Discover Bands

Hey all! Thanks for dropping in to my blog which is a unique blog in its kind. You see I love mobile content and search a lot of sites to get that unique, moody ringtone or wallpaper for my mobile. Why? Because my mobile means everything to me and it shows who I am. Yes, I love my mobile and I know you do too.

read more | digg story

Featured Stores Week 31

Major Artist of the Week: Shaggy

Shaggy is a Jamaican America reggae singer who emerged in the early '90s as the biggest crossover success in dancehall reggae. This Grammy award winner has the number-one hit singles "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel" to his credit. He has released a total of nine albums, two of them being multi-platinum. To date, Shaggy has sold over 20 million albums. For Shaggy, the driving force is making music that celebrates his culture. He is Jamaica's only living Diamond and top selling artist.

Get Shaggy on your mobile. Go to www.ringtones.mobi/shaggyringtones to find all the ringtones of Shaggy's hit songs.

----------------------

Indie Band of the Week - Ashes of Soma

Ashes of Soma is a Canadian alternative rock band constituting of the band members Randy Gray (vocals, acoustic guitar), Mike Preney (guitar), Paul Doman (drums) and Joel Bishop (bass). Recognized for their single Emancipate, the band spent a couple of years developing their sound and released their 1st Album Exit 647 in 2005 .The band's influences include Tool, Sevendust, Disturbed, Finger Eleven, and I Mother Earth.

Find ringtones of Ashes of Soma's released and unreleased tracks exclusively on www.ringtones.mobi/ashesofsoma

Review: An HTC Touch for Verizon, the XV6900

The Verizon XV6900 is based on the same HTC Vogue hardware that is the basis for the Sprint Touch by HTC that has been on the market for quite some time. While the original Touch was a GSM device, the XV6900 for Verizon supports the carrier's CDMA EV-DO network, though it still sports the same TouchFLO user interface extensions that make the device finger friendly. This review is based heavily on the review of the Sprint version of the HTC Touch, but has been updated where needed to reflect the numerous changes that have been made for Verizon's version.

Physical Aspects

At 102mm x 60mm x 14mm (4.0" x 2.4" x .6") in size, the new XV6900 for Verizon is 2mm longer than the original GSM device, but still quite small for a smartphone with these capabilities. At 111g (4.0oz), it is also pretty light for a Pocket PC smartphone. By comparison, other HTC PocketPC devices like AT&T's Tilt look like giants next to the XV6900 and weigh 63g (2.2oz) more.

The smooth lines that make up the design of the XV6900's white body, along with its compact dimensions, make the XV6900 one of the most comfortably held Pocket PC devices ever made. The 77mm (3") long stylus is not going to please a lot of people, though, as it is too short to be comfortably used for an extended period of time.

Luckily, the driving force behind the XV6900 is that its large 2.8" (44mm x 57mm), 65k color touchscreen display is finger friendly, meaning that users will be able to get away with using the stylus less than with typical Pocket PC devices. Unlike many stylus compatible touchscreens, the display on the XV6900 is flush mounted to its body, and the touch sensitive surface extends well beyond the limits of its 240x320 pixel resolution. Not only does this make it easier to hit on-screen controls that are located by edges or corners of the display, but it means that the screen can easily be cleaned with a quick swipe on a pants leg. My only complaint with the display is that it can be a bit hard to read in direct sunlight, though running it at maximum brightness level mitigates the problem to some extent.

Beyond the large screen that dominates the XV6900, there is relatively little else to talk about. The small d-pad that is located beneath the screen is well designed and easy to use. It is flanked on either side by very small call control keys that light up green and red. A chrome edge separates the dark front and rear faces of the XV6900. A volume slider is located on the left side, a dedicated camera key with a very nice feel is found on the right. The power key is on the top of the XV6900, and the typical miniUSB power/data/headset port is on the bottom edge. A 2 megapixel camera and self-portrait mirror are located on the back cover. The entire back cover can be removed easily to expose the battery and allow the unique microSD card slot cover on the right edge of the phone to be opened.

While I ran into some problems with the SIM/microSD cover on the original HTC Touch, in that I could not get it back in place without some trimming with a knife, I had no such problems with the Verizon version of the device. I still find the cover a bit difficult to open, but it is at least secure and works properly on this version.

The Verizon XV6900 for Verizon comes with a small case, an extra stylus, and a splitter for charging while using a 2.5mm wired headset at the same time. A power adapter, USB cable, and screen protector are also included in the kit.

