Anyway, in this article, I will list all the smartphones I used in 2009 and do a sort of countdown to my top smartphone for the year just gone by. Here goes!

The contenders, in the order that I came in touch with them:

1. Nokia E90 communicator (October 2008) **
2. T-mobile G1 (May 2009)
3. Nokia E75 (June 2009)
4. Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 (August 2009)
5. Samsung B7320 (December 2009)

While I got the E90 in 2008, I did use it for several months in 2009, so it qualifies.

Number 5

At number 5 is the Android-powered G1.

I loved the keyboard on this device, being one of the most functional I have used, but the choice of colour of the keyboard area made reading in daylight difficult.

The Android user interface got me hooked too. Download, installing and updating applications from the Android Market was a joy. But while the G1 had USB charging, its battery life was one of the most appalling I had experienced on a smartphone. With the G1, my eye was constantly on the battery indicator. On an average day, I had it plugged to the mains more than not.

Email management was flawless on the G1, and web browsing was good, though the browser wasn’t as capable as Opera Mobile or S60 Web.

Again, the G1 could not be tethered without the use of a 3rd party app (or having to root the phone), had no Bluetooth file transfer, and – the straw that finally broke the camel’s back – no built-in office viewer/editor. The available 3rd party viewers were plainly underwhelming.

I love Android and look forward to its maturing. Then, you can be sure that I am game.

Number 4

At number 4 is the Symbian-powered Nokia E75.

The E75 was a good piece of hardware and felt solid to hold and to look at. The keyboard was good, but in my experience did not match those of the G1 or the E90.

While it had a 3.2 megapixel camera specified same as that on the E90, the camera did not perform as good. Whenever I needed good pictures or video recording, I kept going back to the E90.

Web browsing was standard S60 Web, but for some reason, Nokia had still not sorted out the issues with its messaging/email client. The E75 let me down at critical times in the area of email management. In my line of work, that is unforgivable.

Number 3

The Windowsphone X1 from Sony Ericsson is my Number 3.

The X1 had a good camera. Being Sony Ericsson, I wasn’t expecting less. The keyboard was not as tactile as on the E90, E75 and G1, but it worked.

Email management on the X1 was flawless and I had no issues with web browsing. As a matter of fact, there was little to dislike about the X1. But those few include a not-so-loud loudspeaker and the lack of a built-in task manager,which was annoying.

Being Windows Mobile powered, the X1 allowed for customisation by way of custom ROMs from XDA Developers.

Number 2

By now, many of you are guessing that the number one spot is surely going to the Nokia E90. Unfortunately, if that was your thought, you thought wrong.

At number 2 is the venerable Nokia E90.

Ah! A 3-year old smartphone that still rocks. Excellent 5-row keyboard with several shortcuts, glamorous huge display, very loud speaker, and a really good camera, it is hard not to like the E90.

With a keyboard like that, a huge screen and oodles of RAM, web browsing was a joy on the E90.

Also, the E90 feels as sturdy as a tank. Holding one in a corporate setting is good massage for the ego. It simply feels good in the hand.

Unfortunately, the email client was again plagued with issues. For some reason, setting up Gmail on the E90 simply brought the mail client into a comatose state.

To compensate (and because the E90 was really hard for me to part with), I used Gmail’s mobile app to handle my personal mails and notifications. Of course, having to do that was a kludge. I had to manually check for mails at intervals.

Note that I also tried out Nokia Messaging, and it worked well for a while before the same issues popped up.

I love the E90, but I found a new love.

Number 1

My smartphone of the year 2009 is nothing short of a miracle. It is testimony that good things are not necesarilly big or expensive.

