"Microsoft's mobile market share continues to drop year-on-year, according to data released by Gartner. Smartphone sales were up to 41.0 million in 2Q09, a 27 percent increase over 2Q08's 32.3 million. Windows Mobile, however, only managed to grab 3.81 million of those units in 2Q09, or about 9.3 percent. The number of units wasn't much of a drop from 2Q08, where they booked 3.87 million sales. But the segment was smaller then, and that was was good enough for 12 percent of the market in 2Q08; given the growth of smartphone sales, the drop has to be very disappointing."

I recently took a vacation from Portland to St. Louis and had to visit a few airports. I've noticed that airports are a great way of telling what people are using as a mobile device so I'm always scanning the crowds to see what people choose. I visited airports in Portland, Denver, St. Louis, and Albuquerque. You know which devices I saw the most? Blackberry Curves and Iphones. Of course there were others but these are the two I saw the most. When I traveled a few years back it was mostly Windows Mobile devices, so it wasn't exactly shocking when I read this article. With so many Android devices coming out and the rumor of Dell getting back in the game, it makes me wonder where Microsoft will fit in. What's it going to take to get Windows Mobile devices back in the thick of it? Will Windows Mobile 6.5 or perhaps 7.0 do it or will they just continue to slip? When you're out and about, do you see many Windows Mobile devices? If not, what are you seeing most?

Product Category: Windows Phone running Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard

Manufacturer: HTC / T-Mobile

Where to Buy: T-Mobile

Price: $349 (No Contract) / $199 (2 year Contract)

Requirements: Need to speak to others, desire to be connected to information.

Specifications: QUALCOMM 528 MHz, Quadband GSM, Dualband UMTS (Supports T-Mobile USA 3G), WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 2 MP Camera, GPS.

Pros:

• 3G Data Connection (In T-Mobile 3G Markets);
• GPS Capabilities;
• Speedier than the original!

Cons:

• Imprecise Trackball;
• Button arrangement will confuse Dash devotees;
• No real incentive to upgrade if you aren't in a 3G market or don't need GPS.

Summary: The original T-Mobile Dash was a great little device that only started to feel dated recently. With 3G rolling out farther, GPS being standard, and 1 MP being woefully bad for a camera phone, the Dash 3G sets out to update its older brother into 2009. But is it worth the price to upgrade?

A Bit On The Original Dash

I own an obscene number of Pocket PCs and Smartphones, and switch through them quite regularly. However, one that had probably seen the highest amount of use in the last 3 years was my T-Mobile Dash. I bought the Dash in October 2006, and have found it to be a trusty companion. It's rugged enough to slip into a pocket on weekend getaways, yet productive enough to be used all week. It also has a very usable (at least to me) keyboard and is fairly solid from an operating system stand point. In conversation with many of my fellow Windows Mobile enthusiasts, the Dash consistently received high marks. Even our own Executive Editor was known to profess his love of the Dash. So when HTC took a few years off from making a phone in the same style, it was a bit troubling. Thankfully they've returned (and so has T-Mobile) to this form factor with the Dash 3G. But seeing as the Dash 3G runs almost the same operating system as the original Dash and only really adds 3G, a trackball, GPS, and some fancier styling, I was anxious to see if it was worth the upgrade.

Figure 1: The Dash 3G packaging next to the larger packaging from the original Dash. The Dash 3G packaging is designed for the consumer to open (it flips open to display the device) while the original was utilitarian.

The Device

Physically the Dash 3G is nearly identical in dimensions as the orignal Dash. It's slightly thinner, and a bit longer, but still feels fairly compact and light in the hand. The buttons are slightly bigger and are rectangular as opposed to square. Oddly, this seems to have made it more difficult (at onset) for my big hands to use. I've had to train my hands over the last few days to hit the buttons a bit differently than when I used the Dash or any other square-button phone. The D-pad on the Dash was replaced with a trackball on the Dash 3G. While this initially seems like a good idea, it's woefully imprecise when attempting to scroll quickly through. I had to turn the sensitivity up to high just to get it to feel like it responded to my touch. While the trackball adds some nice new features (e.g. a mouse pointer in Internet Explorer), I really wish I had my old D-Pad back. Interestingly enough, Jason had quite the opposite opinion of the trackball - he was happy it didn't have an infinite scroll to it. I guess I just move faster than Jason, as I felt the trackball couldn't quite keep up!

Figure 2: Dash on the left, Dash 3G on the right. Notice the key layout on the 3G is slightly different than other versions of the HTC Maple.

The soft key button layout also differs, with the soft key and home buttons now side by side as opposed to top and button. The same is done on the right resulting in a more button-jamming appearance. Again I wish it was still top / bottom, however I'm slowly getting used to it. One feature from the original device that I do not miss is the Joggr bar. Now I know what you're saying "What Joggr?" - because any Dash user after day 1 pretty much abandoned that thing if all possible. HTC apparently listened and decided not to even try it again on the new version. Thank goodness.

Also gone from the device is a dedicated power button (it's now the red End key), which results in the red end key not locking the phone as it does on the original. The A / * key now locks the device. There is also a "Favorite" button at the bottom of the keyboard that can be mapped to whatever app you'd like (which is a nice improvement over the asinine t-zones button on the original Dash). Finally there is a volume button on the left, and charging port on the upper right as opposed to the bottom (similarly to what was done with the Pantech Matrix Pro; seriously, who demands the charging port be in the upper right?!?).

This is an unboxing and first impressions video of the 2009 version of the T-Mobile Shadow, a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard smartphone (non-touch screen). The T-Mobile Shadow is in its second incarnation, but this model is similar to the previous version. It features a 260 Mhz CPU, 128 MB of RAM, 256 MB of ROM, and a 2.6 inch screen with 240 x 320 (QVGA resolution), and built-in 802.11b/g WiFi. There's no GPS, but it does have Bluetooth. It's a quad-band GSM phone, with GPRS/EDGE speeds for data - no 3G here. It has a built-in 2 megapixel camera, but no flash, and weighs in at 5.3 ounces. I requested the T-Mobile Shadow for a review article I wrote for Microsoft - it hasn't been published as of yet, but when it is we'll link to it.

"Verizon Wireless has launched the HTC Ozone, a QWERTY candybar smartphone that runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and is based upon the HTC Snap. The Ozone features dual-connectivity to Verizon's CDMA network and to GSM networks around the world. The device features 3G and WiFi data connectivity, a high-capacity 1500mAh battery, Bluetooth with A2DP, and more for a handsome price."

Seems like everyone's getting in on the Snap like device. Verizon is the latest renaming the Snap to Ozone. You can read the specs above. I really like the 1500mAh battery. That could go a long way. Dual connectivity sounds cool too. If you love Windows Mobile and want a Bold, Jack, or Treo like device, this seems like a good choice. So are any of you Verizon customers going to jump on board with this one?

This is an unboxing and first impressions video of the AT&T Samsung Jack, a Windows Mobile Standard 6.1 smartphone that is an upgrade from the Samsung Blackjack II. Ignore the fact that this new phone has the same name as the Blackjack II in Canada - at least, that's what Samsung and AT&T are hoping you'll do. As of June 2009, the Samsung Jack can be bought from AT&T for $99 with a two-year contract.

The Samsung Jack is a 3G GSM phone - it's a quad-band phone, giving you EDGE data and voice anywhere in the world, and for 3G is has 850/1900/2100 frequencies. That's an extra 3G band than most phones have, so AT&T is claiming that you'll have 3G access in 65+ countries around the world. The Jack has a 528 Mhz CPU, 256 MB of RAM, 256 MB of ROM, GPS, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), a QWERTY keyboard, and a microSDHC slot. Samsung has said this phone is upgrade-ready for Windows Mobile 6.5, but no real comittment has been made regarding offering the operating system. Check out the video, and if you have any questions, post 'em and I'll do my best to answer.

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog.

Do you enjoy using new hardware, software and accessories, then sharing your experience with others? Then join us on the Thoughts Media Review Team! We're looking for individuals who find it fun to test new gear and give their honest opinions about the experience. It's a volunteer role with some great perks. Interested? Then click here for more information.

This is my video review of the Pantech Matrix Pro, a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard smartphone offered by AT&T for $179 USD on a two-year contract. The unboxing and first impressions video can be viewed here.

This phone has the distinctive feature of having two keyboards (12 key and QWERTY), both hidden away via a slider. It weighs 4.3 ounces, has a 2.4 inch display at 240 x 320, comes with 256 MB of ROM, and 128 MB of RAM. It also features a microSDHC card slot for expandability up to 32 GB. It's a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA phone, functioning on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands for GSM/GPRS/EDGE and 850/1900/2100 MHz for 3G data. The battery is 1320 mAh, giving 3 hours of talk time and 10.4 days of stand-by time. More details about the Pantech Matrix Pro can be found on this AT&T site.

All in all, I enjoyed using this phone for two months - the dual slider was handy to have, especially when I just wanted to dial someone and not do email or texting. I found the keyboard to be less optimal for typing than my Blackjack II, but it was functional enough. Some of the glitches I ran into that were frustrating were only because I was using this phone outside the AT&T network - something the average person isn't going to do. However, let's say you travelled someplace and wanted to buy a SIM card - those heavy-handed hard-coded software issues would give you a headache. The phone was fast and stable, offering up good call quality and excellent stability - I didn't have one lock-up or crash while I was using it. I could certainly do without the proprietary connector though - I'd have liked this phone more if it used miniUSB.

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He sure dislikes it when phones use proprietary power/connection plugs.

