I knew it was coming, nad here it si, Hack to get HTC Legend’s Sense UI on Nexus One.

Paul brien has come up with a solution to get it onto Nexus One. Apart from the UI, there’s more exciting goodies:

• 800 x 480 video recording, an upgrade from 720 x 480 ( I still have to differentiate practical benefits)
• Face recognition and touch focus for the camera
• Adobe Flash 10.1

He has claimed that some of the most of the stuff works:

- If you rebuild the boot image replacing the kernel it runs. I’m running my own custom kernel with himem and bits.
- The system.img doesn’t fit on the N1 (!), it’s nearly 200MB. I booted by moving some stuff off the system partition.
- The trackball works.
- The 4 bottom keys work.
- The proximity sensor works.
- The LED works.
- The light sensor works.
- The compass and G sensor work.
- The camera works fine and is great with face recognition and touch focus.
- The FM radio loads, but makes no sound / finds no stations it seems. Maybe we need Desire radio ROM?
- The build I have is watermarked – i’ve removed the obvious visual watermarks but no, you can’t have this release – when I get a watermark free drop, yes
- It’s FAST!
- WiFi, Bluetooth works
- 800×480 video recording, camera maxes out at 3MP (fixed in later builds)

- Mic not yet working – likely related to the voice cancellation feature (not tried to fix this yet)

More on this coming soon. Stay in touch @taranfx or via RSS.

You can add HTC Sense keyboard to your Nexus One. the process is not hard if you are used to it,  thanks to  XDA-Developers.

Instructions:

• Download Low resolution version (v4) or High resolution version (v3)
• Unzip and install the two .APKs (HTC_IME & Clicker) to SD card.
• Navigate to Menu, Settings, Language & Keyboard. Select Touch Input and enter Touch Input settings. You should be able to select quite a few languages.
• To change keyboard, long press on lower left key on stock keyboard

Tip: As far as installation goes,  Just search the Android Market for AppsInstaller, which is a free utility and install it. AppsInstaller scans your SD card and allows you to install any applications on the card. It takes 4-5 minutes and the new keyboard is worth it. The keyboard comes with a touch calibration utility, much more like the iPhone. Definitely it’s faster than the native Android keyboard. And there’s still a dedicated key for voice-to-text input, so it’s a win all around.

We write about Latest in tech, Android, iPhone, Tablets, Gadgets, Open Source, Programming. Grab them@taranfx on Twitter or below:

The HTC desire bring the Polished, shaped and smooth UI to Android, making it the best Android device ever built. Why is it best? Well, hardware is as good a Nexus One and the UI is far more intuitive.

HTC had long showcased their Sense UI with HTC Hero, since then they made a new niche of users who loved the way it navigates. But they haven’t seen the true power combined with Android and 1Ghz Snapdragon.

The Desire, of course, fulfills all your senses by featuring everything original Nexus One’s did plus a trackpad in place of the old trackball. Sense UI now features new Leap function that allows viewing different home screens at the same time by pinch gesture. We already know about Friend Stream feature that collates all the social network updates to the contacts in Address Book. Other improvements come in the browser, web client, widget and better news reader application.

The display is still the same 3.7-inch AMOLED display carries over, but the software uses it better than ever. Users can leverage full Flash 10.1 multi-touch features.

Let’s go detailed on the Specs:

• Display: 3.7-inch AMOLED WVGA
• Processor: 1 Ghz Snapdragon
• ROM: 512MB
• RAM: 576 MB
• Camera: 5 MP, DVD quality video (near 480p)
• Dimensions:  119x60x11.9 mm
• Weight: 135g
• Cellular: quadband GSM/EDGE, dual band (900 MHz, 2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA
• Battery: 1400 mAh
• WiFi, GPS, accelerometer, compass

Finally, word on Availability: HTC is only announcing that it’ll be “broadly available” throughout Europe and Asia in the early part of the second quarter, while it’ll come to Australia via Telstra. Supersonic, care to save us?

