The iPhone, Tube and Windows Mobile 7

iPhone started it all, but will it prevail at the end?
Once upon a time, the cell phone was meant for calling and maybe SMSing as well. But, with the advent of the iPhone, the cell phone turned out to be a pocket PC, it could chat, mail, read your daily news feed, prepare your presentations and what not?
I am not telling you cell phones did not have these feature until iPhone was launched, but iPhone, with its intuitive multi touch, glass like interface and slick marketing, became a fashion statement. Soon, the word iPhone killer began to be associated to every new high end phone that emerged. If not all, at least some of them where marketed that way. Samsung and LG were the first to start this, with their “do all in touch” phones hitting the market. Soon, the Mr. Perfect Sony Ericsson also joined the bandwagon, by announcing their version of the mobile-PC, the Xperia, and that too backed by the software giant Microsoft providing their brand new Windows Mobile 6.1 for it.
Now, Nokia, the Finnish mobile leader, has announced their first ever touch phone, codenamed Tube 5800. That is not all, the story will also cover Microsoft’s mobile dreams with their Windows Mobile 7, (yeah, the Desktop dream is also called Windows 7, might not be all coincidence!!).
The Tube
Nokia were never into touch screen business, they always had the traditional keypad based mobiles. But, now with the pressure mounting up after so many iPhones and iPhone killers, the giant has now changed their stand and now has announced their first touch phone codenamed Tube 5800. From the initial snaps which I could find in the internet Tube looks similar to the iPhone (less glossy though). With the screen size slightly less (3.2”) but does support 16:9 video and tilt detection.
It was shown first a slide at the Evans Data Developer Relations Conference in Redwood City, Calif. "It's our first touch device," said Tom Libretto, vice president of Forum Nokia. The road map for the phone’s shipment is not clear yet. But definitely once the king is in the market it could kick some others out of their seats. What makes Tube even hotter is that it might be Nokia’s one of the slimmest offing and will sport a 3.2 MP camera, Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM/EDGE, radio, 3G UMTS/HSDPA, WiFi and GPS too. It will also have a standard 3.5mm audio jack and maybe a TV out too. As usual Nokia will get the software from Symbian, (Symbian 60). It also supports Java and Flash, another no-no in iPhone.

Windows Mobile 7

While Nokia and other vendors are coming up with the iPhone killers, Microsoft is fighting out the battle in their own style. Microsoft is coming up with their next version of mobile OS, and it will change the entire scenario. It would not only be a thud on the head of Apple but also to many others like Google (remember android?). The mobile 7 rests itself on the touch interface and mobile gestures to run business. You will be able to flick through lists, pan, swipe sideway, draw on the screen. Forget all those scrollbars and dropdowns, shake it, tilt it, touch it to get things done.
It also has breathtaking visual effects and transitions much reminding Vista, (maybe iPhone also :p). The touch screen doesnt need a stylus and will work on your fingers, all the apps look new and cool, the new media player, the tabbed internet explorer with "shake to switch tabs".
Another great feature that WM7 offers is, it doesnt need a phone with an accelerometer to work the gestures, the OS will utilize the camera to detect motion and analyze it. It does sound very innovative, but how much battery it would drain in this process is a question. Windows Mobile 7 will also run on phones with keypad and no touch.
They are so many other new, exciting features in this new OS, which you can read here.

iPhone started with a great hype, but now there are so many variants and competitors which are, maybe even better than iPhone. So, what is Apple doing? Wait till iPhone 2.0 is out.

Windows Mobile 7 To Focus On Touch and Motion Gestures

Tube 5800 Snap

codevalley

Sony Ericsson's Show stopper: Xperia

Xperia, though not even out in market, has already gained many nicknames, like iPhone killer, show stopper, ultimate mobile experience are to just list some of them. For all those mortals who are still scratching their heads on what is this all about, Xperia is the new mobile phone from Sony Ericsson. A a company which was formed just over 7 years ago, is already making their presence felt in the arena. SE is already getting in level to Nokia in terms of popularity, passion and even resale value.
Now, Microsoft and Sony Ericsson have joined hands to give a masterpiece, the Xperia. For the first time, a mobile gadget would be running on Windows Mobile 6.1. Xperia story does not end there, in fact it starts with this. It has an unique, arc design slider with a metal finish and full qwerty keyboard with aesthetically chiselled keys and full 3" touch screen, too add cream to the pie, it also has a 4 way key and an optical joystick. Further you have handwriting recognition, aGPS, EDGE, a 3.2 MP camera to list a few.
The interface; I have never seen such a breathtaking interface. Xperia user interface is based on a bunch of panels. Panels are like desktops, you can fill them with icons and tools you want, and you can have many of them. One for each occasion, like an Office panel which would have all your outlook and meeting gadgets arranged and a holiday panel which will list all your multimedia, games etc. The panels will cascade on a press of the hot key and you can choose which one you want. From the initial videos of the phone, the whole software seems to be very swift and crystal clear.
Now, let us get under the hood, what Xperia is made of. The display has a resolution of 800x480 pixels (no I am not talking about my laptop), running on a Qualcomm MSM7200 528MHz processor, 400 MB internal memory, 128 MB RAM, and a 256 MB storage memory. It can beat my 5 year old Laptop, if you put in a 4 GB MicroSD card to it. Even my lappy does not have the WiFi, or A2DP Bluetooth and 3G. The phone comes in black and silver paints.
Though the spokesperson refused to comment on its price, it could be easily be a topper in that section too. I hope it would be cheaper than 145grams of gold.
Xperia Mini-site
Xperia Specifications from GSM Arena


codevalley