User Interface

While HTC touts the finger friendly aspects of the Verizon XV6900 and the TouchFLO user interface extensions, there are relative few actual changes made to the Windows Mobile 6 UI from the user's perspective. Unlike purely finger based user interfaces, such as those adorning the LG Prada phone and the Apple iPhone, the vast majority of the XV6900's Windows Mobile UI looks stock. What HTC added to the UI can be categorized as follows: finger based scrolling for most applications, "swipe" gestures, some tweaks to the contact list, and the new finger-based menu system itself. A couple of finger friendly Today screen plug-ins also add much to the XV6900's usefulness with a finger, even though it is not really a UI extension. The swipe gestures can be used to bring up the finger menu, just as was the case with the original HTC Touch, and can also be used to switch between accounts or messages in the Messaging app or to move from photo to photo in the camera album.

Let's start with the scrolling. One of the things that allows the XV6900 to do its thing is its ability to determine the difference between the stylus (or fingernail) and a fingertip. Whereas a dragging motion with the stylus in the Messaging inbox will select multiple messages, the XV6900 will instead scroll the display when a finger drags on the screen. The user's finger effectively grabs an entry on the screen and drags it up or down, causing the screen to scroll. By "throwing" the grabbed item up or down with a quick motion, the screen will continue to scroll on its own (like spinning a bicycle wheel). Adding a second throw will cause it to scroll faster. Eventually the screen will slow down on its own and stop - unless the user speeds it up again. When scrolling, a quick tap of the finger will bring things to a quick halt.

This form of scrolling is particularly effective for the Inbox, Contacts, and long pages in the Pocket IE web browser, where, incidentally, a finger can be used to "click" on links. The scrolling also works in most other applications and parts of the system. For example, you can use your finger to scroll through the Programs folder, File Manager, or even third party applications like the NewsBreak RSS reader. Users can also grab a scrollbar control pretty easily, if they prefer a more traditional route. The fact that the XV6900 can sense finger position beyond the pixel edge of the display makes it far more accurate in these situations. Contrary to what you might think, hitting small buttons in the corners of the screen with even a large fingertip is quite easy.

The aspect of the Verizon XV6900 that impresses people the most is the new finger menu system that is accessed with the finger swipe gestures. The HTC finger menu application can be accessed at any time on the XV6900 by placing a finger on the Verizon logo at the bottom of the display and dragging, or swiping, upwards. The application will slide up from the bottom of the screen in a very Apple iPhone looking way. It can be closed with a downward swipe. The three main pages of the HTC developed finger application include the finger menu, the picture contacts list, and the multimedia app menu. The finger menu is a simple finger friendly page of buttons that provides quick access to the following functions and applications: Email, SMS/MMS, Internet Explorer, Notes, Comm Manager, and Voice Recorder. Unfortunately, these shortcuts can not be changed. Swiping from left to right or right to left on the menu will bring up one of the other two pages in the system, complete with 3D rotating cube graphics effects.

The picture contact list looks like a speed dial application. 9 contacts can be placed on the screen, and the system will use the associated contact photo if one is present. Tapping on one of the 9 contacts will dial the contact's default number. The main contacts list, the call log, and the phone dial pad can also be quickly accessed from on-screen buttons at the bottom of the picture contact list. The last page of the system, the multimedia menu, provides 3 large finger buttons that access Windows Media Player, the photo gallery, or the video gallery.

The Today screen plug-ins that I mentioned earlier could actually be used on any WM6 Pocket PC device since they don't rely on any XV6900 specific features. In fact, we have seen them installed on any number of HTC developed devices. The larger of the two plug-ins has four main screens: time, weather, applications, and profiles. The weather page can pull up current and forecasted weather for a user's selected city and can be configured to auto update, as well. The applications screen lets the user configure up to 9 commonly accessed applications or functions that can be easily selected with a finger. The profiles screen makes switching between normal, silent, and vibration profiles painless. The second plug-in, located below the main one by default, provides a few additional hard-coded links to applications. It is mostly redundant, and the screen space can probably be better utilized with other Today screen plug-ins.

One of the shortcomings in the XV6900 is that the finger based menu system and the swipe gestures are disabled when the device is used in landscape (horizontal) screen mode. Finger scrolling, using a finger to hit on-screen controls, and the Today screen plug-in still function normally, but you lose access to the finger friendly HTC developed menu system. The left and right swipe gestures are under utilized in general, working only in the finger menu, the camera album, and the Messaging app.

The rest of the UI on the XV6900 is basic Windows Mobile 6, which is nearly the same as the new Windows Mobile 6.1 system that is out now. It includes application specific cascading menus, and submenus are accessed with the right softkey, context sensitive menus are accessed with a long stylus tap or finger press, and the red call end key will cause the system to jump back to the Today screen. The Today screen itself can be configured to show upcoming appointments, unread messages, and other useful pieces of information.

