O2's position on Pocket PC 2003 --- How Sad!!!

[k_kirk]

I received the following note from 02. Seems like O2 Asia Users will be in the same boat as the Toshiba users... One can only hope xda-developers will have a special edition ROM for PPC2003... Any idea where we can write to complain about this decision?

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O2 Asia will not be deploying the Pocket PC 2003 upgrade. The Pocket PC 2003 upgrade is subject to the original design of the hardware and the level of integration of the device, particularly between the phone and pda functions. The O2 xda was not designed to support Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and therefore could not take advantage of some of the most important feature upgrades inherent in Pocket PC 2003. After careful evaluation of the costs and benefits and the relatively low impact on the user experience of the current xda version, we have decided not to deploy this upgrade. We are however pleased to announce that we will be introducing significant new features with another upgrade which will include the wireless modem, SIM Toolkit support and the SMS caller ID fix.

[derosnec]

Having a look at xda-developers a lot of people have got the PPC2003 rom working on their xdas - not sure about the legality of it all though :?
Gotta love xda-developers though 8)

[k_kirk]

I know! I have it running on my XDA too... I am only too happy to pay the license fee if someone gives me a formal release!!! Points O2 raise to rationalize their decision is total bull! Device is already much more usable with the limited support in the plain vanilla PPC2003 image from xda-developers. All in all, it makes no sense for them to do this. If they are hoping this decision will push us to XDA2 they are blatantly wrong!

[Monty Gibson]

I know! I have it running on my XDA too... I am only too happy to pay the license fee if someone gives me a formal release!!! Points O2 raise to rationalize their decision is total bull! Device is already much more usable with the limited support in the plain vanilla PPC2003 image from xda-developers. All in all, it makes no sense for them to do this. If they are hoping this decision will push us to XDA2 they are blatantly wrong!

T-mobile has not yet released their version. I am sure that when, and if they do, that you should be able to upgrade using their ROM burn. Just and opinion mind you. But since it's the same device I don't see why it wouldn't work. If you have that strong desire to upgrade, I'd give it a shot. Personall, I have too many 3rd party applications to upgrade.

[griph]

I received the following note from 02. Seems like O2 Asia Users will be in the same boat as the Toshiba users... One can only hope xda-developers will have a special edition ROM for PPC2003... Any idea where we can write to complain about this decision?

Has there been any news yet from O2 UK on this? Seems a poor excuse to me. Having been given a business phone T68i recently with inclusive private calls I have set up and started using it with my iPaq 3870 which I never got round to selling. With Running Voice v3.0.2 on it, it seems to work very well - and HP have announced a PPC2003 upgrade fro October. Might have to sell the XDA!

[Janak Parekh]

But since it's the same device I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Unfortunately, the "XDA" units sold in the rest of the world aren't the same; they're 900/1800 dual-band, while ours are 900/1900. Besides, there are other ways of upgrading, and the legality is still in question. :)

--janak

[Kevin Daly]

I agree with the argument that the reason given is bull.
It appears that they have left too much decision-making power in the hands of marketers who don't understand what they're selling.
Aside from the performance improvements, Windows Mobile 2003 includes significant improvements to the Phone Edition side of things, including better integration between phone and PIM functions and support for OTA provisioning.
Last but not least, the Compact Framework in ROM: this provides you with a built-in platform for web service clients (among many other things), and the performance is much better under WM 2003.
I would have expected the carriers to grasp the potential of the Pocket PC Phone Edition + web services combination: I mean, it's not that hard to understand, surely? Isn't it slightly, well, obvious?
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