O2 Xda Atom Exec Review

An anonymous reader writes "CNET has posted a full review of the new O2 Xda Atom Exec smartphone device. They were very impressed with the handheld, giving it their 'Editor's Choice' award. From the article: 'On its own, the Exec is a highly impressive, push e-mail enabled smart phone, but if you already own the first Atom, its upgrade worthiness is questionable.'"

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[Anonymous Coward]

Text only version

How much do they get paid

[Anonymous Coward]

for posting these fscking Slashvertisements?

How about this for a proposal:

- There are at most 3 slashvertisements for every legimate story

- slashvertisements are clearly marked as such

- subscribers can hide the slashvertisements on the front page

Re:How much do they get paid

[GundamFan]

My head hurts to even think about a "News for nerds" site that does not include technology previews and reviews.

Perhaps you ment to type a diffrent URL?

Re:How much do they get paid

[Jerf]

If I found a nifty gadget and sent a link into Slashdot, and I had no attachment to it whatsoever, I just thought it was nifty, how would you know?

If you think about it, honestly maintaining your cynicism (e.g., even if I said I had no attachement to the product, you're not going to believe me), and follow through the implications, I think you'll come to the conclusion that there are one of two choices: Stop talking about products entirely, or run things that somebody, somewhere is going to consider a "slashvertisement". All things considered, for the purposes of the site, the former is preferable.

I wouldn't mind a clear statement of Slashdot's advertising policy. On the other hand, I'd lay money they don't run every ad that gets sent in, because I bet they're getting at least 25 a day, and I wouldn't be surprised if they said it was in the hundreds per day (because of people re-submitting the same products over and over, not necessarily hundreds of distinct products). Presumably the editors actually think this is neat and aren't just being handed wads of cash. If you want to hand Slashdot wads of cash and get your product advertised, that's what the banner ads are for.

A "product" category wouldn't be all bad, though.

Handwriting recognition

[BobTheLawyer]

Does anyone actually find this usable? It's impressive it works at all, but I've always been frustrated by it, even when writing phone numbers and addresses.

Re:Handwriting recognition

[bleh-of-the-huns]

That is the reason I went with the HTC Wizard/cingular 8125|8100/qtek 9200/imate K-jam...... It has a keyboard that slides out, with similair form factor, only slightly thicker. I used to use the HTC Magician/Imate Jam, which is is the Execs predecesor, it worked well for what I needed it for, although using the stylus for text messages was fine. I will pass on this particular model, and wait for the HTC Hermes, which will support UMTS, has a decent proc, and a keyboard that slides out.... Oh, notice the trend, HTC from Taiwan makes all the phones, including the Palm 700w/p, and all the HP ppc devices, including their phone models.

Re:Handwriting recognition

[glesga_kiss]

Like your other reply, I too bought a device with a slide out keyboard. I've never seen anyone regret that decission. You might be able to use handwriting for text messages but you do not want to EVER try it with vi over ssh. ;-) Also, imagine an "rm -rf" mis-recognition...

Mind you, there are some neat bluetooth keyboards you can get, such as The Virtual Keyboad, so it's not all lost if you don't have one.

I've been using my phone/pda for a year or two and I still think it's one of the coolest and most useful gadget I have. Google in my pocket, access to my home linux box, a camera and an mp3 player. Everything I'd ever need most days. One piece of advice though; get one with WiFi, this is an absolute must. It's much faster than GPRS and it's free most of the time.

Re:But does it run ...

[DrXym]

A more relevant question - what damned difference does it matter what it runs, just as long as it works?

Linux PDAs have traditionally been cursed with buggy software, awful handwriting recognition, crashes and high prices. But hey, it runs Linux right? Certainly Linux is not the cause of these issues, but it seems symptomatic of certain manufacturers that they think they can release some junk and get people to buy it simply because it runs Linux.

Fortunately we're getting to the stage where Linux is reliable and mostly behind the scenes. What OS is running underneath is an irrelevance to most people. They'd rather that their PDA / phone did what it was meant to do, namely make calls, take notes, make appointments, store addresses etc. If it runs Linux then all well and good, but a piece of crap running Linux is still a piece of crap.

