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Android or Windows Mobile: which is smarter to enjoy DVD and Video on your LG phone?

With the competition of mobile market becoming more and more intense, most of big mobile phone companies constantly introduce new products. After Motorola’s Droid, Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X3 and Samsung Galaxy I7500, LG Company finally announced its first Android mobile phone – GW620 and the GM730e using the latest Windows Mobile operating system. This GW620 mobile phone has been launched in Canada, and renamed LG Eve. Basically an evolution of LG’s QWERTY messaging phones, the GW620 looks a little bit like a slimmed down version of Motorola’s Dext phone, with similar functionality too. Compare with other smart phones, the GM730e with six lively and lovely intelligent elves will be formally listed. So the netizens are full curious with the six cute “elves” and expectative in this LG GM730e coming. Now I have a simple summary about them. Hope it could provide some useful information to LG mobile lovers.

GW620
The phone is slim to hold in the hand, with a full slide out QWERTY keyboard. A 5MP camera sits on the back (with single LED flash), with the unit coming in with dimensions of 106 x 55 x 12 mm and 3-inch screen. Behind the slide out section, there’s an opening for a microSD card, and the up/down rocker switch too, with the microUSB and camera shutter buttons hidden around the edge for good measure too. It fits nicely in the hand when in portrait mode – but the bad news is the screen is only resistive, meaning that scrolling and tapping our way through was a lot less intuitive that other Android phones.
Button wise – with a menu, back and terminate button the only options to play with. The interface is an odd fusion between LG’s S-Class and the vanilla Android system. The same S-Class options are employed on the front home screen as well – instead of scrolling left and right to access new screens, you now get that ’spinning’ cube interface for each new set of icons, which is a little cumbersome. Another nice touch is the presence of Facebook and Twitter baked right into the handset – send messages from your social networks right from the phone, something that’s becoming increasingly popular on today’s handsets (especially those based on Android).
Media is laid out in a similar way to Motorola’s Dext phone as well – in fact it’s identical, so we’re wondering if this is some kind of interface buried deep within Android that only Motorola and LG have managed to unearth.

GM730e
GM 730e unlike traditional smart phone inflexible and complicated, it is more convenient and interesting. But bringing this revolutionary change lies in its S-Class 3D user interface of LG originate. Its relationship with Windows Mobile operating system is equivalent to the “skin” and “muscles”. With the help of S-Class 3D interface, the function of Windows Mobile operating system is strong and optimization, even without any operating experience of the users can quickly learn to use. Easily dissolve the problem like the initial users “I don’t know how to delete the messages”.
As a revolutionary product, GM730e appearance is so stylized and conspicuous. Its fuselage size is 109.8 x 56.5 x 11.9 mm, airframe small and thin, extremely fashionable feeling. 3 inches WQVGA resolution (240 * 400 pixels) screen, giving users’ larger space, while LG also increased S-Class 3D interface Windows Mobile system menu name, promoted the accuracy of the fingers. In order to allow users to feel better convenience of GM730e experience and let S-Class 3D interface with Windows Mobile fusion more perfect, LG for GM730e made excellent hardware platform, the central processor of 528 MHZ supports accelerated 3D graphics functions, not only make 3D interface more fluent, but also maintain the speed of multitasking quick reaction. Windows Mobile system itself entertainment function is strong enough, but GM730e also equipped with 500 million pixels and high-definition camera, support auto-focus and shooting night function etc. It also provides GPS navigation software, built-in national maps and various kinds of travel interest, bringing convenient and reliable positioning navigation and experience for customers.

Both are good mobile phone. In this era of music and movie popular, people not only care phone’s hardware, but also has more attention on its multimedia function. Both new LG phones have a 5MP camera to be able to shoot video! It supports single LED flash, auto-focus, auto-white balance and auto-exposure, build-in media player. But they are different in supporting video and audio formats. GW620, support video format: WMV?MPEG4?H.264?ASF and 3GP, etc and audio format: MP3?AAC?WMA?WAV, etc. And GM730e, support video format: MP4?WMV and 3GP, etc and audio format: MP3?AAC?AAC+?E-AAC+?AMR?WMA and WAV, etc. If you haven’t MP4 or WMV videos on your computer, you may use Nidesoft DVD to LG Converter to convert DVD files into LG compatible formats or use Nidesoft LG video converter to convert all other video files into LG, just follow the step by step guide.
Step 1: Install and run Nidesoft LG Video Converter. Click “Add File” button to import your video from your computer.

Step 2: Click the “Format” drop-down list to select the right format for your Sony player.
Step 3: Click the “Convert” button and start the conversion. The conversion will be finished in a short time and then you may enjoy videos.
In addition to the above model, both software could also support various types of LG phones such as: LG KP500, LG GT540, LG KF740, LG GD510, and LG GD510, LG KC910,etc. It is not hard to think that both are essential auxiliary software to LG mobile phone users.

With the development of technology, these mobile phone hardware and software developed quickly. It’s important that Android is to go from geeky to mainstream. This has greatly improved our life. Enjoy music anytime and anywhere makes our life more colorful and wonderful. Let’s just enjoy our lives, enjoy our days!

