Microsoft Clarifies Windows Mobile 6.5 Upgrades and Features
Prior to today, the general consensus online was that Microsoft's upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 update would not be released as a update to existing devices, due to the beefed-up hardware requirements. Now Engadget is reporting that word has leaked out prior to the kick-off of CTIA that Microsoft has clarified their stance in regards to WM 6.5 upgrades for existing handsets. Devices currently on the market, such as Palm's Treo Pro (but not the older, lesser clocked 800w) that feature at least a 400 MHz CPU and 128MB or more of RAM can technically accommodate the 6.5 upgrade. It will, however, be up to the individual hardware manufacturers such as Palm and HTC to go through the effort and cost to offer the upgrade to their customers.
Traditionally, Palm has a fairly solid record in regards to Windows Mobile updates for its devices. For example, only Verizon's version of the Treo 700wx received a WM 6 update, while both AT&T and unlocked GSM versions of the Treo 750 could be freely upgraded to WM 6 for a limited period of time. Palm's most recent device, the CDMA Treo Pro on Alltel and Sprint, ships with the newer Internet Explorer Mobile 6 but with Windows Mobile 6.1.
This new WM 6.5 info comes alongside news of additional supports of the Windows Marketplace app store, a new Windows Mobile Facebook client, and upcoming "designer themes" WM 6.5-based devices.
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RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
> times per day. You can`t rely on it for any kind of wake up alarm...
>
> ...I am back in the market as a potential buyer for the Palm Pre.
Why does "frying pan, fire" pop into my head?
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
Why not try an iPhone 3G?
-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
i'd give it 6 months to:
- get it debugged
- see the app store get deployed
- see developers produce a few webapps
failing that, check out the iphone
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
It is a real joke. Do you know how frustrating it is to 500$ for something only to be presented with 3, 4, or more rock solid freezes even when you didnt install anything yet on it?
I noticed in the HP update there was a file there named something like "keyb lockup fix". Right there it proves HP is still struggling with lock ups that required me to use a stylus just to get the Today screen.
I haven`t had 1 successful alarm go off in the morning yet like I programmed it to do. I have to still rely on my Palm devices. 500$ and it can`t even stay on or guaranteed it will alert you without worry.
Total BS. I lost so many thousand $ on WM products. Enough is enough, I just added them to my personal product blacklist.
WebOS it will be.
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
Uh...every "app" installed on the pre has to be "certified" by Palm (*).
Every one.
How does this differ from Apple and the iPhone?
============
(*) Yes, EVERY "app". You might be able to install them from somewhere other than Palm's overloaded "app" store, but the "app" has to be certified still.
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
(1) Is there actually a quote or link out there where someone from Palm says uncertified apps will be completely locked out?
(2) Since no one knows what Palm's app certification is going to require, any answer to your question at this point is pure speculation. But if it turns out to be as simple as "does not crash your device, does not contain malware" then that would be a world away from Apple's opaque App Store approval process, where your application can be arbitrarily labeled as "objectionable" and denied distribution for that or any other reason Apple cares for. See http://theappleblog.com/2008/09/13/why-apples-app-store-approval-process-is-broken/
(3) What's with the scare quotes around "app"?
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
There IS a quote from a Palm guy saying all "apps" will have to be certified.
(2) Huh?
(3) I hesitate to call a widget an app without the quotes. sorry.
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
(3) Ah, I see. So tell me then, how are Pre's applications widgets? Wikipedia defines "application software" as:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_software
Application software is any tool that functions and is operated by means of a computer, with the purpose of supporting or improving the software user's work. In other words, it is the subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly to a task that the user wishes to perform....Typical examples of software applications are word processors, spreadsheets, media players and database applications.
Whereas a widget is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget
A widget is anything that can be embedded within a page of HTML, i.e. a web page. A widget adds some content to that page that is not static. Generally widgets are originated by third parties, though they can be home made. Embeddable chunks of code have existed since the early development of the World Wide Web. Web developers have long sought and used third party code chunks in their pages. Early web widgets provided functions such as link counters and advertising banners.
On webOS, developers are building stuff like media players (Pandora), and mobile office suites (Docs2Go, unless Dataviz have lost their minds and are developing a fart app instead).
Logic would seem to dictate that webOS software will fit the former definition, not the latter.
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
If you feed the troll, you get a fat troll.
BTW, one *huge* difference between Palm and Apple will be that PALM WON'T BLOCK eBOOKS!
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
I don't wasnt the iphone because its too controlled by apple.
Is there some functionality you want or need that is being prevented by Apple policy?
I had about four things on my list that Apple had prevented access to, and the 3.0 update will solve almost all of them:
1) Bluetooth peripheral support (keyboards, file exchange, etc)
2) Turn-by-turn GPS directions
3) MMS
And one more that is promised to be on the way by Apple and Adobe:
4) Flash
-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
On the other hand, I suggested to you that I would get an iPhone before I got a WM device. While technically that is still true (at least for the time being), I have to say that an iPhone user I talked to today really made me wonder about that preference. He ripped on his iPhone, called it a piece of junk, and said he'd gladly trade it for anyone's WinMob phone right now. Discussing all of this was another guy who has been using Apple computer products for years and has been quite happy with those products. (With the one major exception being something about some horrible piece of video editing software that Apple put out which dumbed down a previously decent product and really irritated him; I didn't really understand what he was talking about.)
The whole discussion started because I saw this guy's iPhone and simply asked him how he liked it. Seriously, he ripped it to shreads! Absolutely nothing good to say about it other than the screen was pretty to look at. I suspect that a lot of his complaints came because he is a technology "poweruser" and really likes to get "important stuff" done. So he wasn't interested at all in all the media capabilities of the device. I suggested that some of his complaints might be solved with v. 3.0 of the OS, and he said "Sure, some of them might be ... in June [sarcastically said]. But there is no way an OS upgrade is going to solve the worthless battery problem." He ended the conversation again by saying he'd take any decent WM device in trade for it right now.
So I wrote all of that to tell you that although I'd still personally pick the iPhone over a WinMob device, anyone considering an iPhone might want to talk to a few "unhappy" owners first. I have held a total of one iPhone in my hand and did nothing more than use Google maps for one minute. Obviously I don't know all of the problems that device may or may not have. So as usual, YMMV.
Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
Where are you getting *keyboard* support from? That's still a fantasy.
RE: I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
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I am getting rid of my new iPaq 910c
I am back in the market as a potential buyer for the Palm Pre.
But only once it is unlocked and below 500$.