REVIEW: O2 Xda Guide

The O2 Xda Guide

Over recent years O2 announced and brought to the marketplace the Orbit 2 and Ignito devices which featured: 3Mpixel cameras, fast processors, large RAM / ROM, GPS, Quad band phone, Touch interface, etc. The range has now been extended with the svelte and small Xda Guide which is engineered as a fully functional phone with a definite slant towards GPS and navigation use.

Again a rounded candy-bar design (no hardware keyboard) the Guide sports:

3.2MPixel camera, 528Mhz processor, QVGA (320 x 240 display), Quad band, large ROM / RAM, A-GPS, 3G phone / video phone, Touch FLO 2D interface, etc

We'll look at its features as we move through the review and see if the Guide does carry on the traditions of the Xda series.....

Once more we extend our thanks to the generous folks at O2 for allowing us to review the Xda Guide.

[Note: This review is a composite work by; Windows, Fowljr, Boz, and Bassey]

As always in the hardware section of the review all images shown are thumbnails which may be clicked upon to load a larger more detailed image.


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: High Tech Computer (HTC)
HTC Code name: HTC Iolite
Supplier: O2 UK PLC
Product Name: Xda Guide
Price: Varies depending on contract

Firstly let's cover the initial technical ground with a detailed listing of the hardware specification that comprises the Xda Guide.

The high points for me here are the large memory (ROM : 512 MB / RAM : 256 MB SDRAM, compared to 256/192 on the Ignito), and a fast processor (Qualcomm MSM7225 528 MHz) as these have the greatest effect on the operation of the machine.

Note: Figures are the total ROM and RAM memory available for use and storage. Since the memory is shared by the operating system, applications, and data, the actual available memory is less than what is specified.


SYSTEM INFORMATION

Features
Platform
Ultra slim bar type PDA phone form factor
Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Processor/Chipset
Qualcomm MSM 7225, 528 MHz
Memory
ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 256 MB
LCD Module
2.8" 320x240 QVGA resolution
Color TFT LCD with LED back light
Sensitive Touch screen
HSPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM Function
Internal antenna
HSPA/UMTS 900/2100 MHz and GSM/GPRS/EDGE
850/900/1800/1900
HSDPA
3GPP Release 5 compliant
DL up to 7.2 Mbps and UL up to 384 Kbps
EGPRS Functionality
EGPRS class B
Multi-slot class 12 (10 Operator dependent)
PBCCH
GPS
Internal GPS antenna
NMEA 0183
Digital Camera
3.2 MP Color CMOS with fixed focus
Wireless LAN
WiFi 802.11 b/g
Keyboard/Button/Switch
Power button (top)
Short Press: system suspend/resume
Long Press: power on/off
Xtracker (5 way navigation plus wheel)
Send/hands-free button
Long press during the call: handsfree on/off
End button
2 programmable AP buttons
Navigation button
HTC Footprints button
Volume Up/Down button (left side)
Reset
Notification
Notification by sound, vibration, LEDs or status shown
on the display
Audio
Built-in Microphone
Receiver
Loud speaker for Hands-Free supported
Device to Device Connectivity
Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR

Interface
1.8/3V SIM card slot
HTC ExtUSB (11-pin, mini-USB and audio jack in one)
MicroSD card slot
Power
Battery, 1100 mAh
AC adaptor, 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
In-car mode detection
When the device is docked in the Iolite-specific car holder, device will automatically launch the specially designed in-car mode UI and applications
Stylus
Lanyard Hole
Accessories
Quick Start Guide [Inbox]
CD (User manual & Sync. software) [Inbox]
Screen Protector [Inbox]
Stylus [Inbox]
Travel charger (AC adapter) [Inbox]
USB Sync Cable (mini-USB/USB) [Inbox]
Battery [Inbox]
Wired stereo headset, [Inbox]
Pouch (Carrying Case)[Inbox]
Car Charger [Inbox]
Specific design car holder [Inbox]
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Applications
Microsoft Outlook Mobile
Messaging (SMS/E-mail), Contacts, Calendar,
Tasks, Email Set Up Wizard
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft Media Player Mobile
Microsoft ActiveSync
Microsoft Windows Mobile Update
Internet Sharing
Pictures & Videos
Games
File Explorer
Device Management
Security Enhancement
Microsoft Office Mobile
Microsoft Windows Live!
Microsoft Smart Dial
Microsoft Remote Desktop Mobile
Value-Added Applications
Camera / Camcorder
Ring Tone enhancements
Pictures & Videos enhancements
Opera Browser
RSS Hub
YouTube Client
EZ-INPUT
MMS Client
GPS/LBS
Google Maps for Mobile
Quick GPS
TouchFLO
Task Manager
Voice Recorder
Zip
Document Viewer – PDF
Java virtual machine
Voice Speed Dial
Long Press End Key Menu
Comm manager
STK
SIM manager
GPS navigation SW
Navigation Panel
HTC Footprints
O2 Operator Settings


EXTERNALS AND HARDWARE

WHAT'S IN THE BOX O2 have provided both pre-release models and a final 'consumer' box kit for this review, so we believe we have all aspects of the device covered from the boxing to the looks and operation of the machine.

