Release Date

[jaythemagician]

I've just been on the phone to Expansys uk and they tell me this device will be available through them on the 30th September,as I previously know with Expansys this could more likely mean 30th January 2006!Anybody have any release dates from other companies and when they expect to be shipping them to customers?
Also I've been reading into the facy the cpu is 200 mhz instead of the Jams current 415mhz.Is there some reason for this?Does it really mean it's a slower unit or is the device and cpu mapped differntly somehow so it will perform the same as the jam,or perhaps faster?It looks a great device and i cab't beleive they would put a much slower processor in unless there were some valid reason for it,and i don't want to "upgrade" to a slower device!Any thoughts?

[bnycastro]

I read somewhere that it would be using TI OMAPs 195mhz some say it will be slower but some say that it would make no or lil diff as the OMAPs sort of act as 'dual' processors... one for phone part the other pda part (thus no slow down and saves power). we can never be sure unless we play with it and load it with all our fav apps though... i'd wait for a hands on review since the previews floating about are of pre-prod units or engineering samples, better to read an actual full review of a shipping product. I'm really excited about the wizard!!! hope it rocks... so far it's the only ppc coming out that i am really eyeing the universal seems too big.

[ccsnet]

Cant see it been slower really - wont do their sales much good.

Terran

[ShALLaX]

Unfortunately, it will be considerably slower. While the OMAP does combine seperate processors for phone and PDA functionality, at the end of the day it is just a 195MHz ARM processor (as found in PDAs from years ago) - it's not even Xscale.

The fact that its a "dual processor" doesn't help unless you are trying to use a programme like Skype (which apparently DOES work on the Wizard!).

[ccsnet]

Unfortunately, it will be considerably slower. While the OMAP does combine seperate processors for phone and PDA functionality, at the end of the day it is just a 195MHz ARM processor (as found in PDAs from years ago) - it's not even Xscale.

The fact that its a "dual processor" doesn't help unless you are trying to use a programme like Skype (which apparently DOES work on the Wizard!).Thats what I mean - it cant be any slower than that...

Terran

[Tortulho_PT]

There's this supplier in the Uk
www.smartdevicesdirect.com

that says that the wizard is going to be available in 1st october...

Does anyone have any feedback on this site ? are they reliable for purchase ?

[ShALLaX]

Their price is suspiciously low -- I've preordered with www.expansys.co.uk, I tried doing a pricematch but they said Pls be advised that we are unable to price match something that has not been released.So I guess £449 is the price I'll be paying (unless the price drops when the product is released).

When you're spending so much money, it's best to go with a company that has built up trust. I was reading the "returns" agreement with smartdevicesdirect.co.uk and you can only return if there is a fault; Expansys give you a 21 day grace period (like Argos' 16 day money-back guarantee). From experience, companies that explicitly state they can only accept returns for faulty items usually give much more problems/ resistance when trying to get an RMA --- even if the product is faulty (they have razor-thin profit margins and such).

[ccsnet]

There's this supplier in the Uk
www.smartdevicesdirect.com

that says that the wizard is going to be available in 1st october...

Does anyone have any feedback on this site ? are they reliable for purchase ?"This product will be in stock on Monday 03 October, 2005" At the bottom of the page...

Terran

[Jerka]

And in the end of September in Sweden.
http://www.qtek.se/

[ccsnet]

Wow - check out the price here... no release date though....

Terran


EDIT Ooops :oops: http://www.buymobilephones.net/store/merchant-4-34-420-Phones.ihtml

[ShALLaX]

Meh.. sim free all the way. Again, do we know what this site is like?

[ccsnet]

Meh.. sim free all the way. Again, do we know what this site is like?I've no idea but will find out soon enough when I buy my handset...

Terran

[dalewinterstein]

Received this mail today

Hello,

QTEK 9100 QUAD BAND GSM / GPRS /EDGE ENABLED POCKET PC PHONE NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH

Just wanted to take the opportunity to advise you that our first delivery of this brand new product which was planned for mid October has
been brought forward to NEXT WEEK. We will have stock available for
immediate shipment.

