THE MOBILE HORNET … for those who get turned on by mobile devices

Isn’t TAD a blessing for ladies?  I never knew someone can come out with the idea of a fingernail protector.  Such a simple accessory and it save you from the ordeal of broken nails.  And with those tiny keypad and small screen icons of today’s mobile devices, it is definetly a No-No for you guys too who have big fingers.  Sometimes I wonder, how small these devices are going to go.  I mean you can’t shrink the keypad or the screen icons until it result in you pushing 2 or 3 buttons or icons at the same time.  Fret no more, here comes TAD to the rescue.

TAD Accessories has come out with three different plastic pointers. These can be selected according to device and function: for example, the pointy one might be best suited to touchscreens, while the rounded pointer is best used for texting.  It is made of rubber and all you got to do is wear it like how you wear a ring.  Easy to use and very handy.

Coolsmartphone has an interesting video on how to use the TAD.  Just click below:

More details can be found at  TAD website .

NOKIA: PLUG THE LEAK?

Nokia, the giant phone manufacturer is complaining about its own product leaks on their corporate website. Charlie of Nokia cited the Nokia E71 as the most leaked product in Nokia. According to him “The whole history of some product leaks in the past few months is a mixture of dumb moves, broken NDAs, maybe some thievery,..There are a lot of folks behind a product and leaks really screw up all the efforts.”

ARE LEAKS ACTUALLY GOOD FOR THE COMPANY?

Leak is a double-edged sword. It can help make or break an organisation. Leaks stimulate customer purchasing decisions like whether to buy some existing product now or to wait.  It also stirred up the competitors to come our with better products. Companies get it wrong when they said they lose out because customers put off buying the current products.  This is not true. For example, if a loyal iPhone user needs a 3G or GPS feature in his phone, his loyalty might just get thrown out of the window and may opt for another brand which have this feature.  Will he wait if he knew the coming of the iPhone 3G which has the features he wanted? I guess he would.

Correct me if I am wrong, HTC pushed forward their launch of the Touch Diamond because of the iPhone 3G leak.

I think Charlie is getting paranoid about the whole leaking issue.  I can’t blame him if he associate the leaking to the Osborne company, a company that was destroyed by product leaking!  On the brighter side, if your company is of no value, no one is interested in any of your leaks and furthermore most of the new features that companies want to incorporate into their new products are already public knowledge.  Sooner or later Nokia, Htc etc will be coming out with TV phones, projector phones. Is that a leak or an answer to customers’ wishlists?

It will be a nice if companies “leak” it themselves and benefit from this kind of forward announcements. Everyone knew that Apple is coming out with their 3G phone many months ago and yet the launch is such an anticipated event.  The leak did not kill the customers’ desire…it only enhances it.

The PDAEXPERT chain store in Malaysia has thrown in some freebies for their range of PPCs from HTC, HP, Toshiba, LG and O2.  All come with memory cards from 1GB to 4G and a few with the additional Bluetooth Headset.

You can find their Kuala Lumpur stores at MidValley, Sunway Pyramid, The Curve, Digital Mall, IOI Mall, and LowYat.  It is also available in Johor Baru at Jusco Terbau City.

When you are as big as HTC, you are always being challenged.  When Apple announced the US$199 price for the new iPhone 3G, HTC stock took a beating.  This forced HTC to have a relook at their price structure by lowering prices of their existing models for the Asian markets.

HTC entered the UMPC market with their SHIFT model without expecting a so-cheap model like the Asus Eee PC to be produced.  The increasing popularity of Asustek Computer’s Eee PC has resulted in a significant impact on the development of UMPCs (ultra mobile PCs).   The Asus Eee series come cheap and it may force HTC to adjust its deployment of UMPC products. 

HTC will have to strengthen users’ Internet experience through mobile devices like the Shift and their up and coming new MID (Mobile Internet Device) products, which will be using Intel’s Atom and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset platforms.  On the new MIDs, HTC should place emphasis on how they are going to be priced.   One wrong move, and the MIDs will be collecting dust in no time.

Among all the excellent features that come with a device, the wrong price can just kill it on the spot.  I am sure Apple spent hours brainstorming on the right price for the iPhone 3G long before it was launched. 

PRICE is the weapon that will be used over and over again.

