Russian web site Mobile-Review features today a thorough review of the upcoming version of Pocket PC: 6.0 aka Crossbow. The addition of VoIP SIP functionality by default is a welcome one.
Review of Windows Mobile 6.0 for Pocket PC
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
When are we going to see PPCs with 3d GPUs running a glitzy GUI similiar to vistas? WE NEEEEED THAT!
Edited 2006-11-21 18:31
I don’t need that. I need a stable system that doesn’t bail out every few days. WM2003 and WM5 are notoriously slow, crash prine pieces of software.
I want a PDA that works, even after a week. My 6515 doesn’t.
I waiting too long to wipe out WM2003 infection from
my FS Loox. I really hate WM! I can’t use this “software”. It makes me mad!!!
I like WM5 just fine. It can be better, but I prefer it over any other OS for smartphones today (and I have tried everything — from PalmOS to Linux to Symbian and Blackberry).
Wow, I feel really bad for you-the guy who put that gun to your head and made you buy that WM PDA should be hung!
Edited 2006-11-21 20:44
the guy who put that gun to your head and made you buy that WM PDA should be hung
No, it is my fault =)
For my sane i buried the damn thing somewhere in the darkest places of the home ^_^
Edited 2006-11-22 09:50
Well, there was a huge fuss a few years ago when ATi released their Imageon mobile processors for phones/PDAs… so the hardware’s there.
…but no-one seems to a) stick it in a device b) program for it. With the PDA market shrinking at the rate it seems to be, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
It’s a shame, too… I loved the PPC2002 PDA I used to have and I really see where the platform /could/ go if only the resources were thrown into it.
so. uh… so I need to put <sarcasm></sarcasm> tags on everything now? </sarcasm>
*I* understood it was sarcasm….but you know those linux zealots! Taking everything so seriously!
well when the Arm Cortex-A8 hits next year smartphone/pda devices are gonna see a huge jump in performance.
All the WM devices I’ve used so far have been buggy, crash prone, slow, etc. I’d say it was just a defect in the device, but it’s been ALL of the devices I’ve used.
I’m trying to find a good phone for myself, right now I’ve got a Samsung D600 which I like pretty well, except for a few minor issues.
#1 – The “flash” is really just a LED, and it’s not very bright, at all. In a dark area, it has a range of about 1/3m. This doesn’t cut it!
#2 – The camera doesn’t have auto-focus. This sucks.
#3 – It doesn’t sync with macs. I use macs. This doesn’t work well for me.
#4 – Little UI/device quirks, like sending SMSs by default doesn’t save a copy in your sent folder. You have to select save and send EVERY time. No option to set it always on. Annoying. Various little things like this.
#5 – The media player is only mediocre. It gets the job done, but just barely.
#6 – While I like the “slider” design for cool-factor, the screen sure does get messed up easily. Mine is scratched to heck, from being in my pocket with nothing else. I should have bought one of those screen protector films when I first got it. Oh well, 3-4 hours with Brasso and I can get the scratches out, then I’ll put on the protector.
Now, those things being said, I like this phone a lot. Probably the best phone I’ve owned so far. It’s sturdy as heck, it has good reception, call quality is generally fairly clear, good battery life, etc.
What phone should I be looking for? I just want a phone that can:
#1 – Be a great phone. Easy to make calls/receive calls. Good contact organization/management. This is the primary function of a cell phone, and it better be good at it! Good reception, etc.
#2 – Be a good camera for those times when you didn’t tote your digital cam around. I don’t want to bring along a DSLR every time I go to a party. Nor do I want to buy a P&S camera and keep *another* thing in my pocket/one more thing to lose. I’m not worried about 20 megapixel images, I’d just like something 2+ megapixel with autofocus, and a *good* flash. Good meaning usable for general party-type situations. maybe 1-2m range, somewhere in there. If I’m outside in the dark with a group of 5 others, and I want to snap a group photo, I want a flash capable of illuminating those folks enough to have a decent quality picture.
#3 – Have good email capabilities. I own a data center, so I have my own mail server, etc – and it is NOT outlook based. This is what kills blackberries for me, I have to use the blackberry email address to get mail to the blackberry. This is uncool. I just need IMAP(S) and SMTP(S) support. High speed network access would be nice, with the ability to use an Opera browser (or something just as good.) I use T-Mobile in the US, and I hear they are soon to start rolling out a high speed network – but I am unsure of the type. It would be nice to be able to use this, potentially tethering my mac laptop to my phone via bluetooth to get high speed internet when on the road. That would rock.
#4 – Sync with OSX.
#5 – Have a good media player. Doesn’t have to be fancy or anything, just let me slap my mp3s/aacs on a microsd card or something, and listen.
