SBSH is a Windows Mobile software house that has been releasing a slew of quality software for the Windows Mobile phones from quite sometime. Although, they have released their first iPhone application just few days back, they have once again proved that they are still a huge supporter of Windows Mobile by releasing a quality application, SBSH GoNews

Interface

SBSH has focused a lot on making this application as finger-friendly as possible. Infact, it is the first RSS reader for Windows Mobile which is ‘this’ finger friendly. I am a fond of finger-friendly applications and thus love its interface.

Immediately after installation, you are asked to create a channel. You can choose from a list of pre-loaded channels. You also have the option to add a feed by entering its RSS feed URL.

When downloading, it shows a down arrow indicating that it is downloading content for ‘that’ channel.

Once you are in the RSS feed, you can mark all the posts as read, unread, delete all items and so on!

While you are in the post, by clicking on the same menu as shown above, you can increase or decrease the size of the whole post. This feature works great especially in VGA and WVGA devices as you can make good use of all the extra pixels you have over the QVGA users!

By default, the GoNews loads images in the RSS feeds, but that can result in huge bills if you are not on an unlimited data connection. Fortunately, GoNews does provide an option to turn off the images. This will also make downloading content from the RSS feeds faster.

Setting Screen

Turn off "Show images" to save bandwidth

You can also tell GoNews to automatically update the content after a certain interval or whenever you connect it to Activesync.

Backup

This is something no RSS feeder for Windows Mobile. The GoNews lets you backup all of your RSS feeds in an OPML file, which is compatible with most RSS readers used on Desktops.

Final Thoughts

SBSH GoNews is a feature packed RSS reader for Windows Mobile. It provides great user experience with its pleasant interface and finger friendly controls. It can backup your precious RSS feeds so that you can get them back incase you loose them. Along with the fabulous support, you cannot go wrong with this application! We RECOMMEND IT.

What is great about GoNews?

• Finger friendly interface
• Streamlined design
• Ability to backup RSS feed URLs
• Font size can be adjusted
• Can auto-update on Activesync connect

What I expect in the future versions?

• More support for gestures
• Channel library should have more RSS feeds
• There should be a download bar when downloading content
• No today plugin for taking a quick glance at the RSS feeds

[SBSH GoNews Official Product Page]

Samsung Propel Pro is a Windows Mobile Smartphone that runs Windows Mobile Standard OS that is  meant for non-touch screen Windows Mobile phones. It comes with 128MB RAM and 256 ROM which is more than enough for the standard OS. It also comes packed with GPS, 3G and wifi, which makes it a pretty decent smartphone!

Craveonline has published a review of it and this is what they had to say about it:

I am really impressed with the look of the phone. The surface is a dark smooth metallic surface that gives it a sleek look. The size (3.9” x 2.4” x 0.6”) may appear bulky to some but at 4.83 ounces, it felt very sturdy to me. The sliding keyboard mechanism worked smoothly and did not feel cheap or flimsy while the joystick seemed out of place on the phone. The QWERTY keyboard on the Pro is fine but I would have liked for the keys to be spaced out more, the keys feel a bit cramped. The 320×320 screen looks great, the colors are vivid and the images are sharp.

The phone costs you $149 without contract

[Craveonline]

Mobilitysite have got hold of the Acer M900 and it surely is huge when compared to already-bulky HTC TOUCH PRO.

The ACER M900 is a Windows Mobile phone running 6.1 OS. It comes with a huge 3.8-inch WVGA display. Clearly, it is bound to give some stiff competition to the HTC TOUCH PRO 2, which also has a keyboard and WVGA display. However, it has smaller display size, 3.6-inch compared to 3.8-inch of M900. Does the 0.2-inch make a difference in real world use? Yes, they do as everything appears more bigger and whole system becomes more finger-friendly.

[Link to M900 pictures]

O2 has launched its own variant of HTC DIAMOND 2 in Germany, which will be known as XDA DIAMOND 2.

O2 XDA DIAMOND 2 german site

With the economic recession still plaguing the world economy, the normal consumer wants to get more features at the lowest price possible. This is where the HTC TOUCH VIVA truly shines. This pebble shaped Windows Mobile device packs a lot of features at a diminutive price. Do we recommend it? Read the review to find out!