The status bar at the top of the screen is full of active icons. For example, tapping on the battery icon will bring up the battery status page. Tapping on the speaker icon (or using the volume control) will bring up the ring profile control. When a new message arrives or a call is missed, an appropriate status icon will appear on the top of the screen. They can be tapped to get more information. But typically, missed calls and messages are best dealt with by tapping the left on-screen softkey when it is labeled as "Notification" when on the Today (standby) screen. Tapping the softkey will fill you in on the event you have missed and offer you options for dealing with it.

The biggest problem with the original HTC Touch in terms of being finger accessible was text input. The new XV6900 for Verizon ships with a few new text input options, including a RIM BlackBerry SureType-like 20 key keyboard. Each key on the keyboard represents at most two letters of the alphabet, which makes predictive text more accurate. A new on-screen QWERTY keyboard mode is used for entering passwords or when using a stylus, and a T9 version of a regular 12 key keypad is also available.

While some people will slam the XV6900 and its TouchFLO UI extensions as being a simple add-on, and cry foul because the entire UI has not been customized for easier finger use, I am still pleased with TouchFLO. If you consider the HTC finger application as merely a new menu used to access existing applications, then it doesn't seem all that different from the Start menu (which has been made larger, by the way, so as to be finger friendly). Instead of pressing the Start button in the upper left hand corner of the screen, the user swipes upwards from the bottom of the screen with a finger or stylus. I agree that it is a bit inconsistent, a problem for any UI, but I am OK with the compromises that have been made - for now. Finger based user interfaces are new to the industry, so I am willing to cut HTC, LG/Prada, and Apple a little slack as we all come to terms with these new concepts.

Core Functions

Considering it is a Pocket PC device, the Verizon XV6900 is a capable and easy to use phone. It works on CDMA networks on both bands, which means it can roam between Verizon and Sprint's networks when needed. Call audio quality was acceptable in general, but the hands-free speakerphone function was less than optimal. Battery life was good in terms of talk time: 4.5 hours. Standby time seemed to be quite good, especially if the Direct Push function was disabled. Users should be able to get 2 or 3 solid days of use out of the XV6900 with moderate activity.

Dialing on the XV6900 was pretty painless thanks to the large on-screen keypad that is accessed by pressing the green call key. Phone numbers can be entered directly, of course, but the keystrokes will also be compared with the first and last names of phone contacts for painless contact searching. Unfortunately there is no way to add a space while dialing, which means that searching on "M O" for "Michael Oryl" is not possible the way it is on Windows Mobile Smartphone devices. The contacts system in all Windows Mobile devices is capable of storing most any piece of contact data that can be stored in Microsoft Outlook.

Windows Mobile 6 Professional does not have a particularly great profiles system. The volume key can be used to quickly change ring volume and put the phone into vibrate only or silent mode, but there is no facility for setting up actual profiles. The main ring profile can be set for ring only, increasing ring, ring then vibrate, as well as ring and vibrate. This Verizon version of the device has a nice finger accessible profile switcher on the Today screen, though, and even supports automatic switching from the normal to silent profile based on appointments in the calendar.

In addition to the XV6900's picture speed dial application that is accessible in the finger menu system, the WM6 phone application supports traditional speed dials. Speed dials can be defined in the phone app and can then be accessed by long-pressing the associated key or by entering the number and hitting the green send key. The XV6900 makes use of an old fashioned voice tag system for voice dialing instead of using a more modern speaker independent application. The system works fine, but requires setup for each contact that the user wishes to use voice dialing with.

The XV6900 supports all of the messaging flavors offered by Windows Mobile 6, including SMS, MMS, ,both push and tradition POP/IMAP email as well as Verizon's own Wireless Sync system. Integration of Microsoft's Windows Live service means that MSN Messenger and Hotmail email are also available. Within Inbox, switching between the SMS/MMS inbox and various email accounts requires nothing more than a finger swipe or d-pad press left or right, and the Today screen makes it easy to keep tabs on unread messages without having to open the Inbox application itself.

As an EV-DO device, the XV6900 for Verizon has pretty fast data speeds. We averaged about 1000Kbps with DSLRerports.com's M-Speed test on a less than full signal, which is quite good. This should help people deal with the lack of WiFi connectivity in this version of the device. I used the XV6900 with an Exchange account that supports over the air synchronization of email, contacts, tasks, and calendar appointments, but all of this can also be done over a simple USB connection to a personal computer. Synchronization of music, notes, and bookmarks, missing in over the air connections, is supported over USB connections. The XV6900 can be used as a USB modem with the included software, but it failed to work for me on my laptop - most likely because I already have a Verizon 3G PC card installed. The XV6900 can also be used with stereo and regular Bluetooth headsets.

