Sorry, couldn’t resist yesterday’s clip, but here you go, a genuine unboxing of the Samsung i900 Omnia, a device that runs Windows Mobile and is a similar form factor to… the Apple iPhone 3G!

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So the first snap of the Google Android-powered HTC Dream has gone public, and it has to be said that it is a strange looking beast.

What appears to be a standard HTC display slides right up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard in an age when devices are replacing physical keyboards with the touch-screen variety.

With the aim of the OS to drill into the Windows Mobile market, with the presence of the Touch Diamond and the Omnia in the market place both running Windows Mobile 6.1 and giving the brand a shot in the arm, The Gadget Monkey can only see Android stepping into line alongside all of the other mobile operating systems and waiting its term.

By defining Android as a WinMo competitor, Google are setting their sights a long way below the real target – the smooth, stylish but ultimately lacking in substance Apple iPhone 3G. Android is therefore unlikely to succeed.

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Phones like this just don’t come along everyday… Windows Mobile, touch-screen swishy smooth stylish loveliness!

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Here’s a quick video on the Blackberry Curve that shows how utilising Wi-Fi enables viewing of live TV and Youtube…

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The Apple Apps and the mooted Android Apps stores have featured heavily on The Gadget Monkey over the last few days, so what better way to round things up than with strong rumours of a Windows Mobile application store.

This cute device will run the upcoming Windows Mobile 7, a long rumoured adddition to the Microsoft family which will hopefully feature seamless communication and synchronization with its big brother, the successor to Vista: Windows 7.

The app store is apparently called Skymarket, and has been revealed by way of a job advert for a Senior Product Manager:

Job Title: Senior Product Manager - Skymarket
This is a unique opportunity and time of rapid change in the mobile industry for a Senior Product Manager in the Mobile Communications Services team to drive the launch of a v1 marketplace service for Windows Mobile.

Key Responsibilities include the following: (more…)

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The Google Android wheel is rolling, with an example of the device leaked online - you can catch it below - and it seems as though its coming with a slideaway keyboard and all of the usual HTC gubbins.

But why a keyboard?  Why not a touchscreeen device?  There’s a certain, growing amount of consternation among the Apple iPhone loyalists that other companies are nicking ideas off Apple rather than forging their own path.  One of these companies is Google - but if they’re trying to steal a march on Apple or “buy in” to the amazing new trend for mobile UIs, why does the HTC Dream have a slideaway keyboard?

As we’ve already speculated, the only device that comes close to the iPhone 3G in capability and flexibility is the Samsung Omnia.

What will Google Android bring to the party?

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As if falling out with the Tocco wasn’t bad enough, it turns out that the Samsung Omnia runs Windows Mobile.

That’s right, a touchscreen babe of a mobile phone - probably the only device on the planet at the moment that could compete with the iPhone.

A significant 3.2 inch TFT touchscreen display with beautiful colour reproduction entices the user to investigate the rather sexy interpretation of Windows Mobile 6.1, and depending on your network and tariff this affords various combinations of smooth, zooming web browsing (which is where the TouchWiz interface comes into its own) pop or push email, standard calls and text messages plus the vast repository of Windows Mobile applications that make the platform the most flexible and adaptable of all mobile OS.  There’s also a wealth of Java apps that are compatible.

Storage is afforded both in the shape the Micro SD slot which will accept up to 8GB as well as in the speciication of the model you buy.  There’s a Samsung Omnia 16GB as well as a Samsung Omnia 8GB, with the inbuilt memory which providing a massive amount of space for storing videos, photos and music.  Meanwhile a 5 megapixel camera equipped with face and smile detection and slick image editing software accompanies the usual Mobile Office software.

Unlike the trendy F480, Samsung have hit gold with the Omnia.  It feels like it can challenge the iPhone in functionality and style and features a delightful brushed metal finish.

With the right support from the mobile phone networks and suppliers, the Omnia can pose a serious threat to the buggy iPhone.  The earlier Samsung Tocco has been given a lot of backing by Samsung’s promo department, and with the capabilities of the Samsung Omnia obvious for all to see, strongly needs the same degree of support to put the ultra-flexible Windows Mobile on to an even footing with the elitist iPhone.

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A new version of the T-Mobile Ameo – this time with a 16GB hard drive (not clear as yet whether this is flash or an actual HDD) has been released this month by T-Mobile, and the mini laptop/big PDA has been furnished with Windows Mobile 6.1 by all accounts.

The previous release of the T-Mobile branded super PDA (originally the HTC Advantage) was a little unwieldy in places; phonecalls broadcast to the public thanks to a loud loudspeaker and an annoyingly commonplace “falling over” of the device whenever the user tried to touch the touchscreen.

However with advances in touchscreen UI and the proliferation of WinMo on-screen keyboards, the magnetic Ameo keyboard should be pretty much a useful addition rather than a vital component.  Throw in a Bluetooth earpiece for handsfree phonecalls and you could probably use it now without carrying a mobile phone as well.

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Here’s a peek at the new HTC Advantage/T-Mobile Ameo…

Question is - exactly how good is it as a phone compared to the previous version?

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Reports indicate that the much maligned lack of a copy/paste feature on the current iPhone 3G is set to be resolved in the near future with the release of an OS update.

The Apple iPhone OS 2.1 is also expected to include new GPS functionality as well as internet radio support, but it is the presence of a simple function - pioneered by Apple back in their formative years - that is likely to bring more users to the device.

Selling the iPhone 3G as a productivity tool and then missing out the ability to cut, copy or paste text or mail addresses is about as useless as selling a TV without a screen.  The fact that the device got through QA testing without anyone raising alarm bells is tantamount to confirmation that the iPhone 3G was rushed through production.

Now, has anyone at Apple got any plans to add a video camera?

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