Review: SBSH GoNews Touch

 

GoNews Touch is a News Reader, developed by SBSH Software, a leading Software Developer for the Windows Mobile Platform. As you can see here, SBSH has mentioned a lot of features, the most significant being the ability to sync your feeds with your Google Reader Account. But, does GoNews Touch really deliver what SBSH says? Well, lets have a look at what we really get.

 

The Interface

1. Now, first things first: I prefer using the Soft Keys on my device, instead of tapping on the screen, whenever possible. The no soft keys support was quite a turn off. Instead, GoNews Touch provided a Finger Friendly menu bar at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, the icons used are neither very explanatory, nor very attractive. Also, the icons do not provide any kind of feedback (like a push down effect or a glow effect) when tapped – they are static.
2. Also, there is no scrollbar to indicate how much scrolling is required to view all the items on the screen. Scrolling is done by dragging your finger up and down on the screen – which works well. Still, it does not serve as an excuse for not having a scrollbar. Scrollbars are available only when you are viewing an article.
3. While viewing an article, you cannot use the left and right keys to see the previous or the next article. You have to tap on left and right icons on the menu bar to do so. While this may not be a problem for many, it does feel a little strange.
4. While channels are getting updated, most RSS Readers show a progress bar indicating how much content has been downloaded. The progress bar also acts as an indicator which says that an update is actually taking place right now. SBSH has incorporated a simple numeric indicator at the top right corner which indicates how much content has been downloaded in “xx%” form. This is fine, but a progress bar would have been better.

SBSH wanted to design a Finger Friendly news reader and has been successful in doing so. The icons, though unattractive, are large and can be easily tapped on with a finger, without the need for the stylus. However, it seems SBSH has only focused on making the app finger friendly, and has thus completely overlooked a lot of important and basic interface elements.

Score: 2.5/5

The Features

1. Google Reader Synchronization is by far the most desirable feature of this app. All that you need to enter is your Google Account Username and Password and you are ready to go! It downloads all your feeds from your Google Reader Account and updates them automatically. Any change (addition or deletion of feeds) in your Google Reader Account is automatically reflected in GoNews Touch. This is a boon for people who use Google Reader as their primary feed reader, and would like to have offline access to those feeds on their PDAs on the go.
2. Automatic Updating of feeds is supported. You can disable downloading of images to save on bandwidth. You can also schedule auto updates when Activesync connection is available.
3. Full text articles with images are supported. Finger based up/down gesture navigation is supported to go through the articles, and works very well.
4. Filtering of channels with categories is available. eg: You can separate feeds and channels meant for Entertainment from those meant for News Updates.
5. No support for simultaneous reading and updating i.e you cannot read articles when an update is taking place. You have to wait for all the channels to finish updating before you can start reading articles. This starts to feel like a real pain after a while.
6. I have not tried the templates feature. Apparently, it allows you to define a template for any website to download news content from it, even if it does not support RSS Feeds.
7. Rest of the features are pretty much available in almost all News Readers out there.

Score: 3.5/5

 

The Verdict

With a total score of 6 out of 10, SBSH GoNews Touch is Just Average, and that’s about it. Personally, I would prefer SPB News 2.0 over this app. It might not be as finger friendly as GoNews Touch, but at least SPB has not overlooked a lot of important interface elements just to make it finger friendly. Also, SPB News 2.0 has support for simultaneous reading and downloading, which works very well for me.

Even though GoNews Touch supports Google Reader Syncing, which most other News Readers don’t, its many flaws completely overshadow this unique feature. I would rather have a News Reader that functions well overall than GoNews Touch, which still needs some work.

I think I’ll give this one a miss.

Price: $14.95

Trial Download: http://www.sbsh.net/products/windows_mobile_pocket_pc/gonews_touch/download

 

GMail is now Direct Push Enabled!

Google has recently enabled Exchange Activesync for all Gmail accounts and is providing Direct Push service free of cost! I was searching for a free push mail provider for a long time, after Mail2Web shut down their free hosted exchange service. Thankfully, now I don’t have to forward my emails to a third party account to download it to my PDA.

