Windows Now

If any of you are cyber-shopping instead of braving the lines today, head over right now to EngadgetMobile.com.  You can Enter to win an AT&T tilt just by leaving a comment, but you have to act before the next give-away happens.  Good luck!

-Dena

Edit:  The contest has been extended until Sunday, November 25th, 11:59PM EDT.

Usually when a new phone comes out, most people don't bat an eyelid, or if they do, they will get it months later.  Not us phone enthusiasts.  The usual conversation last night was stagnant between my husband and I unless it was about the Tilt.  Should we or should we not get one?  The pros out-weighed the cons, obviously.  Having the 8525, he was looking for more memory capacity and the faster chip.  Was the flip screen going to be spring action and faulty?  Was the upgrade even worth it? 

All of the late night fears were laid to rest this morning when calling our local corporate AT&T store.  They had 4 Tilts in the store.  Hold one for us!  We got there and it was all we could imagine.  Firstly, the tilt on the screen is unbelievably stable.  There is no spring to it, so you don't have to worry about it falling out of place.  You can adjust it to your work environment and glare from other factors.  The faster Qualcomm  Dual Core 400MHz processor makes the applications fly.

There ARE some low points on this phone though.  Anyone who has a Wifi-N network will not be able to use the N specification with this device.  The TeleNav software is just a trial, I would have liked to see a deal worked out to have gotten a free GPS on the device (TomTom are you listening?).  The device does not come with headphones or a holster.  I expect not to have a holster, but no headphones?  The holster I suspect will be a bit of a problem to fit because the device is thinner than the 8525 just enough to have the device wabbble around the holster.  The headphones ordeal isn't as bothersome, you can use the same headphones as the 8525.

So far, Amir is happy with the upgrade.  Has anyone else gotten their Tilt yet?  Let me know if you have any questions!

CompUSA and Amazon are the two best places to be right now.  HTC released the Advantage and boy, is it looking good.  5 inches of screen plus WM 6 native, AND it's a handy notebook replacement?  I couldn't ask for anything better!  Well...maybe...don't work too hard HTC, I still have ideas.  You can grab this puppy for $899.

Aug 8th:  Looks like sales are doing well, they dropped the price a little bit more.  You can now get it for $849.99 on Amazon.

After getting over my brief obsession with the Wing, I had set my sights on the Kaiser.  I really didn't think it would get released here in the States, but TomTheGeek has not only the name but also the month.  Behold, the Cingular 8925.  Available in August 2007.  I'd better start saving up now.

Yes you heard me correctly, I said free.  HTC's newest device to grace every mobile person's dreams can be yours free in a drawing.  Just head over to http://www.htctouch.com/ and sign up.  It's easy, I hope one of you wins...ah...who am I kidding....I hope I win :P  Good luck all!

Sometimes it pays to watch the adverts on television.  A few hours ago while watching Comedy Central, the iPhone ad appeared.  It felt really refreshing to see the ad, and of course the launch date - June 29th.  But it also begs the question, why don't Windows Mobile devices get the same kind of ad-taking?  Sure, we've seen ads for the Blackjack, but what about Cingular's in-house 8125 or 8525?  I'm hoping that with time, and now with WM6 native devices coming in the full range, we'll see more out of AT&T in the advert department. 

Hello all!  I know it's been awhile, but we have ALOT to cover so let's get a move on, shall we?

The big news (for the minute at least) is that 3 phones currently on Cingular/AT&T will be upgradable to WM6.  They are:  the Treo 750; Cingular 8525; and the Samsung Blackjack.  No luck then for my 8125 I guess.  (Thanks to Engadget Mobile for the snippet.)

My, my, HTC.  What would we do without you?  So much HTC news to cover, it's becoming a dizzying array of codenames, so please bear with me, and please, if you see a mistake, feel free to let me know.

HTC released the HTC Shift today.  The press release says:

"Unveiled at CTIA, the HTC Shift combines the power of Windows Vista with an innovative QWERTY-based keyboard design and 3G-connectivity. The days of compromising productivity for portability are gone. The HTC Shift provides all the power, functionality and connectivity the busy professional needs in a sleek design that is half the size and a fraction of the weight of what they lug around today. Similar in size to a couple of DVD cases, the HTC Shift comes with Windows Vista Business, includes a brilliant 7-inch widescreen touch display and a 30-gigabyte hard drive. Packed with advanced connectivity, the HTC Shift features high-speed global connectivity with Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi. A multimedia maven, the HTC Shift leverages Windows Media Player 11 to provide easy access to music, videos and photos."

HTC also out-did themselves today by taking the wraps off of the Advantage...in the United States!  Engadget got a hold of one and you can see it in all it's glory here.  I personally don't really like the way the device looks (the keyboard), but the functionality is the key.  I'll hold my full judgment until I can hold one in my own hands.

Alot of people now seems to be a little confused as to which is which, the Shift and the Advantage.  Plainly put, the Advantage is of the "smartphone" breed, while the Shift is more of the UMPC genre.

That's it for now, Part 2 will be up hopefully tomarrow.  Happy reading!