The box contained: Xda Guide Handset Charger Battery Spare Stylus USB cable Pouch Enhanced Stereo headset Applications CD including Full User Manual Xda Guide Quick Start Guide CoPilot 7 Quick Start Guide Screen Protector 1Gb MicroSD card with CoPilot 7 Activation key card for CoPilot 7 Warranty Card Car Cradle Car Charger

The boxing itself comprises two inner boxes, the lower box holds the car kit mount and the gooseneck, etc and the other box the Guide itself, the cables, charger, pouch, battery (inside the pouch), and underneath that the bag containing the documentation. So all in all a goodly package contained within functional basic packaging. It is useful though that the car kit components are packed separately as you may have no immediate use for these.

Note: The Applications CD contents include:

Windows Mobile Device Handbook (for PC install)
Windows Mobile Device Centre (for Vista)
Details on 'Additional Windows Mobile Resources' (Microsoft Site)
Details on 'Free Ringtones, Downloads, Help and Other Benefits' (Microsoft Site)
Details on 'How to Set Up E-mail'
Outlook 2007 60 day trial (CD install)
Outlook 2007 60 day trial (web download install)

The above are accessible via the CD's auto-run menu. However on browsing the disk ActiveSync for Windows XP can also be located:

Microsoft ActiveSync 4.5 (for Windows XP)

It looks like O2 are really cutting costs a little here as there is no longer Sprite backup or Spb GPRS monitor included on the CD which is a pity.

CASE The 'Pouch' is basically that, being a plastic woven mesh 'sock' which loosely holds the guide within. It it not hardy enough to be considered a protective case as it has no impact protection at all apart from the weave itself, and probably mainly is intended to prevent the Guide from getting scratched.

THE HEADSET The headset supplied with the Guide is exactly the same as supplied with the Xda Ignito and as such is a great improvement compared to those offered with prior Xda models. It comprises two distinct parts: Earphone component - which sports a 3.5mm (standard) jack plug, stereo earphones and a sliding spacing bar which allows you to control the spread of the wires once fitted. The ear pieces when fitted with the foam comfort pads fit well in the ear and are reasonably comfortable to wear. However as the jack plug is the 3.5mm standard size used in third party headsets you are free to replace this portion of the headset with a more expensive comfortable third party model of your choice.

Control module - This comprises the control module itself and a metre of connecting cable which terminates into the HTC modified USB connector which fits into the bottom of the Guide. The module supports a number of top mounted remote controls such as: - Answer call, terminate call, play track, pause track, previous / next track, volume up / down, with the side supporting additional controls for putting a call on hold or for muting the volume. The back of the control module sports a spring loaded plastic clip which allows it to be conveniently clipped onto a shirt or jacket collar.

FIRST LOOKS AND FRONT On wrestling the Guide from it's box, you are immediately struck by the small size of the device. On comparison with an O2 XDA Serra, the Guide is a little shorter and roughly half as thick. The svelte size of the Guide coupled with it's nicely rounded corners ensured that it sat nicely in rather large hands, and surprisingly, the Guide is an incredibly light device, adding to its appeal. The Guide follows the current tradition of flush touch screens, and that means no raised edges to interfere with stylus-free interaction with the device. As with other devices, the screen is somewhat of a fingerprint magnet, but because it is so bright & clear, that isn't much of a detraction from the overall aesthetic. One aspect of the device that strikes home is the large scroll wheel on the lower half of the device, that being said, it is directly comparable to the scroll-wheel on the XDA Orbit II, so original Orbit II owners should feel right at home with the Guide. The scroll s a multi function affair, allowing the standard 4 way navigation control, also allowing rotation of the wheel both clockwise & anti-clockwise, with the centre being the more usual action button. The scroll wheel is flanked on both sides by a set of 4 hardware buttons, to the left one finds the call answer button and immediately above that a Copilot launch button, whilst to the right the lower button provides the call end functionality, whilst above that is a specific hardware button to load the custom footprints application (more on this later!).

The main controls / functions on the front of the Guide are: 1 - Co-Pilot - Press to load the Co-Pilot Satellite navigation application 2 - FootPrints - Press to load the Footprints application. 3 - TALK/SEND - Press to answer an incoming call or dial a number. During a call, press and hold to toggle the speaker phone on and off. Press and hold to use Voice Speed Dial. 4 - END - Press to end a call or return to the Home screen. Press and hold to lock the device. 5 - Navigation Control - This Navigation Control allows both 4 way & rotational control.

THE BOTTOM PORTS The base of the Guide is minimalistic in features and contains from left to right: HTC custom USB port - this serves to allow the device to be fitted with either a power charger (mains or car), PC sync cable or the wired headset. The very small hole top right (set into the black body) is the input microphone.

STYLUS / STYLUS SILO The Guide uses a one piece stylus, it is some 79mm in length (compared to 92mm on the Orbit) and relatively comfortable to use when held despite the sharp edges that are found on the stylus head. The nose is nicely shaped similar to a spear head and therefore when being used the shank does not interfere in any way with screen visibility. There is a locking mechanism to hold the stylus in it's silo by means of a ridge about one third of the way up the shaft It is worth noting that the Guide's back cover has to be removed to get at the red reset button which is cunningly (and annoyingly) positioned inside the machine within a hole on the opposite side to the stylus silo. That to me is a rather annoying design feature, it should have been accessible without removing the back of the machine.