That’s all for now, stay tuned for more. More on Windows Phone, Android, iPhone and Tech news via @taranfx on Twitter or:

Overall Feel

The phone, looks large, but is actually not that bad to hold in the hand, thanks to pocket-friendly dimensions of 120.5x 67×11 mm.

HTC HD2 vs. iPhone

The phone is smooth and rubberized on the back, and feels nice to hold. It slips nicely into the pocket as well, thanks to slim design with 0.43 inches  thickness.

Specs

On the Technical side, Phone is powered by Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon mobile processor, the same that powers Sony Ericsson X10, X3.  Like HTC Hero, it also offers an HTC Sense user experience but on Windows Mobile 6.5 instead of Android. Other Specs include, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, a 5-megapixel camera with Flash, a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Multitouch, Apps & User Interace

Powered by a good 1Ghz processor, I expected it to do good with UI and Multitouch. And I must admit, I was deeply impressed. Opening applications was delight, they opened quickly, unlike other Windows Mobile 6.5 devices. The UI is amazing, especially the weather app. Photos loads quickly and is very responsive.  The Opera browser comes inbuilt that replace dirty Mobile IE. As a result,  websites rendered well and were available to scroll around, and pinching and zooming reacted almost instantly, this proves the capacitive touchscreen was a great decision by HTC. The experience is very similar to that of iPhone. But, because of a larger display, I might actually endup rating it better than iPhone.

Websites actually looked glorious on the phone. And the good part, it supports Flash. The HTC Sense UI experience is far better than HTC Hero. It’s now more realistic and smoother multitouch. Apps like Facebook, Weather, outlook, blah are integrated well and works like charm.

Here are few Videos from Other Sources that will give you better idea:

Verdict:

Personally, I have never liked Windows Mobile phones unless they are powerful. This one is indeed top of the line, with rich set o features and possibly the best Windows Mobile Phone ever created. this Phone Proves that HTC has ripped off bad parts of windows Mobile and replaced them with custom solutions with touchFlow and SenseUI. Overall, we’re very impressed especially with the great Visuals, UI, High resolution, large Display that does multitouch too. How Does it compare to Motorola Droid vs. iPhone? We will compare 3 of them soon.

HTC HD2 is already Launched in Europe, Asia, and and US too.

I would highly recommend one.

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It features a 3.2-inch HVGA touch-screen display. The smartphone is optimized for Web, multimedia and other content and also includes aGPS, a digital compass, a gravity-sensor, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a 5-Megapixel autofocus camera and expandable microSD memory. The built-in browser just like your iPhone, but it supports Adobe Flash.

Specifications:

If you are looking for the Complete UI / Design Review, check it out here.

Here is the Video Review from stuff.tv:

Things are getting exciting in the mobile phone arena. First we get the beefed-up iPhone 3GS, and now we have a new Android HTC Hero. Uptil now, Android has been dumb and lame. Then, all of sudden from nowhere first Augmented Reality App was released and now  HTC Hero has Flash 9 capability with Flash 10 coming later this year, giving it a competitive edge.

Flash on mobile platform will enable Rich experience of Web content and applications that couldn’t run on previous mobile phones. There are a whole set of Flash games and other media that are available. While this content is now available on the Hero, the iPhone can play YouTube videos but no other Flash media, but it will be all possible in future.

People even say that Apple has intentionally suppressed Flash. The reason for this is obvious: Apple wants control of which applications are permitted to run on the iPhone, and more importantly, a cut of the pie. Applications written in Flash would bypass the iPhone App Store, and they won’t earn what they are doing today by there 70-30 game or 80-20 game whatever it is.

I believe that once the Hero gains some momentum, Apple will make a move. But story on both sides has negatives for Microsoft, nobody is running towards Silverlight. May be windows mobile will be the sole platform and Microsoft’s homepage as the sole publisher

Cehck the demo of Flash on Hero.

Demo source: Adobe.com

The HTC Hero, the third Android device from HTC, is the first device built on HTC Sense, the device-maker’s new customizable user interface.

“HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center, by making your phone work in a more simple and natural way. This experience revolves around three fundamental principles that were designed by quietly observing and listening to how people live and communicate,” the company said in a statement. Essentially, HTC Sense makes phones simpler to use, HTC said.

.

The Build & Design

The smartphone features beveled edges and an angled bottom and is contoured to fit comfortably in user’s hands and against their faces while they’re on a call. This would comfort of a flip phone without having the flip in actual.

The Hero uses an anti-fingerprint screen coating for smudge resistance and a longer-lasting, clearer display. The white HTC Hero includes a Teflon coating for a durable surface that’s soft to the touch.

The HTC Hero also integrates a dedicated search button that goes beyond basic search, offering users a contextual search experience that searches Twitter, locates contacts, finds e-mails and searches any other area on the smartphone.

Features Outline:

It features a 3.2-inch HVGA touch-screen display. The smartphone is optimized for Web, multimedia and other content and also includes aGPS, a digital compass, a gravity-sensor, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and expandable microSD memory.

“HTC Hero introduces a more natural way for reaching out to people and accessing your important information, not by following the status quo of today’s phones, but by following how you communicate and live your life,” Peter Chou, HTC’s CEO, said in the statement. “HTC Sense is a distinct experience created to make HTC phones more simple for people to use, leaving them saying ‘it just makes sense.’” HTC Sense, which will be available on all new HTC devices moving forward, is based on three key principals: “Make It Mine,” “Stay Close” and “Discover the Unexpected,” the company said.

HTC said Make It Mine encourages users to dictate and organize how they access people and content. Make it mine is nothing but a customizations that users can go for. That means users can add glance-view widgets that push content like Twitter feeds, weather and other information to the surface, or users can have quick access to business information like e-mail, calendar and world times. HTC is also releasing a new profile feature called “Scenes” that lets users create different customized content profiles around specific functions or times.

HTC Sense’s Stay Close feature integrates calls, e-mails, texts, photos, status updates and more into a single view to let users keep up to speed with certain contacts. HTC Sense also includes friends’ Facebook status updates and photos and Flickr photos alongside text messages, e-mails and call history in a single view.

And the Discover the Unexpected principle enables HTC Hero and HTC Sense users to customize the phone further, by adding features like the ability to turn the phone over to silence a ring or improve the smart dial to make faster calls. HTC Sense also adds “Perspectives,” a new way to view content like e-mail, photos, Twitter, music and other types in new ways.

According to HTC, the HTC Hero with HTC Sense will be available across Europe in July and in Asia later in the summer. HTC will also release a distinct North American version of the Hero later in 2009. Pricing information was not available.

Specifications:

The Hero comes as HTC continues to lead the Google Android charge, planning to release as many as 18 Android-based smartphones this year. On the market so far are the HTC-built T-Mobile G1 and the HTC Magic. T-Mobile this week also unveiled plans to release another HTC-built Android smartphone, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G, later this summer.

Source : HTC.com, CRN

This is the second generation of the HTC advantage. It was manufactured with reference to the success of the previous model. It is defined as the optimal office in motion. This model is up rated and more refined. It gives the user ultimate control, performance and even more power to do the things they could not have done previously with other phones. The HTC Advantage x7510 has taken laptop performance in a pocket size form to a new dimension of better usability and even greater power.

This generation of the mobile phone has several magnificent features. It has a 5’ VGA touch screen. The touch screen is TFT resistant. It has 265 colors (65 effective). Its size is 640*480 pixels. The keyboard is QWERTY. With such features in the display, the user has the best time while operating this splendid phone. In terms of sound HTC Advantage x7510 the feature are unbelievable. It has downloadable polyphonic MP3 ring tones .thus you can change them any time you want. It has a speakerphone that has dual stereo speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack. Hence, your music is sweetest and you get clear sound because the sound features are state of the art type.