Mobile and compact devices become more and more popular in our society. Each of us faces with them every day. Certainly each of us has mobile phone, hand-held computers or other hi-tech devices.

All of these devices have different mobile platforms. There are such known platforms as Windows MobileM, iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian OS, Android, Maemo, OpenMoko etc. All of them have different history and advantages and failings.

Introduction

Such platforms as Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, iPhone are «closed» enough and limited by either their own devices (BlackBerry, iPhone) or development complexity. Among other problems of above mentioned platforms there is limited API. Even Java platform for mobile devices has some failings such as great number of limitations; very different APIs; device dependent code. Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms are better from this point as far as they support wider range of devices and their APIs give more options.

Common problem here is also that there are a lot of platforms. Talking about OpenSource and Cross-Platform solutions we should say that they are still developing at the moment and are not widespread yet.

In this article we’ll pay our attention to the Windows Mobile platform.

Microsoft Company released its first platform for inbuilt devices at the end of the 90th. In 2002 Windows CE.NET platform appeared. And at that time Pocket PC based on Windows CE 3.0 platform and higher were released. Further development of wireless communication technologies managed to combine telephone and personal computer. Thus Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition appeared which supported the standards of GSM, GPRS, Bluetooth and wireless HS network access. In the same time another device concept was developing that was much similar to the above mentioned but was closer to the telephone then to personal computer. This device was named SmartPhone 2002. Fundamental difference between Smartphone and Pocket PC is that Pocket PC has touch screen while Smartphone has only control buttons. They also had different application scopes and supported different standards and technologies.

Windows Mobile platform more belongs to smartphones, communicators and small personal devices. Windows CE and Windows Embedded platforms are commonly used in different industrial equipment.

Now we have Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6 generations and Windows Mobile 7 will be released soon. Modern devices based on Windows Mobile Pocket PC; have 500-600 MHz processors and 64-128 MB RAM that is not little for such devices.

1. Development Tools

There are a few models of development of applications for Windows Mobile:

Win32 API MFC .NET Compact Framework.

Microsoft Co gives developers all necessary tools for development of applications for PDA, Pocket PC; and Smartphone.

Here are some advices about different code type choosing.

Use Native Code for achieving the burst performance, direct work with hardware, and also for minimization of system resource requirements. Use Managed Code for development of GUI-oriented applications which main requirements are development and market deployment terms. Managed Code is also good for the easy work with web-services. Use Server-Side Code for work with different devices through a single code base, and also if wide stable communication channel with a device is present.

Below are the reviews of present development tools for PDAs, Pocket PCs and Smartphones.

eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0

Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 development environment is meant to create applications for devices with Windows CE .NET 4.2 operating system and also (with package of updates SP3) for PDA and Smartphones on the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition platform. The development environment eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 is good for creation of native code for mobile and inbuilt devices with Windows CE .NET 4.2 OS. It allows developer to perform Just-In-Time Debugging for diagnostics of unhandled exceptions, Attach-to the process for the extended debugging of processes, and also interaction with an emulator.

Visual Studio .NET and SDP functions

SDP (Smart Device Programming) functions of the integrated environment of development Visual Studio .NET 2003 (2005, 2008) allow to create applications, that uses possibilities of Microsoft .NET Compact Framework platform. Thus a developer can create the distributed mobile data-processing systems, workings both in scenarios with connection and without permanent connection. Vast class library of .NET Compact Framework platform makes application development much quicker than with traditional development tools.

Visual Studio .NET lets create applications for the Pocket PC 2002 devices and (with proper SDKs) Pocket PC 2003, 2005 and Smartphone 2003, 2005, applying the same tools as those used for the development of applications for desktop PCs. Library .NET Compact Framework is installed together with Visual Studio .NET. This library is specially developed for devices with the limited resources. Developers can also use new languages C# and Visual Basic .NET for applications for mobile and inbuilt devices. They are good in workings with web-services and ADO.NET technologies.

Control elements of ASP .NET Mobile Controls extend SDP functions and .NET Compact Framework platform. They give opportunities to use possibilities of .NET Compact Framework and Visual Studio .NET for development of mobile web-applications due to the data delivery to various mobile devices by means of ASP.NET technology. This approach allows to create single mobile web-application in the Visual Studio .NET environment, that will automatically perform data rendering for displaying on various devices: mobile phones, smartphones, PDA, Pocket PC. The integrated development environment makes it possible to create mobile web-applications simply by dragging control elements on forms.

ASP.NET System sets no components on a client device. For adaptation of formatting under concrete browsers server logic is used. It generates information in the formats of Wireless Markup Language (WML), HTML, and Compact HTML (cHTML).

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition (SQL Server CE) is a compact DBMS for rapid development of applications that extend possibilities of work with enterprise data due to the mobile devices using. SQL Server CE is a tool facilitating development of mobile applications due to support of SQL syntax and usage of application and API interface model that is compatible with SQL Server.