THE TOP FACE The top of the Guide is very plain and understated holding only the on / off / standby button. Press to turn on or turn off the display temporarily. To turn off the power, press and hold for about 5 seconds. A message prompts you to choose whether or not to turn off the device completely. Like the original HTC Touch, this button is quite long but only seems sensitive on one side, which takes a little getting used to.

THE LEFT HAND SIDE Volume Buttons - There is just one long volume button. Pressing it towards the top increases the volume, pressing it towards the bottom decreases the volume. It is VERY long so there is no chance of accidentally pressing it the wrong way. I find it a lot less fiddly than the slider used on previous devices.

THE RIGHT HAND SIDE The right hand side continues the spartan theme to the extreme, with nothing visible at all apart from the side of the stylus / silo. There are no controls at all.

THE BACK FACE, CAMERA, BACK REMOVAL AND BATTERY The back of the Guide contains only the 3.2 MegaPixel camera and a small speaker grille. There is no port for an external GPS antenna or any vanity mirror as found on some prior Xda machines. The back / battery cover is removed by getting a finger nail (or the stylus) into a little cut-out at the bottom, just above the USB port. It comes away fairly easily but there is enough resistance to stop it popping over from anything other than a fairly severe drop. Once the cover is removed the Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery is revealed.

SIM LOADING With the back of the Guide removed one can take hold of the battery and gently prise it out of position using the strap to reveal that it is the same 1100mAh unit currently seen in the top-end HTC Touch Diamond 2. Once removed this allows one to slide the SIM card under the holding strip. There is no locking mechanism as such, the strip serves to hold the SIM against the contacts. Once the battery has been popped back into place it does however butt up against the end of the SIM card and prevents it moving out of its position under the strap. The MicroSD card slot also sits under the battery cover (but can be swapped without removing the battery) and there is a red reset button that can be pushed with the stylus.

EXTERNAL STORAGE The Guide takes the standard MicroSD Memory Card and the slot for this overlaps that for the SIM Card. It does mean that you have to remove the back cover to swap memory cards but you don't have to remove the battery. Obviously, this is slightly less convenient than having it on the side but it also prevents the usual pocket-dust and fluff from getting in. I've certainly not found it to be a problem so far. As for card capacities, I've been using a 16GB card with no problems at all and I see no reason why it shouldn't be fine with a 32GB card as and when these become available With the SIM card and memory card loaded and the batty back in place the back cover can be slid downwards back into position where it will lock with a dull click.

SIZE MATTERS

The Guide will invariably be compared to the Orbit 2 for performance, specifications and size As you can see the Guide is slightly smaller than the Orbit II in all dimensions and, in particular, is significantly narrower. In use, this does make a big difference as it makes the guide as easy to use one-handed as the HTC Touch It scores on weight too where it is 7 grams lighter than the Orbit II

THE SCREEN

The last and probably one of the most important aspects of the hardware that requires discussion is that of the screen. Whilst not one of the fancy VGA panels we've seen in phones like the Ignito, this 2.8" QVGA screen is very bright and clear and serves it's purpose well. Like all the Touch phones, it is flush with the case, making it much easier to press buttons in the corners or scroll-bars down the sides. Lighting appears bright and even across the whole screen and, so far, in the few spells of bright spring sunshine we have seen recently, the screen has proven to be one of the more readable in direct sunlight - aided, I'm sure, my the light sensor which auto-magically adjusts the brightness of the panel according to the ambient light conditions. This is a particularly nice touch for a device destined to spend a fair proportion of it's time serving as a sat-nav in cars, where lighting can vary dramatically in a short period of time.

All images have been processed using the superb SnagIt from TechSmith

HARDWARE CONCLUSIONS

O2 have worked closely with HTC to re-engineer their navigation-centric Xda machines in the past but, unlike the Orbit 2, the external housing appears not to have been changed from the HTC reference design (HTC Iolite), with only The Xda and O2 logos being added. In fairness, this is probably because HTC themselves appear to have gone with a case much closer in appearance to the Orbit II than to their own Touch Cruise.

The machine is perhaps not quite as well constructed as the higher end devices with the odd creak from the back-cover and it lacks such luxuries as a VGA screen or accelerometer. However, it could be argued that, whilst nice to haves, these are more about appearances whilst the guide is all about getting out and about and getting things done with it's A-GPS, HSDPA, fast processor and abundance of memory. The screen is bright and clear, the battery - whilst not outstanding - gives a full days hard use and you can just about eake out a weekend if you're very careful and the tiny size lends itself well to being used one-handed with a 3rd party SIP such as Resco's Keyboard.

Of course the hardware is only part of the story so we'll move onto examining the internals of the device next and also see how it performs in the real world!

INTERNALS AND APPLICATIONS

In this overview of the internals / applications on the Xda Guide we will not cover or look at all applets and programs that the device has built into ROM, as that would be in large a review of the Windows Mobile operating system - we will highlight only applications or programs that have been added by O2 or screens that show interesting changes that have come to light with this ROM build.

