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XDA to get Windows Mobile 2003!!! WE ARE UPGRADEABLE!!!

From Infosync:
O2 XDA to get Windows Mobile 2003-ified
By: Jørgen Sundgot, Monday 23rd June 2003, 04:05 GMT
Mobile network operator mmO2 today announced its intent to bring to market an upgrade to Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC - the successor to Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 platform - for its O2 XDA WAN handheld. Currently undergoing internal alpha testing, mmO2 could neither comment on whether the upgrade would be made available to users for free, nor at what time the upgrade could be expected to arrive. The O2 XDA is currently powered by Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition.
This is great news, that means that most likely, we all users that have the Xda in all flavors, will be able to upgrade to 2003, even if the Carriers don't release an official upgrade with this I wouldn't be surprised if someone comes out with a 2003 SE ROM!!!!!!

WOW ! Great news !!! :lol: :lol:

What's your sense about this vis-a-vis the XDA Dev ROM? Will the update to 2003 essentially 'erase' the XDA Dev ROM? If not, what features/functionality will be left over after the 2003 upgrade?
Thanks,
TM

We will, ofcourse, study the 2003 ROM is great depth, and we will release a Special Edition 2003 ROM if that is anywhere near possible. First signs look positive, and we'll be looking into it further soon.
(Don't count on it, but it would ofcourse be hilarious if the Special Edition 2003 pre-dates the official release...)

Windows Mobile 2003 for pocket pc
Check this out for the upgrade
www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/products/pocketpc/about/2003/upgrade.mspx

If this can be pulled off then what a result!

Power PC 2003 upgrade
I followed the link given
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/products/pocketpc/about/2003/upgrade.mspx
but fail to see anywhere where it explicity mentions that an XDA is possible.
I attended the 1.5 mostly programmers oriented webcast from microsoft. It became clear that whilst PPC 2003 may be a relatively easy upgrade to PPC 2002, smartphone release is not so easy. They mentioned that code has been sent to individual manufactures (i.e. the smartphone code) to be integrated by that manufacturer.
I have consulted the http://www.o2.co.uk/productsservices/xda_index/0,,170,00.html
website for upgrade information, but IMHO O2 has not done themselves any favours in their support of the basic XDA functionality on that site, so it was no great suprise that I could not PPC 2003 smartphone edition upgrade information there.
If anybody has definitive information on the upgrade i.e. a weblink then I recommend it is posted here please.

Taken from http://www.pocketpcmag.com/Nov03/windowsmobile2003.asp
"All Pocket PC 2002 devices and the original iPAQ Pocket PC 2000s are physically capable of being upgraded to Windows Mobile 2003...
Manufacturers of the Pocket PC Phone Edition devices are in the process of testing Windows Mobile 2003. This will delay the introduction of Phone Edition devices using the new software, and any upgrade for existing users. At the time I wrote this article, no upgrade plans had been announced. Again, check with the manufacturer of the device for upgrade information. As soon as we find out, we'll publish it here in Pocket PC magazine. "

upgrades cost money . . .
Anywhere that I have looked I have seen a price for the upgrade. normally around the US$50. This does seem reasonable, not that I would pay that of course.
With this in mind what issues would the XDA-Developers encouter when manipulating this ROM...
As mentioned in the ROM SE we are personally responsible for adding the extra software, updates etc. Will we see an update here first....
Martin

o2 have mounting costs, and are not doing too well as a business. I know this from many friends who work there. They are not as strong a position as vodafone or t-mobile, hence this probably translates into slow moving, and lack of support. Additioanally, the 2003 might not be a free upgrade because of this.

PDF file, instructions on how to do the upgarde
Hello
i have posted a link for instructions on generic Microsoft Pocket PC 2003 Phone Edition operating system, specifically for xda. somewhere in this forum click on search if you are interestd
Othman

Do you want the official Windows Mobile 5 rom for magician?

http://www.msmobiles.com/news.php/3834.html
Forget it, now and ever...

they are not stuipd to give away WM2005 for free... they'll make us to buy it with new devices... just like WM2003SE.........

