qtek Windows Mobile Pocket PC news, reviews, tips & tricks

Mar 16 HTC Startrek aka i-Mate Smartflip and Qtek 8500 Review
Found in: Devices, Smartphone, HTC, i-mate, Qtek, Reviews,

The HTC Startrek is one of the much-discussed Windows mobile Smartphone at the moment. THE HTC Startrek is also known as i-Mate Smartflip, and Qtek 8500. This new device from HTC have a very recognizable slick design and unique looking keyboard.

The first impression of this device is somehow strange. Also the camera is notable directly. The the keyboard of HTC Startrek is nicely wide so that you can write SMS easily with two hands. Unfortunately the flat buttons ensure that you cannot type blindly SMS and therefore you must look at where you press.

Next new thing about this device is that it have No Mini-USB! This phone has a new plug type that we could describe as "flat Mini-USB". Most likely HTC, the manufacturer of this device, had not time, sense, money or some other reason to process ordinary Mini-USB.

Guys from pocketinfo.nl, who made the review, said that they are surprised to find only 64MB ROM and not the 128MB ROM that was expected, but the device is very fast! As to them it is probably the fastest Windows Mobile powered Smartphone until now.

Complete review you can read translated to English here or originally written in Dutch here.

Related posts - i-mate Smartflip should be available in Australia and New Zealand

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Apr 03 Qtek 8600 UMTS Smartphone available for preorder
Found in: Mobile News, Devices, Smartphone, HTC, Qtek,

As it looks like the new smartphone from the HTC collection, known HTC Breeze, will be on the market in Q4 this year under the name Qtek 8600.

The Qtek 8600 is a serious business phone, with Global GSM and GPRS, E-GPRS and WCDMA functionality. The unit has compact size of 112.4 x 46 x 14.8 mm.

It has 128 MB flash ROM and 64MB SDRAM and the option to expand the memory with Micro-SD card. Qtek 8600 also features Mini-USB, Bluetooth or IrDA to connect to your PC. You can take quite good pictures with the 1.3 Mega-Pixel Camera the devices has.

It is working under latest Windows Mobile 5.0 and is rich in default applications.

Now it is available for preorder from Expansys.
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Apr 11 Qtek 9000 aka HTC Universal gets Rom update with AKU2
Found in: Mobile News, Qtek, HTC,

There is a new AKU2.0 ROM update for Qtek 9000, also known as the HTC Universal, which means that push-mail is possible now. This update contains the Microsoft Messaging & Security Feature Pack (MSFP) which make possible the push e-mail. Also there is improvement in the quality of the GSM, GPRS/UMTS connection and the Bluetooth connection. You can download the ROM Update from here.

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Apr 14 Qtek 9100 aka HTC Wizard Full Review
Found in: Reviews, Pocket PC, Qtek, HTC,

Qtek 9100 has many enhancements over the earlier model, HTC Magician, such as Windows Mobile 5 as the operating system, EDGE and WiFi for fast data transmission, 128 MB of FlashROM, and a convenient slide-out keyboard for typing larger chunks of text. All that together with a more than reasonable price has made this device one of the most eagerly awaited Pocket PCs of the past year.

Before I start examining the contents of the box, let me put the device in context for those who have not followed the latest developments in the world of Pocket PCs. The Qtek 9100, i.e. the device that is subject to this review, is a product of HTC of Taiwan (not to be mistaken for THC, which offers a completely different kind of experience). The company does not sell its product under its brand; you cannot buy a HTC Wizard. It only sells to vendors and mobile operators who offer its devices under their own brand. So, even though this is a review of Qtek 9100, it applies, with a few differences in design, software and accessories, for instance to T-Mobile's MDA Vario and i-mate K-JAM by i-mate as well. said Pavel Koza from pdagold.com.

So if you are considering purchasing the Qtek 9100 you can read this extensive review here.

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Mar 15 Qtek 9100 receives ROM upgrade with AKU2
Found in: Mobile News, Pocket PC, HTC, Qtek, ROM upgrades, email,

The HTC Wizard branded by Qtek as 9100 is getting upgrade to Push Email! Unfortunately A2DP (stereo audio over Bluetooth) is not included in this upgrade. The similar case with A2DP is with the i-mate JASJAR which received its update few days ago.