SQL Server CE provides the basic set of relational database functions, in particular optimized query handler; support of transactions and heterogeneous types of data – with unpretentious requirements to the system resources. Remote access to the data and replication by confluence provide reliable delivery of information from the SQL Server bases, possibility of autonomous work with by information and subsequent synchronization with the server. SQL Server CE is good for the systems with mobile devices and wireless networks.

SQL Server CE DBMS is developed for integration with .NET Compact Framework by means of Visual Studio .NET. It simplifies development of applications for work with databases on mobile and built devices. New data supplier of SQL Server CE for code management in the Common Language Runtime environment helps to develop distensible applications with possibilities of autonomous work with information in scenarios without permanent connection.

Microsoft .NET SqlClient gives API for work of both .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework applications. For the common Windows systems SqlClient Microsoft with SQL Server are used, and SqlServerCe for Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition databases for Compact Framework.

Name space of SqlClient is in both versions. So we can interact:

Using .NET Compact Framework SqlClient to have an access to SQL Server from device on Desktop. Using .NET Compact Framework SqlServerCe to have an access to SQL Server Compact Edition directly on a device.

Work with databases on a device is similar to the work on Desktop. To access to SQLServer on Desktop system SQL uses TCP/IP connection thus in this case it is possible not to have SQL Server Compact Edition installed on a device.

All of the mentioned models are implemented on the desktop systems. So the experience of their application can be carried for development of the programs for Windows Mobile. Using Win32 API we rapidly get compact code, and also can use it for development of drivers and system component.  Using MFC we have extensions of API functions, and also designer for development of interface. And using Compact Framework we have at our disposal well developed interface, automatic garbage collection, support of XML and other options. Also there is even more truncated version — Micro Framework, where there are less SDK functions.

After SDK for MS Visual Studio installation new configurations of assembling appear as well as new functions for assembling under these platforms. Suit also contains Emularor for software development and testing without physical connection between device and computer.

As far as many devices that are based on Windows Mobile have ARM processor it is also possible to compile units using other compilers: AVR32, ARM (RealView), GNUARM, IAR Systems.

2. Building Windows Mobile Applications for Windows Mobile devices using MS Visual Studio .NET

Visual Studio development environment together with Compact Framework enable to develop applications using a vast graphic interface, databases, archiving and encrypting tools,  USB, Serial, Bluetooth, and also wireless network connections and telephony. All of these is provided by SDK as well as libraries and heading files from Platform Builder.

2.1 User Interface

Due to the presence of good designer in VS and SDK we can easily develop GUI for mobile applications just the same as for Desktop applications. The only difference is in sets of  graphic components for Desktop systems and for Windows Mobile. There is also difference between components of Smartphone and Pocket PC versions caused by that Pocket PC has a touch screen and SmartPhone has not. Therefore development of interface for SmartPhone is more complex. One should take it into account when developing software for both platforms.

Here we should also mention that software built for Pocket PC won’t start on the SmartPhone platform while the opposite situation is possible – till the moment when some special Smartphone function is called.

It is naturally that many graphic components as well as majority of functions from full-size Framework were taken away from Windows Mobile SDK to reduce the size of the SDK on the device side. Only the most needful elements were left. But the productivity and volumes of memory are increasing so the number of function included in SDK becomes greater. So the difference between Compact Framework 1.0 and 2.0 is enormous. Version 1.0 was very limited.

In general the development of GUI with ?ompact Framework on ?# is similar to the development of the common Win32 application on C#.

It is also possible to develop a graphic interface using assembling of the 3D rendering-engines. They are such as GAPI (Game API), OPENGL ES (Embedded System), OPENVG (Vector Graphics), and other projects. Certainly it is rather labor intensive process as far as it is very important to write an optimal code because of the relatively low  productivity of mobile devices.

2.2 Communications

To date mobile devices have a wide range of communicational options. They have an access to the wireless high-speed network using 802.11 WiFi Connection standard. They also use IrDa, Bluetooth, and USB host/client functionality. While the usage of Irda is gradually getting less protocols and standards of Bluetooth, WiFi, Edge, GSM, and also USB are used quit often.

Microsoft Company provides such APIs:

ActiveSync API provides functionality for work with services of synchronization, file filters, etc. Bluetooth API provides functionality for wireless access to mobile and peripheral devices. Connection Manager API serves for the automation of connection process, network connection management. Devices are using Connection Manager to establish connection and also to inform about the supposed connection (for example Internet). Object Exchange (OBEX) API provides functionality for work with effective, compact binary protocol just suitable for devices with the limited possibilities. Remote API (RAPI) provides functions for management and remote call of methods on the device side. Such functions are available: access to the register, files, databases and different configurations of device from the Desktop-system. The most important option is Remote Procedure Call when we simply call the method «CeRapiInvoke()» on the Desktop side, transmit the name of DLL on the device side and the name of function in this DLL and then just call this method. Pocket Outlook Object Model API provides functions for work with the objects of Pocket Outlook. It provides interfaces for synchronization and access to the objects: Task, Calendar, Contacts. Telephony API (TAPI) includes: Assisted API Extended API Phone API SIM Manager API Short Messages Service (SMS) API Telephony Service Provider (TSP) API Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)  API.

