Real World Computing
No knocking Nokia
Strength of a TyTN
Speaking of brand-new phones, you'll hopefully also have read my review of HTC's TyTN II in last month's PC Pro, and I know that the Labs team is including a TyTN II in its smartphone group test this issue. My personal view is that it's an amazing device, although here are a couple of facts that either became apparent since my original review or that I didn't have space to include.
First, on a device that aims to do everything - phone, email, satnav, media player and camera - I was a bit disappointed that HTC didn't build in either a 2.5mm or 3.5mm headphone socket: instead, headphones need to be plugged into its mini-USB port, which, of course, means you have more cables to carry with you and you can't listen to music while the phone is syncing with your PC or on charge.
Frankly, I think this is daft, but it isn't the first smartphone I've seen with this limitation and I don't expect it to be the last. My advice to anyone who wants to use their TyTN II as an MP3 player would be to invest in Bluetooth stereo headphones, which completely bypass the need for a headphone socket (and also reduce the chances of strangulation for dyspraxic fumblers like me who always seem to get tied up in headphone cords).
T-Mobile is still going to offer the TyTN II under its own branding - now called the Vario III - but thankfully, it hasn't customised the device too much and it's pretty much what you'd get if you bought one from HTC, as with Vodafone's v1615. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Orange version: for starters, it's removed the excellent HTC home screen and replaced it with the normal Orange home screen (which ought to be codenamed "Marmite", as people either seem to love it or hate it). At a press briefing, Orange told me that users would be able to switch back to the HTC home application, but on the test device the company lent me this wasn't possible, and I suspect that's going to be the same with retail devices. All isn't lost, though, because if you have a poke around in the "Kaiser" forum on the ever-excellent XDA Developers' website (http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=377), you should be able to locate a downloadable CAB file for the HTC home application. Actually, there are a few different versions available, but I'd suggest the "six tab" version. Simply download the CAB file to the phone - either into main memory or on a microSD card - and then click on it using the file explorer.
The other major difference between Orange's version and a vanilla TyTN II is that Orange removed the "taster" version of TomTom, since it has its own satnav application it would rather you used - to install the Orange software, you'll need to follow the link, which you'll find in the phone's browser favourites. Unlike TomTom, Orange's satnav application is a subscription-based service that costs about £50 a year. It's a server-based product, so routes are calculated remotely rather than on the device, and maps are downloaded as needed. I've covered the pros and cons of server-side satnav before, but to summarise: compared to a TomTom, you're more likely to see up-to-date maps, but if you miss your turn-off it can take so long to download a new route and map that you might miss the next turning, too. I prefer local in-phone mapping products such as TomTom, and once TomTom brings its new MapShare technology over to its phone and PDA versions (as I hope it soon will), the up-to-date map advantage of server-based systems will fade away.
