O2 Xda Atom at SeeO2.com

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.seeo2.com/product/XdaAtom/template/XdaAtomProductInfo.vm' target='_blank'>http://www.seeo2.com/product/XdaAto...mProductInfo.vm</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051108-Atom.jpg" /><br /><br />Da-rool! The O2 Xda Atom, which we've posted on many times before, is now up on the SeeO2.com web site and should be on sale in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia sometime during the first half of December. This gorgeous device has everything - an Intel PXA272 416MHz processor, 64MB RAM, 128MB Flash ROM, a 2.7" 240 x 320 (QVGA) 262K-colour TFT LCD, stereo speakers, a 2-megapixel CMOS camera (with flash), IrDA (SIR), Mini-USB, a miniSD slot, an FM radio, Bluetooth 1.2, 802.11b Wi-Fi, tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, a large 1500mAh Li-Ion battery, and Windows Mobile 5.0. It also includes a few notable <a href="http://www.seeo2.com/product/XdaAtom/template/XdaAtomApplications.vm">O2-exclusive applications and plug-ins</a> - namely, an <a href="http://www.seeo2.com/resources/application/va_equalizer.jpg">equalizer for Windows Media Player 10 Mobile</a>, <a href="http://www.seeo2.com/resources/application/o2_plus.jpg">O2 Plus</a>, <a href="http://www.seeo2.com/resources/application/o2_sms_plus01.jpg">O2 SMS Plus</a>, <a href="http://www.seeo2.com/resources/application/o2_media_plus01.jpg">O2 MediaPlus</a> (a Media Center-style application), and <a href="http://www.seeo2.com/resources/application/o2_fm_radio.jpg">FM Radio</a>. Product images can be found <a href="http://www.seeo2.com/product/XdaAtom/template/XdaAtomImages.vm">here</a>.

[surur]

This is cool.

Bluetooth Bluetooth SIG version 1.2 compliant
Supported profiles: headset, hands-free, object push, serial port, dial-up network, advanced audio distribution (A2DP), Audio/Video Remote Control (AVRCP)

This is not.

Infrared IrDA 1.2 SIR (115kbps at 30cm)
• Mini-USB connector for USB 1.1 connection and power charging
• SIM card slot
• MiniSD memory card slot
• Audio jack (2.5mm ø)

It should have been USB 2 for fast synchonization of music, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Of course normal SD would have been preferable, but one can understand the choice.

Surur

[Jonathon Watkins]

GPS would have been good. I would have been willing to swallow a MiniSD card for that.

[lorettaboy]

I just ordered my Qtek 9100 and became a bit jealous when I read this thread. I like the small size, 2MP Camera, and FM radio, but dislike that it is only tri-band. I currently use the SE k750i, which is a great little phone, but the lack of 850 support means my reception is pure crap.
Hopefully they will release a quad-band version of the Atom?

[PPCRules]

This gorgeous device has everything ... I would have been willing to swallow a MiniSD card.
I can't see how the space saved can be worth the switch to the MiniSD slot. I'm not ready to switch again (I gotta have 2 slots anyway).

[KTamas]

FM Radio! Finally! I was waiting for this since ages. Neat specs, neat device, although for one reason, i would not get it: no HW keyboard (I just can't live w/o it since i got my Blue Angel...and no, Wizard is NOT an alternative with a 195 MHz processor). The 2.5 jack can be a problem though (just like the Blue Angel with its not-compatible-with-anything-but-the-offical-headset thingey).

[jngold_me]

FM Radio! Finally! I was waiting for this since ages. Neat specs, neat device, although for one reason, i would not get it: no HW keyboard (I just can't live w/o it since i got my Blue Angel...and no, Wizard is NOT an alternative with a 195 MHz processor). The 2.5 jack can be a problem though (just like the Blue Angel with its not-compatible-with-anything-but-the-offical-headset thingey).