Also mobile devices have possibility to work with Serial (USB) ports. There are a few COM-ports in many devices. Usually the first 3-5 of them are reserved for IrDa, Bluetooth, SerialPort and others. Other ports are available to for user. Some devices have USB-Host functionality in other words they are USB On-The-Go (OTG) devices which can serve both as USB Client and USB Host. For this purpose device should have necessary Hardware and Software (Device Driver).

Device Driver is a driver which is an intermediate layer between the driver of HOST and  level of applications. Such driver provides «Stream Interface Driver» and must contain such functions as:

XXX_Init XXX_Open XXX_Close XXX_Write XXX_Read XXX_IOControl

Here “XXX” is replaced with «prefix» (for example «COM», «DSK»).

This prefix registers in the registry when a driver registers in the system. More detailed information about Device Driver Interface can be obtained from MSDN.

Also a developer can use such APIs not concerning communicational ones:

Device Configuration API File and Application Management API Game API Home Screen API HTML Control API MIDI API Shell API Speech Recognizer API Vibrate API Voice Recorder Control API. 2.3 P/Invoke and Native Interop

As far as Compact Framework contains basic functions and methods from complete

Framework we have such functionality as:

XML Serialization Cryptography Security Reflection Interop Services et al.

Certainly Platform Invoke calls are accessible. For this purpose – as well as in complete Framework – we use functions and attributes from namespace System.Runtime.InteropServices and DllImport attribute for description of functions which will be called from non-managed code.

However the functionality of these methods is limited. So Marshal class has PtrToStructure, GetComInterfaceForObject, Copy() and Read() functions but, for example, there is no such function as GetDelegateForFunctionPointer() in it. So it is impossible to make Marshaling just with Delegate. The GetFunctionPointerForDelegate function is available only. If we want to transmit a pointer to the function from Managed code we should get its FunctionPointer and only after that transmit it to the unmanaged code for subsequent call of it from there. Also we can not transmit some objects because Compact Framework can not count SizeOf() for some objects. Therefore frequently we have to transmit  data of Blitable types only and arrays of these types (Int, byte, char, but not bool),  and transmit and receive  classes and structures by means of IntPtr. Certainly it is explained by aspiration to increase the performance. It is therefore recommended to use primary types for Marshaling and «GCHandle» class for storing an object in the process memory and to make this memory «visible» for unmanaged code

Certainly the performance of P/Invoke calls from C# application in C++ DLL is almost twice less than the performance of method calls between C++ DLLs. However the performance of devices grows and it becomes possible to use such calls.

2.4 Debugging

MS Visual Studio enables to make debugging of applications under

Windows Mobile just the same as for Desktop applications. We have Emulator, Device Emulator Manager and other to functionality such as Breakpoints, Threads, Watches panel etc.

However to make Debug using Native and Managed code simultaneously is impossible. Therefore it is possible to start either C++ projects or Managed ones. It’s also so for «Attach to process». There is a possibility of attaching to the processes on the device side (or emulator side). ActiveSync is required to provide communication between a device and the system, it is installed with SDK. An emulator also can be connected to the computer by means of ActiveSync. We obtain almost complete emulation of Windows Mobile devices. Here are both SmartPhone and Pocket PC (or Pocket PC Phone Edition) emulators. However only one Windows Mobile device can be connected to the computer at one time moment. Therefore Debug on two devices simultaneously which for example interact in some way is rather difficult. Certainly we talk only about Debug of applications developed by us but not about applications and services of the system. For such debugging we need the complete built of the system created by means of Platform Builder (in the last versions of Platform Builder it’s included in Visual Studio). We can also create our own SDK for Visual Studio and Windows CE platform.

An emulator also enables to emulate connection with the GSM network and GPS support. It makes possible to test and develop large spectrum of applications without having a physical device in hands.

Talking about Debug with IDA we should mention that version 5.1 already has the possibility to perform Debug by means of this interactive disassembler with the use of their plugin which is installed on a device.

With SDK appearance such option as «Deploy» appears in Visual Studio environment. Now there is «Deploy» item in project context menu additionally to “Build”, “Clean”, “Debug”. After you choose this item DLL or EXE file built by current configuration is transmitted to the device. Also new column appears in Configuration Manager where not only «Build» in some configuration option is available but also «Deploy». Deployment of .NET projects transmits not only the unit but also those builds that are depended on it (Dependencies).

3. Deployment and installation

Development of applications for Windows Mobile supposes also their assembling and creation of installation package. For this purpose there is such concept as ?abinet (.cab) file in Windows Mobile. It is a common archive but it is a installation package also (a sort of MSI package). It is assembled by means of Cab Wizard (cabwiz.exe) from MS VisualStudio (or from a command line). This utility creates processor dependent «.cab» file. WinCEApplicationManager transmits and starts CAB on a device, so user can install the application using instructions appearing on device screen. It is also possible to create the project of MSI Installation which includes CAB file by means of Visual Studio. This built package will be started on user computer and then transmit ?AB installation on a device to continue installation process.

