Update: We’ve put the Pro2 in the database and will add links, videos and specs as we get them. If you’ve found any good articles, galleries or videos yourself, send them in via this form.

HTC Just announced the HTC Touch Pro 2, a Windows Mobile slide/tilt device that many readers at UMPCPortal are going to be interested in. It’s still using the ‘old’ (or maybe I should say ‘current’) processing platform which is a little disappointing but the big battery, big 3.6″ screen and keyboard make it a good productivity option. Note the ‘zoom-bar’ specification which could help a lot in navigating websites. looking at the WCDMA talk time figures gives a good idea of how long it will last in ‘MID’ usage scenarios. About 4hrs.

The press release also mentions ‘Push Internet’. “HTC Push Internet alleviates slow downloading and rendering of Web pages on a mobile phone. Users can preselect their favorite Websites to get immediate access to them when needed.” Its sounds like some sort of background downloading service. Also note the lack of 3.5mm headphone socket. This is a very business-focused device.

No pricing info has been announced but you can estimate a price in the 600 Euro bracket. Availability in Europe is ‘Early Q2.’ putting it just ahead of the N97 timeframe in Europe.  (Nokia said the N97 would be available in June in their updates at MWC today.)

Specifications:

• Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7200Aâ„¢, 528 MHz
• Operating System: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional [Note: HTC announced a FREE upgrade to 6.5]
• Memory: ROM: 512 MB RAM: 288 MB
• Dimensions: 116 X 59.2 X 17.25 mm (4.57 X 2.33 X 0.68 inches)
• Weight: 175 grams (6.17 ounces) with battery
• Display: 3.6-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution
  Adjustable tilt screen
• Network
  HSDPA/WCDMA:Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz, Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds,
  Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:Europe/Asia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, (Band frequency, HSUPA availability, and data speed are operator dependent.)
• Device Control: TouchFLOâ„¢ 3D, Zoom bar
• GPS
• Connectivity
  Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
  Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
  HTC ExtUSBâ„¢ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0, audio jack, and TV Out* in one)
• Camera
  Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus
  Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera
• Battery
  Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
  Capacity: 1500 mAh
  Talk time: Up to 270 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 419 minutes for GSM
  Standby time: Up to 454 hours for WCDMA, Up to 348 hours for GSM
• Video call time: Up to 150 minutes
  (The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
• Expansion Slot
  microSDâ„¢ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• Special Features. FM Radio, G-Sensor

More details and images at the HTC website.

I’ve been thinking about this subject for a while but this post by Robert Scoble has prompted me to get everything written down and finalised. My thoughts about the ideal microblogging device started during the MBC09 conference that I attended as part of the first MIDMoves tour where people were all using either smartphones or PCs to microblog. I couldn’t help thinking there was a better way and of course, as I’m familiar with the area of pocketable productivity, couldn’t help thinking that the latest MIDs would be good so i’ve decided to spec out my ideal microblogging tool. It turns out that it sits right at the intersection point between MIDs and the new generation of high-end smartphones. Where ARM meets Intel!

First of all, what is microblogging? Wikipedia has a definition but to me, it’s being able to post a thought, image or sound to a publishing platform in the quickest and easiest possible way AND at the same time being able to track that publishing platform for posts that interest or are directed at you in some way. Tracking posts means being able to view 100% of the web in a quick and quality way because most microblogging posts are just leaders into rich web content

Twitter, Friendfeed, Seesmic, Flickr, Jaiku and many others fall into the platform category and in some respects, social networking platforms like Facebook also allow you to do the same. In general, most of the services offer a programming interface that allows direct posting and status updates from the platform and because of this, many third party tools have surfaced. Twhirl and Tweetdeck are the two that Robert Scoble addresses in his post but these are for desktop operating systems. The nature of microblogging means that you’re not always at your desk when that microblogging moment happens and i’d argue that most microblogging moments come when away from the desk making mobile devices extremely important.

Smartphones are a good choice for microblogging Apple, Nokia, Microsoft, and RIM mobile platforms all have microblogging client options available for them but so far, I haven’t seen a complete mobile microblogging solution. They all have major issues.

Web access.

All the clients seem to be efficient and do a good job of showing generic streams and targeted or filtered posts. I use Mauku on the Nokia Internet Tablet a lot and it’s great but just as on all smartphones, when I reach a link (I estimate over 50% of the microblog posts that interest me, have URLs attached to them), it takes forever to open and never gives me the full web experience thats required. Either javascript is not working, flash or some other component that is expected today. Screen sizes are too small and it’s slow, slow, frustratingly slow.