The memory of HTC Advantage x7510 phone is amazing. You can enter unlimited entries into the phonebook. The call records are also unlimited. Its internal memory features 16 GB storage, this is enormous. You can store all your data and the memory will still be there. It has a 128Mb RAM and 256MB ROM. It also has a card slot for a miniSD.

In terms of data, it has a GPRS and an EDGE. It has 3G and Bluetooth. It also has the miniUSB for data. Another important feature is the camera. It has a primary camera with 3.15 MP, 2048*1536 pixels. The camera has an autofocus and a LED flash. It also has a video and a secondary VGA video call camera.

Other features include Microsoft windows mobile 6.0 professional. For your text messages, it has SMS, MMS, Email and instant messaging. It has a browser and games too. In addition, it has MP3and MP4 players. Again it has a pocket office with the basic word, excel, PowerPoint and PDF viewer. To add to these amazing features the phone has a file manager and a TV-out.

HTC Advantage X7510 Picture Gallery

It comes in black color. The HTC Advantage x7510 is such a phone to behold. Its design is fabulous and it will give you the best services you can ever imagine. ]]> http://geeknizer.com/htc-advantage-x7510-phone-cum-mid-reviewed/feed/ 0 http://geeknizer.com/mobile-os-shootout-iphone-blackberry-storm-palm-pre-htc-symbian-s60-compared/ http://geeknizer.com/mobile-os-shootout-iphone-blackberry-storm-palm-pre-htc-symbian-s60-compared/#comments Sat, 21 Mar 2009 08:07:49 +0000 Tarandeep Singh http://taranfx.com/blog/?p=344 Read more »]]>

As soon as Apple rolled out its preview of iPhone OS 3.0, the comparisons to existing (and forthcoming) mobile OSs started flying. While the major update isn’t exactly a done deal, it’s pretty far along, and we’ve been able to glean quite a bit from our time with the developer beta we’ve been checking out. iPhone OS, Android, webOS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, S60; if you’re in the market for a new smartphone, your choices have been getting exponentially more complicated lately, and 3.0 won’t make the selection any easier. Luckily for you, Engadget is here to make sense of a frightening and uncertain landscape. Read on for an in-depth look at the similarities — and differences — between modern mobile operating systems.

Basics

When it comes to OSs, it’s generally true that you’re only as good as your kernel, and these days, there’s no shortage of options in that department. Comparing core systems is difficult — each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, but we’d be lying if we didn’t say that the underlying structure of the iPhone OS is pretty robust. Since it’s built atop OS X, which in turn is built atop Unix, it tends to be fairly sophisticated and stable (even if Apple has managed to lag it up with its UI). Android is Linux based, though its basic functionality is sandboxed in a particularly healthy variation of Java. S60 and Windows Mobile may be more mature, but that age doesn’t always work to their advantage, and while RIM has done a tremendous job at updating its look and feel, the OS — which is based around a proprietary kernel — still showcases some of its ugly, underlying Java from time to time.

As you can see in the chart below, the basics slot these devices into fairly specific categories, though it’s obvious that Apple is trying to nudge its way into the enterprise world (the company went out of its way to cite business customer satisfaction at the preview event). Of course, we don’t expect to see the BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile leaving that space any time soon.

#comparechart { border: 2px solid #333; border-collapse: collapse; } #comparechart td { padding: 2px; border: 1px solid #ccc; vertical-align: top; margin: 0; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 100%} #comparechart th { font-size: 80%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 2px; background: #eee; } #comparechart td.subcat { font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; background-color: #ccc;} #comparechart th.mainth { border-top: 2px solid #333; border-bottom: 2px solid #333;font-size: 100%; } #comparechart td.red { background-color: #f08c85; } #comparechart td.yellow { background-color: #FBEC5D;} #comparechart td.green { background-color: #b3e2c4; } #comparechart th.blackth { background-color: #000; } #comparechart td.grey { background-color: #eee; }