Now, all that being said, I will NOT (non-debatable) own a Sony* phone. SE is out of the question, I do not own any nor will I own any Sony products. I’d rather use a cup and a string.
I was looking at some of the newer Nokias, they look pretty nice. I saw the N95 has a 5 megapixel camera, but it’s not coming to the states (I’m in Hawaii.)
Any ideas/suggestions? NO WM phones, I have nothing but problems with them. WM6 just looked like WM5 from this review, with a few more bells and whistles.
you, sir, are looking for a Treo.
What phone should I be looking for? I just want a phone that can:
#1 – The treo is heavenly when it comes to making/recieving calls. Even turning on 3 way is a cinch.
#2 – the treo600 has an absolutely TERRIBLE camera, but as far as i know, the cams on the new 700 series are pretty good.
#3 – Default mail app doesnt do all that I think, buts theres some nice 3rd party email apps that DO support all that.
#4 – Should work well, havent tested though.
#5 – default mediaplayer is crap, but pTunes and TCPMP ROCK for playing stuff.
The treo 700p runs palm OS… while it doesnt ‘multitask’ its very fast and runs really well and has TONS of good apps. There are apps for SSH2, DivX/anything else playback, pTunes lets you play audio files in the background and stream, Samba compatible client, graphical FTP, GOOD web browser, a really nice text editor with its own scripting language… etc etc..
My treo600 has also been extremely sturdy.. withstood flying out a window in a car that was flipping doing over 45mph and hitting the road and skidding about 20 feet, me dropping it a lot, get thrown by accident etc etc.
best. smartphone. ever.
I personally like my phone to be a phone. No stinking color. Just the keypad, dial, hang up. Don’t need ringtones, polyphonics or anything. Just a damn phone. A device that makes phone calls, and does it well. Why the HELL should a phone crash or lock up at this point in time? It shouldn’t need to “boot up”. It should be instant on. Like a house phone, only portable.
You are crrrraaazzzy! What nonsense is that? Using a phone for phonecalls? Why do you want to stifle “innovation”? Are you communist?
I wonder if anyone knows how (or if) my WM 5.0 SmartPhone can be upgraded… Qtek9000.
BTW, I really like my WM 5 device, more than I was liking my P910i. Could be a matter of taste, though.
My only complain is about Mobile IE being not that good.
You can’t upgrade it like you would your PC. You will have to wait and see if your vendor supplies a ROM upgrade after the release.
I have a WM 5.0 Ipaq and am extemely happy with it. This is my third PDA–the first was a Palm (it rocked for its day), then came a Zaurus (feature rich but crash prone), then the Ipaq. PIE leaves a lot to be desired, tried a demo of Opera mini. While I liked it better than PIE, $30 seemed like a lot for software I use so rarely.
> All the WM devices I’ve used so far have been buggy,
> crash prone, slow, etc. I’d say it was just a defect in
> the device, but it’s been ALL of the devices I’ve used.
Windows Mobile doesn’t use memory protection, so buggy applications can (and do) bring down the whole system.
so basically, it’s not the type of OS you want to have in your phone.
Ive always had a love hate relationship with WM/CE.
Ive been using it for a while and there are some problems with it. Sometimes it just seems to run like crap. I use a Dell X51v WM5 with the processor on max 612MHZ, and sometimes it runs really bad under lite load (word, outlook and contacts), no massive documents or anything.
Other times it runs really well and doesn’t require a restart or anything. Media playing on the WM5 is the best on any platform, i can play nearly any media format without skipping, DivX etc..
The one thing that this update bring, which is about time is the ability to run a higher number of processes.
However i would like to seem some more speed improvements, i get the feeling that some new features and code are just being added at the expense of processor speed. WM2003 ran a lot faster, but on my previous computer IPAQ rx3715 it would constantly run out of RAM.
I didn’t get on well with any Windows Smartphone, everyone i have tried crashed when making/recieving calls, text messages and Pictures messages so it would take a really good STABLE device to bring me back. Currently i use a P910i and it’s as solid as a rock, however using a nokia E61 has also proved very impressive.
The one thing i would like this platform to get is some kind of integrated version of Access (pocket access) yes there is thirdy party stuff, but i want a microsoft product which truly integerates with MS Access, and allows me to carry useful data around on the device. With the advent of faster processors, More and more memory via internal and external (SD, CF) it makes sense to bring some fluid data management onto the device. I have tried some third party stuff but the sync system usually only works 80% of the time and usually not very well when it does work.
I have a P990i and I love it. There are some things that can be made better, especially the software because it seems as if Sony Ericsson didnt do too much testing on their firmware when they released it. Without and update, I would say that the phone is unusable because of the frequent crashes. After the update however the phone is a LOT better. There are still some bugs in there but I think most are memory related. I wonder why sony didnt just up the amount of internal memory for the os!