Re:It has no keyboard.

[hattig]

Have you ever tried writing anything longer than a few words using a stylus?

Yeah, they're extremely accurate pointing devices for on-screen keyboards - far better than my thumbs trying to hit a tiny key. Also once you have the stylus in hand, you can use it to select the correct word from the 'word suggestions list', saving you time - although maybe this is a Symbian-only feature.

However handwriting recognition is still rather rubbish, I think the system on the original Apple Newtons is better than what Windows Mobile has.

The future of PDA's

[Shaun Olsen]

Ok guys, I've been using PDA's for the last 5-6 years or so, mainly for work and such and I just can't honestly imagine them getting further than they are now and laptops are just getting so much more viable as PDA replacements. Sure there are those certain times when a PDA is the only choice but as a wise man once told me "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air." I whistled for a cab, and when it came near, The license plate said "fresh" and it had dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare, But I thought "Nah forget it, Yo home to Bel Air." I pulled up to the house about seven or eight, and I yelled to the cabby "Yo holmes, smell ya later." Looked at my kingdom, I was finally there, To sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel Air.

I have the O2 Exec...

[Madcowz]

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

Re:I have the O2 Exec...

[Madcowz]

AC, that's a shame. I had my fair share of resets when I first got it. Updating to the latest O2 Rom has helped out a lot. Since then it has been fine. Apart from sometimes hanging for a few seconds when opening up an app.

I don't think the phone is that bad either. I can get a signal both at home and work which some other phones haven't managed (poor signal area). The voice dial works well (but not over bluetooth headset so that is minus points).

Regarding it's size. Again, I don't think it is that bad. My last phone was a Motorola C775 or something like that and it was a useless brick. This is wider, but thinner and as long and it does loads more.

To be honest, I have heard lots of complaints and lots of raves about this item. I wonder whether there are different batches about causing these problems. Some people love them and they work well. Others hate them and they run like a brick.

May your next phone/pda bring you more joy.

regards,

/Mad

Re:But does it run ...

[Chanc_Gorkon]

Linux PDA's have not always been expensive. In fact, although not a PDA, the Nokia 770 is only $350. The big issue is WHY IN HECK ISN'T SHARP SELLING THE ZAURUS HERE!

Right now, if you want Linux on a handheld, you have to have one of four things: a Nokia 770, import one of the Zaurii from Japan(EXPENSIVE because you have to import it), flash linux on a perfectly good iPaq or other handheld or possibly installing desktop linux on a Sony UX180. That's it. Anyone remember the Agenda VR3? No I did not think so....

push e-mail enabled

[sgt scrub]

*** RANT WARNING ***

I think this "push e-mail enabled" market speak has been repeated one time too many. People actually believe it is some magical, only available via crackberry and crapchange servers, functionality brought via the heavens. It is called IDLE. IDLE has been available via IMAP for years. Lots of years. Many much more years!

type this to see for yourself.
telnet your.imap.server 143
a001 CAPABILITIES
* CAPABILITY IMAP4REV1 IDLE NAMESPACE MAILBOX-REFERRALS BINARY UNSELECT SCAN SORT THREAD=REFERENCES THREAD=ORDEREDSUBJECT MULTIAPPEND LOGIN-REFERRALS STARTTLS AUTH=CRAM-MD5 capabilies ad nausium....
a001 OK CAPABILITY completed

and that is from plain old uw-imapd

wooo woooo i have puuuush technology on my internet!

A rose by any other... wait, no.

[Onan]

Bahahahah! That has got to be the most atrocious company/product/model/version name that I've ever seen.

Take something that might be the chemical formula for oxygen molecules or might not, add an unpronounceable thing that might or might not be an acronym, add on another word that's currently being used by a completely unrelated technology, and top it off with a word that already means either a person or a system call, but never a piece of hardware, and you get a true miracle of impenetrable gibberish. I honestly think that it might be literally impossible to create a worse name.