Most Windows Mobile smartphones tend to be on the expensive side. This however does not always have to be the case. Samsung has released the i200 Windows Mobile Standard smartphone some months ago, aimed directly at the low-end of the market with the tag line “My Very First Smartphone“. The device has always been very affordable, and now dropped to an even lower price.
For no more than £190 (215 Euro) you can get yourself a HSDPA device with a 2.3 inch QVGA screen, a 2MP camera and Windows Mobile Standard. Unfortunately, the specifications does not include Wi-Fi support, and the 3G is only on the european 2100 Mhz band, but that is the only thing issues holding this device back from a solid recommendation.
Still, the price is great for what i200 has to offer and surely beats many dumb phones or Symbian powered devices in the same price range.
Brandon notes the browser is a bit slow, and appears to be largely PIE running with an IE 6 engine from a UI point of view. While Brandon expresses the belief, rather optimistically, that the final public release will be snappier, I do not share this view.
HTC Max is supposed to be exclusive to Yota (Russian WiMAX operator (http://www.yota.ru/en/). That means you will never find it anywhere else in the world. And that is a bad thing because the unit comes only in Russian languange. And there is no way you can change the language settings because the language is burnt into the ROM of the device. Thanks a lot Microsoft!
The specs of the device is pretty much a beefed up HTC Diamond. Bigger screen (3.8″), widescreen resolution (640×800), lots of memory (8GB+microSD expansion). Of course, it comes with WiMAX apart from the WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and GSM/EDGE connectivity.
The specs are otherwise unchanged, but if you do not want your Diamond to look the same as the 3 million other ones, this would be a compelling choice.
Key features and capabilities of the Samsung Omnia from Verizon Wireless include:
Full HTML Web browser with touch navigation
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Access to multiple e-mail accounts with Microsoft Direct Push for corporate users
Over-the-air synchronization of contacts, calendars and task lists with Microsoft Exchange Server
Supports Microsoft’s System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 that provides customers with software distribution capabilities and security-enhanced access to company data while they are away from the office
Access to VZAppZone – downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers and more
Playback of MP3 files
VZ Navigator(SM) capability – get visual and audible directions to thousands of destinations, locate businesses and other points of interest, get maps of a location and share directions with others
Text, picture and video messaging
Mobile IM using AIM®, MSN®, Yahoo!®
Bluetooth profiles supported: headset – mono and stereo, hands-free (car kits), object push for vCard, basic imaging and phonebook access profiles
5.0 megapixel camera and camcorder with flash and zoom
Face Detection – centers on a face when taking a picture
Panorama, split shot and anti-shake camera settings
SmileShot – enables the camera to detect when a person is smiling and automatically takes a picture when in the SmileShot mode
Wi-Fi technology (802.11 b/g)
Support for Divx and Xvid movie files
Personal organizer with calculator, calendar, alarm clock, world clock, stop watch and notepad
Dimensions: 4.41” (l) x 2.24” (w) x 0.52” (d) with standard battery
Weight: approximately 4.34 ounces
Display: 3.2” display
Usage time: up to 346 minutes with standard battery or
Standby time: up to 464 hours with standard battery (subject to environmental and other factors)
As can be seen in the video, text entry without a stylus is nearly impossible on the Xperia X1 in portrait mode. By necessity you have to slide open the keyboard. The same situation does not apply to the HTC Touch Pro.