Touch FLO 2D The Guide is the latest machine to market where HTC have included their 'touch' interface - in this case the older 2D style. This interface is in actuality a single large (approx 9Mb) Today plug-in which gives twelve differing panels for the user to work with. These are: Home People Messages Mail Footprints Internet Photos and Videos Music Weather Map Search Settings Programs Each of the panels interface with the user via 'touch', that being the panels can be navigated through by holding and sliding across the grey slide bar at the bottom of the screen. As the finger slides across the various panels are previewed in a light grey colour and when the finger movement is ceased the required panel darkens and becomes current. Each individual panel can further be interacted with either through stroking the screen up / down or left / right or by use of the on screen soft buttons. We'll cover each of the panels in detail next. Touch FLO 2D is an incredibly useful and cool interface in my opinion and has resulted in my loading a lot less third party applications as these are in effect included as standard on the machine. The only drawback of the system is that if it is in place on the Today Screen it prevents any other Today applets from being used as it does take over the entire screen.

Home The Home tab initially shows a large analogue clock detailing the current time with a digital clock kind of watermarked behind it a little to the right. Below this is an indicator to tell you if you have active alarms set. A quick tap takes you in to configure your alarms. Below this sits a tappable 'Call History' area which takes you into the 'Missed Calls' tab. Below that is the next forthcoming or all day appointment. If any appointment is tapped upon it will open in the Calendar application to show more details. If the Clock is tapped on it will open to allow you to set the time, or to configure any required alarms.

People The People tab allows you to create favourite contacts of the people you most often communicate with. To do this you tap on the '+' sign which takes you into the contacts selector from where you can select a phone number (Work, Home, or Mobile) or an e-mail address for that contact. If a contact has a photo assigned (via Exchange) that photo will be used or, if not, you can select a picture or silhouette from the photo library. You can have a maximum of 12 favourite contacts arranged in a three by four grid with six of those contacts viewable at any one time. You use your finger to slide the screen up and down to view the other contacts. Touching the Contact picture allows you to phone the contact on any number, send an e-mail or a text message. If the text (or symbol) beneath the picture is tapped then the default action you defined when setting up the contact is actioned immediately. The left soft-key takes you to the main contacts screen although I have noticed that, if you have a third party contacts manager installed, it will take you to that instead - which is a really nice touch as other shell replacements seem unable to manage this.

Messages The Messages tab allows you to view any incoming Text Messages (SMS / MMS) as they arrive as well as create new ones. To move through the various messages you simply swipe the finger up or down the screen or touch the arrows above or below the counter icon. Replying to the message is simple: you just tap upon it which will then open the message on screen for you to reply to. The new message icon can be tapped (top right) to create a new message. The SMS messaging system is fully threaded so you can see the flow and history of any conversations. The 'All Messages' soft button allows you to access all text, picture and video messages on the Guide in the various Inbox folders. The 'Menu' soft button allows you the options of 'New. Reply, Forward or Delete'.

Mail The Mail tab allows you to receive, preview and send e-mail messages. A maximum of four e-mail accounts can be added to this tab. Each e-mail account has it's own e-mail counter so you can instantly see how many emails are unread in each mail account. The counter can be tapped upon to switch between accounts. For the active mail account the large envelope is displayed which details the name of the account (bottom right) and shows a preview of the messages in that account. Swiping up / down the screen serves to switch between the emails being previewed. If you tap on the previewed e-mail it will open in the Inbox application and you can then read or reply to that e-mail using the standard email editor. Touching the New E-mail icon (top right) opens a new e-mail in the Inbox immediately. It's worth noting that swiping the screen sideways also moves you between the different e-mail accounts which includes the SMS / MMS message folders.

Photos and Videos This tab allows you to visually flip through your photos and video clips by swiping up / down the screen with your finger. If you touch the current photo or video on screen you can then view it in full screen mode. Tapping on that full size image allows you access to the album, start a sideshow, e-mail the picture, save it to a contact, save it, delete it, or view its properties. Swiping left / right in full image view serves to move you through each photo in turn. You can draw a half-circle either clockwise or anti-clockwise to rotate a photo in that direction or draw a complete clockwise circle around a part of the photo to zoom in on that part. Drawing an anti-clockwise circle serves to zoom you back out. Double tapping resets the image back to the original fit to screen view. Once in the Album you can swipe through your various saved pictures or switch between any folders on the device in which pictures or videos are stored. From the main tab itself you can use the icons top right to initiate the camera for taking a photo or video.

The Camera The camera software included is the updated HTC application which replaces the camera part of the 'Pictures and Videos' application. This offers a one screen display consisting of a central view finder with adjustment / mode controls surrounding it. Options used for the camera may be changed by tapping on the surrounding icons or via selecting the bottom right 'menu' icon (options icon). When actuated the screen rotates into landscape mode and in effect becomes the viewfinder for the camera. Taking a picture is simple, you depress the action button and wait for the image to freeze into a picture-preview mode with an accompanying shutter sound. This preview gives you options to return to camera mode, switch to the album, delete the picture just taken or send the picture by e-mail/MMS or save it to footprints (more of which later).

