Keepin' it real fake: HTC HD, too

If you're going to rip off one of the more memorable Windows Mobile devices ever made, you'd think you'd want to at least clone its most notable feature -- but seriously, what do we know about the KIRF business? Yeah, well, this little number manufactured by a firm doing business as "iHTC" (no relation to HTC, we're sure) looks an awful lot like the HD2, but lacks that all-important 4.3-inch display, instead trading down for a more pedestrian 3.6-inch unit. On the upside, it's still WVGA and packs the latest and greatest Windows Mobile 6.5.3 (if "latest and greatest" really applies there) plus a 5 megapixel autofocus cam -- not bad specs for a device that eats copyrights for breakfast. Seems you can hunt one of these puppies down for about 1,580 yuan ($231), so start saving and packing for your Chinese adventure -- and in the meantime, follow the break for a comprehensive video demo of the finest technology iHTC has to offer.



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Aircell tempts HTC HD2 owners with six months free in-flight WiFi

Now that Aircell has finished roping every major US airline into its plan for world domination providing inexpensive WiFi on most every flight, the company's dealmakers have had to fall back on, shall we say, less integral partnerships to advance their strategy. First up? If you're the owner of a shiny new HTC HD2 on T-Mobile, you get six months of Gogo in-flight WiFi, free of charge. Simply register with the company anytime before June 2011 and it's clear skies for your connection. You can consider the expiration date a bonus alarm clock -- by that time, you'll be ready for a phone with enough buttons for Windows Phone 7 Series.

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T-Mobile HD2 can be had for $100 from Amazon, others

In the wireless industry, $100 is a rather magical psychological barrier -- a price point below which consumers generally have a much easier time pulling the trigger on a sweet upgrade. So when you offer a phone for $200, a percentage of your target demographic is generally going to drop out of the race with cries of "too rich for my blood." No worries with this new HTC HD2 for T-Mobile, though, because it turns out that a number of resellers are already discounting the phone right down into that $99.99 sweet spot despite the fact that it was just launched this very week. Most notably, anyone agreeing to a two-year contract through Amazon can get the phone for less than a Benjamin, and that's upfront -- no mail-in rebate craziness to contend with. Certainly makes the phone -- arguably WinMo 6.5's last real hurrah -- a more appealing buy, doesn't it?



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First Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series devices to boast 480 x 800 pixel displays, HD2 owners sigh

Even though Microsoft's big MIX event is still days away, the Windows Phone 7 Series development platform is already pretty well defined. It's also clear that Microsoft wants to keep things tidy for developers by requiring all WP7 phones to meet a certain base-level spec. Now, thanks to a post from Microsoft's Shawn Hargreaves, we know the display resolution for the first batch of Microsoft's next generation phones: 480 x 800 (WVGA) pixels at launch, with a future update that will introduce a 320 x 480 (HVGA) native resolution. Dedicated hardware will ensure image scaling across all those pixels without taxing the GPU. That allows game developers, for example, to write to a lower resolution (requiring less horsepower) and then scale up as required while remaining compatible to a variety of screen resolutions.

Now, for those playing along at home, the HD2 getting ready to launch on T-Mobile in the USA is also WVGA and it features a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, Microsoft's WP7 silicon partner. So we can assume (but not guarantee) that it meets the image scaling hardware requirements described by Hargreaves. Man, if only the HD2 had three-buttons.

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HTC HD2 gets early Windows Phone 7 OS port, could be released before official devices

Don't look surprised. With the Windows Phone 7 Series dev tools now out in the open the pent up demand for that elusive HD2 upgrade was bound to be a priority for some well-meaning developers, somewhere... namely, Russia. Now we've got what looks to be the first screenies of the WP7S OS running on an HD2. Better yet, htcpedia claims that almost everything is working including WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth. However, the graphics driver is still showing problems and there is noticeable device lag. Nevertheless, the team is planning a beta release soon. Imagine it, an HD2 WP7S ROM available before Microsoft and its partners can even launch an official device, with its 5 buttons or not -- now that would be something. One more grab after the break, the rest at the source below.





