Back when Sony Ericsson first announced the Aspen smartphone, a Windows Mobile 6.5.3, in early February 2010, we wondered whether the QWERTY-equipped handset would have enough room to make its mark before Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 by the end of the year. Now, five months later and even closer to the new platform’s debut, the window of opportunity for the Aspen is even smaller. Can this combination touchscreen/keyboard candybar convince buyers with its green aspirations? Check out the full review after the cut.
Now, it’s worth pointing out that the Aspen we have in is a sales sample for retailers rather than the handset that will – eventually – go on sale. We’re hoping that means build quality will be improved by the time Sony Ericsson boxes and ships them, since the Aspen proved quite creaky and prone to battery door flexing. It’s also unduly tricky to remove the battery itself and access the SIM slot, perhaps not something most users will be doing every day, but frustrating when we were trying to switch between devices. At 12.45mm thick it’s a reasonably tubby handset too.
Happily if the back half of the Aspen was less than impressive, the front made up for it. Although the 2.4-inch display is a resistive touchscreen – complete with a pull-out stylus – we found ourselves more often than not using the hardware keys to navigate it. The D-pad is firm and nicely balanced, as are the main buttons surrounding it, while the QWERTY keyboard is quiet and tactile. Not quite to BlackBerry levels, but better than the slide-out keyboards we’ve seen on other recent smartphones. The squared-off layout takes a little getting used to, if you’ve been using a ‘board with a mild curve to it, but the bowed back of the Aspen makes it comfortable to cradle in the fingers as you peck out messages with your thumbs.
The display itself is servicable if not outstanding, offering 320 x 240 resolution and 65k colors. It’s duller in brightness than some other Windows Mobile devices we’ve seen, though Sony Ericsson’s murky choice of default skin doesn’t help, and there’s plenty of zooming required to see a full website (if indeed it will load in Internet Explorer Mobile). The company has preloaded the SPB Mobile Shell 3.0 – with both professional and lifestyle interfaces – which cover up the regular WinMo homescreen with a new, panel-based system. You can toggle between the two using a dedicated hardware button to the left of the D-pad. Even so, Windows Mobile remains a less than intuitive OS in comparison to iOS, Android or webOS.
Connectivity includes dualband UMTS/HSPA (900/2100) and quadband GSM/EDGE, though Sony Ericsson are also prepping a triband 850/900/2100 UMTS/HSPA version for North America. There’s also WiFi b/g, Bluetooth and a microUSB port, together with a microSD slot (cards up to 16GB supported) and A-GPS. A 3.5mm headphone socket will work either with Sony Ericsson’s bundled headset or your own, though A2DP support means you can use Bluetooth headphones instead.
The Aspen’s 3.15-megapixel camera lacks autofocus or a flash, and while the latter doesn’t particularly disappoint us – our disdain of LED flash units is well known – the fixed-focus makes it of limited use. Shots in normal lighting lacked definition and colors leaned toward the greens and blues; they were also prone to oversaturation in particularly bright environments. Indoors, meanwhile, there was considerable graininess on show in all but the best lit situations. Macro images suffered too, overall relegating the Aspen’s photography skills to little more than the occassional snap rather than a replacement to your dedicated point-and-shoot.
Of course, you could well argue that the business market who might be tempted by the Aspen aren’t so much interested in the smartphone for its photography strengths and instead want a solid phone. Happily the Aspen does well under those considerations, with good call quality and a tenacious grip on a signal. Battery life also proved impressive; perhaps it’s the comparitively small display, but a single charge saw us stretch out use over two days, complete with push email turned on during extended work hours (i.e. switching to only periodic checks while we were asleep) and some voice calls made. Sony Ericsson themselves estimate up to 8hrs of calls or 600hrs of standby, ambitious of course, but in our experience the Aspen certainly has impressive legs.
With Windows Phone 7 on the horizon, though, is decent phone performance enough to merit the Sony Ericsson Aspen? Windows Mobile 6.5.3 may be due for replacement but there are still plenty of people who like the OS and – more importantly – are familiar with its boons, quirks and sizable catalog of third-party apps. The latter in particular is likely to be absent at the high-profile launch of its successor later in the year. There are also some elements of the WinMo experience perhaps unfairly overlooked: its tight, consistent Exchange integration for one, benefiting from the all-Microsoft ecosystem and delivering the sort of enterprise stability rival platforms have only boasted of more recently.
Still, it’s unlikely to be enough – even with Sony Ericsson’s “GreenHeart” earth-friendly branding – to bring in a broad audience, and the Aspen pales in comparison with the company’s own XPERIA range of predominantly Android-based smartphones. It’s not a bad handset, but neither does it do enough to stand out in a market increasingly crowded by superlatives. If you – or your collection of software – are wedded to Windows Mobile, you prioritize battery life above all else, and you prefer a hardware keyboard to touchscreen input, the Aspen could fit the bill. Everybody else would likely find a stronger text-input experience on a BlackBerry or a slicker OS in Android or webOS.