To it up, follow these simple steps on your Windows Mobile device:

1. Go to Start > Programs > Activesync
2. Menu > Select Server Source
3. Server Address: m.google.com
4. Check “This server requires an encrypted (SSL) connection”
5. Tap Next
6. Enter your full Google Account email address as the User name.
7. Enter your Google Account password as the Password.
8. Leave the Domain field empty. If your device requires you to enter a domain name, enter google.
9. Click Next.
10. Check Contacts, Calendar, or Email, depending on which you’d like to sync. DO NOT CHECK TASKS as task sync is not yet supported by Google.
11. Click Finish.

You are now ready to go!

Known Issues:

1. Attachments are not downloaded to your inbox, even if attachments are enabled in your activesync settings
2. Syncing is a little slow compared to Mail2Web and other solutions
3. Task sync is not yet supported
4. Sometimes, the Google Sync service abruptly goes down. When this happens, wait for 30-60 minutes and try again
5. People are reporting problems with the Calendar Sync function.

If you select “As items arrive” in your Sync Schedule, you have Push Mail. However, this eats up a lot of battery life. It is recommended that syncing is done every 30 minutes (or maybe more), if you don’t require push mail functionality.

Android Powered HTC MAGIC Launched in India

 

Official Press Release:

Bharti Airtel Introduces India’s First Android™ Phone, the HTC Magic for Airtel Customers

•The Android ™ platform opens up an unique opportunity to Airtel customers to customize their device with multiple mobile applications

•Airtel customers can avail many utility based applications such as Portfolio Manager, Hello Tune Manager, Weather Channel, Mobshare, In-mobile search and City Search

•HTC Magic offers cutting edge innovation with 3G capabilities, 3.2-inch HVGA touch screen, and 3.2 mega-pixel camera for an unmatched personalised mobile Web experience

•Airtel customers to get free data download of 100 MB per month for 6 months

•HTC Magic available at Airtel Relationship Centres and authorised HTC resellers across 17 cities

New Delhi (India), June 23, 2009 : Bharti Airtel, Asia’s leading integrated telecom services provider, and HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today announced the launch of India’s First Android™-powered mobile phone – The HTC Magic.

Airtel has been a frontrunner in bringing innovative and cutting edge technology to its customers. The Android™ powered HTC Magic opens new arena for customers and the developer community to interact in order to bring new applications to Android-based phones. The introduction of the Android™ platform in India is a step in this direction where innovation, development and deployment of mobile applications are encouraged in an ‘open ecosystem’. The Android™ platform not only gives Airtel a faster go to market capability but also helps to provide more rich & varied service offerings for all Airtel users while creating commercial viability for small developers/entrepreneurs.

"Airtel has been at the forefront of innovation and customer delight in the Indian telecom sector. Being the first to bring the Android™ powered HTC Magic to India further underscores our commitment to enrich the communication experience of all Airtel users." said, Raghunath Mandava, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel. Added, “The HTC Magic presents a powerful mobile internet and multimedia experience that should drive the uptake of accessing the internet over mobile amongst Airtel users.”

HTC Magic opens up a whole new mobile experience for all Airtel users. A tablet-style device, with a sleek design and extraordinary compactness for a smartphone, the HTC Magic presents a supreme mobile internet and multimedia experience. Enhanced with Outlook synchronization, Smart Dialler, and an onscreen keyboard with predictive text, the HTC Magic is a true entertainment and communication powerhouse. Also, to begin with, Airtel customers can avail many utility based applications such as Portfolio Manager, Hello Tune Manager, Weather Channel, Mobshare, In-mobile search and City Search on the HTC Magic.

Jack Tong, Vice President, HTC Asia, said, “HTC is proud to partner with Airtel in launching the much-anticipated Android™-powered HTC Magic in India. The HTC Magic opens up a whole new world of possibilities for people to enrich and customise their mobile phone. HTC has always been known for its industry firsts and technology advancements, and is thus a natural partner to Airtel.”

