Live from the T-Mobile HD2 event
We're at T-Mobile's HD2 event in New York City. Follow us on Twitter or check out the stream below for all the happenings.
We're at T-Mobile's HD2 event in New York City. Follow us on Twitter or check out the stream below for all the happenings.
Microsoft finally came out and said it (again) today at MIX10 -- No Windows Phone 7 Series upgrade for the HTC HD2. Sorry, it's just not gonna happen. And that news comes a mere 24 hours or so before T-Mobile throws a little wake party for its latest and likely last Windows Mobile 6.5 device. (Oh, and we'll be there, so check back in Tuesday night.)
So we'll put the question to you: Now that it's really real that the HD2 won't be getting an upgrade, will that affect your decision to get one on T-Mobile?
As we await the official launch of the HTC HD2 on T-Mobile, we've all been wondering just what the price of the biggest, baddest Windows Phone available today would be. Wonder no more, my friends, as this leaked spreadsheet shows it'll go for $199.99 with the usual two-year contract and rebates, and $449.99 if you want to forgo such formalities.
Still unknown is exactly when it's going to be available, but it has to be anytime now. Stay tuned. [via TMoNews]
Gee, we thought we knew the HD2, given all the stories we've written and the whole Smartphone Round Robin thing. Guess we'll have to see what T-Mobile has in store. Anybody know of any Windows Mobile news coming up next week that might have something to do with this?
Looks like that T-Mobile HD2 (US version, slated for March 24th) just keeps getting better and better.
Not only does it come with a memory boost (or rather, has memory allocated differently) which seems to shape it up for a Seven upgrade in October (that's what we're hearing too), but it looks to also feature Swype.
To refresh, Swype is that new soft-keyboard that first appeared on the Verizon Omnia II. It was then quickly ripped and ported to other devices (to the chagrin of the developers), due to its overwhelming popularity. The company has also recently secured a nice source of funding, meaning we can expect more form them in the future.
Fast forward to today and we find the latest T-Mo HD2 ROM dump features a unique file:
PACKAGE_LEO_1_5_IME_Swype
And to the right you'll see a screenshot of that very file in action. We're also told that this new build is "...slightly more accurate and looks much more polished than the original". What can we say other than we approve of this addition greatly? Nice move HTC and T-Mobile!
[Thanks, Tek818, for the info and screenshot!]
We've been throwing around a March launch date for the T-Mobile HD2 for a while now. And if this slide, purportedly from an internal T-Mobile presentation, is correct, it seems we're on the money. It shows the HD2 being released on March 24, along with a slew of other current and future devices. Not much to say other than that, until we see it confirmed by other sources. [PPC Geeks via TMoNews]
Behold, the HD2 that we'll see on T-Mobile. HTC's product page for the device is now live, and we learn that it's getting a memory boost over its European brother. ROM capacity will be 1GB (up from 512MB); and RAM is up from 448MB to 576MB.
An easy answer for the change could be that's what T-Mobile ordered. But that's no fun, is it? A better guess is that in testing Windows Mobile 7 on it -- remember that we're all assuming it's getting WM7 -- a need for more memory was discovered. Either way, it's not a huge bump up, but we're not the types to turn down free RAM. (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
If you ever need more confirmation that the HTC HD2 was going to get an update to Windows Mobile 7, we'll point you to the facts that (A) The original tweet saying an upgrade was coming was quickly deleted and (B) the above non-denial-denial recently posted by HTC. OK, we get it. That the HD2 might be upgraded to Windows Mobile 7 is "unconfirmed." Sure thing, guys. (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
Update: The Tweet you see above has been deleted. Validation!?!?! (Good eye, Mxx!)
We're really not fans of seeing "official" sources break news on Twitter, but so be it. Here you see a translation of a Tweet from @HTC_Ru, HTC's Russian Twitter account. And it clearly says that of the Windows phones currently available, only the HD2 is slated to get an upgrade to Windows Mobile 7. That's something we've been quietly expecting for a while now, especially given the supposed WM7 chassis specs. The HD2 has the 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It's got a capacitive screen. And it's hulking size means I wouldn't want to tell it it'd be stuck with Windows Mobile 6.5 forever.
As for other devices getting an upgrade to Windows Mobile 7? We'll go ahead and say that the bunch we saw recently in that HTC leak are a pretty good bet, assuming they're not actually launched with Windows Mobile 7.
It's pretty well known that the HTC HD2 (Leo) had a wee camera problem with some odd colors showing up in the center.
That has been addressed via a patch, which is available now.
Of course, what would be the fun of having a patch for one device and not trying it out on another? Not very much.
Turns out if you apply the .cab'd version to the Verizon Imagio (see review) it greatly speeds up the auto-focus -- as in cuts the time in half as well as just general quickness of the camera app. Image quality is said to be the same and no one is reporting any negatives, so if you've done a fresh backup give it a go.
And for the record, we did try this on our Sprint Touch Pro 2 and saw no difference ;-)