The Samsung B7320 OmniaPro is a Windowsphone. it runs version 6.1 and is upgradeable to 6.5. So far, I have found only two major things to complain about:

1. Older version of pocket internet explorer
2. No flash with the 3.2 mega-pixel camera

Just two, and those two are not quite earth-shattering problems. There are other smaller niggles, of course, but certainly nothing that 3rd party apps didn’t fix. The B7320′s key strengths are:

1. Very good battery life
2. Very good loudspeaker
3. One-handed use and interface
4. Highly functional QWERTY keyboard with preset & customisable shortcuts

Before you go on about Windows Mobile not being user-friendly, note that there are two versions of Windows Mobile – Standard (non-touchscreen devices) and Professional (touchscreen devices). The B7320 runs Windows Mobile Standard and has no touchscreen. I found it surprisingly intuitive to use, different from the Professional edition that.

The screen is large, though much smaller than the E90′s, and the keyboard packs a wallop – very tactile and usable, and with several preset shortcuts. You can also set your own extra shortcuts for your favourite applications.

On the negative side, I am disappointed at Pocket Internet Explorer. No multiple tabs here and rendering is not as good as what obtains on Opera Mobile or S60 web. But it gets the job done for most of what I need to do. Where it is restrictive, I use a 3rd party browser.

Email management is flawless. Both my corporate mail and Gmail work flawlessly, with audio notifications as mails arrive.

The camera is good, but performs badly in low-light situations because of the absence of a flash. Forgivable. The speaker is also quite loud.

Oh, and since there is an ongoing discussion about one other particular manufacturer skimping on RAM, the OmniaPro comes with 256mb RAM in all, and has about 175mb RAM free after booting. I run between 7 and 10 apps on the OmniaPro at a time and still have about 120mb free.

I’ve never gotten one of those out-of-memory messages yet. I’ll try running 30 apps and see

Lastly, and very important, this is one smartphone that I have not had to worry one bit about the battery life. The battery simply goes on for days, even with an always-on 3G connection for email and web browsing. Even the E90′s battery life pales in significance.

The B7320 has 90-95% of the E90′s functionality packed into a small, handy and lightweight device – and at less than half the price. That’s a pretty good deal. Guess who’s happy?

Moving On…

I am looking forward to trying out a couple of new devices this year. Hopefully, Palm will release the GSM versions of their Pre and Pixi this year. I really want to try out the Pixi. Perhaps also the Motorola Milestone. 2010 is promising to be a year of the Droid, so maybe other manufacturers will give us a candybar Android with QWERTY?

I am waiting for Windows Mobile 7 and trying not to fret while at it. The guys at Redmond need to hurry! As for Symbian, perhaps we will see something really good from the old guard too, though I am not so excited at prospects from that direction (for reasons I have already stated on this site). Some announcements have been made at CES 2010 already, and I expect more when Mobile World Congress 2010 holds.

What is your smartphone of the year 2009? And which smartphones do you have your eyes set on this year?

The X1 is a device with great potentials, and fans have been hoopeful of an official upgrade. If you really do want WinMo 6.5 on your X1 so bad, please take a look at some of our existing articles on the Xperia X1 and Windows Mobile 6.5 ROMs, some of which are listed below.

Related Articles:

• Sony Ericsson X1 Review – Part 1 (User Interface)
• HTC’s Sense UI on the Xperia X1?
• Best Custom ROM for Xperia X1
• Do You Have a Windows Phone or a Windows Mobile Device?

News Item via GSMArena

A handful of phones have been announced as pencilled down for an update to the WinMo 6.5 OS. Notable among them are the Omnia 2, Touch Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2. No formal statement on the Xperia X1 yet.

But why should Sony Ericsson’s silence or reluctance to provide an update keep me from switching to the Windows Phone club? What I have done is hunt out an official Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM, which I have now downloaded. I will test it out over the next few days, and if it does not pop up serious issues, I’ll probably keep it.

Yes; just so I can say that I have a Windows Phone. At least I can for now. How about you? Do you have a Windows Mobile device or a Windows Phone?

Get more details from the official Windows Mobile 6.5 FAQ page.

In the following discussion, Brymay correctly predicted that I would soon get bored and attempt a flash. Yes; he was correct. It took me only about two (2) weeks to arrive at that perfect state of boredom that geeks know too well.