Basics						Return to Top
	Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	iPhone OS 3.0	S60 5th Edition	Palm WebOS	Windows Mobile 6.5
Kernel Type	Linux	Proprietary	OS X	Symbian	Linux	Windows CE
Platform Adaptability	Excellent	Good	Poor	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent
Platform Age	Young	Mature	Adolescent	Mature	Young	Mature
First-party Enterprise Support	None	BlackBerry	Exchange	Exchange, Domino, BlackBerry	Exchange	Exchange, Domino, BlackBerry
Wireless Technologies	GSM, WiFi	GSM, CDMA, WiFi	GSM, WiFi	GSM, WiFi	GSM, CDMA, WiFi	GSM, CDMA, WiFi

User Interface

Apple nailed it out of the gate with many of its UI ideas. Gestures, lists with inertia, and plenty of touch-friendly sliders, wheels, and buttons generally make the iPhone OS a pleasure to navigate. While Android borrows some of that functionality, its uneven UI still doesn’t match up (though Cupcake certainly makes a few welcome improvements). Windows Mobile and the BlackBerry OS have made some gains here over the years, but they still suffer from inborn deficiencies that are clear the moment you start using them (especially the Storm’s 4.7 implementation), and S60 has a long, long way to go before it’s up to speed. The only real competitor in terms of user-experience right now appears to be the Palm Pre, which capitalizes on many of the gains Apple pioneered and throws in a few tricks of its own, like those cards as well as a bigger emphasis on gestures.

A key innovation over the past couple years has been the emergence of capacitive touchscreens in mobile devices, which allow for lighter touch, greater display clarity, and true multitouch at the expense of stylus compatibility. The iPhone, webOS, and Android have all embraced the technology, but Windows Mobile and S60 aren’t quite there yet, largely because they still make use of UI elements too small to accurately press with a human finger. To keep up, they’ll need to get cranking on this over the coming versions. Of course, all of these platforms (save for webOS) can sport a virtual keyboard of some sort — a technology particularly suited to a capacitive screen — but we’ve yet to see a single one pull off a typing experience as solid as what Apple offers.

As good as they may be in stock form, both Apple and Palm leave users hanging if they want to customize — hell, changing font sizes is taboo with the iPhone, much less a total reskinning of the interface. If you’re into making your device all your own, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry are where you want to be; customization isn’t just allowed with these platforms, it’s practically encouraged. In fact, Microsoft pretty much touts the flexibility as a feature nowadays (a quick glance at this year’s MWC offerings is proof of that).

User Interface
	Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	iPhone OS 3.0	S60 5th Edition	Palm WebOS	Windows Mobile 6.5
Screen Gestures	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited	Yes	Limited
Screen Technology	Capacitive	Capacitive	Capacitive	Resistive / Capacitive	Capacitive	Resistive
Multitouch	Yes (unofficial)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
UI Skinning	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Input Methods	Virtual keyboard, physical keyboard	Virtual keyboard	Virtual Keyboard	Virtual keyboard, T9, and triple tap; character recognition; physical keyboard	Physical keyboard	Virtual keyboard, character recognition, physical keyboard

Core functionality

Now here’s a category where the operating systems really start to show their colors. While Apple is finally adding the promised — but delayed — push notification to its devices, it’s still lagging far behind in some pretty important areas. First off: multitasking. Much like an original Palm OS device, Apple seems stuck in the past with its open-quit-open app switching scheme, which it claims is in the interest of preserving battery life. Windows Mobile, S60, Android, webOS, and BlackBerry all handle true multitasking, allowing you keep multiple apps open in the background. The push notifications will help, but nothing beats being able to return to an active app, particularly if you’re doing something like loading a web page or using a map to get around.

Palm is smartly introducing a web-centric functionality called Synergy in its webOS, which allows you to pool contacts and calendars from disparate sources, while the iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile, S60, and Android still present mostly siloed options in that department (without some third-party involvement). Apple has made strides with its new calendar functionality — CalDAV support, for example — but it still doesn’t present anything as revolutionary for dealing with scores of contacts. We do give the company marks for finally, mercifully, allowing users to share contact cards, however.

