Windows Mobile Louisville

Verizon users can now join the happy bandwagon along with T-Mobile and Sprint customers, availing themselves to the HTC Touch Pro2 as early as Friday!

The Touch Pro2 will be available for $199.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) with a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an e-mail feature or e-mail plan. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

Beginning Friday Sept 11, customers can order the HTC Touch Pro2 online, in business sales channels and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores. For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

As with the HTC Snap, Verizon has undercut Sprint by $50 for the Touch Pro2.  Time will tell if Sprint will budge on their $349 price (with new 2-yr contract).  I’m guessing not - Sprint’s plans are generally more affordable, so it balances out in the wash.

Regardless, it’s great to see the TP2 out on another carrier!

Word on the street has it that both Verizon and Sprint’s upcoming Touch Pro 2 — aka “Rhodium” — are getting closer to launch. Evidently the ROM has been finalized and is ready to ship:

• RUU_Rhodium_W_VERIZON_WWE_1.16.605.1_RS_1.71WV_NV_VZW_1.38_0505_PRL58002_Ship_PPST
• RUU_Rhodium_W_Sprint_WWE_1.21.651.3_RS_1.96WF_NV_S PCS_1.42_0430_PRL60652_Ship.exe

With the ROMs locked down, it seems more about dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s now, specifically time-to-market, FCC, packaging, production, etc. One thing looks certain: Verizon and Sprint are both racing to get this out at the same time.

Here are the radio frequencies available for this CDMA/GSM world phone on both carriers:

• GSM; GPRS; EDGE; CDMA;UMTS-HSUPA 2Mbps; CDMA2000-1xRTT; CDMA2000-1xEVDO; CDMA2000-1xEVDOrA RL-1.8M,FL-3.1M

Looking pretty sweet.  Verizon, along with its HTC “WhiteStone” device, is poised to make one heck of a WM splash in the next few months.

Source: WM Experts

According to this article over at WM Experts, Verizon will allegedly release the Touch Diamond this week.

I know that Verizon prides itself on making sure a device works solidly with their system before releasing it to the public, but given the fact that the Touch Diamond 2 will likely be seen at another U.S. carrier by summer, they’ve once again sat on something that is already becoming “yesterday’s news”!

Expect the Diamond 2 by Summer of 2010 at this rate…!   And the Pro 2?  Who knows…!

Verizon’s product road-map for 2009 has leaked out and it looks like VZW will carry the Touch HD, the device from HTC best known for its 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen.

We’ll confirm more details when possible.

As any Verizon customer with a Windows Mobile device knows, VZW is notorious for locking down the GPS capability in devices (which is absolutely absurd in my humble opinion).

Instead, the GPS receivers have limited functionality, supporting only Verizon’s navigation software, and not third-party apps such as Google Maps or Live Search.

It looks like Verizon is promising to change that for three new Windows Mobile devices: the Samsung Omnia and Saga and the HTC Touch Pro.  The GPS will be unlocked on these devices only some time in the first half of 2009.

Yippeee Ky Yay.

The Samsung Omnia is supposed to be Verizon’s answer to the iPhone - optical mouse, large touchscreen, Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro, 5 MP camera, GPS, 8 GB internal memory…

They’ll also have a version of the HTC Touch Pro, just like Sprint (though word has it the device will not have the same features).

Lastly is the Samsung i770 Saga. It’s supposed to replace the i760.

Engadget got a hold of an internal training schedule that hints at the release date for the HTC Touch Diamond. According to the document, training for the Diamond must be done by December 3rd. Knowing that training must be completed prior to launch date, it can be safely assumed the VZW Diamond won’t be seen before December, but it just MIGHT be out in time for Christmas…

There’s good news for people in the United States who are eager to get their hands on the HTC Touch Pro: a version  this upcoming Windows Mobile smartphone has received FCC approval.

This device will have a great deal in common with the recently-released HTC Touch Diamond, but the Touch Pro will have more of a focus on business users.

The version that’s just been approved is for CDMA carriers, which is in-line with an earlier unconfirmed report that this device will be coming to Sprint. But there’s nothing in the FCC filing that specifies this carrier over the other CDMA-based carriers, like Verizon.

Today’s development doesn’t give any solid information on when the debut is going to happen. A wireless device can’t be released in the U.S. without FCC approval, but it can happen any time thereafter.  Sprint hasn’t said anything official about this model, but the earlier leak said this carrier will release the HTC Touch Pro in September.

A confidentiality request filed with the FCC paperwork asks that no internal details on this device be revealed to the public until October 19.  A version of this smartphone for GSM carriers is also expected to be available later this year.

An Overview of the HTC Touch Pro

• This Windows Mobile 6.1 device will have a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen and TouchFLO 3D, HTC’s new alternate user interface that makes Windows Mobile devices easier to use with a fingertip.
• The GSM version will have support for HSPA, including HSDPA (7.2 Mbps) and HSUPA, while the CDMA one will support EV-DO. One or more of these will add Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on top of that.
• The Touch Pro will also include GPS, a microSD/SDHC card slot, and a 3.2 MP camera.

SOURCE: Brighthand

Verizon’s version of the HTC Touch (the XV6900) is coming out sooner than originally expected.  On April 16th, the device will be available online, and will hit brick-and-mortar stores by the end of the month.

The price seems a little steep (but aren’t a lot of things on Verizon?) - $349.99 with contract…  yowza!

The XV6900 is pearl white with chrome accents.  I guess they wanted to distinguish themselves from the Sprint version.  It has Windows Mobile 6, a 2 megapixel camera, microSD slot, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, Bluetooth, and HTC’s TouchFLO interface.

Today, Verizon Wirless unveiled their new Unlimited Calling Plan - Anyone, Anytime, One Flat Rate.

Call anyone in the U.S. on any network, even landlines, as much as you want for one flat rate.

Plans begin at $99.99 (unlimited national voice only) and Premium plans (data, messaging, etc) begin at $139.99.

You can read more about it at Verizon’s site.