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HTC HD2 gets early Windows Phone 7 OS port, could be released before official devices

Don't look surprised. With the Windows Phone 7 Series dev tools now out in the open the pent up demand for that elusive HD2 upgrade was bound to be a priority for some well-meaning developers, somewhere... namely, Russia. Now we've got what looks to be the first screenies of the WP7S OS running on an HD2. Better yet, htcpedia claims that almost everything is working including WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth. However, the graphics driver is still showing problems and there is noticeable device lag. Nevertheless, the team is planning a beta release soon. Imagine it, an HD2 WP7S ROM available before Microsoft and its partners can even launch an official device, with its 5 buttons or not -- now that would be something. One more grab after the break, the rest at the source below.

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HTC EVO 4G vs. HD2 and Desire... fight!

Now that the excitement of the EVO 4G announce has finally worn off, it's time to get down to more practical matters -- in a street fight, would the WiMAX-powered beast hold its own against an HD2 and a Desire, for example? We had all three in a room just now, and here's what we've got to say:

* It feels significantly beefier than the HD2, but in reality, it's not -- it's just a single millimeter thicker. The brushed metal back of the HD2 is a little sexier, but just by the tiniest of margins; it's hard to argue with soft touch and a kickstand, obviously.
* We would've never noticed this without the Desire next to it, but the EVO's text is pretty huge, a side effect of the fact that it's running the same resolution on a screen 0.6 inches larger. It's not annoying, really, but it struck us that they could've comfortably fit quite a bit more information on the screen without getting cramped. The Desire's display is more vibrant, too, but that makes sense -- we're indoors under artificial lighting and the Desire has AMOLED on board.
* The EVO's got touch-sensitive buttons below the display that function much like the Nexus One's, but no worries: they work quite a bit better. We think this might be because there's more touch-sensitive bezel real estate below the keys; on the Nexus One, you've got to be far too accurate for comfort.
* Interestingly, this is the first EVO we've seen today with a silver earpiece grill -- Sprint's have been red. We've confirmed with HTC that production devices will be silver.

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HTC HD2 said to be launching March 24th for $199, no Windows Phone 7 support

Well, we'd already had a pretty clear indication that the HTC HD2 would be launching on T-Mobile on March 24th (or possibly the 23rd), and Laptop Magazine is now reporting that a "very close T-Mobile source" has confirmed that the 24th is indeed the date, and that the phone will run $199 on a two-year contract (or $449 off-contract). The March 23rd date that recently cropped up is apparently just the day the MobiTV software will go live. Just as notably, Laptop also says that it has confirmed that the phone won't be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7 Series -- although, at this point, we'll have to hear that first-hand to truly put an end to the speculation. Thankfully, that should happen in just a few days.

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T-Mobile's HTC HD2 gets purchased and unboxed early (video)

T-Mobile's not officially selling its world-beating HD2 until Wednesday, but if you've a Walmart nearby and hankering to get HTC's latest and greatest a few days early, it might be worth a trip out. JDMiPhoner managed to score one from his local Wally World a full four days early, and he's been kind enough to unbox it, boot it up and give us a few first impressions on video. Is it really worth a couple of Benjamins with Windows Phone 7 Series just a few months away? Head on past the break if you'd care to be reminded of just how painful it is to know that this WinMo 6.5-packin' gem won't ever be upgradable (natively, anyway) to WP7S.
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HTC HD2 breaks free in the T-Mobile USA wilds

HTC's HD2 is a near perfect combination of physical hardware and silicon that delivers impressive performance on a device that's surprisingly sleek given the display's massive 4.3-inch exapanse. Even Microsoft's much maligned Windows Mobile 6.5 is expertly masked by HTC's Sense interface. So it's easy to understand the anticipation felt by the HD2's first US release, questions of a Windows Phone 7 OS upgrade path notwithstanding. T-Mobile has the release honors and is now showing the HD2 as "coming soon" in its phone inventory. We've also got the first "in the wild" shots courtesy of TmoNews showing that big Blockbuster shortcut linked front and center for downloading On Demand movies directly to the device. Still no firm price or date but $199.99 on contract ($449.99 unlocked) sometime around 24 March sounds about right. One more shot with official T-Mobile branding after the break; the rest at the source link below.

Update: Tipster Nigel spotted a "†" footnote to nothing (yet) at the bottom of the page that requires 4 payments of $112.50 (or 20 payments of $22.50). That's $450, matching the rumored price of the unlocked handset.

