2006 - The Year of Windows Mobile? Could Be...

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://gigaom.com/2006/02/16/revenge-of-windows-mobile/">http://gigaom.com/2006/02/16/revenge-of-windows-mobile/</a><br /><br /><i>"Will 2006 be the year when Microsoft Mobile finally takes off? It certainly looks like that. Microsoft’s mobile ambitions are on display at the 3GSM show in Barcelona. CEO Steve Ballmer gave a big wet kiss to wireless operators in his Valentine’s Day keynote address at the wireless mega show. Store shelves are crammed with brand new Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. And a lot of it has do with HTC and its amazing designs. Cingular 8125, T-Mobile’s latest revs of SDA and MDA and Treo 700. HP just announced a refreshed line-up. The Motorola Q is one of the most eagerly awaited PDA/phones. More are coming. Like the new Samsung i320 which features a full keyboard device, very small and compact. There are 47 device makers churning out Windows Mobile devices."</i><br /><br />47 makers! I can't keep track of them anymore. Heck, I have trouble keeping up with just what i-mate is doing. They have been pumping out a device every 45 days it seems, and that is just the Pocket PC side. Smartphones are coming out left and right as well. I know that many are the same basic models from HTC sold under eleventy-three brand names, but that is what drives the market. <br /><br />Still, as far as I am concerned, 2005 was the year you really saw Windows Mobile devices take off, at least here in the US. Every carrier had at least one and I know carriers in Europe were already big on Windows Mobile, especially the Smartphone flavor. The new crop of square screened devices with full QWERTY keyboards are pulling people in that have never been interested in a PDA before, and the Treo 700w tops the list.<br /><br />Of course, there are devices for the geeks too. I never fail to turn a few heads when I pull out my K-Jam or JasJar. :D I should get a commission on these things for my referrals.

[pocketpcadmirer]

47 makers! I can't keep track of them anymore

Even I didnt know that !!

Of course, there are devices for the geeks too. I never fail to turn a few heads when I pull out my K-Jam or JasJar

Same here, when I flip out my BT keyboard in the college. It always raises few ooos and aahs

Sunny :)

[Kacey Green]

Not to be pessimistic, we always say this will be the year. Hopefully this one really is.

[zetsurin]

As long as these devices remain the size of a housebrick, it won't be their year. Even the HTC Magician dwarfs the average mobile phone and has terrible usability compared to a phone. I should know, I owned one. The average person won't geek out on gadgets like we do I'm afraid. Get used to that.

[sifu]

Whilst it may have been said before, I think that there is more chance that these devices will increase in popularity even more this year.

The proliferation of devices, be they PPC or Smartphone, will appeal to a broad range of people - tech or non-tech.

I have just made the switch from the Palm world to PPC Phone with the HTC Prophet (branded as Dopod 818 Pro). I wanted to go to PPC before, but the previous generation of PPC Phones, eg: the original 02 XDS's before the mini, were just too large, and I knew they would not leave the house with me.

But with the arrival of this device, my decision really was easy.

The HTC Prophet, as an example, is a very good blend of a PPC and a phone. Sizewise, I would say it lies somewhere in the middle between a phone and a PPC. Large enough to work with the screen, small enough to go with you at all times.

Having a converged device is so convenient, with all the connections you could wish for - GPRS, WiFi, Bluetooth, IR and with a really great 2.0 megapixel camera which, whilst not as good as a dedicated digital camera (of course), it takes very respectable pictures. The sort of pictures you would not have got before, because you would not always have had your camera with you.

So, with devices like what HTC and others are producing, I really cannot see how the Windows mobile devices can fail...

Happy Year of the Dog, Windows Mobile. Good luck to you.

[dashinkov]

consumers in north america love small flip style clamshells...