If Microsoft is serious about becoming the major supplier of operting systems for mobile devices (and with WM2005 I believe they are) they should definitely make it available for as many devices as possible. As long as the majority of PocketPC phone devices out there are using older versions of WM it will be harder for the operators to push new services that are only available in WM2005. And believe me, the operators do not profit from selling new phones, they benefit from charging for new services. Like push email, which I believe will be finally available in WM2005.

After hearing the news about my Magician, it's now on ebay and I will never buy any device relating to M$ ever again. To think, just ~6 months after it's release it's essentially unsupported is really crap. I've had no lucky, having been burnt previously by Compaq, Toshiba and now HTC I am going to now support the competition.

Unsupported? Relax man.. Just because they're developing a new OS they're not going to stop supporting the last one..
I sense that you're not the kind of guy that want a gadget to play with, but a stable phone. Personally I want to have a phone that I can tweak everything on. I'm rather used to buying cool things and growing tired of them in a couple of weeks, but I wasn't even tired of my iPAQ 5450 when I bought the Magician, and I doubt I'll stop playing with it until I buy my next MS based phone. Magician2?

they should definitely make it available for as many devices as possible
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they already did it.. Windows Mobile 5 is able to run on each mobile device that already runs wm2003..
Microsoft knows it.. BUT..M$ sells the software to HTC.. HTC then determines whether to make a rom for the older models (time and money consuming operation) or make new models (to sell) and forget the older ones.
What way do you think they'll prefer?
Maybe we'll see a magician running WM5 but this will be not an official rom.

The non Official roms are so much more stable.

Loboman said:
Unsupported? Relax man.. Just because they're developing a new OS they're not going to stop supporting the last one..
I sense that you're not the kind of guy that want a gadget to play with, but a stable phone. Personally I want to have a phone that I can tweak everything on. I'm rather used to buying cool things and growing tired of them in a couple of weeks, but I wasn't even tired of my iPAQ 5450 when I bought the Magician, and I doubt I'll stop playing with it until I buy my next MS based phone. Magician2?
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Click to collapse
I've been down this before. Notable disasters came from Toshiba (dropping support for the e570 completely even when it was still for sale, they only provided SP1 for PPC2002 even though other vendors went as far as SP4), Compaq and now this. In fact I have owned 5 PPC devices before and the experience has not been staggeringly improved from model to model to leave me planning to buy another MS based phone, that's for sure. It's also worth noting that I have an O2 branded model... where's their update??? I ended up putting the QTek ROM on mine, it's taking forever for any improvements to be released officially via O2. Also, I have been reading on places like msmobiles that no Pocket PC Phone is planned to have a WM2005 update released. I take this as the market treating expensive smartphones just the same as they treat the bottom end of the market, which just doesn't wash with me. This thing is marketed as a portable computer and in many ways it is. I refuse to buy a marginal improvement to this PPC Phone in order to just get a slightly newer software experience.
I honestly don't know how you guys can just gleefully sit by, let it happen, and just plan what to buy next. I actually love gadgets, I have a PSP (which has already had a decent ROM update I might add and won't simply be superceded in 6 months ), an iPod (which just had another software update) so I expect more from such cash outlays. If you enjoy the state of things as they are, then all power to you I guess. :roll:

zetsurin said:
After hearing the news about my Magician, it's now on ebay and I will never buy any device relating to M$ ever again.
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I am just curious.. Why is it Microsoft's fault? I mean, they make the OS and sell it to the individual phone manufacturers to be tweaked for their specific devices. Shouldn't you be mad at HTC, Qtek, I-Mate and any other carrier/company that decides not to create a rom for that phone?
This isn't like a desktop OS that is for sale in the local computer store but was just not made to run on old computers. I am guessing WM5 will run on the Magician (especially those with the 128MB upgrade) however it is HTC that has decided to push sales of new phones then update existing lines with WM5.
Just my .02