Do you enjoy using new hardware, software and accessories, then sharing your experience with others? Then join us on the Thoughts Media Review Team! We're looking for individuals who find it fun to test new gear and give their honest opinions about the experience. It's a volunteer role with some great perks. Interested? Then click here for more information.

Good news everyone! Yours truly has come into possession of two registration keys for Microsoft's My Phone Beta program! Since I'm such a nice guy I thought the best thing to do would be to give them away to our readers! For those of you that are unaware - "Microsoft My Phone syncs information between your mobile phone and the web..." - Basically it can best be described as a very simple and easy to use cloud syncing solution for Windows Mobile handsets. Exchange services for the rest of us!To qualify to win one of these two never before used registration codes, all you have to do is post a reply telling us about a time when data syncing has failed you miserably. It can be anything; like having your phone stolen and not backing up your contacts or getting the phone number of an attractive member of the opposite sex seconds before your waiter spills a cup of water on your Samsung Blackjack... Whatever you can think of!The contest will be going on now until Sunday April 12th, 2009 at 11:59PM PST, at which time I will go through and randomly select two entrants to be announced Monday April 13th, 2009. As I mentioned before the winners will be selected randomly so unfortunately bribing me with cookies will do you no good - but you are more than welcomed to try!

I used the T-Mobile Dash (HTC S621) for what seemed like an eternity, and other than a few minor quibbles (namely that silly "JOGGR strip") it was pretty much the perfect phone for my needs. Touch-based phones were fun and flashy, but on the Dash I got real work done. It was fast, stable, felt perfect in my hand, was rugged, and had a fantastic keyboard. Sadly, HTC all but abandoned the form-factor when they became obsessed with beating Apple in the touch game - they never gave the Dash a significant update. When I decided I needed 3G speeds, the Dash got retired in favour of a Samsung Blackjack II. It's not a bad phone, but it's no Dash. At pretty much every Mobius event, I'd bring up the fact that I think HTC was missing a great opportunity by not continuing with this form-factor; that they had become too touch-obsessed and there was room for them to innovate and compete with Samsung and Motorola on this form factor. Many other Mobius attendees shared my opinion. An HTC representative shared with the Mobius group recently that this product was a direct result of our feedback. How cool is that?

OK, enough chit chat, let's get down to the nitty-gritty: the Snap weighs 4.23 ounces with the battery, and is 4.59 inches tall, 2.42 inches wide, and 0.47 inches thick (11.9mm). For comparison purposes, the S621 is 12.8mm thick, so they managed to shave a single mm off the thickness - but when you consider that the battery got a boost from 960 mAh up to 1500 mAh, that's quite impressive. The Snap claims 8.5 hours of talk time on GSM and 5 hours on WCDMA, while standby times are 15.8 days on GSM and 20 days on WCDMA. Interesting how the standby times are a reversed - WCDMA is easier on standby time but harder on talk time. Go figure.

At the heard of the Snap is a Qualcomm MSM 7225 running at 528mhz, Windows Mobile 6.1, 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM, a microSDHC slot for expansion, and the typical quad-band GSM/GPRS and tri-band HSDPA/WCDMA (900/2100 MHz). The HTC S522 will have the 850/1900 Mhz bands. Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g WiFi, and GPS/AGPS round out the offering. The 2.4 inch screen is 320 x 240, it has a 2.0 megapixel camera, and instead of the "JOGGR strip" it has a "jog ball". The QWERTY keyboard is offset and looks like it might be an improvement over the already excellent keyboard on the S621. There's some software innovation here as well - HTC has something called "Inner Circle Email Management" that's supposed to act as an email Inbox filter, showing you the messages from a pre-selected list of up to five people. Seems a bit quirky, but HTC has attached a dedicated button for it on the keyboard, so they must be pretty serious about it.

Although there's no guarantee that this device will get a 6.5 update, Microsoft has said that any device with 128 MB of RAM and a 400 Mhz CPU is "6.5 ready". It's up to the OEMs to release the update of course, but the HTC Snap is fully capable of running 6.5.

The full press release, and more images are below.

HTC Snap makes staying in touch with more people less complicated HTC's newest QWERTY smartphone features "Inner Circle" to automatically prioritize email from life's most important people

LAS VEGAS - April 1, 2009 - HTC Corporation today debuted its newest QWERTY smartphone, the HTC SnapTM. Designed with a set of features selected to deliver everything customers need without overwhelming them with things they don't, the HTC Snap makes it easier than ever to stay in contact with life's most important people.

A recent study conducted by Harris Interactive® and commissioned by HTC* found that 44% of US adults are often overwhelmed by the amount of email they receive, and over half (55%) of US adults prioritize five or fewer people with whom they communicate via email. In response to these issues, HTC's innovative Inner Circle feature allows HTC Snap users to press a dedicated Inner Circle key to bring emails from a preselected group of people to the top of their inbox, enabling important messages to be acted upon immediately.

"Recognizing that people are being overwhelmed by an avalanche of email, the HTC Snap introduces Inner Circle, an HTC innovation that makes it easy for people to prioritize messages from the most important people in their lives at the press of a button," said John Wang, Chief Marketing Officer, HTC Corporation. "The HTC Snap represents the latest step in HTC's mission to create a range of innovative smartphones, each with specific benefits designed to both surprise and delight our customers."

With a slim, sleek profile designed to fit perfectly in the hand, the HTC Snap measures less than a half-inch thick (12 mm), yet it can deliver up to eight and a half hours of talk time with the standard 1500mAh battery. The full QWERTY keyboard is ergonomically designed with extra-large domed keys and responsive tactile feedback to make typing emails and text messages fast, accurate and comfortable. High-speed 3G HSPA connectivity makes it quick and easy to send pictures to friends, access favorite social networking sites, or download large files while on the go.

The HTC Snap is powerful enough for experienced business users looking for an affordable, straightforward choice for remotely synchronizing email, calendar and contacts with their Microsoft Exchange server. However, the flexible Microsoft Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard platform allows the HTC Snap to also be simple enough for first-time smartphone users wanting to keep their family life organized.

The HTC Snap is expected to be available in select channels during the second quarter of 2009, rolling out in markets around the world throughout the second half of the year. Additionally, an unlocked version supporting HSDPA at 850/1900MHz for the US market will be made available under the name HTC S522 during the summer.

And now for some high-resolution photo goodness...

This is my unboxing and first impressions of the Pantech Matrix Pro, a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard smartphone offered by AT&T for $179 USD on a two-year contract. This phone has the distinctive feature of having two keyboards (12 key and QWERTY), both hidden away via a slider. It weighs 4.3 ounces, has a 2.4 inch display at 240 x 320, comes with 256 MB of ROM, and 128 MB of RAM. It also features a microSDHC card slot for expandability up to 32 GB. It's a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA phone, functioning on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands for GSM/GPRS/EDGE and 850/1900/2100 MHz for 3G data. The battery is 1320 mAh, giving 3 hours of talk time and 10.4 days of stand-by time. More details about the Pantech Matrix Pro can be found on the AT&T Web site. Have any questions about this phone? Post 'em! I'll be following up with a video review once I've had a chance to use it for a bit longer.

"This thing's been on quite a journey from concept to production, but here we are -- finally, a true successor to Pantech's quirky Duo on AT&T. The Matrix PRO features HSDPA (up from UMTS), integrated GPS with AT&T Navigator, Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel cam, Video Share support, and Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, but the real draw lies in the device's pair of sliders -- one for QWERTY, one for digits."

The Pantech Matrix PRO, the latest and greatest Windows Mobile Standard offering from AT&T Wireless, picks up where the original Pantech Duo left off. This 23mm thick handset comes equipped with a 2.4 inch QVGA display, 256MB ROM, 128 MB RAM, Quad-band GSM/EDGE, Tri-band HSDPA/UMTS, a full QWERTY keyboard, and even a 12 key keypad. While this device will probably not win any beauty contests soon as far as Windows Mobile Standard devices go, this one appears to have the goods. The Pantech Matrix PRO goes on sale this Tuesday, February 24th, and will sell for $179.99 with a $50 mail-in-rebate. Full press release after the break

The Matrix Pro Debuts as the Powerful Next Evolution of the Dual Slider

DALLAS, Feb. 18 -- AT&T* and Pantech Wireless, Inc. today introduced the Pantech Matrix Pro(TM), available exclusively from AT&T on Feb. 24. The next generation in Pantech's line of successful dual-sliding, double-keyboard mobile phones, the Matrix Pro includes a host of updated features including a compact new premium design with a larger and more brilliant LCD screen, a chat-style view of text messages, tri-band 3G for the best global coverage possible, an upgraded camera, more memory, a faster processor and AT&T Video Share(SM) calling. Customers can learn more by visiting http://www.att.com/matrixpro.

Beneath the dual-sliding keyboards and refined steel-blue exterior, the Matrix Pro connects Windows Mobile 6.1 to the nation's fastest 3G network to provide a full range of entertainment and business features. Additionally, with AT&T's wireless network, you can listen to a conference call on a headset while sending and receiving e-mail attachments, picture messages or Web pages at the same time(1). The compact and elegant design of the Matrix Pro fits snugly in your hand for optimum comfort when typing e-mails with the QWERTY keyboard or dialing phone calls with the numeric pad.

"The Matrix Pro is a fantastic-looking device and a significant evolution in this dual-sliding family of phones," said Michael Woodward, vice president- Smart Devices for AT&T Mobility. "We've seen the Matrix become a hit with consumers, and the Matrix Pro will appeal to anyone who wants a powerful smartphone with a great design."