Many thanks to Clove.co.uk for the loan of the Aspen. The smartphone is expected to go on sale later this month, pricing TBA.
How would we like to replace the UI on our Windows Mobile 6.5 phone with the Kin UI? Well, we never really thought about it, we suppose… and frankly, we’re not sure why anyone else did, either. Alas, KinLauncher is here, delivering a pretty authentic Kin-esque home screen but not much else — as soon as you touch anything, you’ll be dumped back into the cold comfort of WinMo (or Sense, as the case may be). It’s available for download, if you’re really into that sort of thing — but if you’d rather enjoy the carnage from a safe distance, there’s a video after the break.
Samsung’s final new phones for today pick up the not-long-for-this-world Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, with the Samsung Omnia Pro 4 B7350 and Samsung Omnia Pro 5 B6520 each toting full QWERTY keyboards and, on the Pro 4, a touchscreen too. The Omnia Pro 4 has dualband (900/2100) 3G, a 2.62-inch 320 x 320 touchscreen and a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera, while the Omnia Pro 5 has triband (900/1900/2100) 3G, a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 display and a 2-megapixel camera.
Both have WiFi b/g, Bluetooth and a A-GPS, along with an FM radio and a microSD card slot. Since Windows Mobile is enterprise-minded, there’s obviously push-email support, and Samsung preload the decent Opera browser since Mobile Internet Explorer isn’t too hot.
The Samsung Omnia Pro 4 will be available from July in European Countries, CIS and South Eastern Asia and Omnia Pro 5 will be available from August in SEA, MEA regions, India and Latin America. No pricing has been announced at this stage.
Press Release:
Samsung unveils smart, social business companions with new Omnia Line-up
Omnia Pro 4 and Omnia Pro 5 bring integrated social experiences to uncompromising young professionals
Singapore – June 15, 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today unveiled the Omnia Pro 4 (B7350) and Omnia Pro 5 (B6520), operated on Windows Mobile 6.5. The devices, on display at CommunicAsia Singapore, are powerful business tools that bring an integrated social experience to busy work schedule.
The Omnia Pro 4, with an interactive touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard, deliver maximum efficiency – ideal for responding to an early morning email or browsing the Web for research. An immersive and responsive touch screen allows users to intuitively browse through photos, music files, and video clips.
The Omnia Pro 5 keeps its style and compactness with the colored QWERTY keyboard. The smartphone that’s both sleek and professional will allow users to achieve maximum productivity away from the office.
“We are continuing to build on the success of the Omnia smartphone with an updated product lineup that caters to the unique needs of young professionals and executives,” said JK Shin, President and head of the Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. “The Omnia Pro 4 and Omnia Pro 5 deliver a smart, stylish mobile companion that combine productivity and multimedia functionality.”
Your Mobile Business Partner
Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 will enable office-like productivity on your Samsung Omnia. You can access and edit files right on your smart phone and type efficiently with the ergonomically-designed QWERTY keypad. Office Communicator Mobile allows you to use the same phone number for your mobile and office, so you only have to put one piece of contact info on your business card.
You can join a Cisco WebEx online meeting on the Omnia Pro 4 and collaborate with colleagues around the world. WebEx meetings are supported on the Omnia Pro 4 with simultaneous audio and web conferencing allowing users to view shared presentations, see who joined the meeting, and see who’s speaking and even chat with them.
The Omnia Pro 4 and 5 are also certified by Sybase Afaria, which allows secure access to enterprise applications, creating a seamless business experience regardless of where you are.
Instant Connectivity
With Samsung’s Omnia Pro 4 and 5, users can access the info needed while at a conference, and stay connected to the personal networks while on-the-go. Built-in social networking applications and multiple instant messaging platforms enables users to instantly connect and share content – whether it’s a business presentation or a Facebook update. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB connectivity are also supported for seamless communications.
After Hours Entertainment
With a 3.5mm audio ear jack that accommodates standard earphones and “Sound Alive” technology, the Omnia Pro 4 and the Omnia Pro 5 will enhance music listening experience by superior effects and brilliant sound quality. For snapping the best moment, the Omnia Pro 4 and Omnia Pro 5 support advanced features like “Face Detection” and “Smile Shot” that automatically adjust settings. The smart, social Omnia phones are also ideal for simply watching video and sharing it with friends.
The Samsung Omnia Pro 4 will be available from July in European Countries, CIS and South Eastern Asia and Omnia Pro 5 will be available from August in SEA, MEA regions, India and Latin America.
We know how the iPhone 4 sizes up against the aging 3GS — but how does it fare against its fiercest competitors from all the major platforms? We wish we had some production Windows Phone 7 kit to check out here, but in the meantime, take a look at the results against the gruesome foursome of the EVO 4G, N8, Pre Plus, and HD2. You might be surprised by some of the results — and sorry, RIM, you don’t get to play until you bring some fresh, media-heavy hardware to the table. Nothing personal!