This ROM upgrade can be download from official website of Qtek or from the xda-developers forum. We hope you will like using push email function, but you need to wait more for stereo audio over Bluetooth.

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Nov 30 Qtek 9100 Review
Found in: Devices, Pocket PC, Qtek, Reviews,

I had been looking forward to encountering HTC Wizard from the very first moment I saw its photo. As an MDA Compact enthusiast, I fancied it to be my next device that would inherit the good from the Compact while adding missing features and remedying weaknesses. Here I am sharing my impressions from the first few hours with Qtek 9100. I would like to thank Sunnysoft, a distributor of the device in the Czech Republic, for lending me a specimen for review purposes.

Enough of introductions, let's get down to business. The package contains virtually the same items as those shipping with the Compact: the device, case, spare stylus, synchronisation USB cable, AC adapter, ear-plug type headphones with a remote control, user guide and a CD-ROM. The only noteworthy items are the case (made neither of leather nor leatherette but nylon, I guess) and the earphones (quite good, the remote control controls not only the phone module but also the output volume). A spare telescopic stylus is welcome (it will surprise you initially by its small size when folded); the rest of the accessories is common.

The device is a little larger than the Compact (108 mm x 58 mm x 23.5 mm). Its is about 5 millimetres thicker because of the slide-out keyboard. However, it remains within the limits of comfortable and convenient. The Wizard's rounded corners provide a better grip than the Compact. By contrast, the material is not light metal as in the Compact but lacquered plastic. The Wizard features five user-definable buttons and a cursor pad as well as four system buttons (two on the front panel, two on the slide-out keyboard), so it is easy to control the device without the stylus. Gamers will be pleased to find that the device supports simultaneous press of several buttons. The Wizard's design is rather more elaborate than that of the Compact - some will like it, some will not. I personally miss the sober design of the Compact...

A great attraction of the Wizard is the slide-out keyboard comprising 39 keys (four rows by ten keys, only the spacebar is double-width) and two system keys. It is impossible to type otherwise than with the thumbs, which is good enough for SMS-maniacs and online chat enthusiasts. It takes a while to get used to it (the keys are arranged in different way than on standard keyboards) nut a after a few hours, you will be able to type much faster than with the stylus on a tiny virtual keyboard on the display. Keyboard backlight makes it easier to type in dark places. Unfortunately, it is not illuminated evenly and I found it hard to read blue characters on silver keys. Speaking about the keyboard, I should also mention support for national characters provided by Sunnysoft;) As with the HTC Universal, there is a big question how durable the keyboard slide-out mechanism is. It is hard to tell - although it appears quite rugged, we should wait and see after half a year. I am worried especially about the locks that keep the keyboard fully closed and open. In any case, there is a two-year warranty...:) The Wizard introduces some technical enhancements over the Compact as well as several compromises. The first one concerns performance - a Texas Instruments OMAP 850 processor running at 195 MHz is known for low consumption rather than high computing power. Hard to tell why HTC decided to implement this processor. The last to use it before now was HP in its iPAQ h6340 to little success. On the other hand, one should thoroughly test the processor's performance rather than making judgements based on technical specifications. Everyday tasks are slower on all WM5 devices as compared to previous system versions because of a new way of memory management, which may overshadow processor performance deficiencies. I tried several games and encountered no performance issues at all. Video playback was not as smooth but if you reduce quality it is quite OK. Music playback poses no problem at all for the Wizard. However, if you want to work while listening, the processor has difficulties catching breath. The device features 128 MB of FlashROM and 64 MB of RAM. Upon reset, the user can access about 44 MB of FlashROM; an additional memory card will be desirable.

The display looks a cut above that of the Compact. It is much brighter (but remember I am comparing with half a year old Compact) and the colours are richer and less yellow-tinted. The size of the display is exactly the same (2.8-inch diagonal, i.e. 71 millimetres), the same applies to resolution (240x320) and number of supported colours (65 thousand). The display can be easily rotated by 90 degrees, a feature supported natively by all WM5 devices. When you manipulate with the keyboard, the display will rotate automatically. By contrast, backlight settings options are insufficient: there are only five levels with joint slider for both modes (on battery/charging).

