Pocketables

HTC Whitestone and Thoth details emerge

Back in January, a member of the PPCGeeks forum put out a slew of images believed to be HTC's roadmap for 2009. Of most interest to the mobile computing crowd were the Nokia Nseries-esque Whitestone and the proper upgrade to the Advantage X7501 (the X7510 was just a refresh), the Thoth.

Today, WMPoweruser shares what we've all been waiting for since first seeing the images: more details. According to information obtained in February by Sina.com (translated), September will be an important month for both devices.

HTC turns another iPhone into an iPod touch

I don't know what it is about HTC-built smartphones, but they keep commanding me to cripple my iPhones by giving their SIMs to another device, thus becoming WiFi-only glorified iPod touches. First it was the AT&T Tilt (HTC TyTN II), which drew me away from the first-gen iPhone last December.

And now it's the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 (made by HTC), almost exactly one year later, officially taking over the position my iPhone 3G has held since July.

HTC is literally my iPhone killer.

Stay tuned for a completely self-indulgent X1 unboxing. [Update: Here we go!]

On the run with the HTC Shift X9500

Although I've had my HTC Shift X9500 for a few months now and have been using it daily, today is actually the first time I'm using it away from home. I've taken it out before, sure, but I've never used it for mobile blogging.

I work almost exclusively from home, you see, so although I love mobile technology, I'm generally not a mobile user of it. I suppose you could say that I'm the anti-mobile portable tech enthusiast, the jklOnTheCouch to James and Kevin's jkOnTheRun, if you will.

HTC Shift X9501 software update to enable GPS through Telenav in SnapVUE

There's been a bit of confusion about whether or not the HTC Shift actually has functional GPS housed in it, particularly after the curious listing found at eXpansys last week, so I'd like to take a moment now to break it all down and clarify what's going on.

Opera Mobile 9.5 on HTC Shift liberated SnapVUE

I suspect that xda-developers have something to do with this, but Pocketables Forum member Tosser directed me to the ad-riddled iPmart forum to check out the four Windows Mobile CAB files of the unreleased and much anticipated Opera Mobile 9.5 (build 1126).

I downloaded the VGA version immediately and installed it on my HTC Advantage, all the while wondering whether it would work on my SnapVUE-liberated HTC Shift. I assumed it would, as the liberation turns SnapVUE into full-blown Windows Mobile 6, but since Opera 8.65 doesn't function as it should (no idea why, as it performs beautifully on the Advantage), I had my doubts.

eXpansys selling GPS version of HTC Shift

Well, this is peculiar. Just as I was about to write up that eXpansys is now selling the HTC Shift X9500 for $1385 (MSRP is $1499), I noticed a little blurb at the bottom of the product page that said "If you like the HTC Shift but want to add GPS, check out the HTC Shift GPS Version."

Um, the what?

There is no GPS version of the Shift! Although GPS is on the Qualcomm chipset taking care of SnapVUE, it isn't functional (hackers are still working on it, I think). Yet, somehow eXpansys is still selling it for $1564.95, listing "Internal GPS antenna" and "Standalone GPS" as part of the unit's specs, and confusing customers. Anyone know what's going on here?

UPDATE: See eXpansys and HTC's explanation in the comments below.

HTC Advantage X7510 coming in late June for $1299

Since Qualcomm's legal issues are still preventing the HTC Advantage X7510 from being sold in the US, the only way to get your hands on the 16GB Windows Mobile 6.1 device will be to pay through the nose for it. Dynamism, for example, is expecting their first shipment of the X7510 in late June and will send you one in exchange for $1299. Same goes for On The Go Solutions, whose stock is supposedly due to arrive tomorrow.

Although preorders were already priced at $1300 back in March, it's pretty uncommon for such prices (which are often inflated to take advantage of anxious customers who can't wait for official pricing to be announced) to actually stick. I thought paying $850 for my X7501 was outrageous, so I'm going to have to pass on its successor. What about you?

HTC Shift X9500 in Hawaii

Today is Kamehameha Day here in Hawaii, so my husband and I took the afternoon off and drove around the east side of Oahu with our Canon Digital Rebel XT DSLR and my HTC Shift X9500.

The Shift is still my favorite UMPC to date, so I thought it was fitting to include the beautiful device in some of our pictures of the beautiful island scenery. The shutterbug I married ended up taking more than 150 photos in a few hours, but I've pared them down to my favorite 17 to keep the load time and bandwidth usage reasonable. Have a look!

10 more tips for the AT&T Tilt

My "10 tips on fixing common AT&T Tilt problems" has been the most viewed article here at Pocketables almost every day for the past four months, so I think it's high time that I put together a follow-up piece.

This new list of 10 tips (below) includes software recommendations, free utilities, and simple tweaks that further enhance the Tilt (HTC TyTN II) and help to make the powerful Windows Mobile device even more enjoyable to use. Have a look below.

HTC Touch Pro vs. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1