There is special Uninstall Manager on the device side. One should attach configuration INI-file to CAB file. This INI file includes settings to manage installation process such as path, shortcut name to create, minimal OS version to install the application and others written in special syntax. It is also possible to include your own DLL into CAB-file to widen installation options. This DLL contains such functions as «Installer_AfterInstall», «Installer_BeforeInstall», «Installer_AfterUnInstall», «Installer_BeforeUnInstall», code in these functions will be executed on the device side in the certain moments of installation or uninstallation process.

When developing CAB installation it is possible to attach files, different resources, built units, add information to the registry. They are designated as «Project Output. That’s why there is no need to reset anything after CAB-file creation: it will collect all included projects and files and assemble in an archive.

4. Security Model for Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6

Devices based on Windows Mobile receive, send and analyze potentially important information which should be protected from unsafe applications. To protect device the starting of unknown applications is disabled, the access to some API is restricted and some registry parts changing is forbidden. Units can be marked as Trusted and Untrusted and system uses this information to prevent starting of unauthorized applications and limit their access to the system. Also the access to the system by means of RAPI (Remote API) through ActiveSync can be restricted. Security Certificates Security Rights are used for the executable units (EXE, DLL) and for CAB-files.

Protection Against Threats and Risks

The followings options help to protect devices:

Strict password protection. PIN code protection. Devices corrupt deleted information to prevent access to it (WM 6). Devices corrupt deleted information on memory cards to prevent access to it (WM 6). Storages encryption and Advanced Encryption Standard for SSL (WM 6). Own certificates usage. Detecting a device via Bluetooth can be protected (WM 6 Smartphone). 2 layer system of application starting (One-tier and Two-tier access). No support of macros, therefore viruses can make much harm.

The start of applications is based on Permissions. Windows Mobile devices use such models:

Privileged Normal Blocked

Privileged applications have the widest access. They can access any API, write in the protected areas of registry and have the complete access to the system.

Most applications have Normal model. They do not have access to the trusted API and do not have the complete control of the system.

Application can not be started at all if it has “Blocked” status. It means that it’s not signed with the proper certificate or user forbade the start by the proper warning of the system.

Analogical situation is with Cab-files. The executable units with Normal status can start Privileged DLL but then they will work as Normal. However Privileged executable units can not start the units having Normal status.

Written by Eugene Kordin, Apriorit specialist.

Learn more about development process of Apriorit here.

There have been speculations as to whether Microsoft will remain an important player in the mobile phone market with their Windows Mobile operating system. Numerous news articles and blog posts have “declared” the imminent death of Windows Mobile. This article lists a few reasons why these speculations might not eventually turn out to be true.

It is generally agreed that Windows Mobile has problems. We can compare it to Windows Vista which was not accepted very well by the market. Microsoft came back with Windows 7 which has turned out to be successful even after Vista’s debacle. They have learned from the problems and fixed them in Windows 7. Though the desktop and mobile platforms belong to different worlds, we must recognize the approach Microsoft took. The point is; Microsoft can certainly fix what is currently broken in Windows Mobile.

Microsoft rules desktop OS market with over 90% market share and it will make sense if Microsoft uses it to their advantage in mobile space as well.

Windows Mobile also rules the rugged handheld device market. Companies have tried various alternatives, including free “Linux” and failed. They went back to using Windows Mobile based devices for their day-to-day business activities related to mobility. For anything more than email access, companies still prefer Windows Mobile.

Windows Mobile is built on a solid platform. People have been cribbing about its “bad” and outdated “look and feel”. But this “look and feel” was a well-thought-of decision when Windows Mobile or Pocket PC (as it was called earlier) was designed. Microsoft did not want anyone to put any effort in learning how to use their new operating system. Infact, almost no learning was required if you already knew how to use Windows on the PC. They added a Start button on Windows Mobile taskbar!

WM 7 screenshots are available on the internet like here. Not sure if they are true, but if they are real, then surely MS is up to something great. The release has been delayed and MS had to release a stop-gap WM 6.5 version which has received fairly good reviews. WM 6.5 might hold-off the attack till WM 7 starts the counter attack.

iPhone and new devices running Android have tasted initial success by having a nice “look and feel” and jazziness. Their next challenge would be to get better integrated with the desktop environment, where Windows has complete domination. You think its going to be easy! Nope. That is where they will struggle. Microsoft has already solved that problem; the only thing they have to do is to “modernize” the look and feel of their operating system (WM) and they will be good.

It remains to be seen if Microsoft will really get their Mojo back with the release of WM 7. Until then let’s see what the industry analysts write about Microsoft’s departure from the mobile arena.

Operating systems are the big thing in 2009, with many battling for the top spot. Let’s take a look at three of the best: Android, Windows Mobile and the new boy, WebOS.