A big problem that Apple has yet to address with OS 3.0 is its obnoxious, obtrusive notifications. Where Android and webOS slide a handy “tray” into view to let you know you’ve got something incoming, the iPhone regularly piles on one notice after another, leaving you with a stacked, productivity-stalling, ugly mess of pop-ups. Apple, you kill this kind of annoying garbage in your browser — why do you think users want it in their phone? Even older systems get this one more right than Apple does — both Windows Mobile and the BlackBerry OS use a mixture of pop-ups and background notifications. It’s perplexing that a company so concerned with usability and simplicity has done nothing to address the situation in three iterations of its software.

Still, Apple has certainly answered the call (no pun intended) on a lot of user-requested features. Stereo Bluetooth support, MMS, that new Spotlight homescreen (aka global search), tethering capabilities, unlocked Bluetooth support for the touch, turn-by-turn direction capability, and a whole lot more. The sad part is that these additions only really bring the OS to speed with almost all of its competition, making this update a victory, but still kind of a bummer if you take the long-view.

And don’t even get us started on copy and paste.

Core Functionality
	Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	iPhone OS 3.0	S60 5th Edition	Palm WebOS	Windows Mobile 6.5
Notification Style	Tray	Pop-up, background	Pop-up	Pop-up	Tray	Tray, pop-up
Contact Integration / Management	Google	BES, BIS	Exchange, ActiveSync, Mac OS Address Book	Exchange, Domino, BlackBerry, iSync	Synergy	Exchange, Domino, BlackBerry, ActiveSync
Multitasking	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Copy / paste	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Media Support / Ecosystem	Amazon	Non-DRM iTunes	iTunes	Ovi	Amazon	Windows Media Player / None
Global Search	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Firmware Updates	OTA	Tethered, OTA	Tethered	Tethered, OTA	Unknown	Tethered, OTA
Browser Engine	WebKit	Proprietary	WebKit	WebKit	WebKit	Internet Explorer
Tethering	Yes (unofficial)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stereo Bluetooth	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Third-party development

This is where Apple really shines. While Windows Mobile and S60 have had thriving developer bases for a while, no one has brought applications and app development to the forefront like Apple. It goes without saying that the company has revolutionized the way devs do business, and torn down dozens of barriers to entry in the process. No single company has made it easier for developers to create work (and profit from it) on a mobile platform. The new version of the iPhone OS seems designed to stoke that system, introducing 1,000 new APIs and allowing developers to offer things like in-game commerce and peer-to-peer networking.

Of course, the system isn’t without its negatives, and Apple has endured more than its share of (deserved) critics of its opaque and sometimes unfair application approval process. While they say 96 percent of apps receive approval, we’re fairly confident what gets left on the cutting room floor is hurting end users. Just think, with its current policies, you’ll never see an Opera or Firefox browser for the device.

Regardless, other companies are currently playing catch up to Cupertino’s game, with all of the major OSs offering some version of an application store now or in the near future. To date, none have been remotely as successful as Apple’s outing, but none have the luxury of being tied to a pre-existing revenue stream like the iTunes Store — and with the exception of Android’s Market, they really haven’t had time to marinate with the public. Only time will tell if companies like Palm, Google, and (gasp) Microsoft will be able to turn on the fire hose of development and go toe-to-toe with Apple.

Third-Party Development
	Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	iPhone OS 3.0	S60 5th Edition	Palm WebOS	Windows Mobile 6.5
SDK Availability / Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Official App Store	Yes	Coming	Yes	Coming	Yes	Yes
App Availability	Medium	Medium	High	Medium	Low	High
Native Applications	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
On-Device App Management	Excellent	Good	Excellent	Good	Excellent	Good

Wrap up

Ultimately, there are loyalties and preferences that no chart can help you navigate. We won’t go as far as saying it’s a matter of choice — we believe that the newer, younger operating systems offer far more than the aging ones can at this point (unless you absolutely need something like BES). In particular, the improvements Apple’s made in its forthcoming update speak to many of the issues we’ve had since the platform’s launch in 2007, patching a slew of flaws in its mobile OS, and making the advantages of something like Android or webOS (what we know of it) a little less obvious. That said, you won’t find the open source freedom of the former, and there are a handful of innovations in the latter (yet to be roadtested, but extremely promising nonetheless). One thing is sure regardless of what side you throw your lot in with: the hype Apple created with its devices has spurred a space race in smartphones, and the end user is reaping the benefits.