For further details of the specification of this latest product in the comprehensive QTEK range which is available SIM FREE or with contract, please refer to our web site or call us for network connected pricing.

Kind rgds,

Managing Director.

Web site www.smartdevicesdirect.com
THE Mobile and Wireless Solutions Distributor

[ccsnet]

Sounds right as thats very simular to what I was told by the above lot...

Terran

( Intresting that there is no sign of the Universal.... )

[ShALLaX]

Well that decides that one. Cancelled my order from Expansys and went with Smartdevicesdirect.com. Just hope I haven't made a mistake!

[DUTCH]

Well... you probably did! This device is not even leaving the factory before the second week of october. All this pre-order stuff you're reading is all (xcuse my english) CRAP :evil:

[dalewinterstein]

Dutch, excuse my ignorance, but how can you be so sure.
I have heard from 2 reputable online stores that they are arriving next week. Do you know something we dont ?

[DUTCH]

Yes, I do :twisted:

[dschur]

OK then dutch, why don't you offer it up for all.

I just pre-ordered a Wizard from MadMonkeyBoy.

[dschur]

Actually, better than that, I just noticed in your sig, that you already own a Qtek 9100 (sorry I didn't see that before).

While I'm waiting for mine (which might take until October), can you give your impressions of the Qtek 9100. I'd love to hear how it's working for you on a daily basis. How is Windows Mobile 2005. What are the pros and cons of this device? Can you contrast it to the S110 which you also own?

Also, can you run some benchmarks for us on that processor? If your could run the SPB benchmarks (http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/benchmark/?en) I'm sure everyone would greatly appreciate it. How is full screen video playing, and what is the battery life of the device with, and witout Wifi?

[ShALLaX]

Here we go:


Hi xxxxxx,
We have been told we should have the 9100 next week, very exciting.
If we can be of further help please use my contact details below.
Regards,
Robin Coulson

------------------------------------
Smart Devices Ltd
Robin Coulson
robin@smartdevicesdirect.com
The Reeds,
Unit 2a, The Reeds Road,
Frensham, Surrey,
GU10 3BP
tel: 44-(0)870-0272127
fax: 44-(0)1252-795392
www.smartdevicesdirect.com
------------------------------------


-----Original Message-----
From: Keith France [mailto:keith@smartdevicesdirect.com]
Sent: 24 August 2005 10:51
To: Robin Coulson; Nick; Richard@Smartdevicesdirect. Com; Simon@Smartdevicesdirect. Com
Subject: FW: QTek 9100




Kind rgds, Keith

Keith France
Managing Director.
Tel.No UK 08700 272127
INT 44 8700 272127

Fax.No (44)(0) 1252 795392
Mobile 07798 636760
Web site www.smartdevicesdirect.com
THE Mobile and Wireless Solutions Distributor

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxx xxxx [mailto:xxxx@xxxx.com]
Sent: 23 August 2005 19:25
To: keith@smartdevicesdirect.com; simon@peripheralcorner.co.uk
Subject: QTek 9100


Is it true that you will have stock of the QTek 9100 next week? I've
already pre-ordered so it would be great to receive this item so early
(I chose you over Expansys because your price is about £50 cheaper ---
and I heard rumours of you having stock so early).

Thanks!

[ShALLaX]

Note that smartdevicesdirect.com have just put the price of the QTek 9100 up by £10 (before VAT), its now £410.08 instead of £398.33 (excluding delivery)... glad I made the purchase last night!

They've also updated the product page (http://www.smartdevicesdirect.com/product_info.php?products_id=927) to say Available on 5th September. Please Pre-Order for guaranteed delivery of product for first shipment.... This isn't "next week" as promised, but a week Monday (maybe they're just playing it safe).

Go order!

[ccsnet]

I can wait.......

Terran

[DUTCH]

you should... http://msmobiles.com/news.php/4178.html

[ShALLaX]

Conclusion: you should not pre-order any Windows Mobile 5.0 devices until they will have status "in-stock" because retailers tend to announce unrealistic release dates that later one are being postponed many times... Purpose of such announcements is to attract customers and to sell these upcoming phones for a higher price!


