T-Mobile Windows Mobile 6.5 Upgrades In Early January?

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tmonews.com/2009/12/t-mobile-to-release-windows-mobile-6-5-next-month/' target='_blank'>http://www.tmonews.com/2009/12/t-mo...6-5-next-month/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The good news is that this isn't the 400th article this month talking about a potential Sprint/T-Mobile merger. The better news is that this rumor has a stronger chance of coming true than a Sprint/T-Mobile merger. One of my trusty ninjas hit me up tonight with information claiming that a Windows Mobile 6.5 update will see the light of day for the TouchPro2 and Dash 3G beginning January 6th, 2010"</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1260442128.usr7.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>It's a rumor reported by TMoNews, to be sure, however hopefully it's somewhat accurate. I mean when else will T-Mo finally get around to popping out the 6.5 updates for these two phones anyway? (Actually, if past track record is any indication, January 6th 2011 is probably just as likely). Hopefully though within a month us loyal T-mo users will have an official 6.5 upgrade - you know, the OS that was released on October 6 -- for those devices released in early and mid summer!</p>

[martin_ayton]

Well, the Compact V (aka Touch Diamond2) update is here already, which has to give you some hope. Will it be worth the wait? Here's my brief take, having upgraded my Compact V

Good


Faster
Marginally better reception
Pretty stable (but no more so than 6.1)
You can get to Marketplace, MyPhone etc. w/o hacks
It doesn't seem to randomly forget WiFi access keys like 6.1 did
HTC's UI goes deeper.

Poor


"Start" now takes you to the MS honeycomb screen, rather than the HTC programs list. I'm not a fan of the honeycomb
Access to the MS SIPs is gone if you leave HTCs UI installed. The only options are HTCs keyboards, so if you like Transcriber, or need a <ctrl> key, you're out of luck
There are still no user assignable buttons: Despite what the setting seem to imply, setting the 'press and hold' on the 'answer' button does absolutely nothing.
HTC's UI goes deeper - which means there are some things you can't get to.

Um, that's pretty much it. Nothing to get too excited about, I'm afraid. And if the delay is getting you really salivating, I think you might be in for a big let-down.

Enjoy your other Christmas presents / New Year bargains instead!

[Fritzly]

The irony is that there are rumors that MS will release WM 6.5.1 in February. :-)
While just another small improvement I have to sya that the big buttons on the bottom make a big difference.... once you get used to them it is hard to revert to the "official" 6.5.

[JonnoB]

Many of us with TP2 devices (mine on T-Mobile) have been running 6.5 for a while. I am currently using a ROM running 6.5.3 with the Sense 2.5 (from HD2) on it. While not official, the hacker community has been doing a decent job of getting these ROM images out at a quick pace and along the way, improve performance and stability beyond what any stock ROM would ever give you.