HTC over the last 10 years starting out as an OEM/ODM for Microsoft and were the early days iPaq manufacturer for Compaq back than, have come a long way, with their award winning products, HTC has never failed to share their wow moments with us. This year as they launched the HTC Hero (Android ) to much fanfare they are releasing the new HTC HD 2.

HTC HD was already a champion in every aspect as a Windows Phone, but it lacked a few features to truly make it a great all rounder phone, as the industry standard was set by the iPhone every phone that did not have capacitive screen was always considered a step behind, with the refreshed HD in the new embodiment of HD2 which is larger than the HD with a 4.3″ screen, capacitive screen, a 1 Ghz Snapdragon processor (more power but use less battery) with super fast touch screen surely makes the HD2 a must have this Christmas.

Check out more here, www.htc.com

As a point and shoot person, I just love to shoot pictures on the go wherever I go. I have had my fair share of digital cameras since my kid brother introduced the first ever 2.0 mp digital camera to me, the Olympus (can’t remember the model number) and it was like a world unlocked to endless pictures as there was never a good picture, so you take multiple pictures to choose the better ones. Which was great.

However over the years as technology advanced, many megapixels and faster sensors later, I have had, Canon, Sony, Casio, Fujifilm cameras and a DSLR in the form of the first Sony Alpha 100, as an early adopter I am also plague by early adopter elbow, I got stuck with it as resale value of the Sony Alpha 100 is less than 80% of the cost I paid initially.

Ok that is my two cents worth of my digital camera ownership. Back to the topic at hand, the new Canon S90 – the S-Series of cameras was dropped by Canon a few years ago but was recently revived. In short the Canon S90 has the same high sensitivity sensor as the Canon G11, yet it is sleek in design and easy on the pockets. Though it has 10 megapixel vs the G11’s 14 megapixel – trust me you and I will not tell the difference. But the trade off is obvious – carryability – put it into your bag, shirt pocket, trousers and yet shoot like a pro! Well almost a pro, do not expect fast action accuracy for a point and shoot however it dose have super fast F2.0 lens at 28mm (good wide angle) though the complaints about it not having HD on board was not a bother to me as I am fine with it. With more control in a small package with a bright lens, I am in love, yes I am. For still pictures and those moment family shots at dinner or somewhere, you will not go wrong with the S90.

If also gives you the user the power of manual control to control how your pictures will turn out to be. Check them out! Highly Recommended.

Was away on business for awhile and have been bogged down by work. Back in Action so check out my latest reviews, news and such!

Check out this early look at the next generation of gaming from Microsoft’s Xbox 360 HD range, called project Natal. You got to check out this video to understand what I am talking about.

HTC Corporation will release their latest Smartphone or Windows Mobile Standard device, a true messaging device as the purist would argue has been long overdue. One of the newer feature is Inner Circle Your Inner Circle, your most important people HTC brings streamlined communication to greater heights with its innovative Inner Circle feature which allows HTC Snap users to press a dedicated Inner Circle key to bring emails from a preselected group of people to the top of their inbox, enabling important messages to be acted upon immediately. Another sleek item is the messaging worthy full QWERTY keyboard that is truly well built. Running on Windows Mobile 6.

Will be in Singapore from June 10 onwards for SGD$688 (Inclusive of 7% GST)

The Windows Mobile world is about to experience two well made devices that is sure to rock your world! (The excitement for this two devices for me is somewhat like a kid getting his first bicycle.)

I had the opportunity to play around with the HTC Snap and HTC Touch Pro 2, two newest devices from HTC and here are my comments and review of the two devices.

The HTC Snap and the HTC Touch Pro2, these are two well made, well lined up devices that is sure to rock any newbie or enthusiast, they are pure gadgeteer’s dream. These two hardware has one of the best hardware line up for any devices in awhile.

One is a Windows Mobile Standard and the other a Windows Mobile Professional edition both are an enthusiast’s dream come true, will get more into it in awhile.

High Tech Company or HTC as it is known was the OEM for the Compaq iPaq 3600 series almost a decade ago already, with their focus on research and development over the years, with each generations of devices HTC adds their own mark onto the device itself, from hardware to software, giving the experience back to the user. With their world wide strength in marketing over a short period of time, we have seen HTC grown over the last 10 years into a giant in the Smartphone segment of the market.

On with the review:

HTC SNAP:

The last Windows Mobile Standard phone from HTC with true messaging function was the HTC S620 later was followed up with the dual slider with both the numeric keypad and QWERTY slide out keyboard but somehow it did not do that much as a QWERTY only layout, personally I like the HTC S740 aka HTC Rose as it has the slick HTC Touch look and design. The slide out keyboard was decent and the camera was good comparing to many other phone cameras, but it was not a full blown messaging device to me as I just could not type as fast maybe it was me, but I know a couple of people whom swear by the HTC S740/Rose as they enjoyed the dual function of it.