HTC Hero

The HTC Hero is comparable to the iPhone, sharing a similar keyboard-less design. Again, it’s with the software that the HTC Hero shines, with Android living up to the title some have given it, that of ‘game changer’. Its completely open source nature makes adapting the OS very easy, and the interface itself is once again a finger-friendly, sleek, and polished affair, with gesture controls the order of the day. The tight integration of the full Google suite (including Apps and Gmail), makes it a real force to be reckoned with, and it has to be said that the HTC Hero is a truly stunning phone.

Toshiba TG01

Next up is a phone that really gives Windows Mobile the grunt it needs to run properly: the Toshiba TG01. In terms of outstanding new technologies, what the Toshiba TG01 brings to the party isn’t the 4.1 inch display (although that’s noteworthy in itself), but what’s inside it. The Toshiba TG01 uses a next-gen, dual-core Snapdragon processor, which runs at 1GHz, and that means the Toshiba TG01 is the most powerful phone in existence… which is good, because in terms of other features, a lot of other phones leave the Toshiba TG01 in the dust…

Palm Pre

So, the HTC Hero is the open source contender. And the Toshiba TG01 is the only one with a super-fast 1GHz processor. What does the Palm Pre offer that’s different? Well, one could talk about the WebOS interface it uses, as it’s unique in the annals of phone history. And indeed, there’s one feature of WebOS, directly related to the keyboard, that makes the Palm Pre so cool. Universal search. Now, many phones do that, but the Palm Pre does it so much more cleverly. Just start typing what you want to know about, from the front screen, and the Palm Pre will search your contacts, apps, music, pictures, and even the internet, to interpret and find what you’re looking for. That really is a cool feature, and it may well make the Palm Pre the coolest QWERTY phone out there.

Windows, no matter how much of a diehard Bill Gates fan you might be, is not a perfect Operating System. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find one single utopian OS which is constantly smooth, never crashes and upholds even the most violent attacks of the most malicious viruses. Now, I would appreciate it if the Mac OS supporters could please sit down and stop waving your flags – I have owned Mac Machines and they have been known to lock up, freeze and crash like any other OS. But I digress, today we are talking about Windows, and I will tell you how to keep it running smooth – 3 crucial reasons for a Windows clean up.

Dirt and grime, whether physical or digital, is a by product of use. And the more we use the computer, the more digital dust bunnies are going to be hidden in the most callous corners of the hard disk, eating up memory, stalling operations, giving your OS and your processor a hard time and a hiccup whenever it tries to launch a program. The more programs, the more games and applications we install, the more of these free floating clutter – from unknown temp files to left over dll’s that you don’t really even need anymore; will cause a massive slowdown of your Windows system. Imagine if you never threw out a single package of anything you bought and shoved it all into your room – that will give you a better picture of what I’m talking about.

Another by-product of prolonged use is the unavoidable fragmentation of your hard disk. Windows isn’t a nit picker when it comes to neatness, and neither are installed programs. Data files get fragmented, being placed in far flung corners of the hard disk, making Windows work hard just to launch a program as simple as a picture viewer. Now imagine high end programs like Photoshop or Dreamweaver, you’d literally grow old, turn to dust and be revived by the loud beeps of your machine finally crashing on you. A fragmented drive is a slow drive and thus a slow PC. You need to clean and defragment your drive every few weeks. I do mine once a month and this keeps my system running smooth.

Lastly but by far not the least, is the matrix of the computer. The Zion of Windows has been invaded by the droids of null entries, orphaned keys and invalid registry information, left behind by malware, spyware and viruses from every county in cyberspace hell. A registry that damaged and that cluttered will cause massive slowdowns in your Windows and this needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Get a good registry cleaner and you will literally be flying from folder to folder faster than the speed of light. Well it may seem like an exaggeration but the speed difference the first time I cleaned the registry was that stark.

So there, 3 crucial reasons for a windows clean up – done easily, quickly and can be executed by anyone at all.

Touchscreen phones are rocking the world. Let’s take a look at three of the coolest currently on the market.

Nokia 5530

The first phone up is a totally new entrant into Nokia’s Xpress range of music mobile phones, the stunning Nokia 5530. This one’s quite obviously designed for music and video. Then, of course, the Nokia 5530 has a glorious touchscreen, to let you play with those different media files. Basically, the Nokia 5530 was designed to be a teeny portable jukebox and movie player, and as music phones go, this is just about the sweetest. The Nokia 5530 has also got a 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA data access and sat-nav, making it a wonderful all-rounder, as well as a superb media gadget.

Toshiba TG01

Windows Mobile haven’t been resting on their laurels, and the new fruit of their labours is the ultra-powerful Toshiba TG01. Not only does it have the biggest screen ever seen on a mobile phone, measuring in at 4.1 inches, but the Toshiba TG01 also has the most powerful processor put into a mobile phone. Dubbed Snapdragon, the 1GHz processor gives the Toshiba TG01 power, and lots of it, and since that’s what’s needed to let Windows Mobile live up to its full potential, the Toshiba TG01 is arguably the best WinMo phone that’s ever been announced.

One thing’s for sure, though, the Toshiba TG01 is definitely the most powerful phone on this list.