HTC have included a Quick Settings panel that allows one to quickly vary the: Resolution White Balance Brightness Storage Medium used Camera Mode Call timer Digital zoom is available from 1x to 2x. This is operated via either rotating the scroll-ring clockwise or anti-clockwise, using navigation left / right, or via using the on screen zoom icons. Navigating up / down (or left / right - as it is in landscape mode) serves to switch through the varying photo modes which are available via the regular options.

Modes - Photo, Video, Panormama, MMS Video, Contacts Picture, Themed Picture (various frames) and GPS Photo Resolution - 1M / 2M / 3M / M / L White Balance - Auto / Day / Night / Incandescent / Fluorescent Brightness Camera - Front / Back / Back (flipped) Self Timer - On / Off Review Duration - none / 3 secs / 10 secs / no limit Quality - Basic / Normal / Fine / Super Fine Capture format - JPEG Time Stamp - On / Off Storage - Internal Storage / Main Memory Keep Backlight - On / Off Shutter Sound - On / Off Shoot Option - Touch and Press / Touch / Full Press Image Properties - Contrast / Saturation / Sharpness Effect - None / Greyscale / Sepia / Negative Metering Mode - Center Area / Average Prefix - Default / Date / Date and Time Counter - Value / Reset Flicker Adjustment - Auto / 50Hz / 60Hz Grid - On / Off Help - Help system About

Photo Resolutions available are:


Photo

• 3M (2048 x 1536) 1.0x to 2.0x
• 2M (1600 x 1200) 1.0x to 2.0x
• 1M (1280 x 960) 1.0x to 2.0x
• Large (640 x 480) 1.0x to 2.0x
• Medium (320 x 240) 1.0x to 4.0x

Video

• CIF (352 x 288 ) 1x and 1.5x
• Large (320 x 240) 1x and 1.5x
• Medium (176 x 144) 1x and 1.5x
• Small (128 x 96) 1x and 1.5x

Panorama

• Large (640 x 480) 1x and 2x
• Medium (320 x 240) 1x, 2x and 4x
• MMS Video
• Medium (176 x 144) 1x and 1.5x
• Small (128 x 96) 1x and 1.5x

Contacts

• Picture Medium (240 x 320) 1.0x to 4.0x

EXAMPLE PHOTOS

The following photographs of St. Pauls Cathedral were taken with the XDA Guide at each resolution setting offered by the camera application and set to a 'fine' picture quality (Click on each thumbnail to see full image):

320x 240

640x480

1280x960

1600x1200

2048x1536

In all cases the settings were left fully automatic and the Guide hand braced.

Music The Music tab allows you to visually browse through your albums and play music. Swiping up and down the screen allows you to flip through your albums and tracks. To move forward or backwards through the track touch, hold and slide your finger along the progress bar. Tapping the menu option allows you to set up a music playlist and to configure repeat or shuffle modes as well as accessing the track's properties, the audio booster and an option to set the current track as your ringtone. The left hand soft key allows you to access and work with the library on the machine. The library also allows you to browse and play music and also organises the tracks into categories such as title, artist and genre. It's worth noting that the music player on this tab fully supports the bluetooth AVRCP standard for controlling your music via the controls on bluetooth stereo headphones. This means, with TouchFlo 2D always active, playing music can be as simple as turning on your bluetooth headphones and hitting the play button on them!

Weather The weather tab on the Guide allows you to check the weather both locally and around the world. As standard the Guide is configured with four default global weather locations and these can be navigated through by swiping up / down the screen or tapping the up / down arrows. A large symbol towards the top indicates todays weather with four smaller icons providing a summary for the next four days. The left soft-key will manually refresh the forecast and the right soft-key provides you with the tools to add and remove cities and access an options screen where you can choose to view the temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius and whether or not the weather should update itself automatically. Rather nicely, if you choose to leave it to perform automatic updates, you can choose to disable this when roaming - good touch! Alas, they seem to have dropped the association with Accuweather that was in previous versions of Touch Flow and I miss this as the 1-icon system doesn't really cut it for weather in the UK where four seasons are not so much a daily occurrence as hourly It does, though, have the neat "windscreen wiper" animation when the forecast is for rain. Useless, but really fun and at least it (sort of) makes up for the bad weather.

Google Maps The Map Search tab in Touch Flow allows you to make geographic searches and view the results within Google Maps. So, for example, if you wanted to know the nearest petrol station to Liverpool John Lennon Airport (like I did) you can enter the search "Liverpool John Lennon, Petrol" and Google will pop-up a map with petrol stations plotted around the airport for you. Past searches are saved to ease repeated searches and the left soft-key will just take you straight to Google Maps, bypassing the need to perform a search. Although not a feature I have used a lot, when I have it has proven to be highly accurate and very useful.

Settings The settings tab allows you to modify common configurational aspects of the Guide from one common place. You can access your ActiveSync/Push-Mail settings, phone and system sound profiles, set the wallpaper (which, strangely, only works on the Homescreen, not on any of the others?), modify location based settings such as enabling AGPS or access the Comm Manager. The new Comm Manager allows you to switch on/off flight mode, cellular radio, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Push mail and the Data Connection.