Over that period of time, many other messaging devices has been occupying this space, some tech enthusiast groups and online bloggers has expressed keenly to HTC to come up with a revised HTC S620 after a few years of bugging, HTC showed us early this year the HTC Snap. I “snapped” to attention when the new HTC Snap was announced, it comes with a QWERTY keyboard and the phone looks good as well.

It comes with a speedy 528MHz processor speeds running Windows Mobile Standard 6.1 has a memory boost of 256MB of ROM and 192MB of RAM, weighs a feather light 120 grams (4.23 ounces) that is light!

The display is a 2.4” TFT LCD with QVGA resolution which is decent enough for texting and messaging, it has a globe travel worthy with HSDPA/WCDMA (3G) and Quad-band with GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz) gives frequent travelers reasons why you must get this phone. It is light and runs Windows Mobile!

For those whom often get lost, have no fear GPS is here, yes, built into this nifty little number. The HTC Snap is a little wireless wonder with WiFi and Bluetooth as standard to satisfy all your connectivity needs.

What is a little suprising was the 2.0 megapixel camera which I was hoping for atleast a 3.2 megapixel model, but it is not a show stopper. The HTC Snap feels solidly built in your hands and it is slim and slips into any pockets easily.

What’s new in the HTC Snap is the trackball, though not new to HTC but new to the Windows Mobile Standard versions of phones from HTC. The trackball is back lit with a soft white glow especially visible in the dark or lower light conditions.  The battery life is amazing with a 1500 mAh capacity with up to 300 minutes of talktime for WCDMA and 510 minutes for GSM and a whopping 480 hours of Standby time for WCDMA and 380 hours for GSM.

Alluring isn’t it.

Software:

Some new interesting inclusion in the HTC Snap is Inner Circle, it helps to bring forward the most accessed contacts for the few friends that you constantly keep in contact with this is much more efficient almost like a favorite button, why this is a good feature because you can choose to response to the most important people on your contacts first. Could be your boss, most important client or your family friends, whatever the set up might be for you, you will find this feature helpful.

With Direct Push Mail available you are sure to be happy to be downloading your emails via Exchange. For those whom have never tried a Windows Mobile Standard, here is your chance to try one as the operating system is extremely quick and virtually no lag of any kind.

HTC TOUCH PRO 2

Since my last HTC made device with a decent screen and keyboard was the HTC Universal, ala-tablet styled PDA that was truly ahead of it’s time but it was also slightly bulky. I can hear it the Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa movie tune by Will.i.am in my head where he played the Alpha Hippo singing the huge & chunky song to, Jadda Pinkett Smith’s character, Gloria the hippo from New York City Zoo.

HTC Universal Picture:

HTC Touch Pro:

I was yet to find the ultimate replacement that for many years occupied my digital need in the form of the HTC Universal to find the “holy grail” of devices that will meet my needs. Of course we all know there is never “THE” one but the HTC Touch Pro 2 comes awfully close for me.

On with the HTC Touch Pro 2 Review

What HTC has done was to come up with some something slim, yet has enough screen estate to please the common folk to business users alike. They wanted something versatile and something that will be able to meet the needs of the most demanding user. To fine tune and come up with a hardware and software to match both fields would be a daunting task, yet they were able to accomplish it with the HTC Touch Pro 2. – “It has a lot of power under the hood.” my mechanic would say.

Under the hood of this hot rod of a device is a blazing fast 528MHz new Qualcomm processor, running Windows Mobile 6.1 (upgradable to the NEW Windows Mobile 6.5 when it is released via an update through HTC’s website.) With a industry leading 512MB ROM and 288MB RAM, a 3.6” TFT LCD Touch Screen at a super clear 480 x 800 WVGA (Wide VGA resolution – in other words super clarity) with an adjustable tilt screen.

Built into the device is a G-Sensor that helps to orientate the device, there comes with straight talk a hardware button built at the back of the device to allow you to go straight into a conference call. Great to use in any business environment, I tried it and it worked like a charm.

Gently slide out the slider to reveal the QWERTY keyboard for your messaging and typing needs, the keyboards are amazingly well built, nice tactile feel and a hypnotic while glow when you type in the dark, by far the best backlit keyboard found on a Smartphone in the market, I have tried dozens and nothing really comes close.

For the globetrotters, you will be pleased to know that it has HSDPA/WCDMA and Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, with 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies, and a GPS to help you with your directions or placing the location of your favorite hang outs.

It comes with the regular communication set up like WiFi and Bluetooth to help you connect on the go or when there is a WiFi availability, all these are standard nowadays on most devices.