I wish people would just STOP with this "it's not enough" junk. I have had my K-JAM now for almost a week and it runs just fine. As a matter of fact I just recently sold my old 4150 and I can tell you that the K-JAM ran just as well as the 4150 did. Is it as fast as my 2750? Of course not. But I can tell you I can listen to music, surf the web, all with iLauncher, Pocket Breeze (With Quicken Plugin) running on the today screen.

The OMAP 850 runs like a 400mhz xscale. Period.

[stevelam]

FM Radio! Finally!

Come on have you people never heard of DAB radio. FM is now just a waste of time for us Brits!!

[KTamas]

FM Radio! Finally!

Come on have you people never heard of DAB radio. FM is now just a waste of time for us Brits!!
Brits does have DAB, but us, Hungarians, not...yet.

[stevelam]

FM Radio! Finally!

Come on have you people never heard of DAB radio. FM is now just a waste of time for us Brits!!
Brits does have DAB, but us, Hungarians, not...yet.

Ah sorry. :(

[felixdd]

I wish people would just STOP with this "it's not enough" junk.

Hey...you can't please everyone. Personally I'd wish that the device can cook me dinner. Guess I'll have to keep waiting. :devilboy:

[Paragon]

I wish people would just STOP with this "it's not enough" junk. I have had my K-JAM now for almost a week and it runs just fine. As a matter of fact I just recently sold my old 4150 and I can tell you that the K-JAM ran just as well as the 4150 did. Is it as fast as my 2750? Of course not. But I can tell you I can listen to music, surf the web, all with iLauncher, Pocket Breeze (With Quicken Plugin) running on the today screen.

The OMAP 850 runs like a 400mhz xscale. Period.

Go jngold! I'm with you, man.

Dave

[Barrett1Boehm]

Does anyone know if a worldwide english version will be available in Dec.?

[surur]

I wish people would just STOP with this "it's not enough" junk. I have had my K-JAM now for almost a week and it runs just fine. As a matter of fact I just recently sold my old 4150 and I can tell you that the K-JAM ran just as well as the 4150 did. Is it as fast as my 2750? Of course not. But I can tell you I can listen to music, surf the web, all with iLauncher, Pocket Breeze (With Quicken Plugin) running on the today screen.

The OMAP 850 runs like a 400mhz xscale. Period.

Go jngold! I'm with you, man.

Dave


Dave, as you know, the mobile-review CPU, Video and PocketQuake tests all beg to differ. These are all largely file system independent. As Mobile-review says "Thus, you need a preliminary re-conversion to watch movies on HTC Wizard."

http://mobile-review.com/pda/review/htc-wizard-en.shtml

200 MHz is 200 MHz. At least the battery life is commensurate with the processor speed. TANSTAAFL .

Surur

[Paragon]

Dave, as you know, the mobile-review CPU, Video and PocketQuake tests all beg to differ. These are all largely file system independent. As Mobile-review says "Thus, you need a preliminary re-conversion to watch movies on HTC Wizard."

Hogwash!!

[jngold_me]

Dave, as you know, the mobile-review CPU, Video and PocketQuake tests all beg to differ. These are all largely file system independent. As Mobile-review says "Thus, you need a preliminary re-conversion to watch movies on HTC Wizard."

http://mobile-review.com/pda/review/htc-wizard-en.shtml

200 MHz is 200 MHz. At least the battery life is commensurate with the processor speed. TANSTAAFL .

Surur

I usually agree with most of your posts, but in this case, I actually own the device and can say it runs like a 4150 (as I watch SW EP3). :)

[Typhoon]

How come there hasn't been anymore news today?

[sooby77]

Dave, as you know, the mobile-review CPU, Video and PocketQuake tests all beg to differ. These are all largely file system independent. As Mobile-review says "Thus, you need a preliminary re-conversion to watch movies on HTC Wizard."

Hogwash!!