In what sense is it "pre-ordering" if it is in stock... Fact of the matter is, smartdevicesdirect just got information that they're getting them soon and probably got a more accurate price estimation (hence them putting the price up by £10). Expansys STILL have their price a good £40 higher!

I guess we'll see. What I'm more interested in is getting one of the first batch rather than having to wait for the next delivery!

[wardy]

If you want it from Expansys just give them a call , tell them the site that is cheaper than theirs . They will match the price for you and change their price too.

I have just one question ... Do the UK mobile operators support EDGE , I have a 3g contract and I like the idea of a small 3g device. I am on Vodafone so will the vodafone Network support EDGE .. If not I'll hang on till a new small 3g device is available.

[ShALLaX]

Nope, I tried their "Price guarantee"... turns out its not a guarantee at all since they refused to do it on a pre-release.

From what I've heard.. EDGE is non-existant in the UK.

[ccsnet]

Nope, I tried their "Price guarantee"... turns out its not a guarantee at all since they refused to do it on a pre-release.

From what I've heard.. EDGE is non-existant in the UK.I am sure I read it was on the way some where.... certainly some of the new Nokia handsets support it...

Terran

[wardy]

Hmm EDGE is slower than 3g , I talked to someone at Vodafone today and they said while I was out of 3g service I should still get 2.5 ... I asked if this was EDGE they said they didn't know ...

2.5 times speed this would indicate EDGE as its around the 260kb mark and 3G is at 340 kb or something like that ....

Very confusing , I see no point getting a new PDA that you can only use half of the designed GPRS function.. Guess I'll wait and see if any of you guys have any speed increase when you upgrade

[wardy]

Hmm EDGE is slower than 3g , I talked to someone at Vodafone today and they said while I was out of 3g service I should still get 2.5 ... I asked if this was EDGE they said they didn't know ...

2.5 times speed this would indicate EDGE as its around the 260kb mark and 3G is at 340 kb or something like that ....

Very confusing , I see no point getting a new PDA that you can only use half of the designed GPRS function.. Guess I'll wait and see if any of you guys have any speed increase when you upgrade

[ShALLaX]

Heh -- I guess people were right about the release date... Smartdevicesdirect have just put the date back to October 5th.

[ShALLaX]

... Or not:

Hi Xxxxx,
We are stil expecting some in next week, we have sold out our first batch and will receive no new stock until october.
If there is any problem with this first delivery you will be among the first to know, and we would offer a complete refund.
Cheers,
Robin

*Keeps fingers crossed*

[ShALLaX]

Just got off the phone with Robin from Smart Devices Direct... and he said their supplier has let them down. Apparently the supplier only had prototype/ demo models and there was some misunderstanding that these were the final product (from what I gather). It took the supplier until today to confirm that they wouldn't be shipping the product this week.

Anyway, long story short... shipment will be at the beginning of October. I'm keeping my order with them since they are the cheapest around (at least for now).

Oh well, I'll be without a phone for another month ;p

[kvee]

Expansys were demonstrating the Wizard today at a Microsoft WM5 presentation in London. They said the Wizard was going on sale on 21 September

Had a play around with it and looks and feels great. Love the slide out keyboard. Clear and easy to use.

[saldous]

Cool. I was supposed to attend this as well but had something else come up. Any other interesting info from the event?

[sion]

Well what a difference in I.T. life a couple of days makes, Two days ago I was panicking about having to upgrade to a HTC Wizard with all it's underlying, associated buíld/development problems, and now I am sat here with my own & what I feel is many other people's PDA Holy Grail in my hand.

In my hand I have a I-Mate Jam, but with a couple or three big differences:

One it has 128 Megs of Ram.
Two it has built in WiFi
Three it has a 2 GIG SD Card plugged in that works.

Now I might add that this is not my Jam, However the little known about UK based company that has produced it are quite willing to customise one for me if I can lay my hands on one in the next week or so.