Patrick Beattie, vice president, Sales and Marketing at Pantech Wireless, Inc., said: "By offering users an exciting alternative to smartphones with traditional QWERTY keyboard constructions, the Matrix Pro emphasizes efficiency without sacrificing style or functionality. With a large and vibrant LCD screen, two full keyboards, enhanced multimedia functionality, and the ability to edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, the Matrix Pro appeals to both business users and trend-conscious consumers."

Customers in 3G coverage can also use AT&T Video Share to send live video during a phone call to a user with a compatible phone. With aGPS support for location-based services such as AT&T Navigator, the Matrix Pro can help you find your way with turn-by-turn directions. AT&T Navigator is available for a free 30-day trial(2).

A messaging and multimedia powerhouse, the Matrix Pro has smartphone-class memory and processing power to go beyond simple text messaging and voice and allows customers to run the thousands of applications available to Windows Mobile users. It supports threaded chat-style text messaging, corporate and personal e-mail and also provides access to a host of AT&T services such as MobiTV, Napster Mobile, eMusic Mobile, AT&T Mobile Banking and CV on-demand video.

The Matrix Pro operates on the fastest 3G network at home and the best global coverage outside the U.S. -- even in Japan and South Korea -- because the Matrix Pro supports all three 3G frequencies used worldwide. AT&T customers can use their mobile phones to make calls in more than 200 countries, access data in more than 160 and even use 3G data in more than 65. AT&T offers 3G service in nearly 350 U.S. major metropolitan areas and many other smaller cities and towns across the U.S.

Pricing and Availability

The Matrix Pro will be available Feb. 24 in a steel-blue metallic finish at AT&T company-owned stores and online at http://www.wireless.att.com for $179.99 after a two-year service agreement and a $50 mail-in rebate(3).

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit http://www.att.com.

1. Standard data charges apply, depending on your plan.
2. Users must cancel free trial of AT&T Navigator within 30 days or be automatically subscribed at a cost of $9.99 per month for unlimited routes. You can cancel from the "My Accounts" portal on your handset or call AT&T customer care. Standard data charges apply, depending on your plan.
3. For the Pantech Matrix Pro pay $229.99, and after mail-in rebate, receive $50 AT&T promotion card. A two-year service agreement is also required. AT&T promotion card valid wherever major credit cards are accepted and for 120 days after issue date. May be used to pay wireless bill. Not redeemable for cash and cannot be used for cash withdrawal at ATMs or at automated gas pumps.

* AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T Inc.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services, the nation's fastest 3G network and the best wireless coverage worldwide, and the nation's leading high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of their three-screen integration strategy, AT&T operating companies are expanding their TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE(R) magazine's lists of the World's Most Admired Companies and America's Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

About Pantech Wireless, Inc.

Pantech Wireless, Inc., an Atlanta, GA-based subsidiary of Pantech & Curitel and Pantech Co., Ltd., researches, markets and develops wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America as part of the Pantech Group. For additional information, visit the PWI website at http://www.pantechusa.com.

About Pantech

Pantech Group, through its affiliates -- Pantech Co., Ltd., Pantech & Curitel Communications, Inc. and Pantech C&I Co. -- is one of Korea's top three mobile handset makers. Pantech has received wide-ranging industry recognition for its innovative handset designs, and has also introduced a significant number of breakthrough technologies in the mobile phone industry. Established in 1991, Pantech collectively has approximately 2,500 employees and 8 regional sales offices worldwide. For more information on Pantech, please visit http://www.pantech.com.

(C) 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other AT&T marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Note: This AT&T news release and other announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss. For more information and detailed disclaimer information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at http://www.att.com/newsroom.

"This thing's been on quite a journey from concept to production, but here we are -- finally, a true successor to Pantech's quirky Duo on AT&T. The Matrix PRO features HSDPA (up from UMTS), integrated GPS with AT&T Navigator, Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel cam, Video Share support, and Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, but the real draw lies in the device's pair of sliders -- one for QWERTY, one for digits."

The Pantech Matrix PRO, the latest and greatest Windows Mobile Standard offering from AT&T Wireless, picks up where the original Pantech Duo left off. This 23mm thick handset comes equipped with a 2.4 inch QVGA display, 256MB ROM, 128 MB RAM, Quad-band GSM/EDGE, Tri-band HSDPA/UMTS, a full QWERTY keyboard, and even a 12 key keypad. While this device will probably not win any beauty contests soon as far as Windows Mobile Standard devices go, this one appears to have the goods. The Pantech Matrix PRO goes on sale this Tuesday, February 24th, and will sell for $179.99 with a $50 mail-in-rebate. Full press release after the break

The Matrix Pro Debuts as the Powerful Next Evolution of the Dual Slider

DALLAS, Feb. 18 -- AT&T* and Pantech Wireless, Inc. today introduced the Pantech Matrix Pro(TM), available exclusively from AT&T on Feb. 24. The next generation in Pantech's line of successful dual-sliding, double-keyboard mobile phones, the Matrix Pro includes a host of updated features including a compact new premium design with a larger and more brilliant LCD screen, a chat-style view of text messages, tri-band 3G for the best global coverage possible, an upgraded camera, more memory, a faster processor and AT&T Video Share(SM) calling. Customers can learn more by visiting http://www.att.com/matrixpro.

Beneath the dual-sliding keyboards and refined steel-blue exterior, the Matrix Pro connects Windows Mobile 6.1 to the nation's fastest 3G network to provide a full range of entertainment and business features. Additionally, with AT&T's wireless network, you can listen to a conference call on a headset while sending and receiving e-mail attachments, picture messages or Web pages at the same time(1). The compact and elegant design of the Matrix Pro fits snugly in your hand for optimum comfort when typing e-mails with the QWERTY keyboard or dialing phone calls with the numeric pad.

"The Matrix Pro is a fantastic-looking device and a significant evolution in this dual-sliding family of phones," said Michael Woodward, vice president- Smart Devices for AT&T Mobility. "We've seen the Matrix become a hit with consumers, and the Matrix Pro will appeal to anyone who wants a powerful smartphone with a great design."

Patrick Beattie, vice president, Sales and Marketing at Pantech Wireless, Inc., said: "By offering users an exciting alternative to smartphones with traditional QWERTY keyboard constructions, the Matrix Pro emphasizes efficiency without sacrificing style or functionality. With a large and vibrant LCD screen, two full keyboards, enhanced multimedia functionality, and the ability to edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, the Matrix Pro appeals to both business users and trend-conscious consumers."

Customers in 3G coverage can also use AT&T Video Share to send live video during a phone call to a user with a compatible phone. With aGPS support for location-based services such as AT&T Navigator, the Matrix Pro can help you find your way with turn-by-turn directions. AT&T Navigator is available for a free 30-day trial(2).

A messaging and multimedia powerhouse, the Matrix Pro has smartphone-class memory and processing power to go beyond simple text messaging and voice and allows customers to run the thousands of applications available to Windows Mobile users. It supports threaded chat-style text messaging, corporate and personal e-mail and also provides access to a host of AT&T services such as MobiTV, Napster Mobile, eMusic Mobile, AT&T Mobile Banking and CV on-demand video.

The Matrix Pro operates on the fastest 3G network at home and the best global coverage outside the U.S. -- even in Japan and South Korea -- because the Matrix Pro supports all three 3G frequencies used worldwide. AT&T customers can use their mobile phones to make calls in more than 200 countries, access data in more than 160 and even use 3G data in more than 65. AT&T offers 3G service in nearly 350 U.S. major metropolitan areas and many other smaller cities and towns across the U.S.

Pricing and Availability

The Matrix Pro will be available Feb. 24 in a steel-blue metallic finish at AT&T company-owned stores and online at http://www.wireless.att.com for $179.99 after a two-year service agreement and a $50 mail-in rebate(3).

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit http://www.att.com.

1. Standard data charges apply, depending on your plan.
2. Users must cancel free trial of AT&T Navigator within 30 days or be automatically subscribed at a cost of $9.99 per month for unlimited routes. You can cancel from the "My Accounts" portal on your handset or call AT&T customer care. Standard data charges apply, depending on your plan.
3. For the Pantech Matrix Pro pay $229.99, and after mail-in rebate, receive $50 AT&T promotion card. A two-year service agreement is also required. AT&T promotion card valid wherever major credit cards are accepted and for 120 days after issue date. May be used to pay wireless bill. Not redeemable for cash and cannot be used for cash withdrawal at ATMs or at automated gas pumps.

* AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T Inc.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services, the nation's fastest 3G network and the best wireless coverage worldwide, and the nation's leading high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of their three-screen integration strategy, AT&T operating companies are expanding their TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE(R) magazine's lists of the World's Most Admired Companies and America's Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

About Pantech Wireless, Inc.

Pantech Wireless, Inc., an Atlanta, GA-based subsidiary of Pantech & Curitel and Pantech Co., Ltd., researches, markets and develops wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America as part of the Pantech Group. For additional information, visit the PWI website at http://www.pantechusa.com.

About Pantech

Pantech Group, through its affiliates -- Pantech Co., Ltd., Pantech & Curitel Communications, Inc. and Pantech C&I Co. -- is one of Korea's top three mobile handset makers. Pantech has received wide-ranging industry recognition for its innovative handset designs, and has also introduced a significant number of breakthrough technologies in the mobile phone industry. Established in 1991, Pantech collectively has approximately 2,500 employees and 8 regional sales offices worldwide. For more information on Pantech, please visit http://www.pantech.com.

(C) 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other AT&T marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Note: This AT&T news release and other announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss. For more information and detailed disclaimer information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at http://www.att.com/newsroom.