Agreed. Beyond The Tech posted the reasons on his blog. The benchmark is flawed. Read here

http://www.beyondthetech.com/blogs/kjam/2005/11/qtek-9100-reviewed.html#links

[Paragon]

Agreed. Beyond The Tech posted the reasons on his blog. The benchmark is flawed. Read here

http://www.beyondthetech.com/blogs/kjam/2005/11/qtek-9100-reviewed.html#links

Raphael is absolutely correct. Poor file system numbers are a product of WM5.0 and its use of persistent storage. Accessing data from ROM is slower than RAM. It's not a result of a slow processor. It is a result of WM5.0. As for the video numbers....again....hogwash. I watch video on my Wizard without a problem. I've read hundreds of posts from fellow Wizard users in the past few weeks, and have not heard any complaints concerning video.

Benchmarks are completely misleading. If I want to know how a device operates, I pick it up and use it. I put it through everyday tasks and see how it shakes out. A bunch of numbers and graphs don't give me any kind of realistic view of what happens when I push buttons, watch video, and so on.

Dave

[Darius Wey]

How come there hasn't been anymore news today?

Sorry. Here's an explanation: http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=373606

[Darius Wey]

Hopefully they will release a quad-band version of the Atom?

Hard to say. This device is initially targeting the Asia-Pacific, and the need for quad-band around here is almost nil. Note the device has received FCC approval, so it may or may not make its way to North America. Even if it does, that's no guarantee O2 will add support for the extra band.

[Darius Wey]

Does anyone know if a worldwide english version will be available in Dec.?

For the most part, the batch released in the Asia-Pacific is Worldwide English. Yes, we speak English too. :)

[Paragon]

Yes, we speak English too. :)

That's funny, Darius. You call the way you talk English?! :D

[Typhoon]

How come there hasn't been anymore news today?

Sorry. Here's an explanation: http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=373606

Nahhh...no need to be sorry. I was just curious...

[KTamas]

I wish people would just STOP with this "it's not enough" junk. I have had my K-JAM now for almost a week and it runs just fine. As a matter of fact I just recently sold my old 4150 and I can tell you that the K-JAM ran just as well as the 4150 did. Is it as fast as my 2750? Of course not. But I can tell you I can listen to music, surf the web, all with iLauncher, Pocket Breeze (With Quicken Plugin) running on the today screen.

The OMAP 850 runs like a 400mhz xscale. Period.
Yes, it IS enough for "everyday" usage. However -- just check a bunch of reviews --, when it comes to video playback or gaming (and i assume, emulation), it is far from a 400 MHz XScale, it is more like 200 MHz...

*** Excessive quoting moderated by DW. ***

[KTamas]

Dave, as you know, the mobile-review CPU, Video and PocketQuake tests all beg to differ. These are all largely file system independent. As Mobile-review says "Thus, you need a preliminary re-conversion to watch movies on HTC Wizard."

http://mobile-review.com/pda/review/htc-wizard-en.shtml

200 MHz is 200 MHz. At least the battery life is commensurate with the processor speed. TANSTAAFL .

Surur
Hehe, you were faster, but i totally agree with you.

P.S: What does "TANSTAAFL" stands for?

Edit: Watching thru the topic's replies, it is good to hear that it does not have that bad video playback issues. I'd still be interested in quake or some emulation (such as Morphgear) performance though.
@WM5: I look at WM5 as an "experiment" from Microsoft... I hope WM5SE will be better.

*** Excessive quoting moderated by DW. ***

[jngold_me]

Yes, it IS enough for "everyday" usage. However -- just check a bunch of reviews --, when it comes to video playback or gaming (and i assume, emulation), it is far from a 400 MHz XScale, it is more like 200 MHz...

Wow, considering I own one and push it as hard as my 2750, I think I would be qualified enough to say it does everything that I need it to do including games and video.

I just got thru Star Wars EP3 encoded in Divx format and not a skip or studder to be found.

As for games, I have never liked emulators but I do play native PPC games. As a matter of fact, Flux runs just as smooth and fluent as the 4150 and even the 2750.

Like I said, is the K-JAM as powerful as my 2750? No. Does it match my former 4150? Yes, absolutely. This is coming from someone that owns the device and no-longer has to rely on review and such.