Internet The Internet tab allows you to tap the globe and launch the Opera Mobile browser which is installed on the Guide as a superior replacement to Pocket Internet Explorer. As an alternative to that you may swipe up / down the tab to reveal your bookmarks and tap on any one of those to go directly to that site. You can tap the left hand soft key to manage your bookmarks. Once Opera has loaded a web site you can zoom in on areas of interest via double tapping the screen. To zoom out just double tap again. Once in zoomed mode you can navigate round the screen via simply dragging the page with your finger. This version of the Opera Browser (9.5) supports Javascript and seemed happy with any of my regular web sites. It's definitely the best of the Windows Mobile browsers I've used with Flash being the only obvious omission meaning you'll need to install something like SkyFire if you want to view BBC iPlayer content and the like.

Program The Program tab serves as a quick launcher for programs whereby you can set favourite programs to execute at a single tap of the screen. As a default O2 have set this to use a set of commonly used applications such as YouTube, Getting Started, E-mail, File Manager, etc. If you tap the Remove soft key an 'X' will appear in the bottom right corner of the icons, and if you then tap that icon it will be removed from the tab. If you tap 'Done' then you will return to the launch tab and any icons that have had applications removed will be showing a '+' symbol. Tapping on that symbol will bring up a scrolling list of installed applications which you can swipe through and then tap the icon you wish to add as a shortcut to that icon. The programs tab itself is swipable and can be moved up and down to reveal additional launch slots (12 in all). Tapping the All programs soft key will take you to the standard windows mobile programs screen.

All the Applications This extended screen shot details the entire list of applications loaded on the Guide after a hard reset of the machine. As well as the standard Windows Mobile application-set O2 have added: Adobe Reader LE - for viewing Acrobat PDF files Google Maps - For viewing locational based maps with basic street navigation Opera Browser - Fully featured web browser RSS Hub - which allows you to subscribe to and view RSS feed on the move Voice Recorder - Application for taking voice notes YouTube - For viewing and downloading YouTube videos Zip - For working with PC-Zip files CoPilot - a turn-by-turn SatNav application Footprints - An app for recording pictures/notes etc and associating them with a location

RSS HubThis has been around for a while now but this version does a great job of allowing you to manage your RSS feeds and keep up to date with an unread items. Subscribing to an RSS feed is as simple as ticking a box (it also supports OPML or you can just type in a URL) and there are options for how often you want your feeds updating, where you want to store them and if you want to be notified when new items arrive.

CoPilot Live 7This is a fully featured turn-by-turn SatNav application and, certainly within the UK market, is the main rival TomTom. It's inclusion with the Guide, along with the car cradle and in-car charger, really does turn this little device into a fully-fledged SatNav and I've been using it happily as such for a while. To provide a full description of CoPilot would be a review in itself; but I needn't bother because our own WaveyDavey has already done one here (CoPilot Live! (7) Review). Suffice to say, it has everything you could need, THE most extensive maps of the main providers and really pushes the Guide up to a whole new level of functionality.

NaviPanelThis is a curious and clever little beast. Basically, there is some clever piece of shenanigans going on between the Guide and the supplied Windscreen mount whereby, whenever you place the Guide in the mount, a piece of software (the NaviPanel) automatically launches. This panel has six huge buttons, designed to be easy to press whilst in the car, and provides easy access to common GPS related functions. Clock-Wise from the top-left you have Footprints, allowing you to navigate to any recorded footprint using CoPilot. Next up is an icon to just access the phone to make a (handsfree!!!!) call. Then you can call up an address to navigate to from your contacts list. The bottom-right icon just launches CoPilot. Bottom-left pulls up a list of places you have recently been to and last of all is a "Take me Home" button which, alas, doesn't drive the car home for you when you can't be bothered but, instead, uses CoPilot to plot a route to your home address from wherever you may be. The auto-launching of the panel can be de-activated from an applet in the Windows settings but I've found it to be hugely useful so it has remained active in my car. Besides, the novelty of it launching when I plug the phone into the cradle hasn't worn off yet. Much as we might tell our bank-managers that Windows Mobile devices are essential items for running our lives we all enjoy a good dose of CoolFactor! every once in a while.

YouTube The YouTube application allows you to connect to the YouTube servers and download videos for viewing. You may look through All Videos, Top Rated, Featured, Most Viewed, Search for any videos, and view the history of what you have viewed. Be warned though that this application is very data intensive so you either need a an unlimited 3G account or to use WiFi to download the videos. It does the job, the videos suite the Guide's screen quite well and search and navigation are a doddle. It's just a simple little app that works with no fuss.

Settings The personal settings are completely vanilla WM6.1, no great surprises here at all. The only device specific customisation of note is that the 'Buttons' applet only has one setting for the only customisable button on the Guide. This is the 'Start Call' button which if held down will activate the application defined here and is set, by default, to voice speed dial.

Device Info This confirms the good news that the Guide includes the latest 528MHz Qualcomm processor, as used in the high-end HTC devices at the moment, along with that gargantuan 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM.