Product Category: Windows Mobile Standard

Manufacturer: HTC

Where to Buy: eXpansys USA [Affiliate]

Price: $474.99 USD

System Requirements: Compatible system or service for syncing

Specifications: Windows Mobile 6.1, QWERTY keyboard, 528MHz processor, 2.4in QVGA display, 256MB ROM/RAM, Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 900/2100 MHz HSDPA, 801.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, 3.2MP camera

Pros:

• Small form factor
• Great keyboard with a lot of keys, functions, and shortcuts
• Quick and responsive

Cons:

• Small screen makes it horrid for web browsing
• Navigation keys are poorly designed
• The device is really thick

Summary: Off the bat I want to thank eXpansys for loaning us the HTC S740 that I have been using for the past few weeks to put together this review. I will start off by saying the time I have spent with this device has been really enjoyable and it was really nice to carry around a Windows Mobile device again for a bit. In the interest of full disclosure though I would like to state that I unfortunately could not use the HTC S740 continuously throughout the time I had the device as my only handset since due to the nature of a project I was working on for work. I had to switch back to my Google Android device for several hour stretches every few days. Now that we have that out of the way, onto the review!

What's In The Box

Inside this nice compact box we have an assortment of accessories as well as the handset itself. There is a very fashionable travel/home charger that is designed to match the phone, a pair of headphones with a micro-USB adapter, micro-USB cable for charging and syncing, as well as the phone itself and a couple of pamphlets.

Figure 1: The freshly opened HTC S740 box contents.

Figure 2: From left to right: software CD, user manual, battery, travel/home charger, data cable, headphones.

Initial Impressions

For starters, I was very surprised at how thick this device was. As you can see from some of the comparison shots below, the HTC S740 is as thick as Google's flagship phone the T-Mobile G1. If you have not seen the T-Mobile G1 in person then I will be the first to tell you it's a pretty beefy phone. To have a Windows Mobile Standard device be equally as thick was a little off-putting at first but eventually I got used to it. Also since the device is awkwardly shaped I found it pretty uncomfortable to carry around in my pants pocket. Luckily it's winter and I was always wearing a coat or jacket of some kind with plenty of pocket room. Another thing you'll notice is the reflective mirror-like surface on the front of the device. While it's esthetically pleasing to the eye, it unfortunately is a huge smudge magnet.

Figure 3: T-Mobile G1 and HTC S740 side by side.

Figure 4: HTC S740 and T-Mobile G1 side profile shot.

Figure 5: HTC S740 and Samsung Blackjack side by side.

Upon powering up the device I ran across something else that gave me a bit of a startle. Either my eyes were going bad or this phone came with one of the most sub-par screens I have seen on an HTC device in years. From the looks of the homescreen as well as browsing through the Start Menu, the screen on this device appeared to be a bit washed out. Not one to just throw in the towel right away I sat down with the phone and started poking and prodding through all of the settings and pre-installed applications and quickly discovered while looking at the pre-loaded images on the phone that there was nothing wrong with the screen. In fact the screen was downright gorgeous and incredibly vivid. The problem with the device was the operating system. It was like hooking up a computer running Windows 98 to a HD monitor. A lot of the graphics in the OS, as well as the icons, just look washed out, jagged, and well past their prime.

Figure 6: A glance at the aging Windows Mobile interface.

"A war is going on in the smartphone market and unless Microsoft can create the sexy device of buyers' dreams, Windows Mobile could soon be relegated to the 'also ran' category. In this increasingly cutthroat market, Nick Jones, VP and analyst at Gartner, told silicon.com Windows Mobile is at "a crossroads" and risks being left behind by its rivals. According to Jones, the iPhone and its ilk are delivering intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that magnify Windows Mobile's faults while Microsoft's OS licensing business model is also coming under fire as open source platforms such as Android and Symbian give their wares away for free."

I remember a couple of years ago when I got my T-Mobile Dash I received many compliments on its looks and functionality. Now devices like the Dash are a dime a dozen and look pretty stale compared to the new sleek touch screens of today. Let's face it, we want it all. The look, the functionality, usability, and the feel of a sexy smartphone. So what's it going to take for Microsoft to get back in the game? What do you consider to be the sexiest device out there and what makes it so appealing?

Software developers will appreciate exeda's special development platform. exeda offers to developers -

• Open source u-boot bootloader
• Detailed hardware and software documentation
• Full BSP's
• 10/100Base-T Ethernet port
• JTAG interface
• RS-232
• Unlocked SIM

Todd Peters, the vice president of marketing for the Windows Mobile division, said "he was clear that one way in which Microsoft plans to become more competitive is by limiting the number of devices built with the Windows Mobile operating system. At present, there are around 140 such devices, from a range of cell phone makers, from Samsung to Palm and many in between."

?We?re going to pump more value into the license,? he said....

• HTC, Motorola, Samsung are going big on Android;
  
• Palm is introducing a new OS;
  
• HP, do they really count?

"HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile design and innovation, today unveiled the HTC S743, a compelling fusion of style and power. By combining a traditional 12-key keypad design with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the HTC S743 was created to bring the muscle of Windows Mobile 6.1 to customers who prefer a more traditional user interface. The HTC S743, which supports high-speed HSDPA (850/1900 MHz) networks, will be available through select retail outlets, including dell.com and cdw.com, during the first quarter of 2009. 'While others are content focusing on a single design or user interface, HTC is dedicated to bringing the benefits of mobile convergence to all consumers, without forcing them to use a device that doesn’t truly fit their lifestyle,' said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. 'The HTC S743, which packs high-design and high-performance into a trim 4.9 ounce package, is a great example of HTC’s rejection of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ philosophy.'"

It is nice to see HTC bring this seriously sexy Windows Mobile Standard handset to the US market. I have been lucky enough to get my hands on a HTC S740 that I have had for a few weeks and after playing around with that handset I might just have to pick up this model once the device is released on our side of the pond. I don't want to say too much since our review of the S740 should be up by the week’s end but I can tell you that I truly sad to have to send it back. We will keep you guys updated as we receive more information on the HTC S743. Also be sure to check out the full press release after the break

Sleek and sophisticated HTC S743 comes to the US market

Slim, stylish smartphone combines conventional navigation with unconventional capability

BELLEVUE, Wash. – January 6, 2009 – HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile design and innovation, today unveiled the HTC S743, a compelling fusion of style and power. By combining a traditional 12-key keypad design with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the HTC S743 was created to bring the muscle of Windows® Mobile 6.1 to customers who prefer a more traditional user interface. The HTC S743, which supports high-speed HSDPA (850/1900 MHz) networks, will be available through select retail outlets, including dell.com and cdw.com, during the first quarter of 2009.

“While others are content focusing on a single design or user interface, HTC is dedicated to bringing the benefits of mobile convergence to all consumers, without forcing them to use a device that doesn’t truly fit their lifestyle,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “The HTC S743, which packs high-design and high-performance into a trim 4.9 ounce package, is a great example of HTC’s rejection of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ philosophy.”

Featuring the same ‘faceted’ design first implemented in the highly popular HTC Touch Diamond™, the HTC S743 was also engineered to deliver an outstanding voice experience. At a mere 1.7 inches wide, the HTC S743 fits comfortably into the palm of the hand, allowing for ergonomic and comfortable voice calls. Despite its narrow profile, the HTC S743 still boasts a large and bright 2.4 inch QVGA display for reading and responding to e-mail and SMS or accessing the Internet.

With its full QWERTY keyboard, the HTC S743 is able to take advantage of its full suite of messaging options. As a Windows Mobile 6.1 based device, the HTC S743 interfaces seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange as well as personal POP3 and IMAP4 email protocols. Along with SMS and MMS messaging, support for a number of instant messaging standards is included with the HTC S743, making it fast and easy to stay in touch with friends and family while on the go.

The HTC S743 marks the latest HTC device to be made available through independent channels in the US. Underscoring its commitment to delivering choice to the smartphone market, US consumers can choose from unique HTC devices including the GSM variant of the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Dual™ through a number of electronics retailers including national retailers, independent wireless outlets and online e-tailers such as dell.com and cdw.com.

About HTC

Founded in 1997, HTC Corporation (HTC) designs innovative, feature rich smartphones. Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations and launched state-of-the-art PDA Phones and smartphones for mobile operators and distributors in Europe, the US, and Asia. These machines are available as HTC devices and as products individually customized for operator and device partners.HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

"SeeqPod Mobile brings Playable SearchTM to Windows Mobile powered phones and devices (and the upcoming Windows App Marketplace). Now you can use SeeqPod's award-winning* Biomimetic Search & Discovery technology to find playable search results, and Wikipedia articles all from your phone! Get instant playable access to SeeqPod's ever-growing and daily updated archive of Featured PodLists! Experience it all with a wide variety of color themes and one of the most amazing and gorgeous media players ever, with changeable skins in a range of styles."

I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure I've wrapped my brain around exactly what this program does - biomimetic search and discovery? It seems like a search engine that focuses on music, podcasts, video, and other forms of media content. Well, for this weekend only (so the offer ends today), the program is free rather than $9.95 USD. What the heck - grab it now and figure it out later. ;-) The software will work on any device running Windows Mobile 6 or higher, whether that's Windows Mobile Professional or Windows Mobile Standard (I suspect Classic is supported as well).