THE US$199-iPHONE 3G HAS CAUSED HAVOC TO SMARTPHONE PRICES!

Apple’s announcement of a US$199 price for the new 3G iPhone has shaken up smartphone makers.

HTC’s stock, which is listed in Taiwan, plunged after Apple’s announcement over fears the iPhone’s price will undercut HTC’s smartphone prices.

Do not be misled that the iPhone is so very US$199-cheap.  It is not, when you add the 24-month contract you have to sign to get the iPhone.  Anyway, HTC Asia is going for a price reduction with immediate effect on the following models to combat the share price slide. 

• HTC TyTN II – S$998/- (RM2,599)
• HTC Touch Cruise – S$968/- (RM2,599)
• HTC Touch Dual – S$848/- (RM2,299)
• HTC Touch – S$588/- (RM1,499)
• HTC Shift – S$2,048/- (RM5,499)
• HTC P3300 – S$588/- (RM1,599)

Note: The Malaysian price (RM….) indicated is not a currency conversion price from the Singapore price (S$).  It is the actual revised selling price for Malaysia.

All the above are effective immediately for the Asian market.  There might be some variants in pricing in each country. 

THE PRICE WAR HAS JUST BEGUN…LETS SEE HOW IT WILL END.

The HTC Touch Diamond has many beautiful secrets that enhance the usability of the device: 

• Inside a normal smartphone:
  Dial a number, hold the phone up to your ear and listen to it ring and ring and then wait until they pick up.
  • INSIDE THE TOUCH DIAMOND:
    Dial a number, and just hold the phone. When the person answers, you feel a little vibration. Then hold the phone to your ear and start talking.

• Inside a normal smartphone:
  Difficult to find the mute button when using the phone especially to silence an incoming call.
  • INSIDE THE TOUCH DIAMOND:
    To mute, just flip the phone over and place it face down in order to ignore and silence an incoming call.

• Inside a normal smartphone:
  Stylus just slot in without any additional feature.
  • INSIDE THE TOUCH DIAMOND:
    Stylus is held in by a magnet and snaps into place.  When the stylus is remove, the Touch Diamond wakes up from standby mode and ready to use.

•  Inside a normal smartphone:
  Screen brightness is in constant brightness
  • INSIDE THE TOUCH DIAMOND:
    Screen has the ambient light sensor which adjust the screen brightness according to how bright the environment was.

• Inside a normal smartphone:
  No active light on the Action button
  • INSIDE THE TOUCH DIAMOND:
    There are little LED lights inside the circular part of the action button. They’ll glow and flicker in different patterns to indicate different status states. A slow glow from top to bottom indicates a charging status, while a rapid flicker indicates an alert or announcement.
  • More functions of the Action button:
    Touching the action button with your finger while using the camera will activate auto-focus. Continue to press the button all the way to take a picture. 
    Rubbing the circular area around the action button in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion will zoom in or zoom out in the Photo Album and Opera browser. It will also change the text font sizes in email messages and text messages.

Malaysia is supposed to receive official stocks of the HTC TOUCH DIAMOND by next week.  But some stocks are already available in Malaysia.  (You can get it at Low Yat, Kuala Lumpur or at Gadza, Queensbay, Penang.)  Since UK will only receive their stocks later in the month (as announced by DeviceWire), does it apply to other countries too. If HTC is facing a production issue, I guess some of you have to wait too.

Or are they delaying the shipment after receiving all the orders and see what Apple is offering in the new iPhone before they ship out. A possible last minute tweaking to enhance it?

2 OF MY WISH LIST ITEMS FOR A MOBILE DEVICE ARE :

1. TV-OUT 
2. PROJECTOR

The HTC Touch Pro has followed the HTC Advantage and O2 Flame’s standard by including the TV-OUT feature.  To me the TV-OUT feature is very useful for showing out your photos or doing business presentations. 

Many were surprised that HTC drop the Tilt feature of the TyTN II and only have the slide out keyboard in the Touch Pro.  I have used the TyTN II and found that despite it having a tilt feature to allow it to sit on the desk, you still have the tendency to take it up and see the screen.  Unlike the HTC Advantage which has a 5″ screen, the TyTN II’s screen is too small to be sitting down.