Mashie said:
zetsurin said:
After hearing the news about my Magician, it's now on ebay and I will never buy any device relating to M$ ever again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am just curious.. Why is it Microsoft's fault? I mean, they make the OS and sell it to the individual phone manufacturers to be tweaked for their specific devices. Shouldn't you be mad at HTC, Qtek, I-Mate and any other carrier/company that decides not to create a rom for that phone?
This isn't like a desktop OS that is for sale in the local computer store but was just not made to run on old computers. I am guessing WM5 will run on the Magician (especially those with the 128MB upgrade) however it is HTC that has decided to push sales of new phones then update existing lines with WM5.
Just my .02
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Click to collapse
yup totally agree, only it's weard why they do that i think the magician has less problems with an update of WM5

I think it's time to send out "the letter..."

With E-TEN M500 getting all the goodies, from Voice Command via BT Headset, good technical support, and now Windows Mobile 5.0, I think it's time that we get some serious damage control from i-mate.
Please take as much as 30 seconds out of your life to copy and paste the following letter and send to [email protected]:
Hello, Mr. Morrison,
I am writing to you in reference to the recent press release on Windows Mobile™ 5.0 from Microsoft®, and your position to support it on existing devices such as the i-mate™ JAM and the PDA2k.
As I am aware of now, there are conflicting reports from your technical support groups to your public interviews as to whether or not current i-mate™ owners will be able to upgrade their i-mate™ devices to Windows Mobile™ 5.0. As a relatively new i-mate™ customer, yet a rather trusted, public individual on various websites, forums, and support groups, I am hoping that I can get a firm answer from you or another trusted, definitive, and reliable source at i-mate™.
Since the announcement of Windows Mobile™ 5.0, manufacturers and companies have stepped up to announce that their existing Windows Mobile™-powered devices will be provided with a firmware upgrade, either paid or free, and within a reasonable amount of time. Most recently, E-TEN Corporation, whose M500 Windows Mobile™ Phone Edition device is in direct competition with the i-mate™ JAM, have firmly announced that they will have a Windows Mobile™ 5.0 upgrade solution in the near future.
Your continued support with your existing product line is just as important as your innovation and development of new devices, such as the yet-publicly-unnamed HTC Universal model. From a technical standpoint, the i-mate™ JAM and PDA2k are fully capable of satisfying the minimum requirements of Windows Mobile™ 5.0. I am also sure you are aware of the unofficial development of Windows Mobile™ 5.0 installed on an older-generation HTC Himalaya model with much success, which further proves that the JAM and PDA2k are more than likely candidates to accept such an upgrade.
I implore you to consider your current customer base in providing Windows Mobile™ 5.0 upgrade support for the JAM and PDA2k, and hope that you can reply with a firm response as soon as possible, as they both will surely reflect on your stance regarding customer service and support, with which many existing and potential consumers will definitely take into account when purchasing their next mobile device.
Thank you for your time and cooperation in this matter, and I hope to hear from you very soon.
Sincerely,
Your Name Here
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Click to collapse
Good luck to us all.

Done

done

Done

Good idea would be to post this message to other forums as well

If you get something back, put it in here

done
done

dn

great idea... done ofcourse.
edit: could somebody inform ppcw.net / msmobiles.com and all other news sites about this community movement so we will get even more users to join us

done....
:wink:

BTW... I think it would be a good idea to ask i-mate for widcomm bluetooth stack.. instead of the crappy M$ one....

done! :twisted: :evil:

