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Here's my setup for when I need to do remote support while on the move:

HTC Kaiser (also sold as HTC P4550, TyTN II & AT&T Tilt 8925)

The phone has a slide-out keyboard which is quite useable and a 240 x 320-pixel, 2.8-inch display. Bluetooth and wifi (802.11g). The TyTN II is a quad-band handset with 3G and HSDPA and it also has GPS + Tomtom satnav!

PockeTTY

VNC

WM6 Remote Desktop (RDP)- can be downloaded from here if not pre-installed.

Roll-up fabric bluetooth keyboard

More phone info in the user forums and wiki:
http://www.htcforums.com/kaiser-tilt-tytn-p4550-f13/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=377
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Kaiser

Here's my setup for when I need to do remote support while on the move:

HTC Kaiser (also sold as HTC P4550, TyTN II & AT&T Tilt 8925)

The phone has a slide-out keyboard which is quite useable and a 240 x 320-pixel, 2.8-inch display. Bluetooth and wifi (802.11g). The TyTN II is a quad-band handset with 3G and HSDPA and it also has GPS + Tomtom satnav!

PockeTTY

VNC

WM6 Remote Desktop (RDP)- can be downloaded from here if not pre-installed.

Roll-up fabric bluetooth keyboard

More phone info in the user forums and wiki:
http://www.htcforums.com/kaiser-tilt-tytn-p4550-f13/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=377
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Kaiser

I'm using an HTC Hermes/8525/TyTN. I'd definitely recommend it, I get a ton of use out of it. HTC released it's successor late last year as the Kaiser/AT&T Tilt/TyTN II. Didn't add much except a little more ram and GPS. The Hermes should be really pretty cheap at this point. If you do go with and HTC phone make sure to head over to XDA Dev and grab a custom built OS...they remove all the junk the carriers put on and do a great job at stabilizing everything.

Here is a GPL violation handled with extreme prejudice

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=370796&page=29

half-way down the page, number 287

I note that the response from the majority of forum users is: stealing GPL is okay if it means I get what I want. The forum is a repository of ROM hacks and warez links mixed in so it is not an unexpected response.

Read and see how much of our source is stolen

A QR code reader app comes with the Dopod release of WM6 for the HTC Tytn (Hermes) phone - and, no doubt, other WM6 ROM packs originating from Japan. These ROMs have been widely leaked for the HTC phones. A good starting point for more info is here: http://www.xda-developers.com/

I have played with the QR code reader on my phone and while I like the idea, I find that getting the camera aligned 'just right' to get an image shot that decodes propely is a real pain. I hope that it's perhaps the optics of the phone or just my lack of experience but it seems that the size of the code (there's online tools to make your own) and camera setup are pretty important. I put some test codes on an internal Web site and when the images were obtrusively big compared to other elements on the page, I could capture them about 80+% of the time first go, but when they were shrunk down to banner size, I'd get a decode perhaps 1 time in 10 on my 17" LCD monitor. Results with printed codes were better, but it still took some time to get the capture process right.

Maybe the Japanese phone users have this down to a fine art now and I just need more practice.

Hmm, I forget, but try going to http://forum.xda-developers.com/ and searching for "CellID" or "Cell ID".

Some of the apps are basically user experiments which only work on some devices, but some threads have links to more robust commercial apps.

(I don't use any of them myself, partly due to no need, partly because I'm one of those rare people that lives so close to work that they are probably in the same cell whether at home or at work.)

Windows Mobile does the security thing pretty well, unlike its distant (and yes, nowadays it is VERY distant) desktop cousin.

Unlike Symbian which forbids unsigned apps completely, Windows Mobile pops up a big warning the first time you ever try to install an unsigned CAB or run an unsigned app. It remembers that answer until the app's checksum or size changes, at which point it WILL prompt again.

