Mobile Microblogging Devices. A List that Doesn’t Include Intel.

Posted on 30 June 2009, Last updated on 12 November 2019 by

The ones that didn’t make it to the list. (note that this is my list based on my requirements!)

  • iPhone 3GS. Expensive, no keyboard, no flash, difficult to buy ‘off-the-shelf’.’ I love what’s happening in the iPhone ecosystem and you can easily argue that it’s at the forefront of mobile software development but the hardware is not right for me. Frustrating!
  • HTC Touch Pro (Good CPU and screen) Not in the list because it doesn’t have a keyboard.
  • Omnia HD Not in the list due to lack of keyboard. Interesting Cortex ARM CPU though.
  • Toshiba TG01 again, no keyboard but the 1Ghz Snapdragon processor driven device should be extremely fast. 4.1 inch screen too! An TG01 Pro with a keyboard is something to watch out for.
  • Nokia N810 (Good price) Not in the list because it doesn’t include 3G. Social networking aps and cam is limited. Keep an eye out for a Maemo 5-based Nokia device soon.
  • OpenPandora (Good Price and CPU) Not in the list because it doesn’t have a stable OS build and doesn’t have 3G. Its also not available yet.
  • Palm Pre (Good CPU. Potentially good s/w) Not in the list because of screen size and keyboard
  • Blackberry Bold (Good keyboard hardware and software, platform) Not in the list due to small screen.
  • T-Mobile G1 not in the list because of exceptionally short battery life, poor camera.
  • Samsung Mondi. Definitely an option. No voice capability and ‘old’ ARM11 processor but big screen is attractive. No launch details yet.

Note that none of the above devices satisfy my requirements in full. Most of the CPUs are too slow for productive web-based applications and the screens are too small for WVGA resolution. 4.1 inch is entry-level for me. There’s also no Adobe AIR or full flash 10 support on any of these devices which cuts out some very popular microblogging client software and online applications. Having said that, they are better than most MID options right now where Mobile Microblogging is concerned.

Click here for an interactive list of all the devices with specifications and links to info and images.

I have two ‘winners’ in my mind but before I mention them, let me say that the Xperia X1 is great value in Europe at the moment, the E90 (with one of the best smartphone keyboards) is too, despite its age. The N97, on the other hand, is very low on my list of choices based on what I’ve heard from bloggers. When it was announced last year it was exciting but now it’s lost some of it’s shine.

So the top 3 in my list are:

  • Acer M900. Big 3.8 inch screen will help with web. I like the style too. Fingerprint reader helps with the always-important aspect of security. CPU speed concerns me. Price unknown.
  • HTC Touch Pro 2 Very good looking design, RAM and positive blogger feedback about the keyboard. It doesn’t have a high-end camera with flash though so my overall winner is the
  • Samsung Omnia Pro based on price, camera, brand, the Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade path and the 3.5mm headphone jack that you won’t find on the M900 or HTC Touch Pro 2.

omnia2Based on that, I’ve already ordered one (Amazon, 460 Euros) and am looking forward to giving it some really hard mobile micro blogging and productivity testing. I’ve even gone so far as to start a new occasional blog. MyOmniaPro will be helping to keep the smartphone news down to essentials-only on UMPCPortal! All the details will be on the new blog.

What’s you favourite Mobile Microblogging device? Do you agree with me or would you sacrifice the keyboard for more mobility? Are you sick of Windows Mobile? Does the software and community advantage of the iPhone outweigh some of the disadvantages?

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21 Comments For This Post

  1. Steve 'Chippy' Paine says:

    My list of top Mobile Microblogging devices. Intel not inside. See which one I bought. http://cli.gs/udvPL

  2. Pavels Romanovskis says:

    RT @chippy: My list of top Mobile Microblogging devices. Intel not inside. See which one I bought. http://cli.gs/udvPL

  3. turn_self_off says:

    Technically, recently(today in fact) released firefox 3.5 should allow a gps enabled device to share its position data with a correctly enabled page…

  4. chippy says:

    I thought FF3.5 would only use Google Location Service and not a local GPS device. Happy to be wrong because it will be a great step forward for geo-enabled web apps.

  5. turn_self_off says:

    hrmf, seems i was wrong about the gps thing, tho i could have sworn thats how its been presented in the past…

  6. turn_self_off says:

    Ugh, as i poke at it, i find contradictory data.

    Best i can tell is that it defaults to the google service, but should also be able to make use of a GPS device, if so found (or something).