Battery Life.

Using a mobile phone for constant web access kills the battery life. Smartphones are efficient, yes, but having to carry a handfull of spare batteries or having to worry about turning off the microblogging client to preserve the last bar for voice is just not on.

Screen.

There are two things that annoy me about screen size. One is that I can’t scan tens of items in one go. The second is the problem of navigating a web page. After awaiting 30 seconds for a page to open you then have to scroll around and navigate ads or irrelevant content to get the important part of the page. It’s a poor show.

Keyboard.

Keyboards are getting better on smartphones, it’s true, but I haven’t yet seen a smartphone that combines a keyboard with a high capacity battery. As with MIDs, it’s a design choice. You choose between, large keyboard, large screen or large battery and never all three at the same time. With current ( < 2008) technology, it wouldn’t fit comfortably in a pocket otherwise.

Processing power and storage speed.

This is related to the ‘web access’ problem above. More processing power is required to be able to get those clients up and running quickly. More disk access speed is required for the same reason. Smooth scrolling, multi-tasking and other elements also hinge on processing power. Again, it’s part of the design tradeoff. More processing power requires a bigger battery. (Smaller screen and keyboard)

Microblogging is relatively new and none of the phones on the market appear to have included it as a design consideration (Web OS from Palm is one that might be an exception here) so the question is, if you were to design a microblogging device, what would it look like and what specs would it have? Here are my specifications:

Stylish Hardware (quality finishing, stylish appearance)

• 4.1″ 800×480 screen. It’s entry level for a good, productive web experience.
• High-end mobile processor (Benchmarks: 10-second average web page load time. YouTube SD flash playback. 5-10 active programs.)
• Video playback acceleration (Benchmark: 720p)
• 3W max design power. 1.5W average. 15W battery for all-day microblogging.
• Camera. 5mp glass optics. VGA video capture. (720p would be nice too!)
• GPS for geotagging, navigation.
• Slider keyboard with backlight
• Local 3G flavor $30 per month data cost (unlimited)
• Wifi, Bluetooth (2.1 for near-field pairing)
• Voice – SIP, Skype, GSM
• FM radio and TX (Always worth having on a mobile device.)
• Stereo speakers for kitchen-quality sound.
• 16GB + fast SD storage.
• Stylus
• Fanless and silent (of course!)
• Weight < 300gm.

Stylish Software

• finger and stylus driven UI.
• Firefox 3.
• Adobe Air.
• Full flash.
• Easy image posting s/w,
• Multi-protocol Blogging client.
• Podcatcher
• Multi-protocol IM
• Video capture software (VGA, direct to H.264 for YouTube posting)
• Navigation (turn-by-turn car and pediestrian) and geo-social software clients.
• Intelligent predictive text and on-screen keyboard option (in-car use)
• Configurable home-screen applets.
• Fast, well-featured RSS client
• SyncML for contacts and calendar.
• Email client
• PIM features
• Basic office suite (for occasional use only)
• Compatibility with a common gaming platform.
• App store
• E-Book software with link to stores and DRM authorisation.

Stylish Accessories:

• Netbook (dumb screen  + keyboard + battery with CPU booster. (second core?)) dock.
• Car Dock
• Wall mount
• Credit-card sized remote display and drive a-la windows sideshow that also houses a BT headset.
• Wrist strap display option that is used as the notifier. (Vibration, audible and visual.)

Cost:

Under $800, sim-free, unsubsidised.

What does it look like?

The Ring of FIE

FIE stands for FULL INTERNET EXPERIENCE and the ring of FIE is my definition (see original here) of the gadget middle-ground that many people ignore when considering a ‘third’ device. There’s already a range of gadgets out there in the middle ground and most of them are already migrating towards internet connectivity. The closest form-factor I can think of is the Nokia N810 although given the battery requirement, it would probably be a bit thicker than the existing N810.

Anything else?

Yes, community. That exciting feeling that you’re buying into something more than a bit of hardware. With the popularity of microblogging at a peak, now is exactly the right time to be bringing a device to market and build a community.

Differences to a smartphone.

As far as 99% of the technical specs go, it’s a smartphone. The big issue, quite literally, is the size. It’s beyond current limits for an acceptable 24/7 consumer phone. There’s no getting away from the physics of good keyboards and an 800×480 screen with a sensible 200-250 DPI. With current technology, the battery is also big and heavy.

Differences to a MID.