Galleries

iPhone OS 3.0 hands-on	Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 6.5	Palm Pre: official UI shots
Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	S60 5th Edition

Rarely do we receive so many questions, so many comments and demands over an upcoming review.  In the few days since our HTC Touch HD unboxing and hands-on video demo, the messages have been flooding in.  Today, we’ll try to answer those questions – and, of course, the biggest question of them all: have HTC managed the unthinkable and tugged the must-have crown from the head of the iPhone 3G?  In the first half of our two-part review, we’ll be looking at the touchscreen, OS, GUI and keyboard entry, as well as the Touch HD’s internet abilities and more.

For first-impressions we’ll point you at our unboxing post.  We’re still waiting to hear back exactly what will and will not be included in the retail packaging.  Someone at HTC has obviously given no small amount of thought to the perceived quality of what’s included – the USB cable, for instance, is finished with a soft-touch, rubberized coating; a small point, perhaps, but you notice it – but I wish they’d given equal thought to the AC adapter.  A universal design, with slot-in country-specific pin sections, with a UK plug it protrudes down from the socket not up and, as such, if your power point is in a low skirting-board, it won’t fit.  Just as with the USB cable, it’s a small point but, yes, you notice it.

Put a 3.8-inch 480 x 800 display into your smartphone and you’re making a statement; you’re also taking on some impressive competition.  The iPhone 3G is just one of HTC’s key rivals with the Touch HD; there’s also RIM’s BlackBerry Storm, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 and the Samsung Omnia i900.  Each has their advantages, certainly, but with the exception of the Storm – which we’re yet to spend time with in person – the Touch HD bests them all.  Picture the crispness of the HTC Touch Diamond’s screen, stretched to take up the fullness of this new, broader sibling; image quality is something we’ll not tire of.

It’s that fact which makes the resistive touchscreen all the more frustrating.  Like with the rest of its Windows Mobile range, HTC have selected a standard, non-capacitive touch panel; the benefit is that it responds both to the stylus and to a finger, making it suitable for both general prodding and the sort of handwriting input we’re told the Asian markets prefer.  The downside is that, while good for a resistive screen, it feels less precise and responsive than the display on, say, the iPhone.  A slightly-flexible plastic front is necessary, rather than glass, and the fact that it responds to finger pressure means scrolling isn’t as smooth as on the Apple handset.

Nonetheless, it’s certainly no slouch.  For once HTC’s custom Windows Mobile GUI, TouchFLO 3D, has room to really spread out.  The bottom tab icons are large and finger-sized, and swiping from side to side quickly flicks through the panes.  Everything has been spread out, some aspects more successfully than others.  The weather pane, for instance, now incorporates both the large day’s forecast with the next four days along the bottom, rather than on different pages; however on the main home pane the clock has become oversized and squandered space that could have been used to display more calendar entries.  Only three will fit without scrolling, just one more compared to the Touch Diamond’s 1-inch smaller display.

Still, there’s more customization on offer, with the new found ability to remove and reorder the different panes (although the home tab is locked in place and you can’t switch it, the settings or the program launcher panes off).  A new Stocks display has been included, too.  It makes it all the more disappointing when you drop out of TouchFLO 3D and into standard Windows Mobile, which is pretty much a given unless you’re only making calls and taking photos.  Microsoft’s smartphone OS might support high-resolution displays, but it certainly doesn’t take advantage of them: font options are basically large & clunky or small & stylus-demanding, with none of the finesse seen on rival OSes.  Contrast any of the standard settings pages with HTC’s communications manager, and tell us which you’d prefer to have more of.  This isn’t HTC’s fault, as such, but it undoubtedly takes away from the user experience; Windows Mobile 7 can’t come soon enough, frankly.

