Hasta La Gadget!

Few reporting on Microsoft are as plugged in to the day-to-day happenings in Redmond as Mary Jo Foley. So much so that she’s apt to write an entire column (or two) about internal Microsoft reorganizations — moves that can be telling from a company attempting to seamlessly integrate its Zune, Xbox, Media Center, and Windows Mobile products, services, and experiences. While you might find it interesting that Enrique Rodriguez has left the company in the latest shakeup to hit MS’ Entertainment and Devices unit, the following sentence presented as fact is what caught our attention:

“Pink is the codename for both the set of premium mobile services and one or more Windows Mobile phones aimed at the teen/twenty-something market.”

Of course, what she’s referring to is the infamous Project Pink, the mystery whatsit said to be emanating from the Microsoft Premium Mobile eXperiences (PMX) group built around the people and technologies nabbed after the Danger acquisition. We’re also intrigued by the discussion of Pink in a separate breath from the consumer build of Windows Mobile 7. This makes us wonder if Microsoft is working on a three-pronged strategy that will result in targetted Windows Mobile 7 business and consumer devices as well as Pink phones specifically aimed at teens and twenty-somethings. Mary Jo Foley speculates that the Pink devices might be the first to run Microsoft’s new premium Pink services but still be WinMo 6.x based — if true then we could see a launch this quarter, no need to wait for Windows Mobile 7 which isn’t expected until the end of the year. How many days until Mobile World Congress again?

[Thanks, Pratik]

Microsoft Pink targeting teens and twenty-somethings, devices launching in Spring? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC HD2 officially headed to T-Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not sure we’d be able to find a piece of hardware that made us adore Windows Mobile 6.5 the same way we adore puppies or a hot cup of cocoa, but that doesn’t mean that the usual suspects — HTC, Samsung, LG, and the like — aren’t producing some magnificent hardware on which to run it. Today we’ve had a chance to give LG’s new eXpo for AT&T a quick once-over, and on paper, this is a hell of a handset: 5 megapixel autofocus cam, a fingerprint sensor that doubles as a d-pad, Snapdragon power, a WVGA display, full QWERTY, and most notably, support for an optional microprojector add-on. Sadly, a ship date hasn’t yet been assigned to the PJ, but does the basic package hold its own against the similarly-spec’d Tilt2? Let’s check it out.

Continue reading LG eXpo unboxing and impressions

LG eXpo unboxing and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anyone looking for the highest-end Windows Mobile experience you can buy on AT&T, go ahead and form a line to the left, please, because your knight in shining armor has arrived. The LG eXpo — complete with a Snapdragon core, 5 megapixel camera, 3.2-inch WVGA display, fingerprint scanner, QWERTY slide, and optional microprojector — is now available, albeit at a $199.99 after-rebate, on-contract price that puts it pretty far into the realm of the high-power smartphone elite. The downside is that the aforementioned projector isn’t yet available for purchase, which makes the whole package a little less compelling — then again, that means you’re walking out of the store with $179 that you wouldn’t have otherwise had, so just look at your eXpo purchase as a fantastic money-making opportunity.

LG eXpo goes on sale at AT&T, sans projector originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you take a 30-second tour of your local AT&T store this month, the iPAQ Glisten from HP isn’t likely to catch your eye; it’s just another QWERTY smartphone without much curb appeal, after all. If you take a step back, though, this unassuming piece of gadgetry is actually quite interesting on a number of levels: it’s just the third device to launch on AT&T with Windows Mobile 6.5 out of the box (though the Jack has been upgraded since it hit the market), it’s got an AMOLED display, it features the exceedingly rare portrait-QWERTY-plus-touchscreen form factor, and — this is a big one — it apparently once again proves that HP hasn’t abandoned the handset market altogether. Sound like a winning formula to you? Read on for our quick take on the Glisten’s ups, downs, and… sideways-es.

Continue reading HP iPAQ Glisten unboxing and hands-on

HP iPAQ Glisten unboxing and hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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