Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine: MOBILE

Google’s Android Phone, HTC Advantage, Freebies

Google’s new Android platform isn’t for Windows Mobile devices, but I want to point you to some exciting demo videos — because it’s inevitable that your phone, whatever the platform, will eventually have these kinds of features. Also, this week we’ll note other new devices and some freebies.

Videos of Live Demo of Android

As you may recall, Android is a platform for mobile devices based on Linux that is being developed by Google and will be made available later this year under an open source license. Over 30 companies have allied to bring out devices based on this platform.

Google’s latest prototype is amazing, and is apparently so highly polished that it could be mistaken for a production model.

The Android Community Web site has a half-dozen hands-on videos. Together with the iPhone interface and the HTC TouchFlo 3D on the Windows Mobile Touch Diamond, Android will clearly help to reshape the way we interact with our devices. Like both of those it has a touch interface — one that picks up on some of the best features of its competitors.

The first video gives a general overview, and shows a level of innovation that may exceed the iPhone. Be sure to catch the impressive demo of Google Street View. There’s also a demo of Google Maps.

HTC Advantage X7510

The HTC Advantage X7510 is an update to an extremely powerful Windows Mobile phone with a highly unusual form-factor: a five-inch screen and an attachable QWERTY keyboard that makes it almost like a small laptop. New to this update is a 16GB flash drive, HTC’s TouchFlo interface, and a customized version of the popular Opera Web browser.

Pocket PC Thoughts lists a number of reviews. Check out the video from DigitalBurn.com, which gives a good overview of the device.

T-Mobile MDA Vario IV (aka HTC Raphael)

The new T-Mobile MDA Vario IV isn't available in the U.S., but some think that there’s a good chance that T-Mobile will introduce it here, having recently brought it out in Europe. It, too, is state of the art, with 480 x 640 screen touch screen, two cameras (3.2 and 0.3 megapixel, the latter for video telephony), Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, FM radio, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. According to Mobile Phone Helpdesk, T-Mobile also introduced versions of the HTC Advantage and HTC Diamond.

Freebies

ChaCha — You can get all your questions answered when you’re out and about via this interesting free service. Simply dial 800-224-2242 (2chacha) or send a text message to 242 242 (chacha), and you’ll receive an answer within minutes. Remarkably, there’s a human on the other end who uses powerful tools to quickly return an answer as a text message with a Web reference link.

HTC Touch Diamond Soft Keyboards — The HTC Touch Diamond’s interface is innovative, and now you can download— for free — the three soft keyboards that come with it: Touch Diamond Keyboard, Touch Diamond Keypad, and Touch Diamond Qwerty.

DivX Mobile Player — This free player lets you view videos in the DivX format.

In Our Blogs

Our experts select the top three Windows Mobile games, and give you an opportunity to win games by posting comments. And Jack notes Ilium Software’s 11th anniversary celebration and giveaway taking place this week.

If you know of other great online resources, I invite you to post in our "What's Happening on the Web" forum or to contact me at Jim_Karpen@PocketPCmag.com.

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