This allows for the security of signed apps, while allowing the "little guy" to still participate and write WM apps. There isn't any known malware, or if there is, it's extremely rare and not prolific. There's an incredibly large third-party dev community centered around WM devices, with a lot of devs being "little guys" - see http://www.xda-developers.com/

I've had a WM device for about two months. Compared to any phone I've used before it's amazing, but it has a lot of flaws. I was hoping Android would be "Windows Mobile done right" - all of its strengths, minus many weaknesses, and OPEN.

Now it appears that Android is targeted more to compete with existing well established Linux-on-phone implementations (MOTOMAGX), and not with the top of the line smartphone OSes, despite the fact that it appears targeted towards "smartphone-class" hardware (see the emulator skin and the rumored HTC Dream). It's really disappointing to someone who was thinking Android was going to be taking convergence devices to the next level.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=295444 was the link I used. Be aware this is specifically for the GSM Hermes... the CDMA version (can't remember the name) will need a different ROM I believe. Search around on the site and you should find it.

HTH.

Yeah. There are radio roms available that would enable the GPS. However, there are numerous problems enabling GPS on it.

Really?

http://www.xda-developers.com/
http://my-symbian.com/main/index.php
http://www.myphonegames.co.uk/
http://www.handango.com/home.jsp?siteId=1
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/download/skype/mob ile/
http://messenger.yahoo.com/mobile.php
http://www.agilemobile.com/download.html
http://www.pdamill.com/
http://www.adobe.com/mobile/

While I appreciate most of the applications you can get for a mobile phone are Java games, the market is heading towards smartphones using a version of symbian. The iPhone is really aimed at two parts of the mobile phone market, the first is the current PDA market (so blackberry's in the USA and Windows Mobile phones in the UK), the geek/hobbyist which would be the highend Nokia Symbian & Windows Mobile users, its price tag would young teen market (atleast in the UK) as most young teens (I am one and know many others) could afford one (sadly most have iPods) but own small cheap phones because they don't like taking expensive phones out and around with them. I don't understand that thinking myself but then again my last two phones have been free on contract.
I'm aware the American market does have carrier's which lock down phones but most of the rest of the world doesn't suffer this. About the most invasive I've seen is this annoying sidebar Orange stick on all their mobile phones, then again Orange is currently losing customers in droves (least in my home city) because of their new rigid pricing policy. By limiting themselves the way apple have to web 2.0 they've taken the java route on other lowend phones, sure Java can do all sorts of things but the only things that are prevelent for java phones are games. When you compare Doom and Snails (both of which are availiable for Symbian and Windows Mobile) the game selection for Java phones is not as good.
I have no idea how well this would do in American but if the pricing plan were to stay the same in the UK it would tank as its far too expensive for example, I believe the Samsung E900 or Sony Erricson W800i are the current trendy phone's for iPod owners both of which are £80-100 on pay as you go, for the more serious phone owner you have the Nokia N90, Blackberry and Windows Mobile selection all of which are free on 18 month plans, the iPhone is slated to be £200 on a 24 month plan (converting from american dollars.) Symbian and Windows Mobile 5 both have very good User Interfaces, I've yet to meet a person who could tolerate a non symbian phone once they had owned one and to this day every single person who has seen my Windows Mobile phone has been able to get to solitare in seconds (without assistance.)

Without a decent SDK I see the iPhone heading down the Java capable phone route, you'll get hundreds of cheap rubbish games oh and an expensive version of Pacman and Space Invaders.

Here. Pay particular attention to MrVanx Hermes upgrade guides. Not saying you won't, but I'd highly recommend readingTFM/searching the forums before posting questions. MrVanx's guides should be all you need though.

My MDA (HTC Wizard) has been dropped (HARD once or twice) several times and the worst that happened was one of the tabs for the battery cover snapped off.

Not to mention the awesome support for messing with it.

I LOVE my HTC, but I suppose YMMV.

Not any more, there aren't.

Microsoft insisted that all ROMs be removed as of February this year. They're all gone now.

Blackberry probably made it not because people love them, but because the business world loves them. Lots of companies are handing them out to their employees in order to quench the last drop of productivity out of them.