"We'll be totally honest -- we pretty much blew Ruslan Kogan off when he proclaimed that he was about to push out a $199 Android phone by the year's end. And truthfully, the guy still hasn't totally delivered, but you won't find us kvetching about more Googlephones, regardless of MSRP. The Agora (AU$299; US$192) and Agora Pro (AU$399; US$256) are available for pre-order as we speak, though neither one is scheduled to ship out until the end of January. For those unfamiliar with Kogan, it's an online-only enterprise that has wares built specifically to its dimensions in China, and so far as we can tell, it's as legit as they come. As for specs, the Agora packs a 2.5-inch touchscreen (320 x 240), 3G networking, a backlit QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.0 and a microSD card slot; the Pro adds in GPS, 2-megapixel camera and WiFi. So, with unsubsidized prices this low, are you willing to take a chance?"

I know this isn't Windows Mobile news but I thought it was incredibly interesting to see a company get ready to roll out an Android device that looks more like a Windows Mobile Standard handset instead of yet another Apple iPhone inspired touch screen device. With the lack of Windows Mobile Standard releases lately, I have feared that we would start to see the demise in QWERTY devices such as this. It is refreshing to see a company come out on the verge of releasing one that looks as slick as this device. I could easily see this being a Windows Mobile device in the future since the hardware is similar to that of current Windows Mobile Standard handsets we have today. Hopefully Kogan will be kind enough to release one of these bad boys in a flavor of our liking in the future.

"Blockbuster Inc. caught up to the competition last week by introducing a set-top box that brings rentals from the Internet to the television. Now, the Dallas-based company hopes to pass the pack by teaming with Microsoft Corp. on new mobile services that will let customers watch even more movies on more devices. 'Eventually, we'll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an Internet connection and a screen,' said Keith Morrow, Blockbuster's chief information officer."

I really love Netflix and their Watch Now service but the truth is their selection is pretty slim pickings. Out of the 400 DVD's in my Netflix queue, only 9 of them are available as Watch Now titles. Out of all of those 9 movies, I cannot play any of them on my Windows Mobile devices or any other mobile device I own. It will be very interesting to see how Blockbuster is able to pull this off, especially since they mention the ability to stream any movie on any device. Now the real question is does any movie count as any movie they carry in their stores and online service or will this be like Netflix where it is any movie they will have in their handful of movies that are able to stream. Only time will tell. It is nice however to see big name companies already utilizing the new Live Mesh platform.

"Last month I posted in this topic about Colorware's process for customising the Samsung Blackjack II. Colorware graciously offered to repaint a truly battered Blackjack II that team member 'encece' hooked me up with, and i've been using the resulting device for a few weeks now. So what's the finished result like? Gorgeous!"

[Photo courtesy of MoDaCo]

Over at MoDaCo, Paul was brave enough to send in his Smartphone for the ol' paint job finish. I have to say that I am highly impressed. While the Samsung Blackjack II is a powerful device, I was always put off at how cheap and shiny the outer body looked. It was as if Samsung had learned nothing from the mistakes of other manufactures and ignored the fact that shiny finishes on and tiny gadget turns the device into a fingerprint magnet. Even if you do not suffer from my hatred for smudges and fingerprints, there is no denying that after spending 5 minutes with a super shiny device like the Blackjack II that it just looks trashy and cheap because it is all smudged up and gross looking. From the look of the images that Paul has posted of this new paint job, while the device still looks shiny, it looks a whole lot more refreshing than the standard black paint job. Hopefully these lighter and brighter colors will do more to hide all of the smudges this device picks up.

"Those two HP iPAQ handsets we served up a few weeks back have now touched down on the Vodafone website. You can't buy them just yet, but you can at least have a snoop around the handsets and check out the specs. The HP Voice Messenger and the HP Data Messenger are now online and you can get your name down to be informed when they're ready to buy."

If any of our readers out there happen to be on the Vodafone network in the UK, we have some great news for you. Sometime soon you will be able to pick up HP's latest Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard handset, the HP Voice Messenger. This Smartphone features a BlackBerry like 20-key keyboard, 3.1MP camera, voice activated dialing, microSD expansion slot (up to 8GB) as well as quad-band GSM, HSDPA, and Bluetooth connectivity.

"When asked how he viewed Google as a competitor in the mobile market, Mr Ballmer - the chief executive officer of the world's biggest software company – initially responded with a conciliatory tone. 'This is their first phone, they're not easy,' he said. 'Let's see how they do.' But the niceties, which he had earlier shown for other competitors including Apple, were shortly dropped as Mr Ballmer expressed disbelief at Google's business practices. 'They (Google) can hire smart guys, hire smart people, blah-de-blah-de-blah,' Mr Ballmer said. 'I don't really understand their strategy, maybe somebody else does.' 'Turning up to an investor meeting saying, 'we've just launched a mobile operating system with no revenue model, yay!' – I wouldn't do that,' he said.'I don't get the business model.'"

Steve Ballmer is a hoot! Who goes on the record and says "blah-de-blah-de-blah" in regards to a competitor? I really hope Steve is just trying to downplay Google Android's significant in the mobile playing field because I feel it is plain to see what Google is trying to accomplish. You give the operating system away for free, it will eventually end up in the hands of millions of users... all of them forced to use your services to use the device. When people use Google's services, Google in turn makes a ton of money off of advertising deals they have in place. That sounds like a very solid revenue model to me. Once again I am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that the forehead-smacking-comments that come out of Microsoft's Powers That Be mouths as of late are nothing more than schoolyard trash talking in an attempt to throw their competitors off guard.

"Skype wirelessly anywhere in a cost-effective way! IM+ for Skype enables voice and text communication with other Skype and MySpace users and provides cost-effective calling to landlines and mobiles. The application is completely mobile. No desktop with Skype is necessary. All you need is a mobile device with Internet connection and SkypeOut credits to make/receive calls. Full contant book support. IM+ for Skype works worldwide in any 3G/GSM/CDMA network, even with low data transfer rate as it needs quite a few data traffic."

If you are a user of Skype and Myspace's instant messaging solution, then you might want to check out IM+ for Skype. This application will allow you to make Skype out calls over your carrier's data network so as long as you have SkypeOut credits, calling your friends in different countries won't be as expensive as it would be if you used your actual calling plan. You can pick up a free trail of IM+ for Skype here and if you like it, you can purchase this application for $19.95 from our affiliate store.

"The smartphone landscape is changing rapidly with the arrival of the T-Mobile G1, the first phone based on Google's Android software, and the huge success of Apple's iPhone business. And if both of these take big slices of the smartphone market, that leaves less for everybody else – unless they can find a way to respond."

[Courtesy of The Guardian. Illustration by Tobias Hickey]

I was reading The Guardian this morning when I ran across this interesting Windows Mobile article, "Can Microsoft be a Mobile Hero?" There isn't anything new in the doom and gloom department that hasn't been said a million times already but it is nice to read the opinions of a person that isn't as closely tied to the Windows Mobile experience as all of us are here. It amazes me to see the Internet turn so quickly against Windows Mobile and cast it aside like an old shoe. I personally do not believe the situation is as dire as everyone else believes, but I do feel it is very important that Microsoft steps up their game and focus on usability for their next release as if their lives depended on it. I don't see Microsoft letting Windows Mobile die anytime soon, but on this current path-to-nowhere I can easily see Windows Mobile quickly becoming irrelevant.

"From our sources confidential and exclusive, we learned that Samsung would launch a new Windows Mobile smartphones, which we were able to hear very few but important details even if, unfortunately, we have had no image of the device... According to our information, the new Samsung smartphones was designed to target an extremely young and will be launched in Italy, although at the time there was communicated, even at orientation, the timing of final marketing."

Good news for our readers in Italy. It looks as if Samsung is working on a new Windows Mobile device target towards a younger crowd. There is no news at the moment if this device will be a Windows Mobile Standard or Professional handset, but it is nice to see that some manufactures are still catering to the younger and hipper consumer crowd. We will keep you posted as we hear more information regarding this new device.

This is a new type of review that I'm experimenting with - rather than me doing an exhaustive review of a product, I'm giving a Windows Mobile smartphone to someone else for a couple of weeks and asking them about their experience using it. I think there's a lot of value in real-world testing of products by people who aren't experts, because as much as I try to put on my "Everyman Hat" when I'm testing a product, I still carry a bias with me. This first Real World Review fell together nicely: my wife had a phone on our local CDMA carrier in Calgary, Telus, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to ask HTC for an S640 for review.

Q: Let's start off with the basics: this is your first Windows Mobile-based phone. What were you using before, and why did you want to leave it behind to try a Windows Mobile smartphone?

A: Before I started using my HTC S640 with Telus, I was using a Motorola KRAZR (also with Telus) and an iPAQ Pocket PC rx1955 as my PDA. I would sync it over WiFi or at home to my Exchange server in order to keep track of appointments and contacts - when it would work. The WiFi was really unreliable on it! I often couldn't connect reliably to WiFi with it and it would then be out of sync. I really liked the look of the KRAZR - sleek and sexy - but as I started text messaging more and more, I found it just simply wasn't meeting my needs, largely because I wasn't very fast at using the predictive text input. My iPAQ wasn't connected, so it was useless to me as far as a device for communicating with my friends and family. It was at that point I decided I wanted to look into getting a Windows Mobile smartphone.

Q: You always told me you preferred being a two-device person. What changed your mind?

A: I don't think I fully bought into the concept of a single device until I started using the HTC S640 smartphone. Now that I have my email, calendar, contacts, phone, etc. available to me no matter where I am on a single device, without having to remember to sync it when I get home, or am in range of a wireless network, I can't believe I waited as long as I did to make the switch! More than anything, using a smartphone gives me the ability to be productive no matter where I am. I don't have to worry about things like whether I'm missing appointments because my calendar is out of date. I also love having a QWERTY keyboard to use for texting and responding to email. Composing messages on my KRAZR took far too long. Now it takes me a fraction of the time.

