News on the Wizard

[welshtom]

Ok here is a quick round up of the news that is currently available on this device. For anyone who doesnt know the wizard looks like it is going to be the follow up to the magician. Size wise it is almost identical except the wizard looks like it is going to be a touch thicker than the magician. However this is forgiven as this extra thickness is due to the addition of a sideways slide out keyboard :) (see pic) This will please many owners of the magician who have found text input a little to fiddly on this device. It is rumoured that the device will be made available in a number of different versions i.e. some with a camera some without etc. However it is generally thought that the specs for the various models run along the lines of a 200MHz OMAP processor (hmm i hope that is quicker than it sounds?! :shock: ), GPRS/EDGE, built in WiFi :D and Bluetooth. The scrren size is 240x320 and it runs on WM5!

It is already expected that the device will be sold under various different brandings. Many of the pics floating around the internet show the device branded as Qtek 9100. It is also almost 100% confirmed that orange will offer the wizard as the SPV M600 and it could hit the shelves as early as september!!! No doubt the other opperators will also offer the phone under various different names!

Phone Scoop reports that the HTC Wizard has passed FCC certification, and the submitted version has 850 and 1900MHz support which is good news for those in the us.

Pics are courtesy of WindowsMobile.no and there are many more available HERE (http://www.windowsmobile.no/modules.php?op=modload&name=news&file=article&sid=443&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0)
And there is a video available HERE (http://www.windowsmobile.no/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=446&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0) which is also thanks to those good people at WindowsMobile.no

Enjoy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/tom_evans/9100_stor37.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/tom_evans/9100_stor18.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/tom_evans/9100_stor32.jpg

Tom 8)

[minhbu_sg]

but it's cpu speed is 175mhz.

[wardy]

Hmm Edge ... No use in UK then for Imternet speed

[SaltyDawg]

There are also pictures of a CDMA version. Sprint is calling it the PPC-6700 and it should be out before the end of October.

Report with pics on PCSintel. (http://www.pcsintel.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1030&mode=&order=0&thold=0)

http://www.pcsintel.com/articles/1030/1small.jpg http://www.pcsintel.com/articles/1030/2small.jpg

[leek]

There are also pictures of a CDMA version. Sprint is calling it the PPC-6700 and it should be out before the end of October.

Report with pics on PCSintel. (http://www.pcsintel.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1030&mode=&order=0&thold=0)

http://www.pcsintel.com/articles/1030/1small.jpg http://www.pcsintel.com/articles/1030/2small.jpg

PhoneArena has an article on the CDMA implying a fast Intel processor, not the slow TI everyone is concerned about:

http://phonearena.com/htmls/HTC-Apache-the-CDMA-version-of-the-Wizard-article-a_643.html

[notpj]

see my sig? i thought it was enough compensation that the wizard has a slow processor - won't make me sad that i didn't wait for it. now this CDMA version will really make me cry. BTW is CDMA = 3G? currently doing a google search on this. and how comparable is its size compared to the magician/non cdma-wizard? i mean, the size might change because of the antenna, but i want to know by how much.

(i forgot one more thing, hence the editing)
would've been excellent if only the screen slides out, so it looks like the sidekick. awkwardly off-center screen. but i can live with that.

[SaltyDawg]

CDMA itself is not 3G, no. But the CDMA carriers in the USA have EVDO, which is a 3G technology. So, CDMA is not 3G, but if it's CDMA in the USA it means it will be 3G, assuming it supports EVDO.

On the size, look at the picture showing it next to the Samsung i730. It's the same size. Too bad it has a big, fat antenna. But not counting the antenna, it's the same size as the Samsung i730.

[bosjo]

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=555794&native_or_pdf=pdf

Nice to know

[thereaperman]

yeah it looks good, i may replace my mda compact, but the processor is the only thing at tho that may let the device down :?:

info on the omap850 chip

http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12000&path=templatedata/cm/product/data/omap_850

[jglev]

Rumor has it that the CDMA version (Sprint PPC-6700) does have EVDO, which (like SaltyDawg said) is 3G.

[dc429uk]

So sounds the slow processor not gonna to support Skype then? as Skype has to run on at least 400Mhz CPU...

ANy idea when it gonna to release? cheers

[bnycastro]

question for those who really know: would the omap 850 really be uber slow compared to intel's xscales? i mean doesn't the omap works like 'dual processors'? one for phone and one for pda function (i read this somewhere just can't remember it) and doesn't it consume less power? any insight would be appreciated.

[Midi_Amp]

question for those who really know: would the omap 850 really be uber slow compared to intel's xscales? i mean doesn't the omap works like 'dual processors'? one for phone and one for pda function (i read this somewhere just can't remember it) and doesn't it consume less power? any insight would be appreciated.
It depends on which Xscale are we talking about. Compared to the outgoing PXA250@200 MHz, well... I can assume its slowness is marginal, but compared to the existing PXA27x... It's a no contest. AFAIK, anything OMAP in three digit equals to bad anything... It's not even dual core, like everyone believed it is.
Again, AFAIK, the dual core OMAP uses 4 digit naming scheme, like the 1510 on the iPAQ 6300 series and the Tungsten T. Just check it at the official Texas Instrument site.