The camera for the HTC Touch Pro 2 is a 3.2 megapixel camera with a secondary camera, a VGA CMOS camera located on the front of the panel, for video conferencing and talking. What is still missing is a decent flash for pictures taken in the dark, but I must say that even when I take pictures in decent low light the pictures are still viewable, because I have seen camera phones take pictures in low light setting and the flash on these phones are not as powerful tend to also turn out pictures that are terrible even with the flash on, so maybe HTC is on to something here.

For the storage fanatics whom carry around all their pictures and excel spread sheets and movies stop short of the kitchen sink, there is a microSD storage slot available for up to 16GB worth of storage, so that’s a plenty of space!

For such a powerpacked device there is an equally powerpacked battery pack, with 1500 mAh capacity, it gives you up to 390 minutes of chatting on WCDMA and 510 minutes on GSM with up to 750 hours of standby time on WCDMA and 500 hours on GSM. For the business centric there is a great video conference call for up to 150 minutes, so you can see, this IS an awesome device, what’s amazing is that the battery capacity is the same as the HTC Snap.

SOFTWARE:

What I have found for the first time was, besides being impressed with the awesome hardware, was what HTC has done under the hood in the software department part of the device that truly put the WOW back into the devices, they brought the Windows Mobile platform beyond what it is, with their signature TouchFLO 3D technology, it has been an impressive run.

The new HTC Touch Pro 2 comes with the new and improved TouchFLO 3D with Zoom bar that helps to zoom into and out of the screen as you please, it was easy to use and you can start zooming in and out in an instance.

The new HTC TouchFLO 3D has greatly improved over the previous versions as they constantly update it and improve the user experience, there was no lag in my use of the device and it was flowing very well with each touch. Maybe the improvements was on the touch screen panel or the software written for it was improved, whatever the reasons was I really liked it. Having played with the capacitive or multi-touch screens, seldom do we use two fingers to gesture unless we really need to as most of the time you only access one function at a time, at the end of the day that is what we do. Of course multi-touch seemed to be the trend these days but do we really need it? I am sure there will be an argument over this among multi-touch loyalist, but we can leave that for later. For now TouchFLO 3D was really a charm to use.

Some other interesting updates in the software includes Conference bridging, this allows you to make a conference call from the emails directly from the email, you can key in your pin while looking at the email itself without going back and forth from the phone to locate the numbers. – I like this a lot as I used to hate going back and forth in the call.

Overall the HTC Touch Pro 2 is very business centric and the device’s weight might be a show stopper for some as it weighs 187.5 grams or 6.61 ounces compared with the HTC Universal (285g) the HTC Touch Pro 2 is light. A little weight for all the features you are getting is not a show stopper, it is well worth it.

In Summary: Between the HTC Snap and HTC Touch Pro2 – they are both individually well made phones to please any messaging users. Depending on needs and wants, I like both personally, one basically is going to be a decision based on the size of the phone, the HTC Snap is small and thin and easily it slips away into your pockets and purse, yet powerful enough for your messaging needs as a busy executive high flyer to the everyday messaging user browsing and shopping at the local malls to the students at the lecture halls sending IM to one another throughout the hall about the movie tonight while the Prof lectures on.

As for the HTC Touch Pro 2, is something for the all-in-one jet setter executive that enjoys the life on the fast lane that requires the extra power to get his job done to the everyday student planning his communicating among his friends about the latest projects in style.

For me, I am tempted to get both as they both serve a purpose that I would need, I can alternate between the two as I enjoy both the Windows Mobile Standard versions as much as the Professional versions.

What would be your device? Choose one or better still, choose two.

With HTC’s juggernaut rise, there is no stopping them, talking to Eric Lin from HTC Global, in his words, “You’ve seen nothing yet.” which really got me excited to see what and where HTC can go. – to infinity and beyond!

Sorry for the quietness for the last few months as I have been busy at work during this economical downturn. But have solved some of the daily day to day stuff and now back to my favorite interest. Tech news.

In the last few weeks in the Windows Mobile space, we have seen how the HTC Diamond and Samsung Omnia heating up the mobility space. Which will you choose to have? As we will look to have a fight out among this two top rated Windows Mobile Professional devices in the next two weeks. So look out for more information on this soon. Between the two, the HTC Diamond has a sleek factor that also spells chic, while the larger screen estate Samsung Omnia also looking sleek but a compared to the HTC Diamond would seem a tad heavier. Both have their own unique overlays to make each device personal to their brands, both run Windows Mobile 6.1 under the hood. Whichever device you purchase you will be neatly surprise by what the HTC and Samsung has come up with. 

Check out this video presentation of the Omnia.

The new upcoming Samsung i900. Watch this space for more to come.