urge to create a today plugin. It uses an obscene amount of space and IMHO offers little value, as it can not be configured:

This review looked at version 1.10 of Resco Contact Manager on a Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. RCM needs 1917KB of memory and can be installed onto an external memory card.

In the end, Resco Contact Manager can likely save you quite a few clicks. If the boys at Resco’s would add a graphical contact chooser like the one found in UltimatePhone for Palm OS and add a few small tweaks(like displaying the currently active network), RCM would be a total must have. As it stands now, the price of 25$ is too steep…but keeping an eye on it is a great idea…

Use the discount code RSS4CHEAP to get 20% off the product’s list price (20$) in the TamsShop!
While RSS is almost universally loathed by blog operators (RSS readers dont display sponsor ads,…), users can save a lot of time with them when it comes to reading multiple blogs at once. This has always been an application for handhelds (anyone remember Plucker?) – but lets see which of the RSS readers for Windows Mobile is best?

Our first contender is SPB’s Insight. The product displays a settings wizard while being installed, and contains a today plug-in:

Channels can be added to Insight easily. SPB has chosen to store the list of feeds online: while this requires you to download a catalog every time you wish to use the built-in list, it also makes sure that all channels advertised actually exist:

Once your channels are in the list, updating them is easy:

Feeds can even be displayed while being updated – SPB apparently dislikes waiting as much as I do:

The rendering quality of the product is good (read: Pocket IE). To cut a long story short: all my test feeds rendered well, embedded images were displayed.

This review looked at version of SPB Insight on an XPERIA X1. The product needs 2276KB of memory and can be installed onto an external memory card.

In the end, SPB Insight is a good reader with a lethal flaw: it does not allow you to bookmark articles for later processing. If you can live with this omission, take the trial of this program for a spin. If not, stay tuned for the next program!