HTC smartphones on Verizon Wireless

In my opinion, HTC makes some of the best Windows Mobile smartphones. They're now making more devices that run Google Android, but as long as Microsoft remains alive, Windows Mobile will be a popular smartphone operating system. So, if you're on Verizon Wireless and you're looking for a Windows phone, get one made by HTC. Remember that many of these devices end up getting rebranded as an XV6800 or XV6900. You'll have to do a bit of research to identify them as an HTC product.

I ordered an HTC Touch Pro

My XV6900 (Vogue) gets a slow GPS lock because it's not getting assistance from the network.
My XV6800 (Titan) gets a quick GPS lock because it's getting assistance from the network.

I can't seem to get my XV6900 (Vogue) to connect with QPST. I'm unable to find drivers for this phone. I was able to get the XV6800 (Titan) to connect so that I could tweak the aGPS settings.

Well, it appears that it's time for me to move on from the Titan. Therefore, I'm getting the HTC Touch Pro (for free with my "new every two" credit). This device has an unlocked aGPS, so I won't need to flash any custom ROMs. However, since I'd like to run Windows Mobile 6.5, I'll probably still install some type of custom ROM on this device.

Testing the XV6900

Yes, I'm now testing the XV6900 (HTC Vogue). I was able to flash a custom radio ROM and a custom Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM. However, I'm having a few issues:

• the built-in GPS isn't working very well (difficult to get a lock, so I must not be getting any network assistance)
  
• the Internet Sharing (for tethering) isn't working (the "connect" option is grayed out)

Will continue to perform a few additional tests...

Still Waiting for Verizon to Unlock the aGPS on HTC and Samsung

People are still waiting for Verizon Wireless to unlock the aGPS on the HTC Touch Pro, the Samsung Omnia, and the Samsung Saga. Even though the XV6900 (or HTC Vogue) also has an internal aGPS chip, Verizon won't be unlocking that. So, if you want to use the GPS on that device, you'll need to do some adventurous ROM flashing. I'm still lucky to have the XV6800 (or HTC Titan, Sprint Mogul, PPC 6800) that has an internal aGPS that works really well once you load a custom ROM and apply a few tweaks (or apply a few tweaks to the MR1 or MR2 ROM released by Verizon).

It's so handy to have a phone that has an internal aGPS. The safety implications of having a GPS device are also huge. In fact, I'm surprised that Verizon hasn't faced any significant lawsuits from people who may have sustained injury that could have been avoided if the aGPS on their device had not been locked or disabled by Verizon.

Well, fortunately Verizon won't be crippling future smartphones that have a built-in aGPS. However, there are many current customers who are waiting for that software upgrade!

Verizon Touch XV6900 with GPS

The touch-screen Verizon XV6900 also has a built-in GPS chip that can be accessed with some customization.

The nice thing about this phone is the thinner profile, the increased program RAM, and the TouchFLO interface. Too bad it does not have a hardware keyboard.