Multimedia / Applications

While not specifically billed as a multimedia phone, the Verizon XV6900 comes reasonably equipped for general multimedia tasks. For starters, its 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera takes nice photos in most situations that have half decent lighting. The automatic white balance system it uses is pretty accurate, and the finger based user interface is very easy to use. You can easily edit, crop, and rotate an image with the XV6900 itself if you feel the need. The new gallery application on the XV6900 for Verizon is a vast improvement over the original's. Finger gestures can be used to zoom, rotate, pan, or switch to the next or previous photo. The gesture system isn't nearly as accurate as that of the iPhone's, but it works enough - especially for simple previous/next photo gestures. The slide show feature is pretty nice, using nice fade transitions to switch from photo to photo.

Like all WM6 devices, the Verizon XV6900 comes equipped with Windows Media Player for video and audio playback. The application is reasonable. It can organize music by artist, album, and genre, and can even create playlists on the phone. It can also be synchronized with a copy of Windows Media Player on a Windows PC as well. The problem is that Windows Media Player is hard to use with a finger since the controls are too small. The XV6900 ships with a pair of wired stereo headphones, but I choose to test it with a pair of Motorola S9 Bluetooth headphones. The sound quality was pretty good.

While I am not really a fan of Microsoft's Pocket IE web browser, having been spoiled by far better browsers from Opera and Nokia, the addition of finger scrolling has made it much more tolerable. Web browsing on the small screen is much easier when a fingertip can be used to scroll and pan a large web page, and a finger tap can be used to activate links. The improved scrollbar support in TouchFLO makes things easier, too.

The personal information management (PIM) type applications on Windows Mobile 6 devices are rock solid. They offer tight integration with Exchange and Outlook, even to the point where meeting requests from another Outlook user can be accepted and responded to from the phone. New additions to the PIM apps, such as the calendar ribbon I mentioned earlier, make the apps easier to use.

Like all Windows Mobile 6 Professional (aka Pocket PC) devices, the Verizon XV6900 comes equipped with "Pocket" versions of Word, Excel, and Power Point. It also includes Microsoft's OneNote Mobile program. These applications allow for the reading, editing, and creation of Microsoft Office compatible files. A copy of Adobe Reader LE is also available for reading PDF documents on the XV6900, and a ZIP manager is accounted for as well. Java support appears to be missing, though.

All of these applications, especially the camera, require one thing in common: memory. The XV6900 has about 256MB of available flash storage on board (much more than the GSM version) and room for an optional microSD card slot for up to 2GB more. That's plenty for most people, and thankfully the CDMA XV6900 also gets a real boost in application RAM. The Verizon XV6900 has over 60MB of available RAM for applications, 3 to 4 times that of the original device. If RAM still is an issue, HTC includes its little task manager applet on the Today screen. Located in the upper right hand corner, where the OK/X button is typically found, the task manager is a drop down list of running apps, each with an X next to them that allows the user to close them and free up the associated memory. Tapping on the program name instead of the X brings that program to the foreground. It's quite convenient. This version of the applet is far more finger friendly than the one loaded onto the original Touch, too.

Conclusion

While its finger based controls still feel a bit like an "add-on" in much of the system, the Verizon XV6900 for Verizon is still quite an improvement over the original GSM device, a device that I am very fond of. I miss the WiFi connectivity, but Verizon's EV-DO network is very fast and more convenient to use. I've never been a fan of Pocket PC devices for a number of reasons. Some practical, such as not being able to clean their sunken displays, which are prone to collecting dust in their corners. Others convenience and usability related, like having to use two hands so that I can whip out a stylus to complete some task.

For me, the Verizon XV6900 addresses these problems. I rarely need the stylus at all in typical use. The XV6900 turns out to be a good passive messaging and data consumption device. It has the power to get information to the user, and present it in a usable fashion, but lacks some of the practical aspects of other Pocket PC devices, like full QWERTY keyboards, that allow users to edit documents or create new messages easily.

So while it is not going to be the perfect solution for power users and other road warriors that need to edit documents and create dozens of emails in a day, it could well be the perfect device for people who generally just need to keep on top of their appointments and manage their lives. HTC certainly has a lot more work to do with their TouchFLO system, but in its current state it is still overall useful and powerful enough to earn itself a "Highly Recommended" rating.