They will also be offering it as a commercial service over the net as of November this year.

So my dear friends, fellow bookworms, frustrated burglers, affronted policemen or city gents with titly furled umbrella's, I am glad I have joined & listened to you all so many times but I am afraid I won't be joining you just yet in your wizardly new worlds now that I have found my own personal PDA Val-Hala. Long live the 128 Meg WiFi enabled Jam, who knows we may even be able to get WM2005 on it yet, that really would be something, & a right kick up the hind quarters for HTC.

Kind Regards Ash'e

[sh500]

Sion,

This is great news...

Any ideas on the cost of modifying the handset at all? Wifi is the important one for me here. Also how well does the Wifi connection work?

The Wizard is a great device- but i dont think mini-sd is available in anything greater than 1GB

[ccsnet]

Well what a difference in I.T. life a couple of days makes, Two days ago I was panicking about having to upgrade to a HTC Wizard with all it's underlying, associated buíld/development problems, and now I am sat here with my own & what I feel is many other people's PDA Holy Grail in my hand.

In my hand I have a I-Mate Jam, but with a couple or three big differences:

One it has 128 Megs of Ram.
Two it has built in WiFi
Three it has a 2 GIG SD Card plugged in that works.

Now I might add that this is not my Jam, However the little known about UK based company that has produced it are quite willing to customise one for me if I can lay my hands on one in the next week or so.

They will also be offering it as a commercial service over the net as of November this year.

So my dear friends, fellow bookworms, frustrated burglers, affronted policemen or city gents with titly furled umbrella's, I am glad I have joined & listened to you all so many times but I am afraid I won't be joining you just yet in your wizardly new worlds now that I have found my own personal PDA Val-Hala. Long live the 128 Meg WiFi enabled Jam, who knows we may even be able to get WM2005 on it yet, that really would be something, & a right kick up the hind quarters for HTC.

Kind Regards Ash'eContact details ? Pics ? Website ?

Terran

[Eeeek]

Cool, now that an HTC device uses an OMAP cpu maybe the users from this forum, and others, start looking at OMAP cpu as cool & stuff.

Skype doesn't make use of the advanced audio capabilities of the OMAP processors(as someone stated in the previous page), yet it runs nice on a 165Mhz OMAP 1510, and of course on the Wizard's 195Mhz OMAP 850.

Benchmarks are meaningless, and a comparison based on xScale PXA vs OMAP cpu clock isn't valid.

I bet there are many ppl here who are still using Pentiums on their desktops. :roll:

not trying to be agressive, sorry if I was.

[ShALLaX]

Ahh Expansys have just put their price up by £10 pre-tax... makes me glad I ordered early and stuck with Smart devices :D

[saldous]

Damn! they are cheeky buggers doing that.

[mixmaven]

According to my conversation with i-mate today, you can buy a k-jam at GITEX Sept 26-30... anyone going that can pick me one up? :)

-mix

[veletron]

I was reading the "returns" agreement with smartdevicesdirect.co.uk and you can only return if there is a fault; Expansys give you a 21 day grace period (like Argos' 16 day money-back guarantee).

Of course, you will still be covered by the distance selling act. You can return the product within 7 days starting from the day after delivery. You need proof that the product was returned on or before the 7th day, they dont have to recieve it by the 7th day.

Nigek

[veletron]

Hi

I dont believe that any UK provider supports edge, they all seem to be pushing 3G. Also all the main UK operators have 3G licenses so it makes sense for them.

GPRS was, for most modern base stations basically a firmware upgrade. As such it could be done at minimal cost. As I understand it, GPRS is '2.5G'. Edge on the other hand is a completely new modulation scheme that runs on GSM frequencies.

I beleive that supporting Edge nessesitates somewhat more than a simple firmware upgrade (i.e hardware has to change at the base stations). This means expense (money better spent on greater 3G coverage!)

I cant see any UK provider that has a 3G network (even if its basic) going down the edge route. It always was a stop-gap technology which seems to have been bypassed in the UK in favour of 3G. I suspect that some providers without 3G licenses will use it to extend the lifeimes of their GSM networks.

