Upgrading my HTC Touch Pro II to Windows Mobile 6.5
Unlike my old Jasjar that I have upgraded several times using baked ROM from XDA, this time I decided not to loose HTC warranty and to do it the right way. For that I had to have the Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM. Trying to download it from HTC support web site I have found that my device is not built for the US (although I have bought it in the US). I have called the USA HTC support. I provided my serial number and got the origin of my device. It is a Philippine device, the ROM will be there in few days. I waited about a week until Noam Sheffer told me that they have released the ROM for this region. I have downloaded the ROM. To make sure that I will have the Eyron Hebrew support, I have asked them for a WM 6.5 version. They were kind to send me a link to download the Hebrew support file, however they have told me that they don’t know if it will work on the Touch Pro II. Since I am using the Exchange server of Sela to sync my device, the only backup that I needed was to the favorite, pictures, music, video, SMS and such (PIM). The easiest way to have this backup is to install (Thank Noam) the new MyPhone support. After doing all the synchronization and also using another backup application I started the ROM upgrade.
Upgrading the Rom is a process that can turn your device to a brick. According to HTC you have to close any application that runs in your desktop computer. They (and you) don’t want the computer to hang, sleep, re-boot or BSOD while you do the upgrade. My suggestion is to do the upgrade using a laptop or a machine with UPS (which can hold at least 10 minutes).
From this steps I stopped taking screen shots and used my camera instead (for a good reason).
The device started the installation:
There was something like pause or reset in the middle, but everything was O.K:
After the last reboot, a Windows Mobile 6.5 setup program has started.
After a while a Wizard asked me to setup the device and a tutorial explained how to use the keyboard.
I have also set the Exchange server account and got all my contact, calendar and mail. I have not got the favorite contacts and I have to set them manually again. To get the videos, picture, music and text messages (SMS) I have connected to MyPhone. This time I did not need to install the MyPhone software since it comes with the Windows Mobile 6.5. However it has installed an update before it started the synchronization.
I have checked the device including the TouchFlow Music tab. It works well. I used to have a problem before with the Music Tab showing “No Music Found”. I have suspected that it is a bug of the Eyron Hebrew Support.
Once I have connected the device to the desktop I have installed the Eyron Hebrew. The installation went very well. But guess what, the Music Tab bug still exists, installing the Hebrew support makes it unusable!
Beside the bug, the Hebrew support is very good. Not everything has been localized but for me it is fine since I use the Hebrew enabled with the English user interface.
So, what is my first impression of Windows Mobile 6.5? It looks good, almost Identical to WM 6.1. There are several good changes in the usability of the device. Many controls are bigger and easier to handle with the fingers. Bear in mined that HTC hides most of the original Microsoft User Interface with the TouchFlow 3D. One can notice the changes in the program (choosing the start) and in the settings tab.