Friday, January 08, 2010

Flashing the ROM on my HTC Touch Pro2

I couldn't help myself. I had to try to new Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM on my Verizon HTC Touch Pro2 smartphone. I probably should have waited for the weekend, but I just couldn't resist. I've flashed many ROMs on my older HTC phones, so I was very comfortable with a ROM upgrade.

Here's what I was expecting with this ROM upgrade:
  • OS Upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5
  • Updated drivers to support Global VZ Navigator (Are you planning on traveling internationally anytime soon? The Touch Pro2 is a World Phone)
  • HTC TouchFlo 3D enhancements
Current image version: 1.18.605.12
Updated to image version: 3.04.605.3

Here's what happened:
  • I saw the familiar HTC 4-color (red/green/blue/white) bootloader screen, followed by the gray progress bar.
  • It took less than a minute for the ROM to get loaded on the phone.
  • It took less than 3 minutes for the ROM to unpack and load on the phone (gray screen with blue progress bar).
  • Orange Windows screen (preparing your phone for first use...) - progress bar at the bottom. Took less than 2 minutes.
  • Prompt to calibrate screen.
  • HTC TouchFlo 3D wizard.
  • I was up and running!
So the entire process took less than 15 minutes. I immediately noticed new icons, more color, and a slightly improved interface. Here were my first impressions of Windows Mobile 6.5 on my Touch Pro2:
  • The Opera Browser is still 9.5 (build 17963)
  • Marketplace (App Store) is a nice feature in Windows Mobile 6.5. You'll have to create a Windows Live account. Installing apps is much easier. However, this isn't a comprehensive App Store. I couldn't find Epocrates or Skyscape, but that's no surprise.
  • Mobile Internet Explorer is better, but still not as robust and powerful as Skyfire or Opera Mobile. The zoom bar at the bottom works on Mobile Internet Explorer. Nice!
  • File Explorer. Didn't change much.
  • Windows Media Player. Also didn't change much.
  • Improved radio? Supposedly the radio has changed. I suppose I should have written down all my old info. Well, here's the new info: ROM version 3.04.605.3 and the Radio version is 2.23.00WV
  • WorldCard Mobile. Looks like a nice little app to capture business cards using the phone's camera.
So, was it worth the upgrade? I suppose it was since I was going to eventually upgrade. There's a part of me that's eagerly waiting for Windows Mobile 7 and hoping that it will be a significant improvement to the current Windows Mobile 6.5 OS. Unless Windows Mobile 7 is a stellar OS, I suspect that I'll be using an Android smartphone fairly soon.

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