All I want now is for the bl00dy data charges to become realistic. I dont expect to get it for nought, but £3/MB is bl00dy stupid. I'll pay £50/month for 1GB data & 200 any network mins.

If three there to drop their stupid walled garden then they would become a pretty good 3G network. They have the coverage, but currently they want yr dosh without letting you actually use the damned thing how you want.

Dont even consider GPRS roaming. I transferred a total of 1.4Mbytes while in france last month (less than a floppys worth of data) and O2 fleeced me for 15 frigging quid...

Nigel

[ShALLaX]

I was reading the "returns" agreement with smartdevicesdirect.co.uk and you can only return if there is a fault; Expansys give you a 21 day grace period (like Argos' 16 day money-back guarantee).

Of course, you will still be covered by the distance selling act. You can return the product within 7 days starting from the day after delivery. You need proof that the product was returned on or before the 7th day, they dont have to recieve it by the 7th day.

Nigek

Ahh of course, good point.

[cbrow51]

Hi Veletron

I agree with you assessment of the EDGE/3G trade off. In the USA, Cingular went down the EDGE path as they built out their 850Mhz infrastructure. T-Mobile on the other hand had existing infrastructure and focused their effort on building out numerous wi fi hot spots to connect to. Big difference here though is cost. T-Mobile have the best deal with 1000 anytime mins, plus unlimited GPRS and WiFi hotspot access for around $99 a month, which is about £70... So it can be done...

But I have a question about 3G and O2 in the UK. What kind of 3G coverage do O2 have right now and would it support the Universal/Exec?

Regards

Chris

[cbrow51]

Hi Veletron

I agree with you assessment of the EDGE/3G trade off. In the USA, Cingular went down the EDGE path as they built out their 850Mhz infrastructure. T-Mobile on the other hand had existing infrastructure and focused their effort on building out numerous wi fi hot spots to connect to. Big difference here though is cost. T-Mobile have the best deal with 1000 anytime mins, plus unlimited GPRS and WiFi hotspot access for around $99 a month, which is about £70... So it can be done...

But I have a question about 3G and O2 in the UK. What kind of 3G coverage do O2 have right now and would it support the Universal/Exec?

Regards

Chris

[plaver]

I have been looking at this phone as a possible replacment for my xda ii, there a couple of things I hope some of you can help me with

Is it me or is phone phone smaller (widith) wise than than the XDA II

Will my Bluetooth NAMAN SAT NAV work on this phone

and lastly, this is first time I have noticed this

'CLI (Calling Line Identity)' what is this???

Many thanks in advance

[ShALLaX]

1) Magician dimensions: 108.2 mm(L) x 58 mm(W) x 18.2 mm(T)
Wizard dimensions: 108 mm(L) x 58 mm(W) x 23.5 mm(T), so no.. its not any narrower, but may be 0.2mm shorter (which it probably isnt, I'd say the Wizard measurements are just less accurate since 0.2mm is nearly microscopic).
2) Yes, since the phone is fully Bluetooth compliant things such as TomTom will work fine.
3) CLI is the feature whereby the caller's number is sent to your phone (and then the phone looks up the number in the phonebook and displays who is calling). I.e. it is just a way of showing you who is calling you.

[bnycastro]

Dimensions:

XDAII = 69.9 (W) x 130 (L) x 19.8 (T) mm approx. 190g
XDAIImini S = nothing official yet but it is a bit thicker than the mini and the mini is 58 (W) x 108 (H) x 18.1 (T) mm -- I would say over all it is smaller (height and width wise) but it may be thicker or as thick as your XDAII.

calling line identity is caller id... so you can see who is calling you. [note: this is not PHOTO caller id]

Re: NAVMAN GPS I dunno about this but it will have Bluetooth 2.0 if that helps.