Power / Battery management This has remained pretty much the same for a long while in Windows Mobile. The only new things of note here are a tab for the automatic back light adjustment (using the ambient light sensor) and an updated information tab that tells you when you last fully charged the device and, since then, how much time it has spent being actively used and how much just sat idle.

Long Press End Key This tab is within the Buttons applet and controls what happens when you press and hold down the End Call key. As standard it is set to lock the device but can be adjusted by the user to display a quick list of functions or carry out other pre-set default actions.

Managed Programs Managed Programs Displays the programs that are installed on your device using System Center Mobile Device Manager (SCMDM). This means that, in a corporate environment, if SCMDM has been used to push install any applications to your Guide this is how you will be able to see what has been installed.

TouchFLO The Touch FLO applet allows you to somewhat configure the Touch FLO system. The first setting, which O2 wisely set to off, is that of having a sound sample play when finger scrolling or panning. You can turn it on if you so wish but be warned it becomes annoying very very quickly! You can also toggle on and off the large start menu whereby the start menu font is increased in size and the 'last run' programs at the top of the menu are increased in size - both good options for finger use. Lastly, you can toggle on or off the System Status screen. This replaces the WM6.1 standard notification bubble system with a finger friendly touchable full screen notification selector. This works well.

A Touch FLO effect is also used when the Volume controls are used to lower or raise the sound level. This full screen display will pop onto the screen and give you a visual and audible (rising or lowering tone) indication that the volume level has been changed. You can also tap the 'Vibrate' and 'Silent' buttons to switch to less intrusive modes of notification. Tapping on either "System" or "Ring" at the top allows you to switch the volume control between those two distinct settings. The Task Manager has also been enhanced on the Guide to use finger friendly controls which make it very easy to switch / stop applications as well as view the memory currently in use on the device.

A Touch too far? It seems at times, however, that HTC have gone a little too far with the 'touch' mentality. Yes we have a very cool Touch 2D system and the Navigation wheel but we've lost as a default the Sounds and Notifications Events warning. As standard this is turned off so if you get an incoming e-mail or SMS message the only sign of it arriving will be the glow of the LED light. Also there is no comforting "blink" to let you know the phone is connected to a network. This can be hugely frustrating as you can't tell if the device is completely switched off or if the screen is off and it is just in "power save" mode.

Enhanced SIP It is worth noting that the SIP (Soft Input Panels) on the Guide have been enhanced with the addition of two new panels: Full QWERTY - Which is a reasonably good finger friendly input system that will suit those users moving from a QWERTY keyboard. Pressing and holding for a second or two on a key serves to activate the light grey characters on the keys. Compact QWERTY - This is aimed at the user who is moving on to the Guide from a more regular number pad based mobile phone and can be easily switched between multitap and T9 text entry modes. I'm not normally a fan of T9 or on-screen SIPs but I found the compact QWERTY helped to make the Guide great for firing off quick replies to Text messages one handed - even with my giant hands.

CPU and Memory The Xda Guide is kitted out with the new 32bit Qualcomm MSM7225 processor running at 528MHz, this is a new breed of chip running on the very latest HTC devices as well as soon to be released ones too. This processor, coupled with the 1100mAh battery and QVGA screen, lends itself to prolonged use out of the battery, which has proved to be the case. The available memory in both ROM and RAM is a wonder to behold after owning previous XDA machines. There is a very generous 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM. This is a dream come true in reality as you will be pushing the device to it's very limits to run out of either, plus you have the storage card option to increase the available RAM even higher! Free memory after a hard reset: Storage Total: 340.23MB In Use: 48.58MB Free: 291.65MB Program Total: 186.73MB In Use: 69.63MB Free: 117.10MB

Phone Interface The Phone dialler is standard Windows Mobile 6.1 fare. This isn't a bad thing though as it does work extremely well and is very finger friendly. The dialler itself comes with the usual box of tricks, one of which is smart dial. This tries to predict the phone number you are going to dial when you start to enter the digits, and offers a list of numbers below to tap on to dial. From the soft-menu, options are found to adjust connectivity between various bands (2G and 3G in reality) as well as controlling other options such as PIN security, Ringtones, Services, Network etc. As an added bonus the Xda Guide is not SIM locked, so you can switch SIMs at will between service providers without too much hassle. It is just a case of installing another service provider's phone settings.

PC INTEGRATION

PC INTEGRATION No problems here connecting to ActiveSync or Windows Mobile device centre using a data connection. It might be my imagination but it feels as though newer devices such as the Xda Guide connect much faster than they used to, with seemingly less problems too! Another nice touch, once connected to ActiveSync/WMDC, is the picture of the Xda Guide showing on the Desktop connection screen.

OVERALL CONCLUSION


The Guide is available to buy now in the O2 online stores, and is expected to be in stock in high street shops shortly.

Connectivity - The Guide supports HSDPA connectivity and O2 UK coverage is currently about 40% of current 3G areas and still growing.

