Pocket PC Central News Center

Yahoo! News is reporting that Sprint’s version of the HTC Touch Diamond will be made available for purchase on September 14, 2008.  The upcoming handset will run Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and will sell for $249 with a two-year service agreement and a $100 rebate.

Read more about the Sprint Touch Diamond…

According to a new report TmoNews, the T-Mobile Shadow II Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Smartphone will launch on October 15, 2008, with a price of $149 after a two-year service agreement and rebate.

Details are still slim on the Shadow II, but the handset will support T-Mobile’s HotSpot@Home which allows users to use an Internet connection to make calls when within rage of a special wireless router.

When it rains it pours.  On the heels of the AT&T Tilt and Verizon XV6800 getting their long-awaited Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional upgrades, the Samsung SGH-i617 BlackJack II is getting its first taste of Windows Mobile 6.1.

You can grab the Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard upgrade for the Samsung BlackJack II at the Samsung web site; installers are available for Windows XP and Windows Vista.

UPDATE: The landing pages for the WM6.1 updates are back up and working.

We’ve always known the XPERIA X1 would be coming in the second half of 2008, and since we’re in the second half of the year, we were expected to see the new Windows Mobile handset any day now.  But now Engadget is reporting that the XPERIA X1 has been delayed until the end of the year.

The XPERIA X1 is a Windows Mobile Professional device with a VGA touchscreen, an angled curve sliding keyboard design, and a 3.2MP camera.

A few days after the AT&T Tilt finally got the WM 6.1 treatment, the Verizon XV6800 is getting Windows Mobile 6.1 love courtesy of UTStarcom.  The ROM image updates the XV6800’s OS to Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and adds EVDO Rev. A, treaded SMS,  VzNavigator support, and compatibility with larger microSDHC cards.   

Download the Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro upgrade for the Verizon XV6800…

HTC has posted a new ROM update which upgrades the AT&T Tilt’s OS to Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.  In addition, the update contains tweaks and fixes, new software, MS Voice Command, Threaded SMS and more.

Get the AT&T Tilt WM6.1 Pro ROM Update…

It’s like the Touch Pro without the touch.  Today HTC announced the S740, a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard non-touchscreen Smartphone with similar styling to the company’s Touch Diamond and Touch Pro.  Features include a 2.4" QVGA display, 802.11g Wi-Fi, GPS, HSDPA, 256MB of flash memory and RAM, and an onboard FM radio.

Sounds great, right?  Not so fast.  The S740 will be released in Europe next month, but there’s no word on when or if the handset will be released in the US.

For a limited time, grab the SanDisk 8GB microSDHC flash memory card with standard SD adapter for $24.60 and get a free 6-in-1 USB Card Reader.

You must add both items to your cart in order to get the free reader. Click the link below, then go to the middle of the page and click the “Add both to Cart” button under the “Special Offers and Product Promotions” heading.

Get all the details at Amazon.com…

Sunnysoft has released version 1.5 of their Sunnysoft Contacts software, which is designed to update your contacts management and calling experience on touchscreen Windows Mobile Smartphones.  Features include search, finger-friendly contacts browsing, skins, adjustable font, photo and button sizes, speed dial, call history and more.

Visit Handango for more details on Sunnysoft Contacts…

Shortly after someone dropped the ball and posted information on the upcoming Treo Pro to the Palm web site, Palm decided to go ahead and make the Pro official.  The Windows Mobile handheld now has its own page on the Palm site, and while there are plenty of photos and spec details, there’s still no word on a release date or wireless carriers.

It’s almost certain that the Treo Pro will be coming to AT&T Mobility, and possibly T-Mobile as well. 

We get a lot of information about product release dates – some good, some not so good – but a new presentation slide which shows the launch date of the Sprint version of the HTC Touch Diamond (or Sprint Diamond) as September 2, 2008, looks pretty legit:

The slide also shows a final price of $299 after mail-in rebate and 2-year contract.  Not bad.

Image Source: Engadget

We’ve known for a few months that Palm had another Windows Mobile Treo in the works; today, we know a good bit more than that.  Images and information regarding the upcoming Treo Pro briefly appeared on the Palm.com web site.  The content was pulled shortly thereafter, but not before some eager Treo fans were able to grab some slides from a presentation and run.

The Treo Pro will be, at least in one incarnation, a GSM handset with HSDPA/UMTS compatibility.  Other features include Wi-Fi, GPS and microSD expansion.  No word yet on price or availability.

Click here for additional photos.

After weeks of an unofficial update dangling in our faces, Motorola has posted the official Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard ROM update for the Motorola Q 9h Global (AT&T Mobility).

You can download the update here.  Remember that ROM updates wipe all data from your device, so be sure to sync and backup before installing.

According to a report in The Taiwan Economic News, Palm has placed an order for 5 million Windows Mobile smartphones intended for sale in 2009.  The report doesn’t detail the device(s) Palm ordered, but the handsets will run the Windows Mobile operating system and be built by Taiwanese manufacturer Compal.

Compal is an ODM, or Original Device Manufacturer, best known for their design and construction of laptops for Dell and HP and handsets for Motorola.  The same report indicated that Motorola has ordered a number of Windows Mobile phones from Compal as well.

An updated version of Winterface [DOWNLOAD] is now available from VITO Technology.  Version 1.1 offers several improvements including a new start gesture, updates to the Calendar and Tasks display icons, the ability to add contacts and settings shortcuts to the main screen, updated icons and more.

If you’ve already purchased Winterface, you can upgrade free of charge here.  If need to backup your current settings, you only should rename file pages.db (for example, pages_old.db) in the Winterface folder. Then you should uninstall the old version of Winterface, rename it back from pages_old.db  to pages.db after that install new version of the program.