I worte to him 2 weeks ago and this is the letter I got back pertaining to the crappy customer service and hopeless ROM updates that tend solve some problems only to create more.
______________________________________________________
Dear Mr McClure,
Thank you for taking the time to write to us. I apologise that your experience hasn't been first rate.
Certain areas of our products do develop over time and we feel it important that new features an improvements are given to our customers as soon as they are available. Windows Media 10 became available firstly on the i-mate JAM, and we are now rolling this functionality onto our other device platforms. Similarly with video MMS capability on the JAM, improvements in camera software and post processing. New Bluetooth devices continue to enter into the market and occasionally we need to provide patches to ensure correct operation with our devices. We also receive service releases from Microsoft which we endeavour to release to our customers. We do try to stagger releases so that customers are not overloaded with patches and updates. Some critical updates we do release as patches, but we prefer to roll them up into single updates. We do perform stringent quality assurance on new builds to ensure we don't introduce new issues. This is far from our intention.
Best regards,
John Williamson
VP Technology
i-mate™
Office No. 207-213
Building 11
PO Box 500085
Dubai Internet City
Dubai, UAE
Tel: 00 971 (0) 4 390 1989
DDI: 00 971 (0) 4 367 8501
Fax: 00 971 (0) 4 390 4428
Mob: 00 971 (0) 50 550 8879

The camera still sucks.
johnannie said:
I worte to him 2 weeks ago and this is the letter I got back pertaining to the crappy customer service and hopeless ROM updates that tend solve some problems only to create more.
______________________________________________________
<snipped>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

DONE!

Done

Shouldn't you address HTC? I don't think that I-Mate (or other third brands) have anything to do with the software implementation.
Besides that, I don't know why everyone wants Mobile 5. What do you know exactly about it that is so interesting for the Magician?

done.. i hope they read it though!!!!

Dandie said:
Shouldn't you address HTC? I don't think that I-Mate (or other third brands) have anything to do with the software implementation.
Besides that, I don't know why everyone wants Mobile 5. What do you know exactly about it that is so interesting for the Magician?
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Click to collapse
I would think htc will only do it if imate, qtek, o2, orange, t-mob etc. etc. pay them to develop and 2k5 rom for upgrade.
Why would we want it? Well persistant memory alone would be enougth for me. Seriously, we will all be looking back in a few years and saying "remember when we had PPC's and the battery run out and wiped the memory. What the f*** was that all about??!"

done

Let's start the pressure for WM5.0!!

I think it's about time we start putting pressure on HTC for a WM5.0 upgrade!!
With WM5.0 devices in JAM's form factor emerging on the market soon (eg ETEN M600) would you consider trading your JAM? The same applies for existing devices with a definite upgrade path to WM5.0 (e.g. ETEN M500).
Let's get a huge vote and send the link to HTC & other relevant parties!

That's entirely useless, mate. Their interest is to sell new devices and not to extend the lives of older ones. You may as well write to Microsoft and Intel and request Longhorn to run on Pentium I :lol:

Their interest is also not to lose customers to their competitors. We can see it happening right here in this forum. And what about new customers? Would they go for the JAM with no WM5 upgrade or for the ETEN M500 with a promised WM5 upgrade?
The Longhorn on Pentium1 comparison doesn't hold. WM5.0 CAN RUN on the Magician ... Longhorn on Pentium 1 cannot.

You place too much value on customer retention. The common perception in these small tech companies is that the cost of customer retention outweighs the benefits. So they probably don't care too much if you buy your next wm device elsewhere.
BTW, your poll is telling them that if they produce a new device with WM5, you'd happily upgrade to it which is exactly what they want. That gives them even more reason to not make WM5 available on current devices.

when you bought your JAM was there a note saying that it will have a WM5 upgrade when its released? NO? well dont complain.
When you buy a phone you need to buy a new one to get the new OS, why should it be different in the ppc pe world?
Would you prefer companies to spend time trying to offer you a MAJOR upgrade for an older device rather than working on innovative new devices?? I dont know about you but i prefer the second.

parisp said:
When you buy a phone you need to buy a new one to get the new OS, why should it be different in the ppc pe world?
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Click to collapse
Because PPC by comparison to a mobile phone is an open and extensible platform. And because it CAN be done. WM5 works on the JAM so it is really nothing more than a matter of releasing it.

