We’d forgive you for having forgotten about C-motech’s Mangrove UMPC; after all, the market for a 7-inch touchscreen tablet running Windows Mobile 6.5 is hardly vast. Still, we were interested to see the unit at Qualcomm’s event today, though its tubby form-factor was a whole lot less impressive when sat next to the Quanta Android Smartbook.
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Sony Ericsson have confirmed that there will be no update to Windows Mobile 6.5 offered to owners of the XPERIA X1 smartphone, at least not officially through the company. The news follows speculation about Sony Ericsson's intent, after at least one developer got hold of a ROM that seemingly indicated an official update was planned.
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Back in July, Microsoft pleased a whole lot of legacy Windows Phone device users by promising that Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 handsets would eventually have access to the new Marketplace for Mobile, the company's on-device download store. The arrival of Windows Mobile 6.5 has come and gone - complete with the Marketplace - and now Microsoft have green-flagged the app store for 6.0 and 6.1 handsets.
Ah, the HTC HD2. We liked it, Michael Gartenberg liked it – it’s love all round for this 4.3-inch hybrid smartphone/MID crossover device. While we’re sure you were happy enough to hear us tell you how great it is, our UK readers (and well-heeled, impulsive US people) can now try it out for themselves as Vodafone have begun selling the HD2. Best news? It’s available free on contract.
Last week, the buzz was clearly on the DROID (see my first take here) but there was another device that was also getting a lot of attention, albeit somewhat more restrained as few folks had one to work with. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column that emphasized people shouldn’t dismiss Windows Mobile. Over the last week I’ve been using the phone with the quiet buzz that proves that assertion. Sadly, it’s the best Windows Mobile phone that you can’t buy in the US yet. What device am I talking about? None other than the HTC HD2.
The HD2 is marked by two features not usually found on most Windows Mobile phones. The first is a capacitive touch screen. This is the first Windows Mobile device that has no stylus and is totally designed for input by touch alone. The second is a 1GHz Snapdragon processor that makes Windows Mobile and especially the HTC Sense UI fly. Finally, add in a gorgeous 4.3″ screen and you realize this is not your father’s Windows Mobile device.
Twelve months ago HTC shook up the Windows Mobile world with the launch of the Touch HD, a smartphone that offered a vast touchscreen, lashings of connectivity and the latest version of their UI tweaking, TouchFLO 3D, to produce what was hitherto thought impossible: an alluring Windows Phone. Now, the company have attempted just such a revolution with Windows Mobile 6.5 in the shape of the HTC HD2. They’ve upped their game with a speedy Snapdragon processor, even vaster display and a fresh UI that’s been educated by their recent work on Android. Can the HTC HD2 again do the unthinkable, and give us a reason to love Windows Mobile?
No great surprise here – after all, HTC CEO Peter Chou already exclusively confirmed it to us back in October – but HTC have officially announced that the HTC HD2 Windows Phone will be headed to the US in early 2010. According to a new press release today, the HD2 “will be available with a major carrier in the US in early 2010″; previous leaks have suggested T-Mobile will be the lucky network to offer the smartphone.
It’s fair to say that the last time we saw excitement to this degree about a Windows Phone it centered on the HTC Touch HD, and so it seems only right that it’s the company’s successor to that handset, the HTC HD2, that is prompting such interest in 2009. Announced last month after copious rumors, what makes the HD2 special is its 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen, HTC Sense UI and 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. It’s taken a while, but the HTC HD2 has finally dropped onto the SlashGear test bench, so check out our first impressions and an unboxing video after the cut.
Updated with first-boot video demo after the cut
T-Mobile UK have announced that they’re preparing to offer the HTC Touch2 and HTC HD2, though it seems that someone in their web team hasn’t been keeping up with the rumor-mill. Both Windows Phones are listed as coming in November, but the HD2 is illustrated with an image of the Touch HD and said to come with a 3.8-inch display and access to the Android Market.
Has Peter Chou just crushed our HTC Dragon dreams? In an interview with Forbes, the HTC CEO has stated that there will be no Android-based HD2: “technically, we could make the HD2 an Android phone,” Chou explained, “but I have to take care of Windows Mobile.” It’s all part of rejuvenating interest in Windows Phones, Chou reckons: “We’re working hard on these kinds of products to get excitement about Windows Mobile back.”
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SlashGear Japan
