The Toshiba G900 is the very definition of mobile power. Check out some details on it courtesy of Tracy and Matt's blog: They have a Toshiba G900 and they aren't being reticent with the gadget pron. There's an unboxing, a few hi-res screen grabs, and a video of the ginormous screen.

Engadget has an unboxing gallery as well. US release is still unknown, but obviously it's available in Europe and Japan, as expected. If you're multilingual, check out the review at SoloPalmari.

800x480 resolution on that screen. I can hardly stand not having it.

Sure, I was a little dubious at first that Microsoft would be announcing Windows Mobile 6 earlier than expected. Perhaps part of it was a "French publication" breaking the embargo early that led them to just go ahead and tell everybody to start talking about it. In any case, the internet is all abuzz over it today instead of the February 12th official launch date.

Read on for a massive round-up of reviews, screen shots, and all the WM6 Links you can shake a stick at.

Update: Here's Engadget's photo gallery of WM6 Pro

Read the rest of this entry »

According to Sascha Segan, you can add the HP iPAQ hw6925 to the long list of YAQKWMS that tries very hard to do it all and ends up not quite doing anything well (Motorola Q, I'm looking at you). Its killer feature, as far as I'm concerned, is integrated GPS. That's "killer" as in "awesome" and as in "kills battery life." The 240x240 screen doesn't bother me too much, but then I'm used to it.

The new HP iPAQ hw6925 tries to be the ultimate traveling companion, bringing together an unusually flexible GPS system, phone, and PDA in one easily pocketable unit. But its small, low-res screen and below-average battery life make it less useful than it could be.

Read: HP iPAQ hw6925: Full Review - Review by PC Magazine

Someday I'll be able to mention a WM phone without having to list 3 different names for it. Ah well. Judie Strietelmeier (of http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/ fame) snagged a pretty-in-pink Qtek 8500 and has posted a nice little review of it. I gotta say, I'm as impressed as she is - this would make a great phone for a lot of people. Now that I'm a GSM user myself, I'm tempted to pick one of these up as my "going out" phone when I don't want a brick in my pocket. I agree with her that putting the MiniSD card under the SIM card is pretty freaking dicey, though, so maybe I'm not as keen on switching this phone in and out of my rotation as I thought.

What I Like: This is a rock-solid phone first! It is easy to use, yet gives much of the same functionality of a full blown PDA. This is a device I would feel confident giving to a user of any experience level, something that can’t be said for many other “smart phones”.
What Needs Improvement: The placement of the microSD under the SIM card seems hazardous, I wish that the USB connector was still standard size - not the flattened and less standard version.

Read: Gear Diary » Archive » The HTC Star Trek / Qtek 8500 WM5 Smartphone Review

The fine folks at Gizmodo have broken down by phone whether or not you should upgrade to "the best Windows Mobile phone out right now." I might honestly be inclined to agree with that assessment, but as for the upgrades, I'm less sure I'm with 'em. Sure, if you're still stuck in featurephone land and want a smartphone, this is a great way to go. But sometimes small ain't so bad. Right? Right?

Ok, I want one.

T-Mobile MDA, Verizon/Sprint 6700, Cingular 8125: Upgrade if you can afford it. This is where it gets both tricky and interesting. The 8525 runs the same OS as its predecessors—also known as the HTC Wizard—and thus, have all the same apps and can do pretty much the same things. They all have WiFi, a slide-out keyboard, and touch-screen capabilities. So why would you upgrade? Because it's what the old version should have been.

Read: Cingular 8525 Upgrade Guide: Should You Switch to the Best Windows Mobile Phone? - Gizmodo

Mobile-review has a great, er, review of the upcoming version of Windows Mobile, currently codenamed Crossbow. As they say, don't expect a revolution just yet - that'll come with the next version, Photon.

In any case, there's some notables in there you'll want to check out. Here's the spoiler, though: you get more eye candy, better button support, built-in VOIP, and better integration with MS Exchange 12

*Nevertheless, the brand-new operating system could be called “Windows Mobile 5.0 Second Edition” for it lacks tons of all-new features and total system revamp as in the case of Windows Mobile 5.0. *

Read: Mobile-review.com Review of Windows Mobile 6.0 for PPC (Crossbow) operating system

Now that Cingular has unveiled the Blackjack, reports are starting to trickle in.

PhoneScoop (among many others, see below) has published a preview/review of the Blackjack, aka the SGH-i607, aka YATQKWMS (Yet Another Thin Qwerty Keyboard Windows Mobile Smartphone), and overall they seem pretty happy with it. The standard by which all these devices are compared still seems to be the MotoQ and though the Blackjack does beat the MotoQ in battery life, it's nothing to write home about.

The BlackJack is also known as the Samsung i607. Like Samsung's other recent entry into this category, the i320, it is narrower than the Q, Dash or almost any other QWERTY phone. Thus despite its rectangular shape, the BlackJack fits nicely in the hand. The edges along the left and right sides are slightly rounded, increasing the comfort factor. It is easy to wrap your hand around it if you are using it one handed

If you're really pumped about the smartphone, there's also a video of the Blackjack in action over at Cingular's PR site.

Read: Preview: Samsung BlackJack (Phone Scoop)

Read: Laptop Magazine Review

Read: SlashGear Review

C|Net Asia pits the now-venerable (my, how quickly phones become "venerable" these days) against newcomer DoPod C720W/HTC Excalibur/T-Mobile Dash (my, how quickly I get tired of HTC allowing their devices to get 300 different names). Both are WM5 Smartphone Edition QWERTY slabs, both are thin and pretty good looking. I think they're right to give the Dash the win, though - I likes me my WiFi on my devices.

This new kid on the block is throwing up some big claims, with its own slim design, productivity tools, and wireless options. But don't expect the Moto Q to just sit there and take it. Grab a front-row seat as these two smart phones duke it out for the championship title.

Read: Prizefight: Dopod C720W vs. Moto Q - Product Review - CNET Asia

Infosync sure is prolific in their phone reviews. The latest - a quick little competition between the Cingular 8525 and the Samsung IP-830w. For me, it's basically apples and oranges, the 8525 is a horizontal slider on HSDPA and the IP-830w is a vertical slider on EVDO - I always prefer to choose my network before I choose my device. But if you're not that sort, you might enjoy reading this little fight.

In the red corner: the Wi-Fi- and HSDPA-enabled 8525. In the blue corner: the dual-mode CDMA/GSM IP-830w. Which of these slider smartphones is still standing when the dust settles?

Read: Smartphone slider duel: Cingular 8525 vs. Samsung IP-830w - infoSync World

Ok, I really like my Palm Treo 700wx. It's starting to look pretty fat to me, though, especially after I got a chance to hold the Samsung SGH-i320N. The thing is tiny. Girls Gone Mobile has a full write up on it, finding it to be capable, if not ideal. Most interesting to me is that Samsung just goes ahead and includes a spare battery in the box, basically admitting that the battery doesn't cut it for a full day's use.

One of these days a company is going to get one of these thing smartphone edition WM phones really, really right - and consumers will eat it up in epic proportions. But maybe not the SGH-i320N.

Girls Gone Mobile » Review: Samsung SGH-i320N