Hi all,
I'm a lycky one that have a Qtek 2020.
I'm using WM5.... so I don't give a **** if MS only support new devices or even, only the new devices came with MW5.
When we bought a PC we can choose what OS we use, but in PDA this is not true, but I think in future we'll be able to choose.
Bye

The fact that E-TEN are releasing a WM5.0 upgrade for the current M500 model has already made some people sell their Magician for an E-TEN. They might like the E-TEN service and so on and never come back to HTC. Their next device will probably be another E-TEN of course!
It's very hard to get a customer, not so much to lose it.
And if I wanted a normal mobile phone I would have bought a mobile phone. I bought a Pocket PC phone with an open platform where most of the software written for it is updated on a regular basis.

I think in the scale of things most people upgrade for the device not the operating system, we all have to remember that this operating system is made by Microsoft so I personally have no great need for an upgrade to an operating system that will probably give me problems daily. On the other hand I love anything new or different so yes I to want that upgrade. If HTC gives us the upgrade do you really think it is going to stop us upgrading to a new device...... NO..... If we like it, then we need it, wether we can afford it is errelivant, we must have it at all costs.
Nokia offers software upgrades for free to there high end phones and I think it is HTC's responsabilty to those people like myself that have just bought a new PPC phone to release an upgrade, release it to all current model phones.

Response from O2 re: Blackberry on Exec

Guys,
Thought I would share this update I received from O2 Data Support regarding Blackberry availability since I'd been chasing them regularly for the XDAIIs.
Still unsure whether or not to invest in the Exec, but if they can get Blackberry going on it then I think it would be a winner for me.
Cheers
Thank you for your e-mail.
Blackberry Connect software is at this moment in time being developed
for the EXEC, unfortunately we cannot give any timescales on the release
date.
The reason on this not being released on launch with the device, is due
to the EXEC carrying the WM 5.0 O/S and the present Blackberry Connect
software only being compatible with WM 2003.
When details of release are available, these will be posted on our XDA
web site www.my-xda.com
Sorry we cannot be more precise with our answer, but if you have any
further enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us, we will be more
than glad to help.
Kind regards
Technical Helpdesk Advisor
Customer Technical Support
O2-UK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If your company using Exchange 2003 with SP2, it can be used as a blackberry device.

numanoids said:
Guys,
Thought I would share this update I received from O2 Data Support regarding Blackberry availability since I'd been chasing them regularly for the XDAIIs.
Still unsure whether or not to invest in the Exec, but if they can get Blackberry going on it then I think it would be a winner for me.
Cheers
Thank you for your e-mail.
Blackberry Connect software is at this moment in time being developed
for the EXEC, unfortunately we cannot give any timescales on the release
date.
The reason on this not being released on launch with the device, is due
to the EXEC carrying the WM 5.0 O/S and the present Blackberry Connect
software only being compatible with WM 2003.
When details of release are available, these will be posted on our XDA
web site www.my-xda.com
Sorry we cannot be more precise with our answer, but if you have any
further enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us, we will be more
than glad to help.
Kind regards
Technical Helpdesk Advisor
Customer Technical Support
O2-UK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Click to collapse
Remember, it took O2 and RIM nearly a year to get it right; given RIM haven't got a 3G device yet I'd say it will be this time next year when we see it on Exec.
Sad but true - O2 is at the mercy of RIM, and the RIM Connect team are at the mercy of the RIM Core team

We do run Exchange 2003 - not sure what our plans are to implement SP2 and we are a Blackberry house already. Need to have a word with our global messaging team to find out what the plans are.
Also, when I last looked at AUTD notifications for Exchange 2003 Sp1, O2 said that they didn't support AUTD which rendered the technology useless if you were on O2.
I'd sincerely hope that seeing as they are selling a device that has the capability, O2 would have the foresight(?) to look at accomodating customers who was to take advantage of it.
I don't think Rim will take that long to develop a client - given the current state of affairs in the states they'll be looking to increase their userbase with or without their own hardware and what better way that to incorporate support for newer clients? They'll know the Universal supports the Exchange push technology, but while its still being brought into production why not jump in and keep hold of existing RIM customers by accomodating their new devices.