Anyway, I rolled up my shirt sleeves today and gave it a go, transforming my X1 into an HTC clone running TouchFlo 3D. The flashing process was smooth and easy (thankfully).

Also, although I was shy of WM6.5 ROMs, Touch-IT v13.2, the ROM I downloaded turned out to be based on v6.5 – and I had no clue until it was purring smoothly on my device! Oh, well.

Touch-IT Xperience v13.2: My Thoughts

So far, this ROM has been impressive. While I have used installer/CAB versions of TouchFlo 3D (TF3D), this ROM update delivers a faster, smoother and sleeker experience. The difference is clear.

In addition, most of the issues on the TF3D CAB/panel installations don’t exist here. Landscape functionality is better, though there are a few glitches here and there.

It is a good job, but I’m still experimenting and will be sure to try out one or two others before settling down.

One thing I will be observing is battery life. Touch-IT v13.2 seems to have been optimised for performance and speed. How much impact that will make on battery life is yet to be seen.

Screenshots

Today Tab

Today tab in landscape mode

Contacts list

The Contacts menu integrates and synchronizes the list on your device with your Facebook contacts. Beautiful. It also presents Facebook updates.

SMS tab

Threaded SMS view

Replying an SMS

Music tab

Weather tab. The weather status can be set to update automatically

WM6.5 Start Menu - much finger-friendly, better optimized than WM6.1 version

About page

That’s it, folks. Now, who’s going to welcome me officially into the Windows Mobile ROM Flashers’ Club?

The user interface of Windows Mobile 6.1, which the X1 runs on, is sadly still living in the dinosaur era. It is largely dependent on the use of a stylus. In addition, the user interface is plain, compared to the more modern mobile operating systems like OSX, Android, and WebOS.

However, In the past, I did use at least one WinMo device that had such a good implementation that I barely required using the stylus at all – the Samsung i780.

How was this possible? Samsung put in an optical trackbad, similar to touchpads on laptops. If you are wondering why I am going in this direction, it is because Sony Ericsson has implemented a fairly similar solution on the X1, an “Optical Joystick”, such that I have found the device can be used without needing the stylus.

Optical Joystick: The central rectangle is touch-sensitive and can be used for navigation in different directions, as well as pushed in or tapped to select menu items

The optical joystick can be disabled in the settings menu of the device – just in case its not your cup of tea.

As for the user interface, while bland by default, where WinMo continues to shine is its powerful customization abilities. Couple that with the X1′s unique concept of “panels”, and all of a sudden, I was jolted into a new world of really fancy and highly usable interfaces.

A “panel” is more or less a homescreen option that can go deeper than just the homescreen. Besides the panels that come pre-installed on the phone, certain panels like SPB Shell, Bell UI, PointUI Home and Moto Homescreen take the experience on the X1 to a new level, overlaying the drab WinMo interface for the most part. Of course, somewhere along the line, you hit the dirt again.

Pre-installed Xperia Panel

Another pre-installed Xperia panel

SPB Shell panel

SPB Shell Panel: Lifestyle theme

Moto Homescreen Panel

PointUI Panel

Bell UI Panel

The Moto Homescreen panel navigation is similar to the horizontal menu on the HTC Sense UI – sweep right/left or tap to navigate between menus

Bell UI’s interface runs deep and is lovely. However, in landscape mode the background image does not cover the whole display, producing a cluttered look.

In my opinion, the SPB Shell panel is the best of the lot. It runs as deep as Bell UI, providing several configurable options, and has the fanciest of animations.

Animated 3D interface from SPB Shell Panel

The X1′s panels certainly make it an interesting experience on Windows Mobile.

Update (11/08/09):
I found a cab over at the XDA Developers’ site that installs the TouchFlo 3D on the X1. There are a couple of such TF3D cabs available, but this one works pretty well. A fix had to be done to enable landscape functionality and then its generally blissful use.

Enjoy the pictures and screenshots:

TouchFlo 3D on the X1

TouchFlo 3D in landscape format on the X1

TF3D running on the X1

Email tab

People tab (contacts)