  7. chippy says:

    I think the idea is to allow a plugin to access GPS data and feed to FF3.5 but I agree, there’s some contradictory info out there.

  8. turn.self.off says:

    Yep, thats the impression im left with to…

    Odd that they could not include a bit of code that could maybe read a com port and collect gps data…

  9. Vadim says:

    May be offtopic, but new FF 3.5 is SO FAST! I’m realy impressed..

  10. Wishmaster says:

    Chippy check toshiba k01 it is tg01(you mistyped it LG01) but with slideout keyboard with capacitive touchscreen should come early next year so it may suggest that it will be released with wm7 all at 16mm. Considering that tg01 has USB host option k01 should have too only video out(miniHDMI or DVI) is something that should be included in k01 to make it the best ultraportable.
    You should keep an eye on this one!

  11. Chippy says:

    Wishmaster. Thanks for that. Correction made. k01 now on the watchlist!

    Steve

  12. animatio says:

    nice assay again, chippy. you show again that the market, means the user decides which way to go, the street to chose and not a company . at least not if she is not willing to kep in close contact with the custoners and to respect their opinin and wishes.
    water finds always its own way downhill – if hindered it will force it

  13. animatio says:

    just forgot to mention the new mobiles that are capable to act as pda, smartphone, camera (still and motion), gps, modem, digital TV/radio, video/music player, usb data storage device (using mini sd cards) … just got such one, didn’t cost me more than 200 bucks. the ideal companion to my netbook.

  14. suchus says:

    I’m really happy with my new 32GB iPhone 3G S.
    It’s probably not the best device when it comes to productivity, due to the lack of a physical keyboard.
    However, for everything else it is absolutely perfect (at least for me).

    Cheers,
    suchus

  15. admin says:

    I really think Apple could reach out to a new sector if they did hardware keyboard on a device. I doubt they will do it though. Shame.

  16. Ken Neal says:

    Chippy, you are on the right track, to find a device for microblogging. My similar interest could be called Micro-Business. Imagine the same device with PTab spreadsheet, and maybe someday a mobile OpenOffice.

    Intel has a quickly shrinking window to make Moorestown comparable. There is no doubt they will get the hardware done. Moblin sounds interesting, but unless they get a large base of software, it will go slow. Moorestown doesn’t run Windows initally, it seems.

    You made a great choice on a device. Now that Apple has gone Cortex, the others will have to follow shortly. HTC is rushing to sell Touch Pro 2 before they will look slow to the rest. Concerning the devices without keyboards, a BT one seams a workable solution.

    I see you did not alter this site’s name. I am glad you covered this subject. Still cannot find a good name for these Unique Mobile Phone Computers.

  17. Vakeros says:

    Of course it could stand for
    Ultimate Mobile Portal Creator

    For a door either to the cloud or to blogging sites etc. I sampling a Kohjinsha SX4 with built in 3G, 3MP camera and 1.3 Webcam. Just need GPS and I’ll have everthing on Chippy’s list – once the software comes for Geologging….

  18. admin says:

    Unique Mobile Personal Communicators? ;-)

    Vakeros, I just don’t see the location based software coming to the ‘desktop’ OS soon. It’s funny, like the smartphone arena always lags on FIE, the desktop is going to always be behind on advanced mobile services like this.

    Steve.

  19. animatio says:

    @Ken Neal. as far as winmobile is concernd exists a full office suite (ms compatible) – softmaker office (text, spreadsheet, database, powerpoint)

  20. Christian Kurz says:

    I think windows mobile is the next OS generation, though its not quite there.
    Until WM7 or WM8 a dual OS solution like “Snapvue” on th HTC Shift is the way to go.
    Mobile device really need to get rid of the booting process. They need to get more serious software too.
    By incororating a dual OS solution you get both until a newer Windows Mobile will be able to replace the Desktop OS`s…

  21. Vakeros says:

    A dual OS will remain due to legacy apps. whether it is possible to be dealt with in virtual windows as Win7 is meant to be doing for XP and previous OSes.
    If WM7 ticks all the right boxes that they are talking about, then you might see it spread to bigger devices. With the power of ARM processors increasing, you can already run Virtual OSes on a smartphone (though limited to older ones), with the release of Win7 and WM7 it might be possible to run both on one chip. With one of them virtualised. The problem with Snapvue is it requires a separate chip – thus increasing cost and complexity.

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