Audio capabilities seem to be excellent with virtually nothing to criticise. There are loudspeakers on the left-hand side and the right-hand side; according to the documentation, it should be real stereo. The phone speaker produces clear sound free of overdrive, which has been a common complaint of Compact users. The microphone's sensitivity is just about right. Pity the headphones connector is a 2.5-mm jack, which means you need an adapter to connect better gear. The Wizard offers cutting-edge communications features. In our geography, you can start using all of them right out of the box. The basic link with the outer world is a fast USB 2.0 port. A 115-kbps infrared port is a standard part of the Pocket PC platform and cannot be absent from this device, either. Bluetooth in such a feature-packed device may be useful for connecting a BT-enabled GPS or for connecting a laptop to the internet. Whatever, it will certainly come handy. Unfortunately, we have to put up with atrocious wireless Microsoft software, which, although being constantly improved, cannot compare to competing products. I tried configuring ActiveSync over Bluetooth and my attempt turned out a complete failure. Then there is WiFi supporting "merely" 11 Mbit but if you have a WiFi AP at home (like me) you will surely appreciate an integrated WiFi module with advanced configuration options. I was able to connect to my secure Asus WL-530g immediately and without any problems. That is not everything for communication, though. We have not mentioned the telephone module yet. It is a quad-band GSM/GPRS supporting 850/900/1800/1900 MHz networks. EDGE is a welcome and very useful extension. Well, useful it is if your mobile operator has implemented the technology in your location. Otherwise, it is worth the same as UMTS in the HTC Universal;) There is no indicator of data transmission speed but data did seemed to flow faster than before when I downloaded some files. I am going to perform some tests in a big review to come. As for phone calls, I did not encounter any problems and everything appeared to work the way it should. Needless to say, the device supports SMS and MMS messages. The Wizard has an integrated camera like the Compact. The parameters are identical yet image quality seems better in the Wizard. Particularly good are close-range photos. The maximum supported resolution is 1280x1024 pixel. However, you can interpolate the photo to up to 1600x1280 pixels. A built-in LED will illuminate the scene at a short distance but do not expect miracles. Check the photos below for their quality. The Wizard support not only still images but also video (MPEG4 or Motion JPEG).

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Apr 03 Qtek S300 Media PDA leaked information
Found in: Mobile News, PDA, Muse, Qtek, Devices,

Today Expansys takes our attention with two new leaks. First is about the Qtek 8600 UMTS Smartphone. And the second it about the HTC Muse which according to them will be brander by Qtek with the name Qtek S300 Media PDA.

One of the Qtek S300 Media PDA great features is 4GB of expandable memory which makes your mobile media entertainment options endless. This new PDA device also has a built-in FM radio and great dual speakers for clear sound and 2.1 Mega-Pixel Camera.

Qtek S300 Media PDA will run on Windows Mobile 5.0 and will have built-in WiFi.


More information and preorder options are available here.

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Nov 30 Review of HTC Prophet by the example of GSM communicator Qtek S200
Found in: Devices, Qtek, Smartphone,

A Taiwanese company of HTC, which is an ODM/OEM manufacturer of Windows Mobile devices, follows existing traditions in its release of new platforms. Just remember after a successful HTC Himalayas, a keyboard model with an integrated Wi-Fi module, we mean HTC Blue Angel, appeared only in a while. And after it in the beginning of this year we introduced a renewal of HTC Himalayas. It had no keyboard, however was equipped with Wi-Fi. That was HTC Alpine with the same body and a slightly improved camera. By its appearance, HTC Magician gave a stimulus to a new gadget line, which is intermediate between Pocket PC and Smartphone. And even till now this device keeps high sale. And the company decided to develop its new branch using an approved way - HTC Wizard with Wi-Fi and a keyboard and run by a new operating system came out quite in a while. Now similarly to HTC Alpine, just at the same period after HTC Wizard, a new HTC Prophet comes. It has no keyboard; however Wi-Fi and an improved camera are both present.

Magician, wizard and… a prophet. Magician, Wizard, and Prophet are code names of the platforms. They will appear under various brands of operators and other companies like qtek , Dopod, I-mate, T-mobile, O2, Orange and others. The first two trade marks belong to HTC (and cover a European and Asian regions correspondingly). At that these models can have different design, body colour and some elements, extra software. And gradually HTC introduces more and more variations of the same platform. We tested Qtek S200 in black, and it differs from other models in nothing principal, so a code name of the platform will be used in the review.