*** Excessive quoting moderated by DW. ***

[Darius Wey]

P.S: What does "TANSTAAFL" stands for?

Metaphorical saying. "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!"

[surur]

I just got thru Star Wars EP3 encoded in Divx format and not a skip or studder to be found.

But what was the bit rate. I see many people talking about excellent playback at 300 kb/sec, (presumably the bit rate appropriate for a QVGA screen), but when I encode video to watch on the PC AND PDA I would chose at least VGA, which gets us from 700 to 1000 kb/sec.

Video is very processor intensive. The question is then, can it handle high bitrate video? Of course I ignore the filesystem tests, but in those other benchmarks the wizard scores similar to the similar clocked hp 6315, which tells me they are testing the processor, not OS.

Surur

[jngold_me]

I just got thru Star Wars EP3 encoded in Divx format and not a skip or studder to be found.

But what was the bit rate.

It was encoded at 300kb, which is quite fine for qvga devices. FWIW, it also used the same bitrate for my 2750 and found it more than acceptible on it's qvga screen also. Anything higher, I am sure the K-JAM would have some issue with it.

[surur]

It was encoded at 300kb, which is quite fine for qvga devices. FWIW, it also used the same bitrate for my 2750 and found it more than acceptible on it's qvga screen also. Anything higher, I am sure the K-JAM would have some issue with it.

Which is exactly the point. If you encode for you desktop AND handheld you will need to either have 2 copies encoded at different bit rates, or use the low res copy for your desktop/laptop. And if you download from the internet, you will be very hard pressed to find anything less than 700kb/sec.

Also I have found WIFI transfer is very processor intensive, so if 300kb/sec taxes the processor in any way, you will not be able to watch that same bitrate over WIFI.

Anyway, not to belabor the point, but the 200Mhz processor in the k-jam acts as capably as any other 200Mhz processor. Remember, we all used to run on 200Mhz processors 4 years ago. I just expect the Apache with its 416Mhz processor to be more capable.

Surur

[pocketpcadmirer]

I just got thru Star Wars EP3 encoded in Divx format and not a skip or studder to be found.

But what was the bit rate. I see many people talking about excellent playback at 300 kb/sec, (presumably the bit rate appropriate for a QVGA screen), but when I encode video to watch on the PC AND PDA I would chose at least VGA, which gets us from 700 to 1000 kb/sec.

Video is very processor intensive. The question is then, can it handle high bitrate video? Of course I ignore the filesystem tests, but in those other benchmarks the wizard scores similar to the similar clocked hp 6315, which tells me they are testing the processor, not OS.

Surur

Yes Surur, U r right..My mini's WMP shutters even at 275 kbps(using wmp V8 video and V9 audio).my ipaq 2215 easy handled upto 400 kbps(that still not high but that's watchable)..but I dont really watch video's at the bitrate u mentioned..1000 kbps..baby that's tooooo high for a handheld..and it occupies lots of space too..ouch !!

But as a rule I agree with u.

Sunny

[Paragon]

which gets us from 700 to 1000 kb/sec.



Surur, that is absolutely ridiculous. I have a trailer that runs at 550 using Pocket TV which runs on the Wizard without a single flaw. Anything under 300 is very good as well. QVGA is a great resolution on a 2.8" screen.....1000kbps...that's just nuts!

As for games, it has handled every game I've thrown at it. I would say that Michael Shumacher Kart 2000 is a processor intense game. It always stuttered badly on my 412mhz PDA2k, yet it works incredibly well on the Wizard. Game emulators do NOT work well on the Wizard from all I've read. I don't know if that is because they don't like WM5.0 or if they are putting the processor over the top.


Stop reading benchmark numbers, my friend. They are leading you astray. Like I said, if you want to know how a device works, pick it up, push buttons, run applications, and put it through *real* use senarios.

Dave

[rmg]

Wow that Atom is one sexy beatch.

need to see how big it actually is tho.