For some people, (Texas Instruments, ARM, Qualcomm) the device here is exactly an MID. It even fits in Intel’s definition of a MID although some of the devices we’re seeing now just aren’t quite there yet and in the current Intel platforms, voice support doesnt exist.

Why not call it a smartphone?

This will be too big to fit inside the smartphone category. It also does far more than a smartphone ever did. It makes sense to break out a new category of communicator-style devices, to ride on the microblogging wave and for people to treat this as a second, high-end device. As most high-end users carry two phones anyway, why not make one of them a MID? Breaking out a another device category is also in line with what the marketing people will do anyway.

Can I buy it?

Nope. no-one has done it yet. Nokia have been on this track for years with their Internet Tablets and I anxiously await their new device (which appears to satisfy all requirements except Voice. That might be good enough for me!) Intel are moving into this segment too with their MIDs (See Compal, UMID.) Archos are attempting to unite the smartphone with a media and internet tablet and I know from discussions that ARM’s partners are planning to launch these devices too. Qualcomm were talking about these devices months ago. I would put money on us seeing more than one device in this vein next week in Barcelona and am expecting to be able to buy a device like this before Summer 2009. We’re almost there!

It would be silly not to point out that what I’ve defined here is much the same as I defined three years ago as my ideal device (The Carrypad) but technology, the WEB and Internet-based services have moved on to make this an even more desirable device now than it was then. We’re just at the right point on the timeline of technology and web services that make this sort of device possible and potentially, extremely successful.

Jon Stokes, one of my favourite mobility-focused journalists, wrote in ARS Technica about battery life on the Palm Pre a few days ago and brings up one of my favourite topics. Battery life.

It’s a real issue for smartphones now as the platforms reach levels where they can be considered capable of returning an acceptable web experience but when used in such a scenario, the battery life is too short. Losing your mobile communications because you spent 2 hours messing around on the Internet isn’t the situation most want to be in.

All day battery life on a smartphone!

Read what Jon has to say about the Pre battery life here:

The Palm Pre’s possible Achilles heel: battery life – Ars Technica.

And check out my thoughts on the Pre too. I’d rather see the Pre as a MID than a smartphone. It will still be pocketable but you’ll be able to fit a decent battery on it and still have it in a pockateble format. It’s better for many people to split voice from Internet on separate devices to improve both experiences to the ‘pro’ level.

I’ve also taken a look at this topic in these two articles:

How long does your smartphone last in ‘MID’ mode?

How big is an ‘all-day’ Mobile Internet smartphone?

This is an unconfirmed rumor but if it’s true, we might have another smartphone ‘MID’ on our hands here. 3G, 854×480 screen, GPS, Qwerty keyboard, slick design. No info on processor at the moment. I’ve never tried a sidekick as they’ve always looked like toys to me but I know some people that swear by them and rate the keyboard very highly indeed.

The 3.2inch screen would be difficult to read at standard text sizes but if the zoom is smooth and quick it might not be a problem.

More information and an image at the link below…

» Sidekick LX 2009 – Sidekick 2008 / Sidekick LX / Sidekick Slide / Sidekick 3 / Hiptop 3.

Business Week summarises the current position on Intel-based MIDs nicely and talks about Moblin 2.0 (due to appear in devices later this year,) a new partner announcement that will come at the Mobile World Congress and covers the ever-present discussion about the space between a smartphone and a laptop.

“I’m not sure there’s a third category of device” between a cell phone and a netbook, says Andy Lees, a senior vice-president in Microsoft’s mobile communications business. “The thing that distinguishes a phone is it goes in your pocket or purse. If you have a six-inch screen, that’s no-man’s land.”

I had this question put to me many times last week and i’m quite clear about the answer now.

1) Intel will push Atom-based MID devices so small that they will be smartphones (i.e. will be voice-capable and will be 24/7 pocketable.) You won’t know them as MIDs at this point. (Estimated 2010-2011 timeframe.)

2) People are forgetting about the third, forth, fifth etc. devices we already carry around. PMP’s, Navigation units and Video/photographic cameras are present in many peoples gadget bag and there’s a few upcoming categories too. Ebook readers, full experience web devices and even handheld gaming devices.

No one is saying that MID’s, either from Intel, from ARM or from anyone else are going to take one form and be ‘the winner’ because at the start, it’s going to be about creating devices for specific users and solving specific problems like internet-connected navigation, video streaming, full internet experience and portable HD media playback. Some consolidation of devices will be possible though and when you look at the screen requirements for all these ‘in between’ products, they all fit with the 4-6″ screen range. If someone does it right, there could well be a hit do-it-all device among them (Ipod Plus is one) but even if there isn’t, there’s sill a chance for many successful products in this multi-million unit pre existing market that Andy Lees is calling ‘no mans land.’