On the one hand, HTC Prophet is a complete copy (both software and hardware are meant) of HTC Wizard. On the other hand, it's equal to HTC Magician in appearance. That is why today review will be quite short, we will only discuss external elements and a new camera, all other aspects were highlighted in the review of HTC Wizard. The appearance has not changed much from the HTC Magician's time, it just got rounder. Side edges are not splay as earlier, but slightly project. The body is made of a less smooth, almost dull black material (the front part is of metal, and the back and sides are made of plastic). I found this plastic pleasant to touch and it looks like expensive. A negative point is that the dull surface is easily soiled, and fingerprints remain on it.

As you can see the quality of macrophotos is on the high level. Small text fields will be the most suitable for taking photos, and taking photos with later recognition of visit cards is an ideal solution for macromode. But still this utility is not integrated; though such a program has already become standard on Windows Mobile communicators by Samsung. And I hope it will appear here also by the commercial launch of the product. Photos in macromode are ones of the best among smartphones. Let us see camera capabilities in a usual mode. You can see that outdoors photos are highly detailed, details are not blurred and no area is whitened. They look good, which makes a considerable progress as compared with the previous models. Although, the photos still lack picture brightness and vividness. I suppose that is a software problem - having slightly edited photos in Photoshop, you will make them much more attractive. Indoors photos are also very qualitative, incorrectly shown white colour and bright objects is the minus. White colour turns into yellow and bright objects like a lamp will get a special aura, extra luminescence. I was not really surprised by video recording. The maximum resolution (176x144 pixels) and the quality are low. There is a conclusion I made for the camera part. That is a giant leap for HTC, however still there is much to develop for the level of Nokia's and Siemens' smartphones (no autofocus, normal flash, normal nightmode, good software image developer). So, the developers should finish with the camera software before the release, a program for recognizing visit cards would be very suitable.

Conclusions, impressions HTC Prophet showed no problems with the connection quality. The best call melody should be MP3 or WMA. The call signal and vibro are average in power, so you can miss a call in a noisy place (the volume is now lower than in HTC Magician, which will be corrected by the commercial launch). The Prophet is some kind of a cocktail of the HTC Magician's appearance and HTC Wizard inside. Some negative and positive moments can be mentioned when comparing with HTC Wizard. Positive: * Smaller size and weight; * Full-size SD/MMC connector (more memory is available); * Extra buttons under the screen for comfortable control of the OS without a stylus. * Smaller price; * Considerably improved camera. Negative: * No keyboard; * No flash (that is hard to consider a disadvantage, since the one in the Wizard has not coped with its functions); * Two extra loudspeakers are absent, that is why the device sounds lower; * Later on the counters. And a similar comparison with HTC Magician. Pros: * A new OS, which prevents your data from loss even at significant battery discharge, comfortable control without a stylus, improved Office Mobile; * Integrated Wi-Fi version g; * Longer battery life; * The ergonomics of the control elements is slightly improved; /li> * The camera is a bit better. Cons: * CPU 200 MHz instead of 400 MHz (hard to play video, and work with Skype); * Less RAM. The model will appear on the counters on the joint of the first and the second quarter of 2006. Obviously, the price will be on the level of HTC Magician Dark (Qtek S110), but less than of HTC Wizard (extra pay for the keyboard). Some of HTC Magician's users, who need Wi-Fi and a new OS, however the presence of a keyboard is not as principal, will buy the Prophet. And the majority of the owners, who do not consider the presence of Wi-Fi crucial, will not exchange the device for HTC Prophet. The reasons are - nothing principally new, piratical software with the new OS for the Magician can appear. And the last is you may find it hard to part with megahertz and megabytes psychologically. And people used to changing the devices often will also change the smartphone. So, we see the ode is targeted at new users. And if HTC Magician had no rivals by the launch moment, then HTC Prophet will face well-deserved competitors in the person of E-Ten M600 and O2 XDA Atom. Still the model will compete with HTC Magician (qtek S110) for the first time. And at the same time, there is no evident advantage in any of the mentioned models; it is hard to call any a leading one.

