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mobinnova posts

Mobinnova Ice given lobotomy, reemerges as Highscreen PP5420 with Android

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 6th 2009 @ 5:32AM

If you don't remember the Mobinnova Ice, we can't say we blame you -- apart from its unique and mildly amusing (but poorly implemented) secondary display, the Windows Mobile-powered handset really didn't have anything going for it to set it apart from the pack, and our hands-on experience with it left us questioning its build quality, its robustness, and indeed its very reason for being. Anyhow, it seems that a Russian company has taken the Ice's guts and remixed them as the Highscreen PP5420, offering Android atop the 528MHz Qualcomm core with a WQVGA primary display, 3 megapixel camera, GPS, and full HSPA. As other fly-by-night companies have already learned, Android really looks like garbage on anything but half VGA right now -- and who the hell knows what (if anything) that secondary OLED is going to be programmed to do -- so we'd probably stay away from this one. If you're still feeling it, though, it should be available now for 15,990 rubles (about $511).

[Via Unwired View]

Mobinnova Ice hands-on

by Chris Ziegler posted Jan 10th 2009 @ 7:50PM

On the surface, the Ice from Taiwanese upstart Mobinnova looks like a decent WinMo set, it really does. The spec sheet's solid enough with a wide QVGA display, AGPS, integrated FM radio, HSDPA, and a secondary touch screen for navigation (a la LG Venus) -- but regrettably, the specs only tell half of this tragicomic tale. Up close, questionable engineering decisions start to come out of the woodwork. Take the d-pad, for example: sounds like an awesome idea, but the screen the Ice uses is so dim you can barely make it out under normal lighting. Not that you'd have to make it out, since -- as far as we can tell, anyway -- the only thing it ever shows is the d-pad, which begs the question why they're using a display here in the first place (we'd figured that opening Windows Media would trigger a transition to music controls, but no dice). What's more, Mobinnova's skin to take advantage of the 400 x 240 screen is possibly the worst manufacturer-issued skin we've ever seen on Windows Mobile, with text that looks like it was hastily downscaled to the point of being illegible at the Ice's dot pitch. Now that Sony Ericsson's said to have made the leap to these guys, we're a little worried for the future of XPERIA, honestly.

Gallery: Mobinnova Ice hands-on

Mobinnova's ICE suggests Sony Ericsson might know what it's doing

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 24th 2008 @ 2:16PM

So remember how Mobinnova allegedly has some hot new contract with Sony Ericsson for busting out future XPERIA models? We're still a little bummed considering how good the X1 looks -- and how good HTC is at its trade in general -- but digging into Mobinnova's dealings a bit gives us hope. Turns out the Taiwanese company introduced the "ICE" last month, a reasonably decent-looking Windows Mobile 6.1 slate with a 3-inch WQVGA display, 3-megapixel cam, WiFi, and HSDPA. It doesn't stand out against the myriad offerings on the WinMo front these days, but if nothing else, it shows that Mobinnova might just have the chops to keep pace.

[Via pocketnow.com]

Sony Ericsson rumored to be moving away from HTC for WinMo phones

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 23rd 2008 @ 6:40PM

We tend to think Sony Ericsson and partner HTC pretty much nailed the X1 -- at least to the extent a WinMo 6.1 phone can be "nailed" -- but for whatever reason, it looks like the company might be looking elsewhere to continue development of its Microsoft-based lineup. DigiTimes (which, granted, doesn't have a spotless record when it comes to this sort of stuff) is quoting a Chinese paper in saying that SE is cheating on HTC with Mobinnova to produce its second XPERIA model, and what's more, they're suggesting that Sony Ericsson's entire business partnership with HTC will draw to a close when the final X1 rolls off the assembly line. We're seriously unsure why they'd go their separate ways after creating one of the most beautiful phones of the year, but hey, business is business.

[Via the::unwired]