Tech
The X-Bond is equipped with an Intel PXA272 / 416 MHz CPU with an embedded 64MB RAM and 64MB ROM. It can also accommodate for miniSD cards for memory expansion. The phone supports tri-band GSM and GPRS and EDGE.
The X-Bond runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 and has the usual applications like mobile versions of Microsoft’s Word, Excel, PowerPoint along with Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player etc. It doesn’t have a business card reader though, like the Spice Edge, we saw some time back.
The mini-USB slot is not just for data transfer but for charging the battery as well. Now here’s where you’ll encounter a major problem. Although the phone comes with a 2GB miniSD card, it can’t be used as a mass storage device without installing the software on your PC. All the phone does otherwise is charge the battery while connected. Another problem is that the speed of the USB port is just 1.1. There are other modes of data transfer as well like Bluetooth (v1.2) with A2DP support but there’s no infrared. There’s also Wi-Fi connectivity with 802.11b. So it’s fair to say connectivity-wise the X-Bond does fairly well on the charts.
One of the value added services that the company provides is their patented Pocket Flight software. What this essentially does is, through GPRS or EDGE, ties in with servers from Galileo, a travel website for checking flight schedules as well as doing bookings for tickets. The company says that this particular software is not present in any other Windows mobile device.
With regards to the Bluetooth headset; here are a few points to think about. Firstly, in a space with no walls, connectivity and the range is great when listening to music. Clarity is good but not volume. In a crowded area you can just about hear the lyrics. Indoors there was no problem. The headset has volume keys, 2 keys for skipping tracks and a play and pause button. However it does take a few seconds to change tracks. The right hand earpiece has a switch for powering the device on and off. And even if the device is paired with the phone you’ll still need to go in to the Bluetooth connectivity folder and refresh the devices to reestablish the connection.
Secondly - and this is rather strange – when walking outdoors, if the phone was on my right hand side, the connection kept breaking, but no problems with the left side however. So all you 'righties', you’re gonna have to make a few adjustments. Clarity while speaking was not so good. They voice clarity was scratchy at best and a wee bit distorted. Though the person on the other end could hear me clearly (of course that was when I kept the phone on my left hand side), so the mic pick up was ok.