For Airtel customers, HTC Magic also allows free data download of 100 MB per month for a period of 6 months. The HTC Magic will be available at a market price of Rs. 29,990/- at Airtel Relationship Centres and authorised HTC resellers across 17 cities. The cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Cochin, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Patna.

The Android™ platform constitutes a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. Developed by the Open Handset Alliance, a group of 47 technology and mobile companies, Android™ brings Internet-style innovation and openness to mobile phones and enables developers to create mobile applications to optimise the functionalities of the mobile phone. Android™ does not differentiate between the phone’s core applications and third-party applications, thus providing users with a broad spectrum of applications and services.

Airtel applications available with HTC Magic

1 Portfolio Manager

Portfolio Manager is Mobile Client application to provide general public a secured and user friendly service platform. Its objective is to facilitate investors in Indian share market to manage their portfolio in a handsome way. Special offer for HTC Magic users – 3 Months subscription waiver

2 Hello Tunes Manager

Hello Tunes Manager will be used by subscribers to search for, buy and share hello tunes/hello tune albums. You can use Hello Tunes Manager to send/receive hello tune recommendations from friends, rate hello tunes and much more. Special offer for HTC Magic – Free Hello Tune downloads for one month.

3 Weather Channel

This application provides detailed weather forecasts for the current day and next 6 days. Any location of user’s choice can be marked as favorite. The user can obtain weather forecast for (a) Current location (b) Favorite location (c) Any other location of choice.

4 Mobshare

MobShare is a Mobile phone picture sharing Application that enables Immediate, controlled, and organized sharing of mobile pictures, and the browsing, of the shared Pictures.

5 In-Mobile Search

This application enables the user to search for contacts, image files, audio files and video files from a single interface. The user can search any of the above mentioned files starting with the query string entered. It provides the user to view the image or play the audio / video files without the use of any external applications.

6 City Search

This application incorporates both location and data call technology, steering you towards the very best activities that your city has to offer. For the selected category, the application retrieves appropriate list of options for any location review. The application provides the full information (address, contact number and other information) for any selected option. User also has an option to call the selected option or SMS the info from the application.

More here

 

HTC MAGIC Video Tour:

 

The Good:

1. Cool Specifications
2. Finally we have an Android Powered Device in India

The Bad:

1. MRP INR 29,990/-
2. Operator Locked to Airtel
3. Only 100MB of free data download per month for only the first 6 months

The Verdict:

Probably not many adopters unless the price comes down to somewhere around INR 22K to 24K (for heaven’s sake, 30 grands for an Operator Locked Device is daylight robbery!)

Slide-To-Unlock (S2U2) for Windows Mobile Updated to Version 2.01

 

S2U2 for Windows Mobile has been updated to version 2.01. For those who are hearing about S2U2 for the first time: “S2U2 (Slide 2 Unlock 2) is a simple lock/unlock application which has the iPhone style slide unlocking.It can be used as a screensaver while you don’t use your device.It has CallerID function (but some devices may not work, so please try it first);S2P (Slide 2 Play) control plugin; and volume control. It can show many system information (customizable) even without unlocking.”

Changes of v2.01
================
- fixed when CallerID was off, system might hang after receiving an incoming call.
- fixed the S2U2 Settings could not browse pics/files.
- reverted the sound codes (lock/unlock sound) for faster performance, but also removed the support to MP3.
- non-exist wallpaper file setting will show a black background.