The iPhone will appeal to the same kind of audience that likes the iPod.

Installing applications on phones is quite an expense with Windows Mobile edition.

I'd only consider installing software if it is opensource or at least free. So that leaves people like me to either install free java-based applications, buy a Linux-based phone like the OpenMoko FIC, or use an HTC phone and run Xanadux on it (I guess that would be pretty problematic).

At the risk of stating the obvious, "branding" = "phone service provider has customised the phone". this can range from a simple logo silkscreened on the casing, to a fairly extensive customisation of menus, adding logos to the phone's OS, and/or removing certain features (such as the ability to play MP3 ringtones, transfer files via bluetooth, etc).
All handset manufacturers make "unbranded", vanilla handsets. You can buy them - they're just not cheap or common as the market would prefer to buy branded, discounted handsets.
In the UK you can get unbranded phones without a contract from lots of sources such as http://www.expansys.com/ - but check the non-discounted prices versus what you'll see in the highstreet.
There's a thriving backstreet industry in debranding phones in the UK - for Windows Mobile devices there are communities that provide "clean" ROMs that are faster, have better GSM performance and add features - see http://www.xda-developers.com/ for details.
Oh, and for those pesky silkscreened operator logos on the casing, rubbing it with a sugarcube will remove them without scratching the phone - mask off holes in the casing first with sticky tape!

the XDA crippling is annoying, but easily remedied. Register on http://www.xda-developers.com/ and get a later, unbranded ROM installed. It'll usually have significant improvements in all areas including radio performance.

The only people who pay full price for unlocked phones are early adopters and geeks. Others, like me, buy the phones the early adopters are bored of via ebay, and unlock them ourselves.
I've just got myself a nice HTC Wizard for 120UKP this way, which I've unlocked and debranded, and sped up by around 40% using a "Mr Clean" ROM via http://www.xda-developers.com/.

So they're not just asking for a phone, they're asking for a good phone. Bastards. Should be hanged

The WIZA-110 is the least common HTC Wizard model. The reason for this may be found in the fact that it has no camera. Other than that, it is the same as the WIZA-100. It can be found customized and branded by at least one company:

Cingular: 8100

"Apple therefore demands that you remove this screenshot from your website and refrain from facilitating the further dissemination of Apple's copyrighted material by removing the link to http://forum.xda-developers.com/ where said icons and screenshot are being distributed."

I've got a HTC universal, and the Linux port(s) gpe and opie are coming on nicely however using it on the phone network isn't possible this week under Linux, but it is possible to use the wifi to operate within your lan,
Unfortunately your phone doesn't seem to be getting any Linux development. The universal port has been on the go for about a year and is being actively developed, I would get one quick as it appears that the phone companys are backing away from it and it is a much nicer price when it is subsidised by the phone company ;)
checkout http://forum.xda-developers.com/ for upto date info

HTC's phones are much better.

But they are relatively unknown outside of XDA-dev and Pocket PC circles.

My Blue Angel came out over two years ago, but I can do more with it than with an iPhone:

• Watch movies, play MP3s (all media formats supported with TCPMP)
• Connect and transfer using: Bluetooth, WiFi, IR, GPRS, USB
• Install and play games
• Browse the internet with any number of browsers (e.g. PIE, NetFront, Opera, ...)
• GPS navigation w/ speech (BT GPS receiver required)
• Read and edit Word, PowerPoint, Excel docs
• Print documents to IR-enabled printers
• Use SSH and VPN to securely connect to home or work

HTC phones are the best in the world for tech users. The only reason iPhone gets the hype is because of Apple's brand.

It's the same reason iPod sold so well, even though iRiver's H140 / iHP-40 is superior in many ways.

HTC's phones are much better.

But they are relatively unknown outside of XDA-dev and Pocket PC circles.

