I was handed an evaluation example of the new HTC Touch P3450 ( http://www.devicewire.com/HTC-TOUCH-P3450 ) on Friday and asked to use it over the weekend and provide some feedback. I will admit that my first reaction was one of 'any phone you give me on a bank holiday is going to be switched off!', but the geek in me has won over and I have already unpacked it and put my SIM in.

In the package you get the usual HTC gear: padded carry case, mains charger, USB lead, stereo headphones. I didn't see a spare stylus, but then this is only an evaluation unit so there wasn't a manual or a CD either. Hopefully the full sales package will include one.

I am not overly taken with the colour of my unit, but I am reliably informed that other colours are available!

I did require the help of a knife to get the SIM into its recess in the side of the unit, but other than that I have been very impressed with it's general feel and build quality. It is incredibly light but without feeling fragile or 'placky'. I would say that it is even smaller than the new Blackberry Curve - but then you have had to sacrifice a qwerty keyboard for a much bigger screen: and what a screen, the resolution is very impressive, and because it runs Windows Mobile 6 the general look and feel has been 'vistafied' which, whilst I don't necessarily like on a desktop PC, seems to work well on this form-factor device.

The start-up routine was much quicker on this device than on previous Pocket PC models. One major plus for me was that they have decided to add a 'Skip' option when being prompted to move a calendar appointment entry from 9am to 11am (veteran Pocket PCs users will know what I talking about :) )

Once the unit had booted up, a wizard popped up asking me if I would like to have my network settings configured automatically. That process took approximately 30 seconds then the unit rebooted itself again. It looks to me like it has got all of the settings for Vodafone UK correct: it created an Internet connection called 'Contract Internet' with the correct APN, username and password and I can indeed connect to GPRS. I have also managed to send and receive an MMS message, but I cannot for the life of me find any settings within the Messaging application relating to MMS that can be changed. From a support perspective that is probably a good thing!

A quick word on specs: the unit is GPRS only, but does offer both Bluetooth and WiFi. The device information screen gives the following summary:

CPU OMAP850

Speed 201MHz

RAM size 64MB

Flash size 128MB

Data bus 16 bits

Storage size 44.94MB

Display 240x320

Colors 65536

You also get a 2 megapixel camera. In terms of sofware the Elf is fully loaded, the Programs list reads as follows:

Games - Bubble Breaker, Solitaire

ActiveSync

Adobe Reader LE

Audio Manager

Bluetooth Explorer

Calculator

Camera

Comm Manager

File Explorer

Internet Sharing

Java

Messenger

MP3 Trimmer

Notes

Pictures & Video

SAP Settings

Search

SIM Manager

Sprite Backup

Streaming Media

Tasks

Voice Recorder

Voice Speed Dial

Windows Live

Windows Media

Zip

And of course, because the Elf runs Windows Mobile 6, you also get other goodies such as Microsoft Direct Push email, as well as Word, Excel and Powerpoint Mobile edition.

First impression? Apart from the colour, I'm quite taken with the little Elf. watch this space for more postings as I set up email, use the devce as a USB modem and play with the camera and the MP3 software.

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

This is quite a cool feature. In the top right hand corner of the Today Screen is a drop-down menu that displays all of the applications currently running in the device and allows you to close them with one tap:

    

 

Very handy!

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

Setting up push email on the Elf is as simple as on all Windows Mobile devices: simply enter the address of the Exchange Server followed by your username, password and domain and within minutes you have your email on your PDA.

This functionality isn't new to Windows Mobile 6, what has changed however, is that once in the Messaging application, the default action for the left-hand soft key is 'Delete' not 'New' as it was in previous versions of the operating system:

  

This is not a big change, and I assume it has been implemented due to the number of people who use their PDA to remove the junk from their mailbox - I admit I didn't notice until I'd inadvertently deleted a mail, but it was only a mail from someone wanting to sell me Viagra (how do those people get your email address so quickly!), so it gets a thumbs up from me!

Another bonus is that with Windows Mobile 6 you can also turn your Out Of Office on and off remotely from your PDA, and edit your OOF message:

  

Now that is a handy feature for the road warrior...and as a network administrator it will stop me having to do it for people :)

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

It appears that by default Windows Mobile 6 does not synchronise Sent Items. Any messages you compose and send will get sent and be delivered to the recipient, and will also show up in your Sent Items folder within Outlook, but will not show in your Sent Items folder on your PDA.

The solution, as is always the way with Microsoft products, is a hidden check box. Within the Messaging application, tap on Menu --> Tools --> Manage Folders and select the option to synchronise Sent Items:

  

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

Need to find a mail that you received 3 weeks ago, but you only want 2 weeks' worth of mail on your PDA? The 'Search Server' option under the Tools menu allows you to search the Exchange Server for a particular mail based on a text-based search:

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

Using the Elf (or any Windows Mobile 6 device) as a USB modem with your PC is also a complete doddle. You will need ActiveSync 4.5 or later installed on your PC. Connect your PDA to your PC via the USB cable. On the PDA, tap on Start --> Programs --> Internet Sharing:

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

Windows Mobile 6 also now has the Exchange Contact Lookup functionality built in.

If you haven't come across this before, Microsoft released a free download for Windows Mobile 5 which enabled users to query the Exchange Global Address List without having to store th entire corporate address book on the local device:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/global/default.mspx

This functionality has now been incorporated into Windows Mobile 6. Within the Contacts application, if you tap on the Menu button, you now have the option for 'Company Directory':

 

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

Also included in Windows Mobile 6 is the Windows Update service: your PDA will periodically check for updates and download any patches, improvements or enhancements to the operating system automatically.

 

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

Windows Live is now also incorporated into Windows Mobile 6. This feature allows you to manage your Hotmail email account: similar to Exchange Direct Push, any mail arriving in your Hotmail account will be downloaded to your device automatically. This service can run side-by-side with your Exchange mail account, and can also be configured for use with Windows Messenger so you can see which of your contacts are online at any given time - and they can see your availability.

Windows Live also has a plug-in on the Today Screen so you can quickly manage mail and instant messages without having to go into the Programs folder each time.

   

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

The MP3 Trimmer is a nice little application. It allows you to open an MP3 file, mark the start and end of a section of the file, extract it and set it as your ringtone!

  

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

The Bluetooth stack on the Elf allows for wireless transfer of files from the device via FTP - which is how I transferred the screen capture images from the device: works equally well on my Windows and Mac machines.

 

You can purchase the HTC Touch P3450 now directly from devicewire.com - http://www.devicewire.com/HTC-TOUCH-P3450 

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

UPDATE - I should probably have mentioned that some of the new Server ActiveSync functionality incorporated into Windows Mobile 6, including the ability to edit your Out Of Office settings and search your entire mailbox for a specific mail, require that you also have Exchange 2007 in the back office environment. This functionality is NOT available in Exchange 2003.

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James Liddiard
Network Manager

Speaking of Exchange 2007, I have just noticed that it is possible to issue a remote device wipe command to a device via Outlook Web Access:

 

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James Liddiard
Network Manager