Review: HTC Touch Cruise P3650

HTC has had considerable success in Australia with its Touch line of products - the Touch PDA / smartphone and the Touch Dual slider. They're about to introduce a new high-end Touch model - the Touch Cruise - which packs in most of the features that the other two Touch variants lack, whilst still maintaining a traditional 'candybar' PDA form factor with no numeric keypad.

Design

The Touch Cruise looks quite different overall from the other two Touch models; most of the front has a glassy finish to it, with only the directional pad and soft keys finished with a stronger substance. 

In terms of physical features, the Touch Cruise packs more into the whole handset. On the face, you will find the send / end keys, a shortcut for GPS, a shortcut to Internet Explorer (or Opera, which is also included) and a very interesting and highly effective directional pad that as well as serves for left/right/up/down selections, also works as a rotary jog dial for quickly scrolling through menus. In the middle of this circle is a select button framed by a white light.

Above the display, which although only operates at 240x320, looks bright and clear, is a VGA self-portrait camera, and the earpiece with two multi-function notification lights built in.

The left side features a shortcut that could be customised to Windows Live Messenger; it features a graphic similar to an instant messenger speech bubble. Further down you will find a spring-loaded volume rocker.

The right side features a microSD card slot and a camera shortcut. The top of the device features a power button, whilst the bottom features HTC's ExtUSB port (which is compliant with existing mini-USB cables and HTC's own cables), a lanyard slot, and the stylus port - as this is a bottom loader. Personally this is a pet-hate of mine, but I quickly grew used to this.

The back of the device is very similar to the other Touch models in that it is finished in a deep grey soft-touch material; it is emblazoned with 'HTC' and 'Touch Cruise', and of course, features the 3.0 megapixel camera and self-portrait mirror.

Overall the device looks very professional. Although it follows the 'smartphone-standard' grey and silver mix, it wears it very well. The more vibrant silver running along the side profile of the device gives the impression that it is slimmer than it is, and, overall, it bears a nice weight in the hand. The footprint of the device is quite large, to accommodate the 2.8" display, but it is certainly pocket-friendly and is comfortable to use.

Performance

During the time when we were reviewing HTC's last Touch model, the Touch Dual, a claim arose from the HTC fan community that the manufacturer had not included proper, full-speed video drivers with some of the most important (and expensive) HTC models - such as the Kaiser (HTC TyTN II), and indeed, the Polaris (Touch Cruise). I did notice significant lag at some times - especially when switching between applications and changing the HTC Home menu. This was simply unacceptable for a phone that will cost more than $950 when available in stores.

Luckily, HTC has promised a software fix to the driver issue, so it shouldn't be a problem for much longer. Apart from this lag time, actual performance within applications themselves was well above average. The Touch Cruise felt snappy and alert; the camera application was quick to start and media playback was fine. 

We were disappointed, however, with the camera itself. Smartphones often don't carry great cameras and they don't aspire to. The Touch Cruise, however, packs a three megapixel shooter so I was hoping the quality of the shot would be at least acceptable so the bigger prints would come out well. This wasn't the case - the snaps were grainy, overexposed and blurry.

Cold boot-up time was above average, though, and switching on from standby was very quick.

Day-to-day use

HTC's Touch Cruise does well in most everyday situations. Text messaging and emailing on the go, while walking, though, was quite difficult due to the smallish stylus, glossy screen and virtual keyboard. HTC has made some effort to increase mobile texting usability with larger on-screen keyboards, but you really need to stop to bash out a message accurately and quickly.

Despite input problems, the screen itself is beautiful. Although it's only at 240x320 resolution, HTC has repeated its excellent work from the Touch and Touch Dual in creating a really good-looking display. In low or bright light, it maintains a good brightness level and generally, it worked well wherever we were.

Controlling most menus and programs was easy thanks to the jog-dial / D-pad below the display. A blaring omission by HTC in the shortcut key bank below the display (which includes GPS, Internet Explorer and send / end) is a Start menu key; if we needed to access an application in the Start menu, we either had to use a finger, or get out the stylus, which defeats the purpose of one-handed control with the jog wheel.

The Touch Cruise has all the network capabilities you could want at this point in time; it stocks 3G, HSDPA downloads, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, and WiFi 802.11b/g. Browsing the internet over WiFi was quicker on the bundled Opera browser than on the standard Internet Explorer - it was a good move by HTC to include the option. Bluetooth connection to a computer and to various other phones was reliable and data transfers were fast to complete.

