It was a night filled with work, mostly like every other night. I was sitting and doing my regular sharing / posting on twitter. All of a sudden my updates weren’t refreshing, I couldn’t navigate backwards or forward, I couldn’t click any links either. So the good old F5 (Command + R on the beloved MAC) had to come to the rescue.

What appeared infront of my eyes next was nothing less than mindblowing. At first I though I had been forwarded to a different website, but after a scouple of seconds I realized I had just witnessed a massive Twitter upgrade. Not only did they run this massive UI upgrade on their website, they also upgraded the apps for Android and iPhone users.Even though I had anticipated the update for quite some time, I didn’t expect it to come this fast. I am really impressed with the work the twitter team has done. The UI is a lot more user friendly and more importantly it is so much easier to navigate.

I’m not going to go into detail about all the new functionality and technical improvements, it’s all very well documented on the twitter homepage. To give you a little head start you can go to the official twitter page and read more about hte upgrade right now. I’ve summarized some of the main features  below.

Home is where you view Tweets from the people you have chosen to follow. It’s your personal collection of Tweets, featuring the latest news, commentary and information from the sources you care about.

The new Connect section is where you get in on the conversation. It’s the place to see who has followed or mentioned you, retweeted or favorited one of your Tweets. Connect is your way to keep the conversation flowing.

When you use Discover, you’ll see results reflecting your interests—based on your current location, what you follow and what’s happening in the world. As you use Twitter more, Discover gets even better at serving up more content just for you.

The new profile section puts you and your interests front and center. Others can Tweet directly to you and view your lists, favorites, followers, photos and more. The Me tab is also where you can stay current on your direct message conversations.

Twitter really has it going now and we’re looking forward to some really exciting times in the battle between the social media giants. I have to be honest with you. This twitter upgrade has impressed me far more than the Facebook timeline implementation.

All I can say is WOW! The HTC innovation team has done it again. If you haven’t had a qwerty phone before and you’re really thinking about getting one, HTC Desire Z is your baby. I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about an upcoming phone.

I’ve been looking for a qwerty phone running Android for almost a year now, and like many times before HTC has come to the rescue. Lets take a closer look what this high tech smartphone has under the hood.

Some of you may remember the goold old Qtek (Old HTC name) 9100 or i-mate JAM, which was a really good phone back in the days. That was my first ever qwerty phone and I loved it to death. Seeing this new HTC Desire Z brings back a lot of good memories from the early days of  HTC and I know the HTC Desire Z will be the same quality plus so much more.

There are so many great features, I don’t even know where to start. If you juggle more than one email account, you’ll love how you can now see all your accounts in a single inbox that automatically color codes each email by account. And don’t worry about clutter – handy email filters sort them by groups, importance, or content.

If you’ve got your family over for a visit and want to show your latest photos, videos or music on the bigscreen TV – no problem. Stream your pics, videos and music from your phone to your home theater system via DLNA. Gather the family around. It’s show time!

You’ll also get a 5.0 megapixel camera ( not exactly stunning, but I don’t care if it’s a 5 or 8 MP camera) with a built in flash and HD video recording, Android 2.2, direct keyboard shortcuts and a ton of new other features – this phone is PACKED! Use “Locations” to find the closest shopping mall, the closest coffee shop or pub. Locations will get you there no matter what. Use “Quick Lookup” virtually anywhere on your phone to lookup highlighted text in the google dictionary or wikipedia. Last but not least there is HTC Sense which also can be found at HTCSense.com. HTC Sense makes it the perfect phone for online and offline experiences.

I don’t want to waste your time because ALL the most important new features are put together in a great video below, made by HTC. Once you’re done watching the video and you still don’t understand the greatness of this phone (depending on your needs ofcourse) we’ve got a problem at hand. Have fun watching, and don’t let your jaws drop too far under the table :)

Pinch and tap – sooo quietly brilliant!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh, and please leave the iphone out of this :)

HTC has announced the launch of three new smartphones – two based on Android and one on Windows Mobile 6.5.3 – at the ongoing Mobile World Congress 2010 at Barcelona.

The new phones announced are the HTC Legend, the HTC Desire and the HTC HD Mini.

Let’s start with the HTC Legend, which is arguably the best looker (and the most talked about as well) amongst the three phones announced.

Now, for the features. The HTC Legend comes with a 3.2-inch capacitive AMOLED display capable of displaying 320 x 480 pixels. While the resolution might not be “right up there”, it is good enough. The imaging part is taken care of a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash. Under the hood, there is a zippy 600 MHz processor partnering with 384MB of RAM. The internal ROM stands at 521Mb and is expandable using microSD cards upto 32GB. Connectivity options include all the expected options- Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS. The 1300Mah batter should be good enough to power the Legend for a reasonable amount of time. This, however, is a step down from the HTC Hero, which had a larger battery. The Legend will also use HTC’s SENSE UI atop Android 2.1.

On the software scheme of things, the Legend will be Android 2.1 laden and will add new features and UI options. For example, there is a “helicopter view” using which the user ca pinch the screen and choose which of the 5 homescreen options you would like to select from. There is also something known as the FriendStream that aggregates updates from your friends and contacts from various social networks and displays them intuitively. The Legend is expected to be announced in Europe by late March and will be eventually rolled out to the rest of the globe by April.

The Mini is a shrinked version of HTC’s existing Windows Mobile 6.5 flagship, the HD2. By the looks of it, almost every major manufacturer is interested in making mini versions of flagship (that are usually large) devices these days. Nokia started of with the N97 Mini followed by Sony Ericsson with the X10 Mini and now, HTC with the HD Mini.

