ai.rs blog

We are really hoping everything works out OK for Microsoft this time. Smartphone OS arena definately could do with another strong player, competing with iPhone OS, Android, BlackBerry OS… Windows Mobile failed to deliver, and frankly, versions 6.5.x were a big disappointment. So we bring you a recap of the important news since the unveiling we covered live at Mobile World Congress 2010, Barcelona.

We really dig the new flat 2D look, with effective annimations in all the right places. The search engine linked to the hardware button is, of course, Bing. The most interesting part was not shown completely -- The way Office Hub will look and function like. Now we have more details, and two videos of Office Hub in action.

Video #2 on YouTube, (courtesy of Mobility Digest).

As far as the hardware goes, for starters new WP7 phones need to have 3 hardware buttons below the screen: back, windows, search. Therefore some of the current high-end models do not qualify for the upgrade (for instance HTC HD2). Processors must be ARMv7 compliant, video vith hardware acceleration, all the screens must be capacitive (no more stylus) multi-touch, camera and WiFi/BT are a must as well as the FM radio receiver (why?). All the sensors you'd expect from a new phone must be present in all of the upcoming WP7 devices: Accelerometar, digital compass, light sensor, proximity sensor. More info on the architecture and update process can be found at BGR.

Then came the MIX10 conference in Las Vegas, where guys from Microsoft presented more info on this platform. All the recorded sessions can be found on a Windows Phone Developer Blog.

Windows Live ID account will be needed to use the phone (did anyone say Gmail+Android?). It is great to hear that 3D grapics are run using Direct3D 11, and one of the demo games was shown on a couple of occasions.

Windows Phone Developer home page has all the necessary tools, so you can join the hype and start developing. Or you can just try out the emulator and get to know the look and feel of the new OS. One of the guys from Microsoft has been very productive on Twitter, so everyone that wishes to be informed on this topic, check out Charlie Kindel's Twitter page.

One of the cool applications shown on Microsoft events was Foursquare. We really like the directions and positive vibe Microsoft is sending to the developers. There is just one small problem, new Windows Phone platform is not compatible to previous applications that made Windows Mobile popular. Microsoft is starting from the beginning. At this point iPhone has about 185.000 applications, and Android has been chasing them with over 50.000 and rising fast (april 2010). Microsoft will definitely have a great plaform, but near-empty marketplace. A lot of effort has been communicated towards the developers, and the required tools made free (check the above address). Silverlight all the way.

Another controversy is multitasking, as far as things stand at this point -- WP7 won't have it for 3rd party applications. We could think of many situations where we would like multitasking (even iPhone users will say they need it as soon the OS gets it ). Microsoft still has to decide if it will allow copy/paste, something that was missing in the first versions of the iPhone OS. Strange…

To recap:

• Windows Phone 7 at this point looks great.
• The Office integration is something that will bring the business users to new platform, and we like the new approach.
• Thumbs-up for Microsoft for focusing on developers.
• Not being able to upgrade existing devices (HTC HD2, Samsung Omnia II) to new OS is just slap in the face for loyal Windows Mobile users.
• WP7 needs to get out fast -- WP7 to be polished ASAP. We need this devices in september not at the end of Q4 as Microsoft stated.
• Microsoft needs to hear the crowd a bit more: we need multitasking, copy/paste, emulator for old applications, better keyboard support.
• Open up the Marketplace, lower the prices, atrtact more developers.
• Do not delay launch in Europe, rest of the World. Do it the right way.
• Good luck

Google has released new version of SkyMap application for Android phones, maybe just to mark two decades of Hubble telescope in space, this month?

With Google Sky Map for your Android phone you can discover and browse the night sky just by pointing your phone to space, and now also see images from Hubble telescope

By using your Android phone's orientation sensors, you can see a star map above your current location or explore planets, stars and constellations.

Great use of Android phone sensors to learn something new.

We realized that with frequent changes of various smartphone devices and testing periods with new phones we are really strict considering the Bluetooth mobile headsets. Our team is using Jabra and Plantronics for quite a while now (since 2007 that is). We did not had a reason to change them, they work perfectly with every new smartphone model out there. But, there must be some improvements ?

So we gathered three devices from Jabra and Plantronics and stress tested them. First the looks.

[View with PicLens]

Jabra Stone is really something special. The small dock combined with a headset is shaped in a form of a stone. But not all is aestetics, the "dock" serves as a charger on the road as well. Cool concept if you ask us! The other model – Jabra Extreme is for business users and road warriors, it has the best specs that can match any headset out there, providing superb noise cancellation technology. We have easily pared them with couple of sources (notebook for VoIP and our latest mobile phones). Both models are plesant to wear, not to heavy. However, this is sometnig that you must double check. Your ear might not be compatible with these devices, that's right, the devices are just right, your ear maybe not

Plantronics Discovery 975 is aimed at business users and it comes with a carrying case, something that you should definately consider if you keep loosing your headsets. The case comes with a small screen showing the battery level, the charger is built in. Background noise cancellation and added protection against the wind noise are a plus.

We liked them all, but our favorite is the Jabra Extreme, with automatic volume control and superb noise cancellation. It even comes with a car charger that you can use to charge any Something2USB device, including miniSD, microSD, etc… Just what we needed for these new microUSB HD2 & Nexus One phones

Check out:

Jabra Stone, Extreme

Plantronics Discovery 975

Via: Sion Net

ai.rs blog exclusive

OK, we did it again, for your complete overview of the new HTC HD Mini, check out a set of (almost) all the screenshots from this smartphone (55 in total).

General impressions are good, the screen is capacitive, back cover in gunmetal non-glossy surface. The successor to the Diamond 2 has less pixels (resolution is HVGA instead of WVGA), but it is fast. Combining 600MHz with 384MB of RAM, HD mini is very responsive and resembles HD2 in tearms of speed. Complete specs and overview can be seen here.

Above, HD Mini compared to Nexus One.

Be sure to check all the numbers in the screenshots (versions, etc…).

[View with PicLens]

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The guys from IntoMobile have witnessed a great performance from Samsung at this year's CTIA in Las Vegas. While we wait for the Galaxy S to appear, with it's Super AMOLED screen that is said to be great even in direct sunlight, check out this awesome presentation.

Specs from PhoneArena indicate the following:

• Super AMOLED 4" WVGA screen
• 122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9 mm, 118g
• 720p HD video recording
• 16MB + microSD
• 1GHz processor
• Android 2.1

As soon as HD2 hit the market Android equivalent was missing. We wanted the same specs and huge screen but with Android OS. Well, it looks like Europe and GSM users will have to wait for a while. Now the Americans get the chance to show off, as Sprint gets lucky and announces the new flagship model -- HTC EVO 4G.

HTC EVO 4G is definately a great device, integrating all the features of Android 2.1 and newest Sense from HTC. You'll notice the mini HDMI jack, a new feature that all the high end phones should have. EVO 4G has 8MP camera as well as front facing camera for video calls. The star is, of course the WVGA 4.3" screen, already seen on HD2. It is not yet known if the screen is going to be AMOLED. The Snapdragon processor works at 1GHz, same as HD2 and Desire.

Sources: [HTC @YouTube], [Sprint]