[robinton]

Here are a couple of handy resources for determining what the availiability of EDGE or UMTS is in your country:

(It says the Americas, but it appears to cover most of the globe)

EDGE Deployment -- http://www.3gamericas.org/pdfs/edgefactsheet.pdf
UMTS Deployment -- http://www.3gamericas.org/PDFs/umts_worldwide.pdf

Robert harrold

[cbrow51]

plaver wrote: Will my Bluetooth NAMAN SAT NAV work on this phone


Hi plaver.

I have a Navman 4400 that worked great with my xdaII, but has been an absolute beast with my xda2s :x I have concluded that the different bluetooth stacks in these devices is probably the issue. I believe the xdaII uses the Microsoft stack, while the xda2s uses a Widcom/Broadcom version. Now I think that the wizard uses a microsoft stack and is also a later version also (2.0 v's 1.1) so it looks "promising" that the Navman will work. On the other hand, its hard to tell how the Navman will cope with the dual processor on the wizard... Overall the SmartSTV2.0 software is pretty finiky when it comes to these devices. Anyhow, I have ordered a Wizard and should be able to let you know in about 2 weeks (hopefully) if the Navman works or not :)

Regards

Chris

[ShALLaX]

The Wizard is Bluetooth 2.0 with the Widcomm stack.

[cbrow51]

Oh, ok, Widcom stack then... I am a little less optimistic about the Navman now.... But this will be a 'suck it and see' deal anyhow, so I'll keep my fingers crossed and my ebay logon handy :-]

Regards

chris

[plaver]

Hi Guys, Thanks for answers and advice,

I was hoping that CLI was a new way to over the 'with held number' caller.

[sion]

O2 UK are releasing the Wlzard brand named as the XDA Mini S, in late October, this in effect is what is causing all the supply delays, O2 have suddenly placed huge orders with HTC, & of course with O2 being the size they are & as lucrative customers as they are for HTC, HTC want to keep them Happy fiirst before the less lucrative costomers, so in the immortal words of British "More delays expected" thanks in part to O2 UK & Germany.

Still I need a new O2 contract, so instead of buying the I-Mate SIM free version online, think I will hang on that little bit longer & get the XDA Mini S version of the HTC Wizard & save myself £250.00 GBP, since I need a new phone contract as I will need to make phone calls next year.

Always been an early (wait for a good deal) adoptor, not an early, early take what ever deal I can, merely because I hare to get my hands on the latest kit first adoptor, you no I have always found what a difference a month can make when buying newly released tech.

Besides which my contact at O2 said that there is a good chance that with the right contract it could even be free, (best for business 250 or above).

Oh on a foot note 02 business is offering completely free of charge GPRS access within reasonable usage limits (not more than 38 megs download a month).

All in all if you get a free Wizard and free GPRS access and some inclusive minutes every month for 18 months, sounds like a good deal to me.

Regards Ashe.

[sion]

O2 UK are releasing the Wlzard brand named as the XDA Mini S, in late October, this in effect is what is causing all the supply delays, O2 have suddenly placed huge orders with HTC, & of course with O2 being the size they are & as lucrative customers as they are for HTC, HTC want to keep them Happy by putting them fiirst before the less lucrative customers, so in the immortal words of British Rail "More delays expected" thanks in part to O2 UK & Germany.

Still I need a new O2 contract, so instead of buying the I-Mate SIM free version online, think I will hang on that little bit longer & get the XDA Mini S version of the HTC Wizard & save myself £250.00 GBP, since I need a new phone contract as I will need to make phone calls next year.

Always been an early (wait for a good deal) adoptor, not an early, early take what ever deal I can, merely because I hare to get my hands on the latest kit first adoptor, you no I have always found what a difference a month can make when buying newly released tech.

Besides which my contact at O2 said that there is a good chance that with the right contract it could even be free, (best for business 250 or above) wlth an 18 month contract.

Oh on a foot note 02 business is offering completely free of charge GPRS access within reasonable usage limits (not more than 38 megs download a month).

All in all if you get a free Wizard and free GPRS access and some exclusive minutes and texts every month, sounds like a good deal to me can us Skype when they run out, Hell I use it most of the time anyway.

Regards Ash'e.