HTC Hero

So, there’s the Toshiba TG01, which relies on raw power to make Windows Mobile truly awesome. And then, there’s the Nokia 5530, which wows you with its Symbian OS and its music playback. However, there’s an open source alternative to those two. Android is trying to take over the world, and its new home is the beautiful HTC Hero. It has all the good stuff that made the first Android phone (the G1) good, but puts it all in a touchscreen-only body, which is both sleek and sexy. Since the keyboard has been removed, the HTC Hero also has a full, onscreen keyboard, and a sumptuous new interface called Sense. You also get the Android Marketplace, which lets you download and install third party apps to your HTC Hero, and it ends up creating a smartphone that really can morph into whatever you want it to be. Based purely on that logic, the HTC Hero ably demonstrates just why Android is such a threat to the incumbent operating systems.

There’s a continuing battle going on between the various smartphone operating systems on the market, but which one’s best? Let’s take a look at the three front runners.

Sony Ericsson Satio

It’s fair to say that the Sony Ericsson Satio is easily one of the most hotly anticipated phones of the year. On the face of it, the big reason for the excitement is its 12 megapixel camera, and whilst that is a force to be reckoned with, there’s so much more to the Sony Ericsson Satio. It’s the first ‘Entertainment Unlimited’ phone, and that doesn’t just mean it combines Cyber-Shot and Walkman technology. On top of that, the Sony Ericsson Satio is also going to pull in social networking, high quality games and incredible video services to become a one-stop mobile entertainment hub. It promises far more than that, however, as the Sony Ericsson Satio is also powered by Symbian, giving it true smartphone capabilities, which will no doubt include its very own app store.

Motorola DEXT

The first important fact about the Motorola DEXT, and the bit that has made it so talked about, is its interface: Google Android, with MOTOBLUR riding on top. As it’s the first Android phone to focus on social networking as its key feature, the Motorola DEXT has garnered an awful lot of trade and consumer interest. It’s certainly more of a looker (especially in the interface, the newly designed MOTOBLUR UI) than previous Android phones, and that fusion of enhanced looks and the still-awesome power of Android makes the Motorola DEXT a very compelling phone indeed. If social networking is your thing, this is the phone for you.

HTC HD2

The Sony Ericsson Satio is easily the best camera phone on this list, and the Motorola DEXT has the edge in terms of interface, but why is the third phone, the HTC HD2, so much better? The answer lies within the processor hidden inside the HTC HD2, as it’s the first phone in the world to come with a 1GHz chip. Or, in other words, it’s little short of a laptop in the body of a mobile phone. So, the HTC HD2 promises to be faster and smoother than any other mobile phone on the market. Ally that with the unique 3D interface running on top of Windows Mobile, and you get a phone that truly is a joy to use. There’s also one other fact that can’t be denied…

Quite apart from it being hyper-fast, with an incredibly fluid interface, the HTC HD2 also has the biggest screen on the market, coming in at an unbelievable 4.3 inches. That’s a lot of real estate on screen, and it means that even previously fiddly menu bars are now finger-friendly, given the massive screen size. And as for the virtual keyboard on the HTC HD2, the extra size makes it little different from typing on a physical keyboard. Add in the rage of impressive features, including a 5 megapixel camera, broadband-fast internet access, a superb music player and GPS, and it adds up to a simple fact: The HTC HD2 is quite simply the best Windows Mobile phone, and maybe even the best PHONE, ever made, and it utterly canes the other two on this list.

The mobile OS is the central key to making a truly great smartphone. Let’s check out the big three operating systems in the mobile arena.

HTC Magic – the basics

The first important fact about the HTC Magic, and the bit that has made it so talked about, is its operating system: Google Android. As it’s only the second phone to officially go on sale using Android, the HTC Magic has garnered an awful lot of trade and consumer interest. Even more importantly, the HTC Magic is the first Android phone to feature a keyboard-less, touchscreen-only design, a thing that seems to be all the rage in 2009. It’s certainly more of a looker than its predecessor, the G1, and that fusion of enhanced looks and the still-awesome power of Android makes the HTC Magic a very compelling phone indeed. If innovation is your thing, this is the phone for you.

Samsung i8910 HD

However, if video is more your thing, another phone easily beats the HTC Magic (and every other phone out there): the Samsung i8910 HD. The HD on the end of the name isn’t just there for show, it signifies that the Samsung i8910 HD is the first phone in history that can record 720p HD-Video. Conveniently, that’s the same definition Youtube shows its high-def videos at, so is it possible that the Samsung i8910 HD is actually the perfect HD Youtube phone? Time will tell, but one thing is certain; the Samsung i8910 HD is the best phone to get if you want the best camera.

