by Frank McPherson, author of How To Do Everything With Windows Mobile

 
I guess it has been a while since I have posted here. Apparently there hasn't been much Windows Mobile news that has drawn my attention, and that combined with the fact I have been busy with work are the main reasons for the lack of posts here. I would like to change that.

Since I last posted here I have aquired a new device that has become my main mobile device, the HTC Tytnn II, known broadly as the HTC Kaiser. The Kaiser is the most advanced Windows Mobile device that I have owned: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, GSM/Edge/3G/HDSPA, 400 MHz processor, 133 MB of internal storage, and 100 MB of program memory. It has a QVGA display and supports MicroSD storage.

The Kaiser is the latest iteration of HTC's side QWERTY keyboard slider device that we first saw with the T-Moble MDA and the Cingular 8525. I like the keyboard and the Kaiser has a neat feature where the screen can be raised on a 45 degree angle. Another nice feature is the jog wheel that is on the left side of the device like the RIM Blackberriers. Beneath the wheel is an OK button that you cannot program. It would have made so much sense if HTC enabled that button to execute the Back function in Internet Explorer, which would really help one-handed browsing, but it doesn't.

This device has plenty of buttons on the front: Windows, Internet Explorer, Messaging, OK all have separate buttons along with the left and right software keys and the standard green and red phone buttons. Rounding up the device features is a 3 Megapixel camera, and the Tytnn II version of the Kaiser has a front facing camera as well which is designed to capture the person viewing the screen during a video conference.

Like I said, this is the most technologically advanced Windows Mobile device that I have owned. Physically it is no worse looking than the MDA or 8525 and is in fact a tad thinner, but it does not have the same elegance as the T-Mobile Dash.

I do have some disappointments. Battery life is not as good as other devices that I own. I suspect that is due to the 3G data communications, particularly HDSPA. HDSPA is available on the AT&T network in the area where I live, and it is definitely faster but honestly I don't know if on this size of device it provides much more benefit than basic 3G. If I were connecting a laptop I would probably appreciate the HDSPA, but to sync email or pop up the smaller web pages in Internet Explorer I think the 3G communications works fine.

I've also had experience with dropped calls, which I have never had with the MDA or 8525. The radio in the Kaiser is clearly not as strong as the previous generation, all you need to do to confirm is listen to what you hear when you put the Kaiser near a landline phone. No interference, while the MDA or 8525 generate a very noticable amount of interference. My guess is customers complained about the interference but the trade off is more dropped calls. I also suspect that my problem may be due to HDSPA, which I have turned off and since have not had any dropped calls and a bit better battery life.

Another problem I have is with my Jawbone Bluetooth headset, which occasionally loses connections with the Kaiser, usually during the middle of a call. I've tried my old Motorola H500 and didn't have any problems with it, so I don't know what is going on with the Jawbone. Other Jawbone users have had no problems, so it might be something about either one of my devices.

Bluetooth really comes into play for me because I really like Microsoft Voice Command. Unlike the Windows Mobile 6 build of the T-Mobile Dash that has Voice Command built-in, the Kaiser does not and rather has HTC's Voice Speed Dial, which requires you to pre-record voice tags in order to make phone calls. Voice Command doesn't provide programming and can announce reminders, SMS messages, and email message headers.

I can live with HTC not including Voice Command, but I don't think I should have to hack the registry to in order to make Voice Command work on a device, which is what I had to do on the Kaiser.

Anyway, this has been a long post, making up for lost time. As I have more experiences with the Kaiswer I'll post here. I installed the "teaser" (offiically its a "taster") version of TomTom Navigator to test out the built-in GPS. I really like having a GPS in my mobile phone. While the "teaser" is a full version of Navigator, you can only download one city map for free and I couldn't figure out how to buy and download other invididual city maps from their web site, so I bought the full version from Amazon and it is one the way to me.

Labels: 2007, devices

posted by Frank at 11:35 AM 

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