Intel Readies Push into Mobile Internet Devices – BusinessWeek.

Gizmodo have just completed a browsing speed and accuracy test with three high-end windows mobile devices using Pocket IE and Opera 9.5. The results should hardly be a surprise. There isn’t a single reasonable result among them with page load times well over a minute in many cases and very few of the devices rendering the pages well.

In the test, Gizmodo used the Sony Xperia, HTC Fuze, Samsung Omnia and Samsung Epix. Some of the newest WM-based phones you can buy.

Opera 9.5 appears to have turned in a better level of quality and speed than Pocket IE but there’s still a bunch of ‘fails’ in there which would turn off anyone thinking of relying on the given combo.

We’ve done similar tests here in the past which have proven that, on average, with some of the best ARM-based devices you can find and under good conditions, average page load times are twice as long when compared to on low-end ultra mobile PCs. We’ve even done some extensive Opera Mobile 9.5 testing and can confirm that while it does render well, it needs a lot more horsepower underneath it than the average smartphone can provide. Nothing in the smartphone world, including the iPhone, comes close to the speed and accuracy of even the lowest-level ultra mobile PC or Intel-based MID so once again I hear myself saying; If you or your business relies on fast, accurate access to Web-based resources through a browser, don’t risk problems or waste time by using a sub-standard solution. Don’t try and push everything onto one device. Buy a dedicated device. If not for the speed and quality, do it to preserve battery life for your important voice calls!

Take a read of the article and the HUGE bashing that WM gets from author, Matt Buchanan. Its a fun read!

Source: Gizmodo Via Friendfeed

It might seem strange to see a news article dedicated to the CPU on the N97 but for many, its very important as it gives an idea of the general purpose processing power of the device which, in turn, is important when assessing a devices ability to decode and render web pages quickly.

Unfortunately, it looks like the N97 won’t be using the latest OMAP 3 platform or anything that contains the latest generation ARM Cortex core. The news was relayed through a Jaiku microblog from the always-reliable, always careful, All About Symbian that it’s using an ARM11 core just as the existing high-end smartphones use.

I heard a few other rumors too. 1) Its ‘as fast or faster’ than the E71. 2) Its clocked higher than on previous Nokias.  Unless its an ARM11 MPCore device clocked up high, I don’t think we’re looking at a big-change in browser performance with the N97 over other Nokia phones which, for me, isn’t good enough to get the device on my personal ‘wanted’ list.

Keep an eye on Nokia Forum though as the official specs will probably be posted there first and they may be different to what All About Symbain has heard. In the meantime, I’ve updated our N97 datasheet to reflect the new info.

In a recent ‘Thought Leaders’ study by Phil Hendrix of IMMR, a number of (US-based, I believe)people were asked the following question:

Three years from now, among individuals who own or use a PC, cellphone or smartphone, at home or work, what percentage do you think will have purchased a MID, again, by Q3 2011.

The average prediction is that by Q3 2011, 33% of these people will have a MID.

I know what you’re thinking. ‘No way.’ That’s what I thought until I read their definition of a MID. The IMMR definition of a MID is:

MIDs, or Mobile Internet Devices, are a new class of devices/PC’s that offer many of the features of a PC, but at 1-3lbs. are lightweight and portable enough to easily carry and use virtually anyplace, at any time.

Its not the definition that Intel use but its certainly the definition I’m hearing from ARM, Ti and others that regard even netbooks as mobile Internet devices. Based on that definition, I totally agree with the ‘Thought Leaders,’ whoever they may be.

A complimentary copy of the report, titled ‘The M in MIDs stands for Mobile’ and sponsored by GigaOM,  the GSMA mobile Innovation Market and InMobile, can be downloaded from the IMMR website at www.immr.org and it’s an interesting read covering more than just the penetration question. There are some quotes from the respondents included too like these two that I hear a lot: “Someone who has an iPhone right now, essentially has a MID already” and “With smartphones taking on 80%+ of MID-type activities, it will be tough to convince people to carry yet another device.”  So if the iPhone is a MID and more voice-enabled MIDs are on the horizon, what are we arguing about? Based on this segment of the market alone I’d say we will reach 30% penetration by end of 2011. Add netbooks into the mix and it’s almost a certainty but for me, the even nicer thought is imagining the hundreds of variations of mobile Internet-enabled devices that will appear.

Related article: MID, a definition that is hard to ignore.