My Blue Angel came out over two years ago, but I can do more with it than with an iPhone:

• Watch movies, play MP3s (all media formats supported with TCPMP)
• Connect and transfer using: Bluetooth, WiFi, IR, GPRS, USB
• Install and play games
• Browse the internet with any number of browsers (e.g. PIE, NetFront, Opera, ...)
• GPS navigation w/ speech (BT GPS receiver required)
• Read and edit Word, PowerPoint, Excel docs
• Print documents to IR-enabled printers
• Use SSH and VPN to securely connect to home or work

HTC phones are the best in the world for tech users. The only reason iPhone gets the hype is because of Apple's brand.

It's the same reason iPod sold so well, even though iRiver's H140 / iHP-40 is superior in many ways.

HTC Universal is the closest so far. Look it up at http://xda-developers.com/

Full VGA screen, Wi-fi 802.11b, 3g (UMTS), GSM+GPRS, Bluetooth, 520mhz Bulverde XScale. However, it is Windows Mobile 5... but with the above link, there is a project to port Linux to it. Oh, and it's also got the keyboard in a Tablet PC-esque convertible style.

I have the O2 Exec... otherwise known as the HTC Universal and I love it.

It does all of the usual PDA stuff as well as being my mobile phone, GPS (with additional matchbox sized receiver) and I can walk round town using MiniStumbler to detect open WIFI.

It syncs with Exchange so I can access my work public folders and Global Contacts. It also does email, texts, web, etc etc.

And yes... the Universal can run Linux: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=35 972

Oh, nearly forgot, it also doubles up as an mp3 player with an additional SD card (up to 4GB). So quite a step up from my previous Palm V :-)

/Mad

The manufacturer's name is High Technology Corporation (of Taiwan). This model is codenamed "Prophet". some forums here on the different models, upgrades etc.

You can get one-handed operation out of your MDA by installing SmartKey. I use it on my Cingular 8125. Works great.

Verizon calls their EV-DO service 'BroadbandAccess'; I have it on an Audiovox XV6600 phone (Windows Mobile and phone).

My experience

The service works very well and has been as reliable as my cellular voice calls. I forget it's there or that it's anything revolutionary, which is a good sign of it's usability. Latency is high, but it's just a little annoying in practice; I haven't tried anything interactive like chat, but some people claim to have used VOIP and iChat video conferencing with great success -- see these resources for that and other useful info:
http://evdoinfo.com/
http://evdoforums.com/

Note that upload speed is only promised to be 60-80 Kbps.

The Audiovox XV6600 phone is low quality: Bugs, crashes, talktime way too little (extra/larger battery almost required) , earpiece volume too low, bluetooth problems, etc etc etc. For early adopters only, really. I wanted it EV-DO badly enough, so I decided to live with it. The best resources on the phone (really an HTC Blue Angel, rebranded):
http://www.xda-developers.com/
http://www.pdaphonehome.com/

The phone is ~$45/month for unlimited service. A pcmcia card is ~$80/month. Note that the terms of service prohibit using the phone as to provide access to other devices.

Terms of service

Verizon's terms of service probibit downloading or streaming music, and other things. If you use the phone, the terms prohibit using it to bridge Internet service to other devices. More details here:
http://evdoforums.com/about77.html

OTOH, I've never heard of that being enforced, but I'm not sure that I would.

Vendor plans for rollout

Some info here:
http://evdoforums.com/forum-9.html

I'm surprised nobody's put this link here yet but... http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/articles/wm2005-m agneto-en.shtml This is a link to a preview of a Magneto beta build. You can also download it for the XDA 2 [HTC Blue Angel] at http://forum.xda-developers.com/
Have fun!

Then why bother?

I don't own a PDA because none do what I want - built in phone,free software, decent battery life and decent hardware. (the Himalaya is interesting though.)

I think this article is good news - if it sells then the devices running Palm/Linux will be easy to convert to GNU/Linux.

Depends. One of these can handle 2 gigs via a SD card right now.
I'd like to see a version that will take a microdrive or a 1.8-inch drive. XDA-3 will not, but I wouldn't rule it out at some point.

