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HTC Touch 2 – Getting you light-years ahead of others

Is there anything stopping the HTC bandwagon? The mobile biggie from Taiwan has come up with the HTC Touch 2, adding another one to its touch screen based phone list. In a coup of sorts, the phone runs on the latest mobile OS from Microsoft that is the Windows Mobile 6.5. With the Windows Marketplace, one will be able to get third party applications downloaded directly to the phone via the Wi-Fi or 3G. Besides, HTC Touch 2 also supports Flash, thus enabling flash video supported content allowing you to watch YouTube videos. It also optimizes the web browsing experience as the display of web pages is of desktop style i.e. in a manner that it is actually supposed to be viewed, clear and accurate.

There are also a number of enhancements to the HTC Touch 2 that has been added and upgraded to the phone including the TouchFLO. The TouchFLO is a user interface that is extremely advanced in its uses and features with integrated updates of weather and a quick touch access to many popular applications. Other additional features include Google Maps. Thus the smartphone is indeed smart in terms of the features that it has on offer for its user.

As far availability of the HTC Touch 2 is concerned, as of now it is only available to the customers of Vodafone in UK. It will be made available to the customers in Europe SIM-free, October 6 onwards. Broader availability will begin as the last quarter of 2009 passes on. We might add that the phone has also made an appearance on the website of Vodafone UK. However there isn’t a word as of yet on its pricing range as of yet. The only assumptions being that it might be free with certain particular contracts.

Most Android apps are free, Microsoft needs to lure in more developers for Windows Moobile

Distribution of prices in the various app stores

Google’s Android Marketplace contains primarily free apps – 57% by Distimo’s estimate (Androlib says 62%). This is much more than the competition. Less than a third of the apps in their catalogs are free. Even so, half of apps in most app stores (save for the Windows Mobile and BlackBerry ones) are under 2 US dollars.

The Apple App Store in general has about 28% free apps, but it differs quite a bit when it comes to paid apps. The iPhone apps run around 2.62 USD (average price for the 100 most popular apps), while iPad specific apps cost 6.02 USD by the same metric. More »

Microsoft Facebook 1.2 for Windows Mobile

This Facebook version is out on the Windows Marketplace for Professional devices so it should work on every WM6.5.x touchscreen phone and any screen resolution.

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Acer neoTouch P300 review

The Acer neoTouch P300 is a budget Windows Mobile 6.5.3 slider device that was announced at MWC. It’s got a Qualcomm 528MHz CPU with 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM. The screen is 3.2″ and is low resolution at WQVGA. Slashgear has put the £269 (that’s about $400) device through its paces, concluding:

Not much consumer attraction, then, but as a solid business device the P300 doesn’t break the bank or let you down in day to day functionality. It’s easy to become blinkered when faced with the latest and greatest cellphones day in, day out, and lose track of the fact that, for many buyers, basic features are all that’s really needed. Still, we’d probably look to budget Android devices ourselves; the HTC Hero may not have a hardware keyboard, but it’s only £20 (pre-tax) more. Our lasting concern is the longevity of Windows Mobile 6.5.3 – or, more accurately, the lack of it – since there’s no chance that the neoTouch P300 would see an upgrade to Windows Phone 7 later in the year. Nevertheless, even if superseded, the software will still do everything you asked of the P300 on the day you bought it, and there’s a considerable catalog of third-party apps available through the Windows Marketplace for Mobile that won’t run on a WP7 handset. We’d be happier if the P300 had a little more shaved off the price – a sub-£200 SIM-free smartphone would make for a decent argument – but if your ambitions are merely moderate and you’re dedicated to Exchange then the Acer is a reasonable no-frills budget buy.

HTC Touch Pro (HTC Raphael) WM6.5.5 custom ROM

List of applications and packages that can be found in this ROM:

- MyLight appplication of controlling backlight brightness
- Total Commander – file manager

Games:

- Bubble Breaker
- Teeter
- Solitaire

GPS:

- Chartcross GPS
- HTC’s GPS Tool
- Quick GPS
- Google Maps (uninstallable/upgradeable cab)

Internet apps:

- Disable Data
- Facebook
- Palringo
- Internet Sharing
- Java package
- Opera 10 (any other Opera 9.5/9.7 cab installation of top of it)
- RSS Hub
- NRGZ28′s Twitter gadget to keep up with the latest updates
- MSN Messenger
- Windows Live
- Send and Receive All
- Windows Marketplace
- Bing
- Remote Desktop

Multimedia Apps:

- Audio Booster
- MP3 Trimmer
- Album
- Camera
- FM Radio
- YouTube
- HTC Streaming Media
- Voice Recorder

Tools / Tweak apps:

- Advanced Config
- Back Favorite People Up!
- BsB Tweaks
- G-Config
- Shake and Save
- Wifi Monster
- tBattery
- WorldCard Mobile
- Microsoft MyPhone
- PIM Backup
- Fdc Taskmanager/Registry Editor

Office Mobile:

- All Office Apps
- Adobe LE Reader
- NotepadPPC

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