Changes of v2.00
================
- new S2U2 Settings:
 new user interface; subgrouping levels;
 change/browse the wallpaper or wallpaper folder; on-screen zooming/cropping;
 change/browse the lock/unlock sound (MP3 is supported for WM6 or later devices);
 added sleep timer for S2P;
 added save/load theme.
- more comprehensive "slide to view":
 show the latest 5 missed call details (press & hold the missed call icon);
 show the latest 5 active task details (press & hold the active task icon);
 directly go to that unread email/SMS (shown on a pop-up) when unlock;
 to dismiss a pop-up, either tap the pop-up or the corresponding notification icon.
- added emergency call function when password is enabled.
- added options to show text shadow effect.
- added option to tune the opacity of the curtains.
- added a third CallerID option - Framed.
- added option to "Always Hide the system incoming pop-up".
 In the old version, the system incoming pop-up (SIP) will be disabled permanently once S2U2's CallerID is activated;
 if you want to use the SIP again, the device must be soft-reset after turned off the CallerID.
 With this new option set to off & soft-reset, the SIP will not be affected by S2U2's CallerID;
 but a side effect - even CallerID is turned on, the SIP will be shown shortly at the beginning of an incoming call.
- localizable call waiting incoming screen.
- added InCall Volume Control.
- added option to delay the startup of S2U2 when the device is booting up.
- added support to WM6.5
 only tested on the WM6.5 emulator;
 when the system lock is activated, S2U2's CallerID will be temporarily disabled.
- removed PhoneNoFormat, added option "Canonical number format".
- added back the "Lock when Screen is Blank" option.
- removed option to delay the email preview, it's now done automatically.
- faster screen redraw, even on Landscape or on WVGA devices.
- increased the exception EXE list to 20 entries & moved to \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\A_C\S2U2\Exceptions
- some graphics changed.
- some minor bugs fixed.

 

Download:

QVGA Device: http://s2u2.eqvipage.dk/S2P-download-0.58-QVGA.html

VGA Device: http://s2u2.eqvipage.dk/S2P-download-0.58-VGA.html

UPDATE: ABOVE LINKS DO NOT WORK. PLEASE GO TO: http://www.ac-s2.com/

Samsung Omnia II Videos

Two great Samsung Omnia II videos I found on YouTube. I simply can’t get enough of that screen!

 

Samsung Omnia II Reviewed by GSMArena

Samsung’s latest Windows Mobile Device – the Omnia II has been reviewed by the guys at GSMArena.

They are especially impressed with the Photo Gallery that comes with the device. Also, the Omnia II comes with a host of third party applications – RSS Reader, Streaming Player, Podcasts applications and many more.

For the entire review, please visit GSMArena.

[via GSMArena]

Samsung Omnia II: Coming on June 16th?

This is what Samsung Omnia Page in Facebook Says:

3 more days to go!

HTC Touch Diamond2 Launched in India

HTC has launched the successor to it’s very successful Touch Diamond in India – The Touch Diamond2. The complete list of specifications is as follows:

Processor
Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz

Operating System
Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional

Memory
ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 288 MB

Dimensions
107.85 X 53.1 X 13.7 mm (4.25 X 2.09 X 0.54 inches)

Weight
117.5 grams (4.15 ounces) with battery

Display
3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution

Network
HSDPA/WCDMA:

• Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz

• Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:

• Europe/Asia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

  (Band frequency, HSUPA availability, and data speed are operator dependent.)

Device Control
TouchFLO™ 3D
Zoom bar

GPS
Internal GPS antenna

Connectivity
Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)

Camera
Main camera: 5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera

Audio supported formats
AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV, MIDI, M4A

Video supported formats
WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI

Battery
Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1100 mAh
Talk time:

• Up to 300 minutes for WCDMA

• Up to 340 minutes for GSM

Standby time:

• Up to 500 hours for WCDMA

• Up to 360 hours for GSM

Video call time: Up to 150 minutes
(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)

 

Expansion Slot
microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

AC Adapter
Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A

Special Features
FM Radio, G-Sensor

Price: Rs. 29,990 (Should to drop to 27500-28000 within 3-4 months)

No Operator Contracts mentioned.

PointUI Home 2.1 Available Now

PointUI, one of the most popular applications used by hundreds of users to give their Windows Mobile Devices, a much needed facelift, has now been updated to version 2.1. The list of changes and enhancements can be found here.