I am very much hoping that HTC Wizard will replace my Treo 650... I have bad memories with my Blue Angel almost a year ago... But since then, I couldn't live without integrated QWERTY keyboard. The only replacement good enough for me is the iPAQ 6500 series, but I can trek places where no PDA-Phone ever gone before with my Treo, as it has 1800 mAH battery capacity.

This processor fiasco has me think again about buying the Wizard. But we shall see in the near future about the truth.

[ShALLaX]

Hrm, yep... seems that it is only a single core: http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12000&path=templatedata/cm/product/data/omap_850... Again, I think this is a non-issue since its only _really_ going to matter for things such as Skype where the phone AND the PDA side of things need to be working together. For stuff like web browsing, IM, planners etc... it should be more than enough (at least compared to a damned Symbian Nokia which runs at 103MHz).

In a way I see the slow processor as a blessing (though, watch as I eat my words when the thing actually arrives) - keeping it at a slower clock speed means the battery will last longer. Couple this with the fact that it uses WM5.0 which has persistent storage and this means we should be looking at a pretty good battery life, or they'll have provided us with a really lame battery to save money *shrugs*.

[bigblk150]

Hrm, yep... seems that it is only a single core: http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12000&path=templatedata/cm/product/data/omap_850... Again, I think this is a non-issue since its only _really_ going to matter for things such as Skype where the phone AND the PDA side of things need to be working together. For stuff like web browsing, IM, planners etc... it should be more than enough (at least compared to a damned Symbian Nokia which runs at 103MHz).

In a way I see the slow processor as a blessing (though, watch as I eat my words when the thing actually arrives) - keeping it at a slower clock speed means the battery will last longer. Couple this with the fact that it uses WM5.0 which has persistent storage and this means we should be looking at a pretty good battery life, or they'll have provided us with a really lame battery to save money *shrugs*.

I don't understand your comment here; the datasheet clearly shows that the OMAP 850 is a dual-core CPU. The "primary" core is an ARM926 which will be used to run the OS, apps, etc. The "secondary" core is actually a multi-core which contains an ARM7 coupled with a C54 DSP to do all GSM/GPRS baseband processing.

True, only a single core will be used for the OS, but with Xscale phone designs a single core handles BOTH the OS and the GSM processing.

On another note, it makes little sense to compare CPUs of two different architectures (Xscale and OMAP) solely by their clock speeds, as in many cases the amount of work that can be performed on one CPU in a given clock cycle is different than another CPU.

Given that the "primary" core on the OMAP 850 is dediciated 100% to the OS, along with it's dual-core nature allowing to simultaneously process the GSM baseband and the OS, I think this CPU is up to the task. I don't think it will outperform the Xscale (especially at higher clock speeds), but I don't think it's gonna be a dog either.

[ShALLaX]

Hah, you're right... I read ARM7 MCU as ARM9 MCU and assumed it was just the Memory Control Unit for the ARM9 processor... then I looked again and saw that there is a memory control unit for both processors in another layer (that and the fact that a memory control unit in the GSM/GPRS controller makes no damned sense at all). My bad, I'm ill with a fever in bed at the moment so cut me some slack ;p

So yes, we have an ARM7 and an ARM926...

Even though it isnt technically fair to compare the processors on clock-speed alone, we still know the OMAP will lose out because Xscale is a technological advancement... plain "ARM9" will be slower.

I agree with you, I dont think it will be terrible. I made do with a 133MHz SH-3 device for a good few years... and SH3 processors were horribly slow.

[bnycastro]

my head is spinning but I do thank you for your informed replies! :) so it is dual core afterall... that's re-assuring I read in a preview in one of the dutch/swedish/netherlands (not sure which) ethusiast site that it was zippy... but then again they might have not loaded it with alot of stuff. I also saw the video at WM.no and it seemed zippy... really waiting for a full review from our friends with fast access to cool new gadgets.... yooohooo! :P

[Midi_Amp]

Yeah, thanks for the info.... I apologize then, I couldn't read out the schematics on the TI site, I just look at the navigation tab and saw that the OMAP 850 falls in the category of Modems and Applications, where as the OMAP 1510 falls in the category of High-Performance... So based on that I extract an assumption, TI reserved the dual core chip for their higher performing chipset.

I agree wholeheartedly with OMAP as the most efficient (power wise) proc available today though. But I'd prefer PXA27x@312MHz powering the wizard... At least I have tried overclocking my Treo to 400MHz without any problem... I expect my next Windows Mobile powered device to be powerfull yet still manage a full day's of usage.

It's basically down to the usage of the device. Probably HTC did a research a while back that Magician user doesn't fully utilised their device to the max, so that HTC can cut production cost by a little for using the TI processors... Well, that's my two cent. At least all Magician user here in my country are ladies and girls who doesn't know how to reset the device... Left alone installed something... They just use the device as-is.

[seattleboi1982]

123

[bnycastro]

wow that's great news for you guys over there in the US! wish we had the same news here... but I'd suspect we'd be a bit late as usual!