Happily touched upon by HTC’s GUI finessing is the on-screen keyboard.  In addition to the usual Windows Mobile QWERTY, ‘block recognizer’ (similar to Palm’s old Graffiti system), ‘letter recognizer’ (which accepts handwriting letter-by-letter) and ‘Transcriber’ (which accepts full-screen, whole word handwriting), there are three of HTC’s own keyboards.  Phone offers a standard numeric keypad for either multi-tap or T9 entry; Compact QWERTY is similar to the BlackBerry SureType system, with two letters per key and T9 used to decipher which you intend; Full QWERTY gives the whole keyboard.  Each has a straightforward switch to toggle T9 on and off, together with several pages of characters.  The video at the bottom of this page demonstrates all the available options.

The HTC full QWERTY offers keys the same size as those on the iPhone.  Happily the resistive touchscreen is precise and responsive enough to differentiate well enough to make typing at a reasonable speed possible.  Two factors, though, keep the iPhone input method ahead: first, and most simple for HTC to change, is the way the iPhone letters ‘pop up’ when you press them.  Typing on the Touch HD with the stylus is no problem, as the keys are big enough to still see which you’re tapping; with a finger, however, the whole button (and most of those surrounding it) is blocked.

Second, and more frustrating, is the poor auto-correction.  Here the iPhone is leagues ahead of Windows Mobile, managing to make sense out of even the most haphazard of typing styles.  On the Touch HD, meanwhile, simple things such as “I’m” – where you’d like to miss out the apostrophe, have it automatically added, and the ‘I’ captitalized – aren’t recognized.  It’s not a deal breaker, certainly, but it slows you down.

The messaging app is the usual Windows Mobile 6.1 fare, with Microsoft Exchange compatibility for push email (along with wireless calendar and contacts synchronization).  Giving Microsoft their due, setup of an Exchange account is always straightforward on WM handsets; email and password was all it took to get everything up and running.  POP3, IMAP and Hotmail are all relatively easy to set up too, but push email does initially confuse by having on- and off-peak delivery frequency switched on by default.  The handset assumes that, out of office hours, you’re content to get new email every thirty minutes rather than as soon as it arrives; that may be so, but with no suggestion that it’s set up that way it can lead to initial confusion.

Thankfully HTC preinstall Opera Mobile 9.5 (build 2682 on our review sample).  Unlike the mobile version of Internet Explorer, Opera Mobile supports tabs; however out of the box it only permits three at a time and there’s no obvious way in the normal settings menu to change that.  Instead, go to “opera:config” in the address bar and there’s an option to increase the number.  That tweak made, it’s a very usable browser; zooming – in the absence of multitouch – is triggered either by double tapping on a section of the page, or by calling up a zoom scroll-bar by tapping the icon in the bottom left corner.  Panning around the page is done by dragging with your finger or the stylus.

It’s not perfect, though.  The zoom seems less “intelligent” than that on Mobile Safari, for instance, which automatically reframes around different sections of the page.  On the Touch HD it instead zooms in by a specific amount, and then requires you to tweak the level and shuffle the page about to fit in exactly what you want to read.  We also have an ongoing issue with selecting links: it almost seems as if the Touch HD’s high-resolution screen is better than Opera’s designers ever expected it to be.  When viewing a whole webpage we can see the links, we can even tap on them individually (with the stylus, at least), but the browser won’t actually register the tap unless you zoom in closer.  It’s an ongoing frustration and adds an extra step into browsing.

We look at GPS performance, the media functionality of the smartphone – including the camera, audio and video – and battery life.  We also explore how the Touch HD performs as a phone.  You can find Part Two of the exclusive SlashGear HTC Touch HD review here.