  

I had used PointUI when I had my HTC Touch. Even though the Touch had a 200Mhz Processor with just 64MB of RAM, PointUI used to work quite smoothly. But then I switched back to the good (Okay, not so good) old WinMo interface as it just works for me

More XPERIA X2 Pics: Silver & Stunning!

Remember how I was whining about the XPERIA X2? Well, I guess I should stop doing that now – Have a look at this!

This is certainly an improvement over this:

I knew SE wouldn’t let us down

With killer looks like that and an 8.1MP Camera to boot, the XPERIA X2 now seems like a worthy replacement to the X1. Of course, if Sony Ericsson decides to continue with it’s habit of pricing every new high end device in the range of 40000-50000, most people would rather give it a miss!

[Photos from: fanklub.se and Dailymobile.se]

Palm Pre Breaks Sales Records!

According to a report by CNET, Palm Pre has broken Sprint Nextel’s sales records just days after it’s much anticipated launch. The official sales figures have not been released yet, but The Wall Street Journal has cited analysts who have said that between 50000 to 100000 Pres have been sold, within two days of its launch.

Now Sprint and Palm must wait to see if the momentum will continue. Donahue said the company plans to replenish inventory at retail stores as quickly as Palm can get the devices shipped. Customers can sign up to be on a waiting list for devices and will be notified when a phone is available. Donahue said that these lists should help the company direct new phones to locations with the highest demand. But he admitted there could be shortages and delays in getting the Pre into customers’ hands.

"I’ll be honest," he said. "There will be constrained inventory for some time. And there will be spot shortages for the foreseeable future."

Looks like Palm Pre is going to bring Palm back in the race (or probably, already has!).

I, for one, am waiting for it’s launch in India! If Palm wants the Pre to be a success in India, it should probably keep the pricing in the range of INR 22k to 26k. Also, Indians aren’t exactly fond of Operator Locked Phones

[via CNET News]

Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta Released

Opera has released a beta version of their popular mobile web browser – Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta. A video of the beta in action is posted here.

This version makes use of Opera Turbo, a technology used in Opera Mini to compress content and save bandwidth costs. I had given this version a try and there is definitely a small speed improvement while rendering pages, though not as much as I was expecting. Perhaps more speed gains will be noticeable in later versions.

Download: Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta

Android on HTC TyTN II (Kaiser)?

I was browsing through the XDA-Developers Forum and stumbled upon this. Apparently, people have been working on porting Google’s Mobile OS, Android, to HTC Windows Mobile devices. The latest builds for Kaiser can be found here. Apparently, Android ROMs are available for Polaris (Touch Cruise), Vogue & Diamond too.

Please visit Androidonhtc.com for installation instructions.

Since I’m “one of those types”, I didn’t have the nerve to try it out. However, if you are not “one of those”, you might just want to have a little fun with Android Currently, Android boots from Windows Mobile – It is not emulated nor does it run inside Windows Mobile.

Note: Please try this at your own risk!

[via XDA-Developers Forum]

Iris Browser for Windows Mobile Updated

Torch Mobile has updated their popular Iris Browser, a Webkit based web browser to version 1.1.8. It included fixes and improvements from the previous release:

• Improved graphics performance
• Faster networking and loading of local files
• Improved memory usage
• Improved asynchronous behavior while loading pages
• Support for the W3C Geolocation API
• Support for HTML5 SQL databases and client side storage
• Rendering improvements, including for <canvas>
• CSS transformations and effects
• Improved Thai support
• Right-to-left language fixes
• Many general bug fixes

Here is a video of Iris Browser in action:

 

Download: http://www.torchmobile.com/download/download2.php (FREE)

Is this the Samsung Omnia II?

Mobili Linija (Lithuanian) claims that this is Samsung’s new Omnia – the Omnia II. The device is supposed to have an 8.1 MP Camera and a 3.7” Touch Screen Display. It is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1, which is strange as most manufacturers have already announced devices based on the new Windows Mobile 6.5 OS. It apparently runs Samsung’s new Cubic Interface.

I somehow doubt the authenticity of this information. Well, we will find out sooner or later

[via WMPoweruser.com]

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