Just got an HTC TyTn

2007-09-14T00:12:17-05:00

About a month ago I purchased an HTC TyTn (Hermes/ATT 8525) from Rogers Wireless here in Canada. The phone cost $250 CDN with a 3 year contract.. very very very long I know, compared to American standards, but I just created this account about 2 years ago.. so the discount was quite nice. Usually the phone retails with Rogers for $399 CDN with a 3 year contract with a mandatory data/voice plan that must total $75-80 (either a $40/$40 or a $75 combined plan), but I was able to get the phone without the required plan.. which is really nice especially since the phone now requires an additional 3 year contract for the data plan alone!

The phone has been around for well over a year for the rest of the world, but just arrived on Rogers Wireless this summer after a very long delay. I’ve played around with the phone for 2 weeks now, and there are many features that I love, and many features that bug the heck out of me. I have created a list of things I loved/hated about the phone.

What I loved about my new phone:
*The ability to expand the memory via external memory card is a neat idea.. since many phones.. even in this day and age don’t have the ability to expand memory
*It has a pop-out qwerty keyboard for easier access to typing emails/etc.. which came in quite handy
*Since I got it for quite a bit cheaper than most people would.. that’s always a plus
*It has wifi.. and I currently have it set to “Wifi only”, so that if I want to browse the internet or check email, it will use a Wifi connection.. compared to using a data plan/paying for data access.. it’s hell alot cheaper.. plus the speed of the wifi connection is quite decent for me.
*Also with Wifi.. I was able to install Skype so when I am in an area with low GSM signal or outside of Canada… all I need is a Wifi connection and I can make cheap outbound calls
*The screen is touch based.. which is pretty neat on its own… however it usually requires for the provided stylus pen to be used (or a pen in general) to use it to the full advantage
*I have put a few videos on the phone and played them back in full screen.. they have turned out decent quality
*The speaker volume (internally/speakerphone) are very loud.. which is a plus when you are in a loud environment
*I just upgraded the OS on the phone and it includes Windows Live Messenger.. which is in some ways similar to the PC version of the software.. has ability to send voice clips, use display pics and send files to friends.. which is neat.
*It is easy to install programs such as Opera internet browser or any other 3rd party software or games to play around with on the phone
*You can charge the phone through USB if you want to.. which can be handy

What I didn’t like about the phone:
*The Internet Explorer browser provided with the phone is decent for light browsing, but it’s pretty oldschool compared to Opera and the Safari Browser on the iPhone.. but it gets the job done.. but even Opera still needs work itself
*It’s a pain to close applications, when you think you close an application… chances are that the application is still open.. you have to go in a task manager to manually close running applications.
*Windows Live Messenger adds the entire Messenger contact list to the phone book.. so when you want to call/text somebody.. it is usually a hassle to look for a non-Messenger contact, you cannot disable Messenger from adding the contacts to the address book or anything either.
*The camera application is a bit tricky to use… it takes a bit of time to get the hang of
*The quality of the camera itself is low end webcam quality, at best.. the camera in my Motorola v635 takes much better pictures.. and the phone is a few years older.
*When running high resource applications.. watching a video can sometimes be difficult.. with the video/audio being scrambled/choppy at times.
*There is very little user interface customization of the phone itself.. you can customize it with a few various themes and change the wallpaper.. but the wallpaper also appears on the start menu, which makes it look tacky and hard to read.
*If you want to plug in your phone to a PC, you must use Activesync.. which is a bit of trash itself and annoying.. and if you are on a non Windows machine.. tough luck.. unless if you want to pay $$$ for a (sometimes) craptacular 3rd party solution
*Screen smudges easily.. but almost any phone screen does that
*It is very easy to lose the stylus pen.. and I already have done that! It costs $20 or so for a 3 pack of stylus pens itself.. they should have atleast included one more stylus because they’re so freaking small.
*MPG videos are hard to play on the device.. Windows Media Player refused to play them.. but played WMV files fine.. well of course
*There’s an annoying bug for my Outlook Mobile mail… every time I connect to the internet to receive email, any email that’s currently on the phone will be automatically deleted
*Battery drains very easily while using Wifi, and sometimes attempts to connect onto Wifi networks that I don’t want to connect to
*I have installed Opera on the phone.. however it’s junk.. yet still better than Internet Explorer
*When texting.. the phone always sends you a message saying that the text message has been sent.. which is annoying, and when a text does arrive.. it’s sometimes intrusive
*Last but not least.. the phone has hand writing recognition.. so if you want to write out a sentence then have it convert to plain text.. it’s pure crap.. imagine that Simpsons episode where one of the bullies wrote “Beat up Martin” on the oldschool Newton PDA and it converted it to “Eat up Martha”, it’s EXACTLY like that.. I can print legibly and it will still write “to” when I actually wrote “!”

The HTC Touch - an iPhone rival?

2007-06-05T18:15:32-05:00

From the article:

High Tech Computer Corp. announced the HTC Touch, a Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional OS device designed with one-touch screen features giving users instant access to emails, contacts and appointments.

Taiwan’s HTC is the largest maker of mobile devices based on Microsoft Windows OSs, and its focus on a 2.8-inch touch screen in the HTC Touch is similar to the emphasis Apple Inc. has put on touch screen features in its iPhone, which is due out later this month.

http://wireless.itworld.com/5021/070605htc/page_1.html

Newest phones from HTC

2007-04-28T15:08:35-05:00

All these phones are already on the market.

1st Phone in the Image
HTC S710

2nd Phone in the Image
HTC Advantage X7500

3rd Phone in the Image
HTC P3350

T-mobile Dash and HTC S620

2007-04-21T16:22:09-05:00

A lot of people believe these two phones are the exactly the same.

While they are similar, there are a few differences; for instance the S620 is slightly heavier and longer and maybe a tincy wincy bit wider than the Dash. Also the face plate is slighty differet because of the extra wide-ness of the S620.

The other difference from the Dash when compared to the S620 is the volume strip, on the S620 there is a messaging along with a back button.

The S620 also lacks a design flaw that is present in the t-mobile dash. Due to the sensativity in the volume strip on the dash, users may have problems with call waiting.

Example of the problem:
You are talking with someone and you’re phone beeps to alertyou that there is an incoming call, if you touch the volume strip the person you are talking to is disconnected and you are imediately connected to the incoming call regardless if you wanted to accept it or not. The only work around currently is to disable the volume strip.

The above problem is not present in the S620 as I have tried and tried again to duplicate the problem. T-mobile is aware of the problem in the Dash and is hoping a software upgrad they are working on will rectify the problem.

Aside from the size and the volume strip the Dash and the S620 are identical.

OH yeah forgot this, the keyboard on the S620 is similar to a keypad is different, mainly just the alt keys and the volume control on the s620 is better.

CellRants.com Forum

Just got an HTC TyTn

The HTC Touch - an iPhone rival?

Newest phones from HTC

T-mobile Dash and HTC S620