Q: So let's talk about the HTC S640. Are you finding it easy to use? You went from a touch-screen device to a keyboard-driven device. Is there anything you miss from the iPAQ?

A: I definitely was worried about losing the touch screen, as I'd grown used to the ease of using a stylus. However, transitioning to a keyboard-driven device has been a breeze. I've even figured out how to play games with a keyboard instead of a touch screen! I feel like data input was easier on a touch screen - specifically as far as calendar appointments and contacts were concerned - but other than a small learning curve to figure it out with a keyboard, I don't miss the touch screen at all.

Q: I remember you saying you had trouble finding the ringer volume, which is one of my long-standing complaints with Windows Mobile Standard smartphones - in this instance, they don't function like basically every other phone on the market where the volume buttons control the volume of the ringer, and putting the phone into silent or vibrate mode. How have you found the HTC S640 in use as a phone - does it measure up to the Motorola KRZR in pure phone functions?

A: I felt like a bit of an idiot when I couldn't figure out how to adjust the ringer volume, and had to ask for help. It seems like such a basic function for a phone. Generally I like the HTC S640 as a phone, but I've accidentally hung up on more people than I can remember. Even though I have the "Any Button Answer" function turned off, if I pick up the phone while it's ringing and locked, any key I hit hangs up on the caller. Very awkward and inconvenient, to be sure. Otherwise, I love having my whole contact list available to me everywhere I go.

Q: You haven't installed much on the HTC S640 yet - how do you find the included software on it? Is there anything missing in terms of what you use the phone for in day to day use?

A: I'm not a huge software user on this device yet...however, what I do have on it is more than adequate. I tend to use the email, text, and Internet software most, along with a few games, and I haven't run into any issues with any of these.

Q: How has the battery life been on it? How often do you have to charge it?

A: Battery life has been hit and miss. Normally I can get two to three days of use from a full charge, however, recently I recharged it fully, used it normally for a day, and it died on me that night. I'm not entirely sure what caused the major battery drain, but any phone should absolutely provide longer than a single day's use on a full charge. Thankfully it hasn't happened again.

Q: Has the phone been stable? Have you had to reboot it or has it crashed at all?

A: The only time I've rebooted it is when I accidentally hit the Power Off option when switching ring modes from Normal to Silent. :-) The other day the call button wouldn't work - I selected a phone number, and pressed the call button...and nothing happened. I was able to dial the number manually, thankfully.

Q: What about call quality and call volume? Has anyone noticed you've switched phones?

A: I haven't had any complaints about either of these. No one has indicated that they can't hear me, nor have I experienced incoming call volume loss.

Q: The HTC S640 uses 1x-EVDO for wireless data - any complaints about the speed?

A: I'm always looking for more speed, but it does a decent job at data transfer.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to change about the HTC S640 hardware itself, or the version of Windows Mobile it comes with? I recall you mentioning something about it not always "waking up" properly, and the fact that you sometimes power it down accidentally - tell me about that.

A: I think my biggest complaint about the hardware is that I accidentally hit the camera button regularly. Because it sticks out a smidge from the side of the device, if I grab it from my purse, I'll hit the camera button, take a picture of my wallet, and then have to back out of that function before using it for whatever I needed it for.

As you mentioned, I've also noticed that sometimes when I go to use the device, I'll hit the centre key on the D-pad, and it takes abnormally long to wake up. I find myself having to hit the button a couple of times before it recognizes that I'm trying to wake it up. And, I mentioned this above, that having the Power Off option as the first choice when I go to change the ring mode is silly. That should be the last option, and Vibrate, Silent & Normal should be the first three. It's too easy to accidentally hit Power Off when trying to simply switch the ringer to be silent.

Q: Thanks for answering my questions!

A: You're welcome! I'm generally very happy with my new smartphone. I'm officially a convert!

"When Google, T-Mobile, and HTC unveiled the first smartphone running Android last month, Google's many fans were excited by the idea of a mobile phone tied to the online services they enjoy. Other were less enthusiastic, pointing out that Android is an untried operating system and the T-Mobile G1 is only going to be available from a single, relatively small wireless provider in the United States. Nevertheless, there are enough optimists that 1.5 million G1's have already been pre-ordered, sight unseen. And this number would be higher, except that T-Mobile has sold all the devices it has available to ship by October 22, the launch day."

This number doesn't surprise me at all. As a T-Mobile customer, pre-ordering this handset is a pretty big deal. It is the only handset in who knows how long where you have been able to get the subsidized price while still in contract! Usually you have to wait 11 months out of a 12 month contract or 21 months out of a 24 month contract before you can get the discounted price off a device. T-Mobile has definitely did their customers a solid here, and at the same point managed to convince up to 1.5 million people to sign up for their data plan, which I'm sure they make a killing on. Heck, even I have been considering pre-ordering a T-Mobile G1 until I can scrub up close to $700 to buy a HTC Touch from Best Buy or eXpansys!

"The Duo of Pantech Duo owners (get it?) can finally rejoice because Microsoft is blessing them with 6.1. Don't remember the Duo? We forgive you, but recommend you check out the dual-slider action to get a feel for how its pending replacement will work. We're actually a little surprised to see this dual slider get a 6.1 update, not that we're complaining. We sorta thought the new rule was that if a replacement is imminent, 6.1 wouldn't be. Isn't that the lesson we learned from the Treo 750, whose promised WM6.1 update is nowhere in sight? (Or, hopefully, the 750's WM6 download is being taken down to make way for it)."

While I am surprised to see Windows Mobile 6.1 released for the Pantech Duo, especially since it has been such a long time since the release of this handset, it is nice to see that Pantech didn't abandon their dual slider loving customers. More manufactures should take a cue from Pantech's book here. As I mentioned yesterday with the Samsung Jack Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade, please make sure to backup any data you wish to keep!

"Rogers' Samsung Jack, which is Canada-speak for BlackJack II, has been officially blessed with Windows Mobile 6.1. It's a few weeks behind the BlackJack II's own upgrade, true, but... you know, Canada-izing this stuff takes time. Or something. Grab the update from Samsung's site while the gettin's good."

This is great news for all of our Canadian readers out there! If you are the owner of one of Rogers Samsung Jack handsets you should head on over to the Samsung website and grab the latest update. As always, please make sure to back up all over your important data that you would like to keep as this update will completely wipe your device. Hopefully with the release of Windows Mobile 7, we will not have to deal with this inconvenience anymore... hopefully.

This is an unboxing and first impressions video of the HTC S640, a CDMA 1xEVDO Windows Mobile phone that's sold by Telus in Canada, and as far as I can tell, it's only sold by Telus. So even though this phone has been out since late 2007, I was interested in taking it for a spin because there are virtually no reviews of it anywhere online. It runs Windows Mobile Standard 6, meaning it's a non-touch screen phone and has a QVGA screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a microSD slot. It also has a full QWERTY keyboard and shares its lineage with products like the HTC Excalibur and Cavalier. I've long held that the T-Mobile Dash I have is the best Windows Mobile Standard smartphone ever made, but being stuck at EDGE speeds got old really quick.

There's another thing that made this phone interesting to me: my wife would be using it. I'm using a Samsung Jack (Blackjack II) with Rogers, our monopolistic GSM carrier, and my wife Ashley is with Telus, our main CDMA carrier herein Western Canada. For several years now, she's been a two-device user, using variations of the smallest iPAQs on the market, most recently the iPAQ 1940, and a Motorola KRZR for phone-calling duties. She preferred the large screen on the iPAQ and she synchronized her email and PIM data with a 4smartphone hosted Exchange account. She wanted her phone to be just a phone...until she started doing more text messaging. Her skills with T9 were lacking, so a QWERTY smartphone started to make a lot of sense. And since data plans in Canada were finally more reasonable ($30/month for unlimited email + Web), she wanted a Windows Mobile smartphone.

I'll be following up this first impressions video with a Q&A interview - it's been really interesting to watch what my wife liked about the S640, what she didn't like, and what she thought of Windows Mobile 6 (sadly, there's still not 6.1 update from Telus).

"The popular Windows Mobile weather software Elecont Weather is updated. New version is getting weather data from the proven and reliable weather source -- WSI Corp. (www.intellicast.com) Elecont Weather provides the most accurate weather data -- 10 day worldwide weather forecast, current conditions and hour-by-hour forecast. It is the most complete weather solution on the market. Weather data is displayed directly on Home/Today screen with animated icon sets. Elecont Weather has several display modes and cand display weather forecast even only in one line -- it is very useful on small screens. Elecont Weather is easy and powerful."

Having the weather displayed on your homescreen is cool and so is having a 10 forecast. But what really is great about this program is how often it's updated. For less than $10 (until September 14th) you are purchasing a weather program that the guys at Elecont take very seriously and are constantly trying to improve on. I wish more software vendors were like this. You can always check out the trial demo on their site.

"GPSed is a location-based service for trip tracking from Windows Mobile Smartphones. In real time tracks are traced on Google maps and stored in an online archive. With a simple geotagging feature it is possible to pin photos to a map precisely at a place they where taken. Map GPS tracks from your mobile and keep them in a personal archive."