Falling somewhere between the flash of the Chocolate and no-frills, no surprises industrial design of the recently launched Ally, LG has outed the Fathom (aka VS750) with little fanfare. Featuring a mercifully unadorned WinMo 6.5.3 (save for wallpaper, pictured above, designed by a certain Vera Wang), a 1GHz CPU, quad band GSM, and a handful of AC adapters for charging all over Europe and the UK, this is a device clearly meant to go global. But will it capture people’s hearts and minds? Read on to find out.
On the list of ways to not foster customer satisfaction, deleting purchased apps with no recourse for getting them back has to be very, very high on the list, doesn’t it? T-Mobile’s now trumpeting that sort-of-leaked official update for the HD2 that features “stability and performance improvements” on top of a new ROM-integrated T-Mobile MyAccount app, but if you purchased the full versions of the demo games that came bundled with your phone, beware: installing the upgrade will wipe you out, and the only advice T-Mobile has for you is to “re-purchase them at the standard cost.” Gee, thanks, guys!
Microsoft certainly added all the right features to its Bing navigation app for Windows Mobile, but does it actually deliver the goods in real world use? It does according to the folks at PocketNow, who have put the app through its paces and kindly provided a quick demo video of it running on an HTC HD2. While there’s nothing too shocking or surprising, it looks like the voice input works well, and the turn-by-turn directions seem to be at least up to par with your average navigation device — it even has a few nice touches like being able to tap on the screen to repeat the instructions. Head on past the break to check it out the video and, if you’re still unsure, you can always take the app for a spin yourself — it is free, after all.
After having gone to public beta late last year, Office Mobile 2010 is now available in conjunction with the retail release of the full desktop version of Office 2010, bringing comprehensive Word, Excel, and PowerPoint editing capabilities to the pocket — on Windows Mobile 6.5, that is. Yes, granted, Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft’s biggest mobile news this year, but there’ll be a huge legacy base of 6.5 users out there for a long time to come, and they’re pretty much the core audience for the sorts of features that Office Mobile 2010 is offering: SharePoint integration for grabbing documents from the office, a nifty Bluetooth controller mode for PowerPoint presentations, and so on… you know, suit-and-tie stuff. The download is available today from Windows Marketplace for users of 6.5 devices with an older version of Office Mobile installed — so go on, Tiger, whip up the hottest quarterly reports the world has ever seen. We know you have it in you. Follow the break for Redmond’s full Office 2010 press release.
Update: Curious what Office 2010 will look like on Windows Phone 7? Get a glimpse into the not-so-distant-future in Microsoft’s video presentation, and fast forward to 52:45 for the good stuff. [Thanks, Kamara B.]
First, the good news: T-Mobile’s HD2 is in stock online and apparently at many corporate-owned retail locations. Now, the bad: the carrier seems to be putting these things on lockdown right now, only offering them to new customers signing up for a fresh contract. This is a tactic T-Mobile has applied in the past, so we’re not terribly surprised to see them do it here, too — but it’s still a disappointment, especially considering that the phone has been out for a few weeks now. Just goes to show you that a net add is worth considerably more than a loyal customer is (particularly one who’s still under contract), but in the meantime, might we recommend the iHTC HD2?
Update: We’ve received an official statement from T-Mobile on the matter, and it sounds like they’re “giving priority to existing customers” with new inventory coming in. Sweet! Here’s the full verbiage:
“T-Mobile understands the inventory challenges for the HTC HD2 and continues to work diligently in order to supply our customers with this highly popular product. As we receive additional inventory of the HTC HD2, we are giving priority to our existing customers. However, the demand for the device is still exceeding our supply.
Depending on the location, some T-Mobile retail stores may still have some HTC HD2 inventory available. We suggest that interested customers contact their local T-Mobile store via phone before visiting to see if they have the HTC HD2 available. If they do not have the HTC HD2 available, some stores are taking names and contact information, and will be able to notify customers once that location has product available.”
If you’re going to rip off one of the more memorable Windows Mobile devices ever made, you’d think you’d want to at least clone its most notable feature — but seriously, what do we know about the KIRF business? Yeah, well, this little number manufactured by a firm doing business as “iHTC” (no relation to HTC, we’re sure) looks an awful lot like the HD2, but lacks that all-important 4.3-inch display, instead trading down for a more pedestrian 3.6-inch unit. On the upside, it’s still WVGA and packs the latest and greatest Windows Mobile 6.5.3 (if “latest and greatest” really applies there) plus a 5 megapixel autofocus cam — not bad specs for a device that eats copyrights for breakfast. Seems you can hunt one of these puppies down for about 1,580 yuan ($231), so start saving and packing for your Chinese adventure — and in the meantime, follow the break for a comprehensive video demo of the finest technology iHTC has to offer.