Toshiba TG01

So, on the Symbian front, you have the Samsung i8910 HD, with its frighteningly powerful camera and video. As for Android, there’s the innovative HTC Magic. But Windows Mobile goes down a different route. You see, Windows Mobile needs two things to run at its best: a powerful processor and a big display. Well, say hello to the Toshiba TG01, the phone with the fastest processor AND the biggest display in the history of phones! Weighing in at 1GHz and 4.1 inches respectively, those specs mean that the Toshiba TG01 will run Windows Mobile more smoothly than any other phone in existence; as well as that with that immense screen, the Toshiba TG01 makes drilling down into menus, and actually getting into the internals of Windows, so much easier. If power is your thing (and lets be honest, who doesn’t want a powerful phone?), then the Toshiba TG01 is the phone for you!

The mobile landscape is changing, as manufacturers wake up to the fact that users want their phones to have a simple, sleek interface. Let’s take a look at three of the best mobile phone interfaces, currently (or soon to be) on the market.

HTC Touch Diamond2

The HTC Touch Diamond2 actually does a very good job of making it so you don’t have to go into standard Windows menus that often, as on top of the operating system, the interface is HTC’s patented TouchFLO 3D setup, where everything is achieved through various finger swipes and sweeping gestures. It is truly intuitive, and it’s the reason why the HTC Touch Diamond2 is such an unmitigated joy to use. Of course, it’s not all about being pretty, a phone needs to have decent features and the HTC Touch Diamond2 has them in spades, from the 5 megapixel camera, through GPS, to incredibly fast HSDPA internet access (not to mention the superb Opera Mobile web browser). To many, the HTC Touch Diamond2 is the ultimate Windows Mobile phone.

HTC Hero

The first important fact about the HTC Hero, and the bit that has made it so talked about, is its operating system: Google Android. As it’s only the second phone to officially go on sale using Android, the HTC Hero has garnered an awful lot of trade and consumer interest. Even more importantly, the HTC Hero is the first Android phone to feature a keyboard-less, touchscreen-only design, a thing that seems to be all the rage in 2009. It’s certainly more of a looker than its predecessors, the G1 and the Magic (thanks to the beautiful new Sense interface), and that fusion of enhanced looks and the still-awesome power of Android makes the HTC Hero a very compelling phone indeed. If innovation is your thing, this is the phone for you.

Palm Pre

So, there’s the HTC Touch Diamond2, with TouchFLO 3D, sitting atop Windows Mobile. And then, there’s the HTC Hero, which gives Android a new interface. What does the Palm Pre offer that’s different? Well, one could talk about the WebOS interface it uses, as it’s unique in the annals of phone history. And indeed, there’s one feature of WebOS, directly related to the keyboard, that makes the Palm Pre so cool. Universal search. Now, many phones do that, but the Palm Pre does it so much more cleverly. Just start typing what you want to know about, from the front screen, and the Palm Pre will search your contacts, apps, music, pictures, and even the internet, to interpret and find what you’re looking for. That really is a cool feature, and it may well make the Palm Pre the coolest QWERTY phone out there. If you value the interface above all else, the Palm Pre is the phone for you.

The 3 big operating systems in the world of smartphones are always trying to outdo each other. Let’s see what each OS’s ‘ultimate’ phone is like.

Sony Ericsson Idou

Symbian Touch evolves in the Sony Ericsson Idou. There’s a reason for that statement: the Sony Ericsson Idou is the first ever handset to use Version 5.1 of the Symbian OS, and boy does it show. Fuse that together with a sleek, touch-friendly front-end, and it add up to the Sony Ericsson Idou being, very probably, the slickest Symbian phone yet produced. That’s not its big killer feature, however, since THAT comes in the form of the Sony Ericsson Idou’s camera, which weighs in at a mind-boggling 12 megapixels. Because of its huge camera and the amazing interface, as well as media playback and social networking better than we’ve yet seen on a phone, the Sony Ericsson Idou has to be one of the coolest phones ever to be produced!

HTC Magic

Android is trying to take over the world, and its new home is the beautiful HTC Magic. It has all the good stuff that made the first Android phone (the G1) good, but puts it all in a touchscreen-only body, which is both sleek and sexy. Since the keyboard has been removed, the HTC Magic also has a full, onscreen keyboard, a first for any Android phone, lining it up as a direct rival to the iPhone. You also get the Android Marketplace, which lets you download and install third party apps to your HTC Magic, and it ends up creating a smartphone that really can morph into whatever you want it to be. It really is a kind of magic; it’s the HTC Magic.

Toshiba TG01

So, on the Symbian front, you have the Sony Ericsson Idou, wowing us with that enormous camera. In terms of Android, there’s the HTC Magic, with the superb Android Marketplace. But Windows Mobile goes down a different route. You see, Windows Mobile needs two things to run at its best: a powerful processor and a big display. Well, say hello to the Toshiba TG01, the phone with the fastest processor AND the biggest display in the history of phones! Weighing in at 1GHz and 4.1 inches respectively, those specs mean that the Toshiba TG01 will run Windows Mobile more smoothly than any other phone in existence; as well as that with that immense screen, the Toshiba TG01 makes drilling down into menus, and actually getting into the internals of Windows, so much easier. If power is your thing (and lets be honest, who doesn’t want a powerful phone?), then the Toshiba TG01 is the phone for you!