-Dena

Thank you guys for the wonderful opinions and discussion in my Calling All WM5 Users post.  This morning, my husband and I decided to GO LOOK at an 8525, feel it around, and see if we really needed it in our lives.  Of course, once we got into the store, there was no stopping us; we had to get it.  Just  4 days prior, my 8125 bricked out due to a software malfunction (no, it wasn't the OS, I had downloaded a prayer-time program and it didn't play nicely with the phone :().  So now for once in our married life I think, my husband has something newer and greater than I do!  He's got the 8525 and I'm with a replaced 8125.  Now maybe he will stop accidentally dial numbers in his pants ;)

While we were getting the phones set up, we were also on the phone with Cingular and the person helping us at the store.  Both have said that HTC and Cingular are pushing Microsoft to get the WM6 upgrade to everyone with a Windows Mobile device.  This is good news for us if this is indeed true.  If it was just Cingular saying they wanted to have it, Microsoft might withhold it just like the 2k3 -> WM5 fiasco.  The reason this is good this time around is because if HTC is in on it, the manufacturer of the phones is half calling the shots, if Microsoft says no, then HTC could deny Microsoft the license to use their phones and we wouldn't have such an awesome Mobile platform.  Either way, I'm really hoping it pans out and we will be able to get it as an upgrade, paid or not.

Yep, you waited for it, and now it's here:  the Windows Mobile 6 SDK.  There are two downloads, one to download the Professional SDK and the other is the Standard SDK.  This is to keep in line the naming scheme beginning with WM6 of the mobile products.  Get them both here.

Here are the latest time change tools from Microsoft, properly labeled (unlike last time on my page, sorry for that!).

Desktop

Smartphone

Pocket PC WM5

Pocket PC WM 2003

My husband and I have recently been discussing about whether to get another phone for him.  Currently he is using a Cingular 2125, while I have the Cingular 8125.  We've waited so long to get the 8525 that with WM6 due now, we're debating about the upgrade.  So that leads the question to you all.  Who is waiting for the upgrade?  Will you just be getting a new phone?  Will you be leaving Windows Mobile devices all together?  Please discuss in the comments section.

-Dena

If you're anything like me, you enjoy making public phone calls with your smartphone because of it's sleekness and grandeur.  I'd still like to keep some of that mystique about my phones, but don't you wish the mainstream public knew more about the phones we adore?  Microsoft has the answer.  Thanks to successfull viral marketing for the launches of Vista and the Zune, the company has decided to take a small but similar step in the goal of reaching more markets.  To do this, Microsoft has made a few hilarious videos about a regular business guy just trying to get his work done on his phone as he is put into strange predicaments to try to deter him away from his work.  It's actually more fun than it sounds.  I like the Snakes On The Elavator clip.  Get the videos here.  Enjoy!

-Dena

Source:  http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2007Feb/bpd20070214002622.htm

This morning, ActiveSync 4.5 went out to the Microsoft Downloads page.  Get it here.  The package weighs in at 7.5 MB.  Please note that this is NOT to be used on the Vista platform. 

ActiveSync 4.5 is compatible with the following operating systems and applications:

• Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Service Pack 4
• Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Service Pack 1
• Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 IA64 Edition Service Pack 1
• Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 1
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Service Packs 1 and 2
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Service Packs 1 and 2
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition 2005
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition
• Microsoft® Outlook® XP and Microsoft® Outlook® 2003 messaging and collaboration clients
• Microsoft® Office XP
• Microsoft® Office 2003
• Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 or later (required)
• Microsoft® Systems Management Server 2.0

The following mobile device operating systems are supported by ActiveSync 4.5:

• Microsoft® Windows Mobile Version 6
• Microsoft® Windows Embedded CE 6.0
• Microsoft® Windows Mobile Version 5.0
• Microsoft® Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition
• Microsoft® Windows Mobile 2003
• Microsoft® Pocket PC 2002, Microsoft® Windows CE OS version 3.0
• Microsoft® Smartphone 2002, Microsoft® Windows CE OS version 3.0

Please note that if you are upgrading from an earlier version of ActiveSync, you may need to recreate the partnership with your mobile device.

ActiveSync 4.5 does not support Microsoft Outlook 2000. It is highly recommended that you upgrade to Microsoft Outlook 2003 messaging and collaboration client.

Sorry guys, I know it's Wednesday, two days after the launch on Windows Mobile 6, and I'm a little bit behind schedule.  I would love to blame it on my excitment, but actually it's due to natural causes.  We've had a blizzard and are in the house trying to dig out of 5 foot snow drifts.  Anyway, sorry for my absense.  On to the news!

Obviously, the big news is that Microsoft, as expected, launched WM6 on Monday.  However, we won't see any native devices until the second quarter of this year.  In a big upset for Cingular customers, it looks like T-Mobile Dash customers will get their upgrades first, and release of native Dashes will come later when the other native devices hit the streets.

In a smart move via codebase, most appplications that were written for WM5 will still work with WM6.  Now...if more people will write for WM5, THEN we can get somewhere!

I'll get updates as soon as I can to you, just bear with me as I try to dig out from all the snow.  Stay safe!

-Dena

Here is a set of tools to help you with the new data for the US, Canada, and Mexico.  There are three packages, Smartphone, Pocket PC, and Desktop.  Get them here.

Note:  The download I have posted is for the Desktop.  In the What Others Are Downloading, the Pocket PC and Smartphone downloads are there.  Download your respective one and you are on your way.