I've been waiting for this for ages, now the only improvement I'm after in a PPC phone is an improved screen resolution.
That flip up screen will be quite handy for me, I sit my Hermes (with it's keyboard out) on the desk next to my PC keyboard at work, ready to reply to IM's and personal e-mails, so being able to see the screen at a decent angle will be a bonus.
Yeah, I wouldn't worry about hurrying, xda-developers may not be hosting ROM's any more, but I'm sure they'll they'll ever stop cooking up new ones, and providing the info on where you can get hold of them.
There are plenty of links around for the two versions of the Hermes Crossbow ROM's (one with extra apps, one without).
xda-developers.com isn't going anywhere. I can't see a lot changing other than the fact that when you want to download a ROM, it'll take a couple of extra clicks to start downloading a torrent or log into an IRC channel, rather than just pulling it from the ftp site.
The xda-dev community will carry on doing it's excellent work.
Microsoft have kept their OEM's happy whilst angering and inconveniencing yet more of their users, but what else is new?
Can someone explain to me why Microsoft happily update their OS for PC users on a weekly basis with bugfixes etc, but now appear to be actively forcing PPC users to keep using an OS with bugs that have little or no chance of ever being fixed?
Carriers/OEM's are notoriously terrible at releasing fixes themselves, and development stops altogether a year or so after a device is released (if you're lucky).
Why would anyone invest in the new "HTC Advantage" for instance? It's cost is on a par with a new laptop, but you'll be forced to use an OS that is upgraded once or maybe twice over the next year, at which point development of the OS for that device will cease, and owners will be left with a very expensive device with no hope of ever having the remaining bugs ironed out.
The guy who bought a laptop instead will be able to update his OS weekly for years to come...Utter madness!
I'm beginning to understand why Windows Mobile has never (and will never, at this rate) lived up to it's potential.
Apple are just doing to mobile phones what they did to mp3 players - taking a very average piece of kit, and adding a nice user interface.
Expect it to sell by the bucketload to exactly the same sort of consumers who think the iPod is the greatest thing in the world. (And there are clearly plenty of them still around)
The people who know better will just continue using more capable devices.
Hmmm, the iPhone looks ok, but for power users it's certainly not a very attractive device.
Looks like Apple are trying to carve a niche for themselves in between the Dumbphone and Smartphone markets to me.
Frankly it'll probably go down a hell of a lot better in America (where in my experience 3G is patchy at best) than it will in Europe so I expect they want to build up the hype and get some decent retail figures on the board with a Stateside release before trying to squeeze it into a European market where it probably won't do so well.
It's definitely going appeal to iPod lovers and the brigade of trendies who still can't be parted from their RAZR's, but I can't help feeling it could have been so much better.
Maybe the iPhone 2 will be more up my street - A true convergence device with better connectivity, keyboard, GPS, etc. But I doubt it, 'cause a lower-spec phone with mass market appeal is always going to make Apple more money than a high end device...
"I'm in the market for a new phone and money isn't a limitation. I'm also not partial to any particular US carrier, but here are some of the features I'd like to have: WiFi, GPS, good coverage in lots of places, push Gmail (a must!), physical keyboard (a must!), a touchscreen, decent battery life and a relatively slim body. And please, nothing that has a fruit logo on it. No offense to the fruit fans, though. Thanks!"
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That flip up screen will be quite handy for me, I sit my Hermes (with it's keyboard out) on the desk next to my PC keyboard at work, ready to reply to IM's and personal e-mails, so being able to see the screen at a decent angle will be a bonus.