Our prerelease review model didn't come bundled with any GPS navigation software, but expect the retail version to include a free CoPilot Live license. With Google Maps, however, the GPS was fairly accurate but it was slow to lock on to our position; sometimes taking up to five minutes.

Mobile internet is still a bit slow; broadband speeds are still not very realistic. Email on the go was fairly easy to setup, but it doesn't match BlackBerry ease of use.

Conclusion

The HTC Touch Cruise offers all the features and connectivity you could want in a stylish, slim form factor - except a physical keyboard. Not everyone wants a slide-out keyboard, though - so if you can deal with having to stop and text, then the Touch Cruise could be the work- and play-orientated smartphone for you. Until HTC figures out its video drivers issues, though, it's not for us.

Sony Ericsson intros breakthrough 'XPERIA' Windows Mobile smartphone

From MWC 2008 comes news of something nobody foresaw; Sony Ericsson and Microsoft teaming up to build Windows Mobile smartphones.

A new SE flagship has emerged for 2008; the XPERIA X1. It features a 3" touchscreen; Windows Mobile 6 Professional with SE enhancements; a slide-out, arc tilting QWERTY keyboard; VGA display resolution; WiFi; HSDPA and GPS.

Control is through a 4-way D-Pad, a couple of soft keys and of course the generously-sized touchscreen. There is also a 3.2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and that SE enhancement to Windows Mobile 6 is something called 'XPERIA panels'.

Sony Ericsson's official ad (below) shows in some detail the slick action of the slider and the XPERIA panels.

Exclusive: HTC launching Telstra Next-G Touch Dual 850

After just completing a review of HTC's P5500 Touch Dual handset, I was a little surprised to see a press release documenting HTC and Telstra's new Touch Dual 850, exclusively for Australia.

The new Dual handset differs from the standard, unlocked model in a number of ways: firstly, it is customised for Australia (and the world's) fastest data network; it offers built in Sensis Search, Whereis Maps (although probably not GPS) and Foxtel Mobile; and finally, and most importantly the Touch Dual 850 features the half-QWERTY keyboard that Australia has so far missed out on.

Telstra's Next-G 3.5G network seems perfect for the Touch Dual; high-speed mobile connectivity covering over 95% of the Australian population is a tempting prospect, which almost makes up for the alarming lack of WiFi that we saw on the Touch Dual P5500. However, the new model is priced relatively highly: outright, it's A$929, just over the price of the generic version, but it will also be available on a Telstra post-paid $80 per-month plan.

We will be taking an in-depth look at the Telstra HTC Touch Dual 850 at the beginning of March, so stay tuned.

Review: HP iPAQ 112 Classic Handheld

Pros

• Snappy, satisfying performance
• Runs Windows Mobile 6
• 802.11b/g WiFi
  
• Works well as an organiser

Cons

• No phone or cellular data connection
• Eerily, strangely light
• Fairly plain looking

HP is in the final stages of its plan to revitalise the ageing and increasingly tired iPAQ range of handhelds, and the first model to hit the shelves in Australia has been the iPAQ 112. This PDA - which cannot be referred to as a smartphone, as it is phoneless. The iPAQ 112 is actually a Windows Mobile 6 Classic device, which acts just as an organiser/PDA, similar to Palm consumer devices (not Treos) or older HP iPAQ models.

I was immediately interested in having a look at this device - just to see how a modern PDA-only device would actually perform. I wasn't expecting anything special, and I was neither surprised, nor disappointed.

Design

The iPAQ 112 is a fan of the all-too-common dark grey and black colour scheme that is, well, wild with PDAs and smartphones at the moment. Although it does look professional, I found the particular shade of grey featured in the iPAQ 112 to be quite boring. It's a darker, slate grey in a matte finish, unlike the more expensive iPAQ 221 which has a glossy black design.

The entire device seems very normal. On the face, there is a large, 3.5" TFT display, which is only at 240x320 resolution, so it looks stretched when switched on, which is unacceptable. Below this, there are four soft keys: (L-R) Calendar, Start, OK/Close, Messaging. In the middle of the soft keys is a five-way directional pad. Above the screen, there are dual notification LEDs, and an IR sensor.

On the left, there is a full-sized SD card slot, which is quite nice. On the right, there is the power button, and a voice notes shortcut. The bottom features a mini-USB connectivity port for sync and charge. This is commendable, as HP is only new to the world of mini-USB interfaces, and it works well.