 The TV-OUT feature will be more useful than the Tilt feature and it earns my top marks.  My only regret is that HTC did not bundle the TV-OUT cable in the package.

IT’S OFFICIAL !
THE HTC RAPHAEL WILL NOW BE KNOWN AS
HTC TOUCH PRO

HTC Touch Pro Bridges Mobile Work With Mobile Play

Advanced 3D Touch User Interface, Desktop-like browsing, 5-row sliding QWERTY Keyboard and Window Mobile 6.1 create hybrid business phone.

HTC Corp., today unveiled its advanced next generation business phone, the HTC Touch Pro. Bringing a beautiful new angle to mobile business productivity, the HTC Touch Pro utilizes similar styling and functionality of the highly anticipated Touch Diamond and introduces a variety of business-focused enhancements that make getting work done on the go quick and easy.

“The HTC Touch Pro and Touch Diamond have created a new generation of HTC touch devices that make the promise of the one-hand, one-touch mobile Internet a reality,” said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. “HTC Touch Pro is for those customers that demand the ease of use and enjoyment of TouchFLO 3D and want the styling of the Touch Diamond but also need the powerful mobile business experience that HTC delivers.”

A New Dimension To Touch - One hand, one touch
HTC has taken a great leap forward in touch screen innovation with its 3D touch interface called TouchFLO 3D. TouchFLO 3D provides a stunningly intuitive way to zip through common tasks like messaging, calendar appointments or making calls with just one touch. Delve a little deeper to find that your music, photos, contacts and surfing the web are also responsive to the touch. In addition, the Touch Pro includes a new innovative touch-sensitive control for device interaction.

Making The Mobile Internet Useful and Fun
With the introduction of Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, HTC delivers an entirely new mobile Internet experience that utilizes broadband-like speeds with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA wireless connectivity. Committed to improving Web browsing, HTC provides a new customized mobile Web browser that enables easy viewing and effortless navigation of Websites in the way they are designed to be viewed on a PC. As part of this browsing experience users can zoom and pan Websites with one-hand and automatically view optimized content that has been specially created to fit the display. Turning the device sideways automatically rotates the web page view from a portrait to landscape view.

In addition to Web browsing, the Touch Pro includes an HTC-developed, YouTube application for watching a variety of user generated video content as well as including Google Maps for mobile for mapping and traffic data.

Unmatched Style With Complete Productivity
Like the Touch Diamond, Touch Pro is crafted with precision to fit comfortably in a user’s hand and brings together elegant touch screen response with the direct precision of HTC’s trademark sliding keyboard design. Introducing a new five-row QWERTY keyboard layout that makes typing-intensive tasks like composing email or working on Microsoft Office® documents quick and easy. Built-in TV-out functionality means users can deliver the perfect PowerPoint® presentation from the Touch Pro.

Bursting with Innovation
The Touch Pro delivers an unrivalled combination of features and functionality. The 2.8 inch display provides near-print quality viewing that enables beautiful Web browsing and viewing of photographs. The built-in camera includes an optical auto-focus lens that ensures the photos you take will be clear and consistent. Advanced wireless and auto sensor screen pivoting are just a few of the features that make the Touch Pro experience a stand out.

Availability
The HTC Touch Pro will be available to customers across all major European, Asian and the Middle East markets in late summer. The North American and Latin American versions of Touch Pro will be available later in 2008.

Key HTC Touch Pro Specifications

• Size: 102 x 51 x 18.05mm
• Weight: 165 g
• Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA
• Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
• Camera: 3.2MP, with video calling
• Internal memory: 512 MB flash, 288 MB RAM
• Expansion Slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• Keyboard: Slide-out 5 row QWERTY keyboard
• Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB and audio jack and TV OUT* in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed).  *HTC TV OUT cable needed.
• Battery: 1350 mAh
• Talk time: GSM: up to 8 hours
• Standby time: GSM: up to two-weeks
• Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM 7201A 528MHz

If you are living in Asia or happened to be in Hong Kong, you will be able to get the HTC Touch Diamond sooner than those living in the U.S.

The Touch Diamond is being produced and is shipping NOW to Hong Kong.  If you really can’t wait for it to arrive Malaysia or your country, get it from some of those Hong Kong online stores.  For U.S. buyers, it will be wise to wait for the American version to arrive their shores.