I was browsing around our affiliate software store and I ran across GPSed. What GPSed does is let you record your trips to anywhere on the planet on your Smartphone. It does this by utilizing Google Maps, to trace the route you took, and stores the information in an database online. Sounds neat, huh? Well the good news doesn't stop because you can pick up GPSed from our affiliate store for the super low price of free. Yep, that’s right; you can download this app without even breaking out the old credit card. I'll keep an eye out for other interesting free applications that we have in our stores. Unfortunately my Blackjack does not have GPS built in so I can't play with it. If anyone uses this application, please let us know how you like it.

"With Google’s Chrome browser announcement and revelation of plans by Microsoft to roll out an iPhone app store competitor, all eyes should be on Windows Mobile... Google had no plans to develop its own browser, Eric Schmidt and Co. are doing just that... From a July 2008 speech at the Microsoft partner conference by Andy Lees 'Well, of course, consumers want to use the devices to be able to do things like to access the Internet. That’s why we’re putting Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows Mobile where we’ll complete that in the next six months, and that’s so that you get the full PC experience on a mobile device. That’s not a cut-down browser; it’s the full IE 6.'... SkyMarket, SkyLine and SkyBox are all in their early/startup phases. Windows Mobile 7 is expected to be released to carriers in late 2008/early 2009, which means the first WinMo 7 phones — with an IE 6 browser and maybe a new app marketplace — should hit later on in 2009. Is Microsoft falling too far behind to stay competitive in the mobile space, clearing the way for Google’s Chrome to come in and clean Redmond’s clock?"

You would think with all of the security flaws that surrond Internet Explorer 6 that they would just trash the source code by now. Even if all the security flaws weren't an issue the simple fact that Web Developers have to jump through hoops to get their code to function corerctly on IE6 would be enough to make them make a more standards compliant browser for their mobile offerings. You would think that after finding out about this in July I would have time to have calmed down and not be so disgusted by the information, but no, I'm still horribly upset about it.

We are now reaching the point with the release of the Beta of Internet Explorer 8 where web developers, like myself, were starting to jump for joy at the chance to drop Internet Explorer 6 support. Internet Explorer 6 is nothing less than a nightmare. Hopefully Microsoft realizes their folly before the release of Windows Mobile 7 because including a browser that is over 5 years old on your devices when the competition are using top of the line WebKit browsers is a definet shot in the foot for Microsoft.

"With Google’s Chrome browser announcement and revelation of plans by Microsoft to roll out an iPhone app store competitor, all eyes should be on Windows Mobile... Google had no plans to develop its own browser, Eric Schmidt and Co. are doing just that... From a July 2008 speech at the Microsoft partner conference by Andy Lees 'Well, of course, consumers want to use the devices to be able to do things like to access the Internet. That’s why we’re putting Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows Mobile where we’ll complete that in the next six months, and that’s so that you get the full PC experience on a mobile device. That’s not a cut-down browser; it’s the full IE 6.'... SkyMarket, SkyLine and SkyBox are all in their early/startup phases. Windows Mobile 7 is expected to be released to carriers in late 2008/early 2009, which means the first WinMo 7 phones — with an IE 6 browser and maybe a new app marketplace — should hit later on in 2009. Is Microsoft falling too far behind to stay competitive in the mobile space, clearing the way for Google’s Chrome to come in and clean Redmond’s clock?"

You would think with all of the security flaws that surrond Internet Explorer 6 that they would just trash the source code by now. Even if all the security flaws weren't an issue the simple fact that Web Developers have to jump through hoops to get their code to function corerctly on IE6 would be enough to make them make a more standards compliant browser for their mobile offerings. You would think that after finding out about this in July I would have time to have calmed down and not be so disgusted by the information, but no, I'm still horribly upset about it.

We are now reaching the point with the release of the Beta of Internet Explorer 8 where web developers, like myself, were starting to jump for joy at the chance to drop Internet Explorer 6 support. Internet Explorer 6 is nothing less than a nightmare. Hopefully Microsoft realizes their folly before the release of Windows Mobile 7 because including a browser that is over 5 years old on your devices when the competition are using top of the line WebKit browsers is a definite shot in the foot for Microsoft.

"This has to wrap up the lunacy that has seen Windows Mobile 6.1 updates for just about everything that needed one in recent times. We've seen 6.1 hacked for Sammy's BlackJack, but it's sorta sweet of them to get it out to us all official-like. The release notes on Samsung's site mention threaded SMS, Domain enrollment, and even a BMW iDrive patch as tout-worthy features, in this, the newest and best from Microsoft. As a word of caution, following the instructions to the letter is always a good plan during ROM updates, as failure to do so can lead to a very dead handset. Thanks Samsung, we appreciate the speedy software updates. Read link has the goods."

As all of you have probably already heard, Windows Mobile 6.1 has been released for the Samsung Blackjack II. We would have reported on it earlier but when news first broke the update was pulled offline for whatever reason and after almost two days of regular refreshing of my browser hoping the update has come back... I eventually got distracted and forgot all about it. Sorry guys!

Before performing this update do not forget to back up all of your data! This update will completely restore your phone to its default factory settings! You can download the update from one of the two links below:

• Download for Windows XP
• Download for Windows Vista

"Microsoft Mobile Communications Group Manager Scott Rockfeld was on Fox Business chatting up quite a lot of Windows Mobile devices. The context of the discussion is basically 'competitors to the iPhone,' which is a little aggravating because, let's face it, the iPhone and Windows Mobile aren't always going for the same demographic. Some of the smartphones shown off: HTC Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, and the BlackJack II."

I've watched this video several times, mostly because the Touch Diamond looked so swanky in it, but also because I thought Scott Rockfeld, Microsoft Mobile Communications Group Manager, handled himself brilliantly. Scott came out swinging showing off some of the more popular Windows Mobile 6.1 devices on the market, including the HTC touch Diamond, and was really hammering home that the Windows Mobile platform is all about choice. This seems to tie in exactly with all of the recent talk on the Internet of Microsoft’s new "Windows Not Walls" campaign. On top of that you throw in the fact that every device featured in this segment has sold over a million or more devices it starts to make a lot of the recent Apple sales hype start to look a little sad.

Microsoft builds fantastic products but unfortunately they're not the best when it comes to feeding the publicity machine. One of the biggest hurdles for Windows Mobile has always been lack of visibility in the public’s eye. All of us as Smartphone and Pocket PC fans have heard the pitch that Scott gave in this video dozens of times over but I think Microsoft is finally understanding that we are not the ones that need to be told this over and over again but instead the general populous needs to know. I just hope Microsoft does more of these segments on other news networks. So what did you guys think of the video?

"Motorola and AT&T Inc. today announced the availability of the MOTO Q Global with Windows Mobile 6.1, one of the first devices featuring the latest mobile software on sale to the public. Available exclusively to AT&T customers, the new MOTO Q Global has a bold pinstripe design with eye-catching metallic edging and a robust feature set, including Motorola’s patented CrystalTalk technology for clear calls, assisted GPS via the AT&T network for quick, accurate location fixes, and threaded SMS for chat-like texting."

If you read this site regularly then you probably know how I feel about Motorola constantly rehashing the same design and making a big hoopla about the handset like it is the first time we have ever seen it. They did this with the Motorola RAZR for years and now they are doing it once again to the Motorola Q9 Global. The only difference between every other time that Motorola has done this and today is that I actually like this new handset! Sure it is the same exact Motorola Q9 variant we have all grown to know and love but now it is up to date with the latest version of Microsoft's mobile platform - Windows Mobile 6.1 - and the new silver and pinstripe design is actually pretty snazzy. Mix this together with the already incredibly QWERT keyboard, 1.3MP camera, aGPS, Opera browser and Documents To Go and you have yourself one incredibly powerful device in a tiny sleek form factor. Thumbs up to Motorola! Read the full press release after the jump.

MOTO QTM Global with Windows Mobile 6.1 Now Available from AT&T

Motorola’s Popular Q Global sports a sleek new appearance and advanced functionality for a different kind of smart phone experience

Schaumburg, Ill., 28 August 2008 – Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced the availability of the MOTO Q™ Global with Windows Mobile 6.1, one of the first devices featuring the latest mobile software on sale to the public. Available exclusively to AT&T customers, the new MOTO Q Global has a bold pinstripe design with eye-catching metallic edging and a robust feature set, including Motorola’s patented CrystalTalk™ technology for clear calls, assisted GPS1via the AT&T network for quick, accurate location fixes, and threaded SMS1 for chat-like texting.

“Consumers have been clamoring for a single device with the most advanced Windows Mobile software to keep them connected, informed and entertained, all while looking sleek and sharp,” said Juergen Stark, corporate vice president of Productivity, Mobile Devices, Motorola, Inc. “Motorola is proud to provide AT&T customers with one of the first devices featuring Windows Mobile 6.1, and the unparalleled smart phone experience of our MOTO Q Global.”

Much like the original MOTO Q Global, that was lauded for its ergonomically-designed keyboard, voice quality and 3G speeds, the new Q also comes pre-loaded with Good Mobile Messaging1 and BlackBerry Connect1, an Opera browser and the award-winning Documents To Go from DataViz3, which enables users to view, create and edit Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files as well as view Adobe PDF files.

The new Q strives to enhance the user experience with productivity features, including the latest device and security management and improved messaging. Integrated GPS gives consumer seamless access to location-based services with AT&T Navigator for use both in the U.S. and abroad, including spoken and text-based turn-by-turn directions and business finder capabilities. The device also helps business owners manage their mobile workforce with TeleNav Track1 a fully hosted GPS-based workforce-management solution. Motorola’s CrystalTalk technology helps users to hear and be heard, and AT&T Mobile Music1 and MEdiaNet1 keeps users entertained, while on the go.