However, after all this, the device gives you the feeling, that, in your hand, it is too light. I immediately thought that the battery was not inserted - but it was. It is eerily light, and I found it slightly unsettling, as I like my devices with a bit of weight to them.

Performance

Performance is the most significant feature of this device. It's a screamer - something I would have expected from the 624 MHz 32bit Marvell PXA310 processor. Everything feels snappy and satisfying. The operating system - Windows Mobile 6 Classic, which is vanilla except for the HP Wireless Manager addon - is fast and fair looking on the display.

The built-in WiFi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth (2.0) connections were quick to activate and engage. Performance over an 802.11g wireless network was fair, but Internet Explorer Mobile was better than I expected.

All the standard Windows Mobile applications were fast. That was good, because with a simple, phoneless device such as this, you shouldn't have to make compromises. It's still A$399, and you would expect a good PDA for that amount, especially when competing Palm Tungstens can be found for significantly less.

Usability

Unfortunately, I couldn't use the HP iPAQ 112 as my main device. It didn't offer enough to be my standard everyday companion, but I tried to use it as much as possible as a good organiser. For this purpose, it is really good. For what it tries to be, it's great.

Google Maps, an application I added, delivered fast performance over my WiFi network. It retrieved directions well, and I could see this application being a good addition to this product for busy home users.

Otherwise, Windows Mobile 6 Classic is a fairly easy operating system to get around. Everything is laid out well, and although the screen is big with a small resolution (which is bad in our books), this makes buttons and fonts bigger, making this perfect for someone who can't be squinting around menus, or a senior who would appreciate such a device.

You could use the iPAQ 112 everyday and never have a problem. It's a good organiser, and it works fine.

Conclusion

The HP iPAQ 112 Classic Handheld is absolutely a niche product. In days when professionals and increasingly, home users, are looking for a product which incorporates a mobile phone, internet browser, music player, and e-mail retriever, the iPAQ 112 stands out as lacking the most important of this quad - the phone connection.

I cannot see this product making much of an impact. Even two years ago, the iPAQ 112 would have taken products like Dell's Axim to war and it would have easily won. But in 2008, it is simply not what people want anymore. This is unfortunate, as this is a well-made and helpful device. However, HP will make its money from QWERTY-keypadded smartphones and fast data connections, not organisers.

View: TB Tech Flickrstream: HP iPAQ 112

Review: HTC Touch Dual P5500

Pros:

• Professional and stylish
• runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional
• Excellent slide-out numeric keypad
• Easy to use
• Standout call quality

Cons:

• Using the stylus can feel strange
• Difficult to type without the keypad
• No mini-USB connectivity
  
• Not a full QWERTY keyboard
  

HTC has come a long way since its extended operation as an original equipment designer over the past few years. Since buying out Dopod, and severing ties with O2 Asia, i-mate and other manufacturers who previously sourced devices from HTC, the company has succeeded in creating a somewhat-known brand that takes and increases on the quality of the devices that it made for other brands.

The original HTC Touch P3450 debuted in June last year, and although it offered users a dramatically simplified Windows Mobile experience called TouchFLO(if they wanted), it was seen to be less than it could be, as it did not have any form of text input other than on the virtual keyboard.

However, in October 2007, HTC announced another product for their now expanding Touch line - the HTC Touch Dual P5500. This took the excellent features of the existing Touch and built upon them, namely with the slider form factor featuring either a numeric pad (T9) or a dual-key QWERTY keyboard under the slider, depending on region.

Here in Australia, we get the 16-key T9 numeric keypad, with built-in Start, Messaging, Back and Internet shortcuts. Inputting text and numbers on the Touch Dual still isn't as good as on a smartphone with a full slide-out QWERTY keypad (as featured on other HTC devices such as the S730 and the TyTN II), but it is dramatically easier than on the original Touch model.

Design

The Touch Dual, when closed, features a design quite similar to the original Touch. The Touch Dual is only available in dark grey with silver accents, for now.

On the front of the device, we see the reasonably-sized 2.6" TFT display at 240x320 resolution. When turned on this looks clear and bright. Below the screen, there are send and end keys, and a five-way directional pad. Unfortunately, and annoyingly, there are no soft keys for selecting the two options on the bottom of the screen, unlike many other Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices.

Above the screen is the speaker, and a VGA front-facing camera, which is an addition over the Touch. The Touch Dual is a little taller than the Touch, and feels a bit more spacious.