The HD Mini comes with a 3.2-inch HVGA display, which is obviously much smaller than the 4.3 inch goliath that the HD2 has. The housing of the HD Mini sports a very unique design. At the rear of the device, you would notice something that is not usually a visible thing on normal phones. The fasteners, that hold the shell of the phone together have been beautifully integrated so that it is now visible. However, you’ll notice the eye catching yellow color, which might put off a few, once the back panel is removed.

HD Mini is powered by 600MHz processor with 384MB RAM and 512MB ROM. What really steals show in this ‘Mini’ phone, just like Xperia X10 Mini has 5.0 megapixel with flash and auto focus. Just like Touch HD2, the HD Mini can be turned into a Wi-Fi hotspot using it’s Wi-Fi functions. This Mini phone also offers Bluetooth and GPS. On the OS scheme of things, the HD Mini runs Windows Mobile 6.5.3 which indicates that this update is up in anvil. It is expected to be released in Europe and Asia by April.

The new HTC Desire stands different from Nexus One on grounds of HTC’s Sense UI and the former doesn’t have a trackball navigation. Desire has 3.7-inch AMOLED WVGA display that is as much as existing smartphones like Motorola Droid and Samsung Omnia HD. Just like the Nexus One, HTC Desire equips 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU with 512MB ROM and 576MB RAM (while Nexus One has 512MB RAM).

New Android 2.1 operating system loaded on Desire also has layer of HTC’s Sense UI that debuted with HTC Hero smartphone. Sense UI now features new Leap function that allows viewing different home screens at the same time by pinch gesture. We already know about Friend Stream feature that collates all the social network updates to the contacts in Address Book. Other improvements come in the browser, web client, widget and better news reader application.

For more information and news, check out the official HTC website.

If you’re looking for a new phone, like me, and you’re tired of the old Windows Mobile makeovers, your search may be over!! HTC is launching a new phone called HTC Bravo (HTC Passion).

So, no windows mobile? That’s correct, it’s all about Android for this baby. Most of you probably know that HD2 was launched with WM6.5. It was and still is a success, but most “mortal” people don’t know about the Bravo release just yet. HTC are playing their cards very well. What about the specifications?

Here they are..First of all, pairing Android with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon and presenting a 3.7-inch AMOLED facade certainly ticks the headline boxes, and the addition of a five megapixel AF cam capable of 720p video capture gives it an extra edge on it’s competitors. I’m not going to get all iPhone’ish on you, but I’ve heard rumours Apple may launch a dual-core cpu in their new 4G phone…yup, read that again. A Dual-core cpu.

Anyways, the Bravo supposedly comes with a 1,400mAh battery, which will be joined by the mandatory WiFi, Bluetooth and MicroUSB connectivity, plus MicroSD expansion, FM radio tuner, digital compass, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sounds a lot like the HD2 huh? Time will show what HTC comes up with, but I’m really excited about the Bravo.

I’m still walking around with the Diamond2. What the HD2 is lacking in terms of OS, the Bravo will compensate in a big way, mark my words. Rumours have it that the Bravo will be in stores sometime in April/May, some say as early as March in the US.

Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile cell phone OS is set to be available in new smartphones starting October 6, 2009, a little over a month away. The new OS is supposed to have an easier UI, superior browsing capabilities, Windows Marketplace for Mobile, and a way to back up all phone information called My Phone.

I’m not sure how Windows Mobile 6.5 or Windows Mobile 7 (for future reference) will do against the much hyped and very popular Android OS made by google. I think this is Microsofts last chance to impress their “fans” because the Android OS is a REALLY great and well organized operating system.

Like I said earlier I’ve been playing around with the HTC Hero for quite some time now, and I am still REALLY impressed over it’s usability curve compared to Windows Mobile 6.1. The HTC Magic was great, but the HTC Hero and the new, improved Android ROM is even better. But lets not get off track, lets get back to Windows Mobile 6.5.

Let’s look at the cell phone manufacturers in various parts of the world who will create phones using the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS.  In North America, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Bell, and Telus will all carry phones using the 6.5 OS.  Manufacturers such as LG, Samsung, HP, HTC, and Toshiba will be creating such phones.  Expect similar carriers and manufactures for Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

A redesigned Internet Explorer hopes to make the browsing experience easier and more efficient.  Using Adobe Flash Lite, pages and other tasks will be rendered faster, which will definitely please users.  Microsoft Office Mobile has been revamped and allows users to open, read, and edit any Word, PowerPoint, or Excel file.  Be sure to take advantage of a new Microsoft Outlook Mobile to manage all your emails and sync between your PC and phone.  Of course, no smartphone is complete without strong social networking capabilities, such as Windows Live – a tool that combines many social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.

Whether you are using Windows Mobile 6.5 with a physical keyboard, or it’s all touch – the OS is designed to work on any type hardware phone.  Also, users have the ability to change the homescreen with personal images and can fill it with the widgets used most often.

I don’t know about you all but I think Microsoft really need to step up their game if they want to hang on to their market share in the Pocket PC Business. Android (Google) and iPhone (Apple) are coming on strong and I wouldn’t be suprised if we’ll see more and more devices running Android in the near future. Windows Mobile 6.5 is pretty much the same as 6.1 with some new twists and twirls, but it doesn’t bring any major improvements to the table. Lets face it, in the market today, Windows Mobile isn’t what it once used to be. I remember when WM first stepped into the spotlight years ago. What a revolution. Today it’s just a pretty sad story that never seems to end. Time will show where MS will take their OS, but they HAVE to make changes quickly to stay in the game.

Below I’ve added a little demonstration of the new Windows Mobile 6.5.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just as a little side note – I know there will be a new Android rom release in the very near future. It will make the Hero blazing fast and probably make the rest of the WM competition bite the dust.