Design

The Touch Viva has a pebble shaped design similar to now old HTC TOUCH, which was launched last year.

On the left side, you will find the up and down volume buttons to control the volume.

On the right side, you will find nothing. Remember that the HTC’s approach while designing this device was to keep the design as minimal as possible.

On the bottom, you will find the HTC’s ext-USB port which is used for charging, syncing and for earphones.

On the top, you will find the power button.

On the front of the device, you will find the speaker grill. As you move to the bottom, a 4-way DPAD can be found along with answer and end keys. The Touch Viva fits very nicely in hand thanks to its curvy design.

Screen

The VIVA has a non-flushed display with QVGA (240 x 320) resolution. This was quite unexpected as the VIVA was supposed to be a replacement of the original Touch, which had flushed display. The flushed display played a great role in improving the touch experience in the original HTC TOUCH. We are not saying that the recessed display has usage issues, but the flushed display would have improved the user experience.

The display is quite sensitive and registers taps and gestures easily. The sensitive display makes using the TouchFlo 2D an absolute pleasure.

Performance

Even though the VIVA comes with only 200MHz OMAP processor, it surprisingly does not lag in performance department. Infact, it is the fastest OMAP device I’ve ever used! The TouchFlo2D is blazingly fast on the TOUCH VIVA thanks to several HTC advancements.

The main reason is the increased RAM which is now 128MB as compared to the abyssal 64MB RAM which was found in its predecessor, HTC TOUCH. The users of HTC TOUCH got just 15-16MB free RAM after bootup, which ultimately bogged down the overall performance of the device. In TOUCH VIVA, you get nearly 65MB free RAM which lets you run many applications in the background without slowing down the device much.

Memory and Storage

As said above, it comes with 128MB of RAM. It has 256MB ROM out of which 115MB storage memory is available to the user.

The device also comes with a microSD slot which is hidden behind the back panel. Since it is SDHC compatible, it can accept storage cards upto 32GB.

Connectivity

The VIVA is a quad band GSM phone which comes with WiFi and BT.

Phone

The speaker (located at the back) of the TOUCH VIVA is quite loud. You will face no problems in hearing the ringtone in noisy crowd. The earpiece gives clear sound to the speaker. The phone picks up strong signals.

Camera

The VIVA comes with a 2MP camera. It does not come with auto-focus capability. Even then, it can take decent pictures in good lightning conditions. It does not come with flash. It can also record video at QVGA resolution @ 15FPS. Here are a couple of pictures that I took with the camera:

Stylus

The stylus is non-telescopic. The silo is located on the top right of the device.

Some Comparison shots with the TOUCH DIAMOND

Size comparisons give you an idea of overall feel of the device:

Battery Life

The VIVA comes with 1100mAh battery. Since it comes with an extremely power-frugal OMAP processor, it should be able to give you 2-3 days of battery life with normal usage. Even heavy usage should give you a full day battery life.

Comparison with TOUCH 3G:

• The 3G costs more than the TOUCH VIVA
• The difference in speed is not much between the two devices despite the fact that the VIVA uses OMAP processor
• TOUCH 3G uses flushed display, whereas the TOUCH VIVA uses recessed display.
• TOUCH 3G has 3G while TOUCH VIVA does not come with 3G built in.

So what is missing?

3G. Yes, but we are not complaining much about it as Touch VIVA is meant to be a budget device. Flushed screens are becoming a norm these days on the HTC phones. It makes us wonder why the HTC did not go for the flushed display. Did they do it to differentiate it from bigger model, HTC TOUCH 3G? Perhaps, yes.

For screenshots of TOUCHFLO2D and to learn more about it, read the software part of the HTC TOUCH 3G review.

—

Pros:

• Good battery life
• Fits nicely in hand
• TouchFLO2D is surprisingly fast on VIVA
• Good performance
• Minimal design
• Lots of free RAM
• SDHC support
• Good value for money

Cons:

• No 3.5mm earphone jack
• non-flushed screen
• Reset button behind back panel

HTC TOUCH VIVA official webpage