On the top there is a power button; on the left hand side, a microSD card slot and the HTC ExtUSB proprietary port, for sync + charge + headphones; on the right, we have a camera shortcut and the stylus at the top. The bottom is devoid of any features.

On the back, there is a two megapixel camera, without a flash but with a self-portrait mirror.

Around the sides of the device, there is a silver chrome strip - this is a classy feature which adds to the grey/silver theme, but also makes the device seem a little slimmer.

Performance

The Touch Dual runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional, with a few specialised HTC plug-ins that really assist the user in getting around what can be quite a complicated operating system faster, and with ease.

On the home screen, which is, by default, grey to suit the device, you see HTC Home, an add-on which allows quick access to the time, weather, ring/vibrate settings and the phone features of the device. This is a very nice feature, but I found it to be a little slow and for some of the buttons to take a second press. It didn't like my fingertips too much, either, which was a real niggle as the stylus was sometimes difficult to get out, and was also too small.

Otherwise, Windows Mobile 6 was fast enough on this device, but general speed and performance could have been better. Although the Touch Dual features a 400 MHz Qualcomm chipset, the operating system was sometimes slow, and it wasn't as snappy as I would have liked.

Some features, however, were pleasing. The camera was very quick to start, and pictures were easy to take and processing didn't take long. Picture quality was also fine, but nothing special.

Day-to-day use

The Touch Dual is very easy to live with. Its rubberised finish makes it easy to hold in the hand, and reduces slip when in fast-moving conditions. Access to key features when time mattered was generally fine, and the device consistently performed above average in all areas.

Call quality was a standout - the Touch Dual maintained a strong signal at almost all times on Vodafone Australia's 3G network around Sydney, and callers were able to hear us fine on the Touch Dual, just as we found the party on the line to be strong and clear.

Bashing out text messages varied in speed depending on the input method - I found it best to type on the T9 keypad with predictive text turned off. The on-screen virtual touch keyboard and keypad were helpful sometimes, but they ended up being slow and irritating.

Interestingly, the screen is flush with the surface of the phone. This is something relatively rare in a stylus-based PDA, and I found it to be an annoyance. It certainly looked better than a screen that sits lower than the surface, but the stylus sometimes 'didn't like' the glossy display and I felt like pressing too hard might break it. Finger tapping was far more satisfying than using the stylus, and that became my preferred way of using the device.

I didn't choose to use HTC's TouchFLO interface much. TouchFLO lets you use Windows Mobile 6 in a very iPhone-like way - scrolling around HTC-designed menus with finger flicks. I found it was much faster to access the features normally through the standard software.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to test out data use on the Touch Dual, but I'm sure it would perform very well on any HSDPA network.

Finally, the device synced well and charged quickly. After just ten minutes charging, I saw the battery increase 5 percent, which I considered to be quite outstanding.

Conclusion

The HTC Touch Dual is a very enjoyable smartphone. It maintains a reasonable balance between form and function, with good looks combined with easy-to-use features and a good keypad. I found the Dual a huge improvement over the original Touch, and that's a good thing. HTC has taken a big step in the right direction with the Touch Dual, and I would easily recommend it to anyone seeking a smartphone with looks and brains.

A little bit of Snow for HTC's Touch & Verizon

Engadget Mobile has had an anonymous tip overnight here in Australia with outstandingly clear, almost press-quality images of HTC's new Snow White coloured Touch, specifically for Verizon Wireless in the USA, confirming its existence.

The new white model will become the Verizon XV6900 Touch, a CDMA version of HTC's popular consumer-orientated PDA.

Known specs are:

• Special snow white colour
• Windows Mobile 6 Professional
• HTC Home customisation
  
• GPS
• EV-DO data via the CDMA network
• 2 megapixel camera

If Telstra was still doing its CDMA thing after the end of January this year, then we might have seen this with a carrier here - we sure would have liked to see the snow white colour in Australia, but this looks like another U.S. special.

Read: Engadget Mobile's post/gallery

Could this be the Palm Drucker, aka new Treo 750?

Bill Gates just now delivered his 12th and final keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show - and a device, looking very much like a bulked-up Palm Treo 500 or perhaps a Centro, was flashed behind him with an array of other Windows Mobile devices.

This could certainly be the 'Drucker' we heard all about yesterday - see Smartmobile's post.

Stay tuned for more information when it comes.

[via Engadget]

Images of what may be Windows Mobile 7

Blognewschannel.com have got an exclusive look into what certainly looks to be Windows Mobile 7 - featuring touch and motion gestures.

Hit up the read link and have a look.