The phone is a modified XDA. The latest model from them is O2. They are powered by Microsoft Pocket PC and supports Wifi cards. Xda was first released on July 13th, 2002.

And I'd have to add to that..

The MDA2/XDA2/iMate2/Qtek2020 (HTC Himalaya) also supports wifi, but only as an SDIO card option. Which means you can't extend the memory storage beyond the present 128MB RAM (with backup battery) and approx 15MB flash.

The apps that come with the MDAs are not necessarily included with the XDA/iMate/Qtek, but you can usually upgrade your own device with any vendor's ROMs, or even customize them, thanks to the people at xda-developers. Special kudos to xda-developer Willem/itsme.

SIP VOIP apps are available for pocketpc, even skype is, and depending on how much you pay for your data traffic (e.g. an unlimited plan) it might already work out cheaper than regular calls.

The most iresome trouble with these handsets is that the OS can be very buggy. I know it might seem like Microsoft-bashing, but they've really stuck to some of the worst features of windows for their embedded windowsCE/pocketpc platform. It has a registry! Which even has a HKEY_USERS key, even though it's empty because it's a single user device (and HKCU is not backed up by syncing). Also, DLL hell exists on the platform. Apps need to be installed and will try to install files in default locations. The package management is woeful, like in it's big brother. And back-ups frequently do not work.

The best thing about it, is the extensibility and the LARGE number of applications and tools available for it. The developer community seems to be bigger than the EPOC community was, or the Palm developer community. This in spite of the fact that the platform lacks easy scripting, and you're basically stuck to either handcrafting c++ or going the VB.NET route. Rather daunting, either way.

Pocket outlook is very nice, too bad activesync will only sync with regular outlook (you get a copy, although it comes with product activation).

Webbrowsing over gprs is a joy, though it is a shame there is no opera for pocketpc, if only to give it a whirl.

Oh, and parent poster.. If you don't have time to play with it.. Send it to me please? ;-)

It could be relatively easy to establish a hierarchy of places to contact a person starting with VOIP, then progressing on down to sending a voice to text message at the very last.

I've got a special number that I can program to route people to several of my real phone numbers (ringing simultaneously if I want to, different numbers at differents times in the week, etc.) - if I don't get to the phone at all, you can leave a voicemail message (or decide to text me). I imagine that whichever country you're in, there are "universal messaging" services that provide the same sort of functionality. Maybe not as cool as VOIP on your PCS phone, but then it would also have to do WiFi, find open hotspots etc.

Right now at least, we do have phones (V600) that will automatically negotiate networks (so I can have one phone to travel with internationally rather than having to keep two or three depending upon the networks), but most of these phones have maddening interfaces and that in of itself could use some thought and effort.
I'm at a bit of a loss here.. All GSM phones I know of are perfectly capable of selecting which network they should use, and on most you can select networks you prefer (e.g. because the network it picks because it's a partner of your own provider charges higher roaming charges - unlikely, but it does happen).

Look, placing GUI interfaces on lots of stuff is OK if it streamlines your operation of the device, but the phone companies and even automobile manufacturers are using lousy GUI interfaces to perform simple tasks. (I absolutely refuse to consider the new BMW's because of that stupid GUI that has to be navigated through three screens to change the radio station or move the seat or change the temperature.

Abdo-fucking-lutely. I only wish my phone had a "skinnable" UI, or was open source, or at least some way to change the damn UI from always requiring one buttonmash to many for menial tasks. That's why I love the fact that my mp3 player (an Archos jukebox) has third party open source firmware to replace the stock firmware. Its UI is a lot better, even though it's made by geeks and no marketing decisions went into it.

Also, tomorrow I will be purchasing one of them nifty smart phones that runs (GASP) pocketpc, because at least you can rip out the firmware and dick around with it, or do stuff like buy a $16 voice dialling application to extend the functionality of the thing. Plus, no more T9, just tap or jog text.. When the need arises I can even buy a GPS module and plug it in..

Now, a way to have it run linux...