Tekguru And The XDA, Part 1

[Brad Adrian]

<a href="http://www.tekguru.co.uk/PPC_Reviews/XDA/index.htm">http://www.tekguru.co.uk/PPC_Reviews/XDA/index.htm</a><br /><br />Daron Brewood (a.k.a. "Tekguru") has started a series of articles on his Web site about his new XDA Phone Edition Pocket PC. In this first (of a planned five) article. he outlines everything that comes packaged with the device and makes some preliminary judgements about the look and feel of this cool item.<br /><br />I was glad to read that the XDA feels solid and well-built:<br /><br />"On first examining the XDA itself you get the impression that it is very well constructed, its origins from HTC (the creators of the iPAQ) are very clear indeed and it seems to share similar design elements. That is the aluminum body with chrome buttons and cursor pad. On applying the twist test to the XDA (a gentle twisting force) there are no cracking or popping sounds - the device feels very well put together."<br /><br />To be honest with you, sometimes I really HATE these types of articles...because they make me absolutely crave the new device. Take a look at this first article, and stay tuned for more to come.

[kagayaki1]

Excellent review - very detailed! The review continually reinforces the "complete package" kind of thought when the manufacturers designed the XDA. From the device construction to the case it comes with, it really was done well.

In looking at the brief statement about the headset, I am curious if a possible scenario is possible in the future: could a SD Bluetooth card (with Voice protocol) interface with the voice features of the XDA? I think it would require some intermediary software to interpret the BT with the features of the phone. Anyone agree? It such a solution possible, or is it just too limited?

Hmm.....

[Tom Eichers]

8O

Wow, nice. Now where did I put that Credit Card ?

Can't wait for the rest. Looks go sofar

:( Man I wish the US would get on with this.

[Brad Adrian]

...could a SD Bluetooth card (with Voice protocol) interface with the voice features of the XDA?

I think that's entirely possible. In fact, that's just the kind of thing that Bluetooth is meant to do. The problem is, though, that even with the Bluetooth standard, hardware manufacturers have so far done a pretty crappy implementation job. When THEY get their act together, there's going to be some neat stuff like your idea happen.

[kagayaki1]

8O

:( Man I wish the US would get on with this.

Ahh, they will! Voicestream is pretty firm for a July release date. I saw several people (I assume employees) in Voicestream clothing with XDAs in their hands at the Seattle Mariners baseball game a couple weeks ago!

Look for Voicestream to complete their T-Mobile brand rollout in July as well. The XDA should be part of the strategy Deutche Telecom is implementing (more world communications, more Europe-like devices and interoperability, etc).

I can't wait!!!

[tekguru]

No Bluetooth guys on the XDA ;-(

[kagayaki1]

Thanks for the update Tek. Good to know you're watching this thread. Would it be possible to get a shot of the XDA next to something we're all familiar with to guage size? Your hand is good enough to model :wink: but maybe a picture in this thread with the XDA next to a CD or something would be awesome.

I sure hope someone figures out a way to get BT into the XDA later via SDIO...it would be sweet.

Really looking foward to next part of the review.

[tekguru]

Not a problem, there will be a lot more pictures at the end of the review. I want to spend this week covering the PPC 2002 PE differences and the new O2 applications first. Then will add more pictures towards the end hopefully.