With a new pinstripe design accented with tasteful chrome elements and sleek metallic edging, the new Q brings a bit of class and a little something different to its users.

Windows Mobile 6.1 Experience
Windows Mobile 6.1 provides the latest in mobile software technology, making it easier for users to stay connected and receive up-to-the minute updates. New capabilities, such as a new sliding panel home screen design that enables users to find things of importance quickly, threaded SMS for chat-like texting, and the ability to cut and paste, significantly enhance the user experience. Users can now keep track of appointments or messages with just a glance, while playing music, browsing pictures, or downloading a favorite song1, 2 can all be done with just a click.

For the enterprise user, Windows Mobile 6.1 provides advanced user-friendly applications, such as support for Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager to provide single-point access to applications, files and other information located on the corporate network. For added security, Windows Mobile 6.1 supports encryption, remote administration, Information Rights Management and enables users to send and receive encrypted email.

Pricing and Availability
MOTO Q Global is available now for $149.99 with a two-year contract and qualified voice and data plans at AT&T retail stores nationwide, online at http://www.att.com, at select national retailers and through AT&T’s business-to-business sales organizations. Unlimited monthly data plans, which include corporate e-mail, are $44.99 a month with a voice contract. Personal data plans, which include personal e-mail, begin at $29.99 a month for 20MB of data. AT&T also offers international data plans for the MOTO Q Global covering 67 countries — 20MB for an additional $24.99 a month or 50MB for an additional $59.99 a month. AT&T Navigator is available for an additional monthly charges of $9.99 for domestic service, or $19.98 for domestic and international use. TeleNav Track monthly service plans range from $12.99 to $21.99 for each device.

Small business customers also can add AT&T’s new BusinessTalk voice plans, which start at $60 a month for five users and 700 Anytime Minutes and can be expanded for $9.99 a line to accommodate up to 40 users and 20,000 Anytime Minutes. Companies also may choose BusinessTalk with either unlimited Mobile to Mobile or Push To Talk features. For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit http://www.att.com

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications. The company develops technologies, products and services that make mobile experiences possible. Our portfolio includes communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility solutions, digital set-tops, cable modems, mobile devices and Bluetooth accessories. Motorola is committed to delivering next generation communication solutions to people, businesses and governments. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $36.6 billion in 2007. For more information about our company, our people and our innovations, please visit http://www.motorola.com.

Certain mobile phone features may not be available throughout the entire network or their functionality may be limited. All features, functionality and other product specifications are subject to change without notice or obligation.

1 Network and/or SIM card dependent feature, not available in all areas. Airtime, data charges and/or additional charges may apply. Wireless e-mail functionality requires an e-mail account with wireless server capabilities.
2 The unauthorized copying of copyrighted materials is contrary to the provisions of the Copyright Laws of the United States and other countries. This device is intended solely for copying non-copyrighted materials, materials in which you own the copyright, or materials which you are authorized or legally permitted to copy. If you are uncertain about your right to copy any material, please contact your legal advisor.
3 Includes support of Office versions 2000 and 2003

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. 2008. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2008. All rights reserved.

© 2007 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other AT&T marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. For more information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at http://www.att.com/newsroom.

"Designed exclusively for the Windows Mobile Smartphone devices, ExpenseIt has an easy to use interface to allow the traveler to record expenses as they are incurred. Information such as a description, category, amount, city, payment method, attendees, notes, etc. can be entered for each expense item. A trip summary screen will display all trips in the main database with a total balance and user-defined status. "

I received word from Thomas from CohoSoft - a Pocket PC developer that has recently branched into the Smartphone world - to let us know about the release of their new smartphone software lineup. My favorite application out of the bunch is ExpenseIt, a program designed to help you track business expenses. The reason this is my favorite application is because of a really cool feature that I have not seen in any of the other expense tracking applications I have played with. This programs has the unique ability to export your completed expenses into either a CVS or HTML formatted file and email that file to whoever you're hiding from because you forgot to get your expense report in on time… again. If you’re like me and you have a thousand things going on at once this application might help in keeping you organized. You can purchase ExpenseIt directly through CohoSoft's website for $16.95.

Alright, either I've completely missed the rumours about this device (entirely possible) or HTC managed to keep this one a secret up to the very end. This is an interesting phone! Here are all the specs, pulled right from the press release I was sent earlier tonight.

• Size: 116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm
• Weight: 140g with battery
• Networks: WCDMA/HSDPA: 900/2100 MHz for EU and Asia
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Maximum speed: UL = 384 kbps; DL = 3.6/7.2 Mbps**
• Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard
• Display: 2.4-inch QVGA screen
• Camera: 3.2 megapixel with fixed focus
• Internal memory: 256 MB flash; 256 MB RAM
• Memory card: microSD
• WLAN: 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth®: 2.0 with EDR
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
• Battery: 1000 mAh
• Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 320 minutes*** / GSM: Up to 380 minutes***
• Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 400 hours*** / GSM: Up to 280 hours***
• Special features: Sliding QWERTY keyboard, FM radio, Google Maps, RSS Hub
• Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225, 528 MHz

Looking at that list, a few things stand out. First, it's an EU/Asia release first, so no North American 3G bands - meaning where I am, it's an EDGE-only phone. The good news though is that it's a GSM quad-band phone, so as far as voice coverage is concerned, it will be solid. The 2.4 inch QVGA screen is a bit of a disappointment - I was hoping for a VGA screen. This thing looks so much like the Diamond, why not give it the same screen? 256 MB RAM is plentiful on a Windows Mobile Standard device, and with the microSD card slot this thing can load up with a lot of storage. Built-in GPS is nice, but couldn't they do better than a 1000 mAh battery? Perhaps that will give stellar battery life since there's no VGA screen...

The potential down-side? As a slider, it's going to be thicker than a candy-bar style phone. The thickness of the S740 is 16.3 mm. The previous generation slider from HTC is the S710, and it's 18.6 mm - so they've managed to shave 2.3 mm off. My Blackjack II is 13 mm thick in comparison, and my all-time favourite Windows Mobile Standard phone, the HTC S620 (aka T-Mobile Dash), is 12.8 mm.

Regardless, I'm heartended to see that HTC hasn't abandoned the Windows Mobile Standard platform like it seemed they had. Bring us more non-touchscreen phones HTC!

In light of my previous post, I'm going to be switching from Fido to Rogers sometime in the next few days, and in order to get the $30/6 GB data plan I'm going to have to be locked in on a three year contract and get new hardware as well. That's not terribly surprising, and I don't really mind being on a three year contract - Rogers/Fido is the only GSM provider in this part of the country, so it's not like there's any other option any way.

The question for me then becomes, which model of phone should I go with? It looks like with a three year contract I can get the Motorola Q9h for $149 or the Samsung Jack for $49. I've never reviewed either one, and never even touched a Samsung Jack, so I'm not sure which one is the better phone. Any opinions, given my feeling that the T-Mobile Dash is the best Windows Mobile Standard device ever made? This question is somewhat academic of course, because it's not like this will be the only phone I'll be using in the next three years...but I'd still like to get a 3G phone that's a worthy successor to my Dash (since HTC seems to have largely given up on this form factor).

"Mippin audience grows to 10 million monthly page views across 146 countries... Mippin, a free mobile media service that makes discovering, consuming, and sharing content on mobile phones easy, today announced that Judy Gibbons has joined the team as CEO. Additionally, in advance of the new 3G phone launch Mippin has further enhanced its service for iPhone. The refined version benefits from even faster performance and a number of user interface improvements that make finding, discovering and sharing interesting content more intuitive and effective."

So I took a bit of time to play around with Mippin today. I expected Mippin to be a fun and refreshing content portal based off of the upbeat and giddy press release that was sent my way. Unfortunately after playing around with it, it becomes quickly apparent that Mippin is no different from the dozens of other web portal applications out there. From what I could see there was no real benefit to using this service over any of the content, news and media portals that are provided by your carrier (e.g. - AT&T's http://home/). Now don't get me wrong, I don’t really think there is anything wrong with this service. The problem is that what Mippin has done has been done so many times before that I have literally been more impressed with cereal boxes than I was this service. A little word of advice to those out there working on 'the next big mobile content portal' - it has already been done! Move along people! Try building us something original and new… and maybe even useful if you want to be daring! Just please for the love of all things mobile and good stop rehashing the same old junk over and over again!

Now please keep in mind that I virtually never travel outside the country. While I was on vacation last week in Belize and Mexico I found that I received a data signal from AT&T. Please understand that I am not griping about my naiveness to roaming charges. That is my responsibility. When I got my latest bill my roaming data charges are $125! I barely even surfed. I checked a couple of emails and some baseball scores for my son. What do all of you think? Doesn't it seem that roaming charges are a tad bit expensive? Did it really cost AT&T that much for the little time I surfed? Any of you out there like me and got surprised by a mobile bill with roaming charges?

"Brilliant, one of my very personal hot topics is Microsoft's SideShow technology for Windows Vista which is a technology for distributing interactive content to connected small-screen devices, such as Windows Mobile smartphones. The content is created and managed by small software applications called SideShow gadgets. And while Microsoft finally released the long awaited SideShow application for Windows Mobile a while ago, even if yet available as an early Beta only, one of the most anticipated SideShow gadget wasn't available so far - a Windows Vista Media Center gadget to remote control the Media Center from mobile devices like smartphones."

So now the Windows Vista Media Center can interact with your Windows Mobile device. The UnWired has some info on the recent Slideshow Gadget and how it interacts between Vista and the mobile device. As noted in the article, there are some bugs so remember that it's in beta form and use with your own risk.