HTC TOUCH HD2, that has 1GHz Snapdragon processor and Windows Mobile 6.5 won't be landing in US. This is shame as this is the phone that could have given the iPhone a run for its money. As Gizmodo points out, this phone is actually thinner than the iPhone! [...]

Look’s like folks at Microsoft are doing the SWOT analysis of late because they have become very serious with their competitor’s strategy. The giant which displayed losses this financial year, is pretty much going in for some serious strategy development. The rumor is from the Taiwan Mobile Market that indicates Oct 1 as launch date of Windows Mobile 6.5 while mid of Q1 of 2010,i.e., Feb as the release date of Windows Mobile 7. The MS may battle with Android first by releasing the 6.5 version at a cheaper rate in Oct while targeting the iPhone-based platform in Feb by introducing Windows Mobile 7. The strategy may be out of blue for many, but Microsoft’s actions will determine the real word. [...]

The global turmoil made many smartphone fans get their hands off the expensive handsets. But here’s a news that may excite the Verizon customers – a $99 smartphone. The scheme’s speculated to be valid for the existing smartphones carried by the telecom co. The HTC’s trendy mobile phones – Pro 2 and Diamond 2 are supposed to be covered under the new scheme. The 2-yr contract price of $ 99 also prevails for Samsung Omnia and some Blackberrys;and seems very reasonable when seen with the contemporary 1 yr and other such contracts that tend to touch more than $120. Getting a hefty competition from iPhone 3G, the move by Verizon Wireless seems a good move. Let’s see how much delighted are the customer’s by the move. [...]

Iris Browser is a web browser based on web-kit. Folks at Iris have released an updated version, which adds/fixes the following:

• Improved canvas support - curves,  transparency fixes, and more
• Application cache support
• Some networking and javascript fixes
• Flash reliability fixes
• The link click animation has been removed, by popular request
• A security fix in SVG support
• Preliminary RTSP support and a Windows Media plugin.  Also the beginning of HTML5 audio/video support (more to come here)
• Fixes for various iPhone sites, including Google calendar and reader

[Download the latest version]

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ASUS P835 is a great device, but won't be able to surpass devices like HTC DIAMOND 2. Reason? It is an unfinished device. Read to review to find out why [...]