Battery life - For me battery life is measured on how much of the working day I can get through without running out of power, or if the device survives with power remaining then how much is left by the time I reach home. Typically my average working day involves being connected to push mail from 7am to 10pm with about 20-30 e-mails in and out. I probably only make a few calls and send and receive 10 texts. I'll be on the Internet with either 3G or WiFi for at least half an hour and I'm listening to music over bluetooth for a good hour each day. Bluetooth is always on. I mainly use the device for PIM stuff so I'm constantly checking, editing, deleting appointments and tasks plus looking up things in several reference eBooks and working on spreadsheets and word. I would say a minimum 2 hours a day. Typically the Guide returned home with battery levels down to just over 50%. Using SatNav on my evening walks would then kill the battery further. There was certainly no problem with getting a full day out of it but I didn't find the battery up to the standards of the Orbit II where I could easily get two days heavy use or four days light use.

SatNav lock times - during the course of the review the Guide has been hard reset four or five times which has the side effect of clearing the GPS cache. Each time, after the reset, the Sat Nav system was initialised and times taken to achieve a first and secondary lock. First lock times were around two to three minutes and secondary locks were achieved anywhere from instantly to just a few seconds with QuickGPS data downloaded. Basically, it is on a par with all the latest Windows Mobile devices back to the Orbit II.

GPS Software - Taking into account the developmental history of the Xda series of machines and O2's prior relationship with ALK Technologies it is not surprising to find the very capable CoPilot 7 Live! GPS navigational software supplied with the Guide. Combined with the car kit it really does make the Guide a hugely useful navigation tool. I also installed my own copy of MemoryMap v5 and found the Guide coped perfectly well with running that and playing music over bluetooth stereo at the same time.

Bluetooth - It is worth mentioning that the Bluetooth system included within the Guide's ROM supports EDR, and according to the Bluetooth 2.0 specification, EDR provides the following benefits:

- Three times faster transmission speed — up to 10 times (2.1 Mbit/s) in some cases.
- Reduced complexity of multiple simultaneous connections due to additional bandwidth.
- Lower power consumption through a reduced duty cycle.

Certainly, I have found that leaving bluetooth on all the time made no difference to the battery life and using bluetooth stereo seemed to be far less power-hungry than of old. Also, the WM6.1 operating system supports auto-pairing whereby, when bonding the Guide to a hands free headset (for example), the machine will send the common pairing passwords for you which means, in most cases, that the pairing is achieved in seconds.

Camera - Camera quality is adequate and suitable for taking those quick snaps to record a holiday trip or an event which may occur whilst out and about. However HTC still have not realised that other non Windows Mobile camera phones have moved onward and improved the technology and quality of the cameras. This is the one area in which the Guide falls over and the camera needs to be improved in quality - 3.2Mp is adequate for a device like a PDA but the camera hardware itself needs to be improved to give better light balance, focus and depth. HTC have improved the camera software within the Guide, which allows one to gain significant photo improvements over the earlier machines, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

E-mail - As the Guide is a fully converged device, benefiting from an always on GPRS / HSDPA connection, Push E-mail, e-mail handling is an absolute pleasure - you are always in contact and in touch. Those features, along with the Enterprise facilities in the WM6.1 ROM for searching (and retrieving) Exchange server e-mails which are not stored locally on the device, together with HTML e-mail support make it a dream device for e-mail handling.

Signal Strength / Radio - I am lucky, in that I get very good mobile reception at home and at work. However, my parents live in a virtual black-spot. The Guide, like the Orbit II, will get a signal there where Nokias, SonyEricssons and iPhones cannot. In fact, it even gets a data signal - just. Call quality is also excellent.

Workhorse - I've been honoured to have the Guide in daily use since the first week of February (thanks O2) and I'm very impressed with most aspects of its design and function - The Touch FLO 2D combined with the small size and bright screen make it a positive joy to use. It's fast in operation and sleek. As a PIM device as well as Alarm Clock, eBook Reader, MP3 player, photo browser, mobile web device, Navigation System, and Messaging tool it has performed superbly. My only slight doubts, as a workhorse, would be around the build quality. It has shown no signs of wear but it just doesn't quite have the indestructible feel of earlier HTC devices.

PROS AND CONS

Pro Fast processor Small size and weight Large memory Inbuilt GPS 3G Quad band Bright screen Loud Volume Navigation Ring Full size stylus O2 added applications Fast Sat Nav locks TouchFlo 2D system Footprints Car mount and charger CoPilot 7 Live! Very fast boot times

Con Doesn't feel as sturdy as past XDA's Camera poor in less than ideal light Lack of customisable buttons No 3.5mm headphone socket natively on the device

THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS and ACCESSORIES

IN CAR MOUNT


On of the most useful parts of the 'Guide Kit' as supplied by O2 is the car kit itself which comprises a good quality (i.e very little flexing at all under driving conditions) gooseneck with a strong suction mount and the car mount itself which slides and locks into position on the gooseneck.

The mount serves to hold the guide in the car in a flexible manner as the gooseneck / suction mount arrangement means it can fit to any convenient location on your windscreen, both with respect to the positioning of the Guide for ease of use without eclipsing the windscreen and impairing your view of the road. Well done O2!

Again all images shown above are thumbnails which may be clicked upon to load a larger more detailed image.