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Jan 03 Review of Qtek G100 aka HTC Galaxy or i-Mate PDA-N PocketPC
Found in: Devices, Pocket PC, GPS, Qtek, Reviews,

Taiwanese manufacturer HTC is currently in phase of completion of first Pocket PC having an integrated receiver GPS and bearing the code name Galaxy. He will be available in the current of next November. The HTC Galaxy represents the first apparatus of pocket of mark not GSM, but also the first apparatus of pocket having an integrated receiver GPS, which will be marketed directly by subsidiary companies and partners of the manufacturer. Indeed, HTC until had there developed of Pocket PC not communicating or Pocket PC Phon GPS (iPAQ hw6515) at HP, nonavailable via the Qtek marks or I-matt for example.

This technically speaking, the HTC Galaxy has an operating system Windows Mobile 5.0, a screen TFT QVGA of 2.8 inches, a processor Samsung S3C2440M given rhythm with 300Mhz, a quantity of memory of 128MB of ROMANIAN Flash and 64MB only of SDRAM.

It has moreover one receiver GPS integrated equipped with a chipset SiRFStar III, a port for memory board SD/IO and MMC and finally a double connector industry without wire Bluetooth and Wifi 802.11b. On the level of the stack Bluetooth of Galaxy, this one use the new Bluetooth layer of Microsoft via the system Windows Mobile 5.0.

Concerning dimensions of the apparatus of pocket, they are of 109.7mm X 59.4mm X 17.6mm for a weight of 150 grams. Lastly, the HTC Galaxy has a battery Ion Lithium of a capacity of 1100 mAh enabling him to be used during approximately 5 hours in lit mode GPS and approximately 200 hours in day before.

Comparatively in PDAPhone Qtek S100, Galaxy thus has the same size of screen, equivalent dimensions but a general impression of smaller size via its form Factor. However, it should be noted that the screen of Qtek S100 is TFT with active matrix while that of the HTC Galaxy is with passive matrix.



On the level of aspect purely GPS of the apparatus of pocket, integrated receiver GPS of Galaxy has a time cold start 120 seconds, a time of 8 seconds warm start and a time of warm 60 seconds start. It is of more compatible with version 3.0 of standard NMEA 0183 and makes it possible to collect to 12 satellites, the whole with a support of the WAAS, to correct errors of reception of signals GPS.

The HTC Galaxy thus does not have an integrated numerical camera, has a quantity of memory RAM and a frequency processor minimal which will certainly make it possible to propose it at a rather aggressive public price. With this occasion, it will be delivered without software of navigation GPS integrated in the ROMANIAN of the apparatus of pocket.

Pocket PC HTC Galaxy can apparaitre like a competitor of PDAPhone hw6515. With this occasion, these two apparatuses of pocket were compared between them with the sides of PDAPhone Qtek 9100.

It comes out from it logically that Pocket PC HTC Galaxy is smallest of its category with an integrated receiver GPS.

The HTC Galaxy and software of navigation GPS

Pocket PC HTC Galaxy was tested with the majority of the software of navigation assisted by GPS of the market. This reveals that in spite of a quantity of rather limited memory SDRAM (64MB), it is possible to use without jerks version 5 of the software of navigation TomTom Navigator, the software Destinator PN (with the last update still under development) but also the last version of Viamichelin.

Concerning version 5 of software GPS MobileNavigator de Navigon, this one settles and execute correctly on the HTC Galaxy but is practically unusable because of which occurs at the time of a navigation in mode 3d and especially of the important calculation latency time of a route which can take until several minutes for a few tens of kilometers.

The opinion of the drafting

Pocket PC HTC Galaxy will be available in France in the current of November for a price still nonfinal. If one believes the Expansys shop of it, this apparatus of pocket should be marketed in the neighbourhoods of 420 €uros including all taxes.

With reduced dimensions, a double connector industry Bluetooth 1.2 and Wifi or a receiver GPS SiRFStar III integrated but with also with certain weak points like a quantity of memory SDRAM limited and a passive matrix screen, Pocket PC HTC Galaxy should make an entry noticed in the apparatuses pocket GPS of entry of range available before the festivals of end of the year.

Having moreover one support of the stereo ear-phones Bluetooth, a loudspeaker located in frontage and a possibility of connecting by a cable an external antenna GPS, it is strong to bet that if the price of Galaxy remains reduced, this one will connaitra an important success.

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