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HTC HD2 breaks free in the T-Mobile USA wilds

HTC's HD2 is a near perfect combination of physical hardware and silicon that delivers impressive performance on a device that's surprisingly sleek given the display's massive 4.3-inch exapanse. Even Microsoft's much maligned Windows Mobile 6.5 is expertly masked by HTC's Sense interface. So it's easy to understand the anticipation felt by the HD2's first US release, questions of a Windows Phone 7 OS upgrade path notwithstanding. T-Mobile has the release honors and is now showing the HD2 as "coming soon" in its phone inventory. We've also got the first "in the wild" shots courtesy of TmoNews showing that big Blockbuster shortcut linked front and center for downloading On Demand movies directly to the device. Still no firm price or date but $199.99 on contract ($449.99 unlocked) sometime around 24 March sounds about right. One more shot with official T-Mobile branding after the break; the rest at the source link below.

Update: Tipster Nigel spotted a "†" footnote to nothing (yet) at the bottom of the page that requires 4 payments of $112.50 (or 20 payments of $22.50). That's $450, matching the rumored price of the unlocked handset.

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T-Mobile invites us to 'come experience the HTC HD2' on March 16; release on the 24th?

Like clockwork, we've just been dropped a line by T-Mobile USA asking us to join them for a very special media event to check out the HTC HD2 -- "a larger than life entertainment powerhouse" -- in fabulous New York City on the evening of March 16. That lines up nicely with the company's earlier assurances that we'd see a launch in March -- but what day in March, exactly? Well, we're hearing from a number of tipsters (including trusted sources) that the 24th is the day this thing breaks loose at retail, so set your watches and calendars accordingly -- assuming you haven't been wooed into Windows Phone 7 Series' tender, loving grasp, that is.

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Microsoft sending mixed signals on Windows Phone 7 Series upgrades, HTC HD2 still in limbo

The fate of the mighty HTC HD2 seems to be getting murkier by the minute: Microsoft UK VP Alex Reeve said last week that an upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series might be left up to hardware partners, but now Natasha Kwan, General Manager for Microsoft's Asia Pacific Mobile Communications Business says the 1GHz handset "doesn't qualify because it doesn't have the three buttons" required by WP7. Making matters even less clear, we asked Microsoft's Director of Consumer Experiences Aaron Woodman about the HD2 directly on The Engadget Show, and he politely declined to tell us about the device's upgradability, and said that WP7's final required specs would be revealed at MIX '10. We'll be honest: we're taking all this confusion to mean that Microsoft hasn't quite figured out how to say the HD2 is at a dead end just before it launches on T-Mobile US, but hey -- maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised at MIX.

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HTC HD2 and Windows Phone 7 Series: Just tell us no, Microsoft

Dear Microsoft,

We've had it up to here with these shenanigans. You're jerking us around, and we're sick of it. We get it, you have a very particular concept of what sort of phones you want running your new Windows Phone 7 Series OS. Not only do we get it, but we're kind of proud of you for sticking up for yourself for once and ensuring some sort of sameness across your platform. Unfortunately, it's not the holiday season yet, so we can't buy one of these fancy WP7S phones yet. Meanwhile, on the other end of town, HTC is bringing the HD2 to T-Mobile in the US this month. Sure, it runs your soon-to-be-outdated Windows Mobile 6.5 OS which nobody wants, but it's also pretty much the best hardware we've ever seen. Bar none.

This brings us to our plea: Microsoft, please put a line in the sand and tell us if the phone will be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7 Series. Of course we know why you won't, you don't want to "Osborne effect" the sales of your one last hope for Windows Mobile 6.5 success, and you don't want to harm one of your most loyal handset builders. But what about your consumers? You've recently pushed out a number of statements about the device, full of wimpy non-line-in-sand-ers like "We currently do not have plans to update the HTC HD2 to Windows Phone 7 Series." Sure, you're not telling us to get our hopes up, but you're also just cruel and calculating enough to leave room for hope. We're pretty resigned at this point to receiving our Windows Phone 7 Series update on the HD2 from our good friends at xda-developers, but we'd just like to hear it from your mouth. Or better yet? Just get WP7S on there yourself, caveat it as "non-preferred" or whatever makes you comfortable, and save us all from this paralysis.

Soure

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