[surur]

Of the 30 odd pieces of software on my ppc, only 3 or 4 make me wish I had a faster processor. One is Textmaker, which can ge excruciatingly slow on occasion. The other is Adobe Acrobat. If there is any graphics in the pdf watching the screen redraw can be like watching paint dry. One other is TCMP/Betaplayer. There has recently been released, free to download, a startrek parody called starwrek. Its 555 MB and 1hr 43 minutes long. Its encoded at about 700 kb/sec. Having only a lowly 512MB sd card I had to watch it over wifi, and the combination of wifi network transfer and scaling the 640x272 video caused occasional buffering on my 520Mhz processor. I really wished then I had an Axim with a 624Mhz processor AND a video accelerator. I've also recently bought the firefly box set. I had to encode this myself, and this was an extremely tedious process, with only 2 episodes encodable over night. I encoded it at 572x480 resolution, at it came to 255 MB/41 minute episode. It looks lovely, and is watchable on my PDA and desktop.

Anyway, my point is than 200 Mhz is enough for most people most of the time, but if your usage involves processor intensive software, such as Acrobat, Flash, Textmaker or high bitrate video you will be disappointed while using that software, and wish for a faster processor.

Surur

[Darius Wey]

need to see how big it actually is tho.

Approx. 58(W) x 102(L) x 18.5(T) mm. Ever seen the HTC Magician (i-mate JAM, O2 Xda Mini)? The Atom happens to be 6cm smaller in length, and just 0.4mm thicker. Bottom line: this is one compact device! :)

[zybler]

need to see how big it actually is tho.

Approx. 58(W) x 102(L) x 18.5(T) mm. Ever seen the HTC Magician (i-mate JAM, O2 Xda Mini)? The Atom happens to be 6cm smaller in length, and just 0.4mm thicker. Bottom line: this is one compact device! :)
Correction: 6mm shorter. :lol:

[Darius Wey]

Gah! Common typo. Really! :bangin:

[jngold_me]

A little bit old, but definately still relevant:

Brighthand has coverage of Palm Analyst Day, an event in which Palm execs attempt to convince analysts that they will conquer the world. It's an all around interesting article, but one paragraph really caught my attention. Texas Instruments put on a demonstration benchmarking its own OMAP processors against Intel StrongARM and XScale processors using "intense graphics tests." In the words of Steve Bush: "Let me tell you, the OMAP processor cleaned Intel's clock, finishing the test in less than one-third the time." He goes on to report that the processor rates at the same performance (measured in MIPS) as an Intel ARM processor at 6 times the MHz. Sound familiar? The "MegaHerz Myth" in your palm. The real secret behind the OMAP processor is the DSP. No doubt someone will pop up and say, "This is just like Mac vs. PC using Photoshop tests!" Wrong. This is ARM processor versus ARM processor. I don't know what graphics software TI used to test, but I doubt it was a commercial package optimized on the OMAP. The TI reps also said the OMAP uses 90% less power than Intel processors when in standby. Read more at Brighthand.

[mmidgley]

Add: GPS, VGA (obviously larger) Display, and SD and I would love IT! (maybe even in the HTC Universal form factor). Can you tell I'd like a US market friendly HTC Universal with GPS?

m.

[Kai920]

What does "Supports 262K colours (65,536 effective)" mean from the O2 website? :?

[Darius Wey]

What does "Supports 262K colours (65,536 effective)" mean from the O2 website? :?

Yeah, I saw that. I'm still trying to work it out. Perhaps the hardware supports the full 262K, but it's been tweaked to only display 65K at the moment?

[Kai920]

Perhaps, that sounds like a good guess. :) Maybe it would affect speed significantly if it displayed 262K ?

Thanks for the update, please let me know if you hear more about this.

[Darius Wey]

Perhaps, that sounds like a good guess. :) Maybe it would affect speed significantly if it displayed 262K ?

Yes, it primarily has to do with speed. This article (http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2005/09/07/462187.aspx) over at the Windows Mobile Team Blog is worth a read if you're after the technical details.

Thanks for the update, please let me know if you hear more about this.

Will do. :)