:: Tech-A-Minute :: Alpha Version

One of the things I always do in my Windows Mobile phone is viewing documents (Word and Excel) and websites in landscape mode. When Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition was introduced in 2004, one of the improvements is to let the user manually change the screen orientation by going to the Screen section of the device’s Settings menu. That change made me happy when I shifted to a WM 2003 SE device where I access Word and Excel documents and browse websites for a wider view.

Four years later, I found myself owning an HTC Touch Diamond, as well as using a demo unit of the newer HTC Touch Diamond 2. These two, and other high-end phones from HTC have built-in accelerometers that automatically change the screen orientation while the HTC photo album or Opera mobile web browser is open. The rest of the applications, cannot.

What Were They thinking?

Were they thinking on any of these 3 reasons?

-          It would be annoying to use a phone that changes screen orientation automatically even if one doesn’t intend to do so. They left auto-rotate on the photo album and web browser where it’s needed more.

-          Most users wouldn’t need it.

-          TouchFLO 3D is not up for it.

I have held more than 4 phones, if I remember correctly, that have an auto-rotate feature. Let’s take the Nokia N95 8GB for example which I used to own last year. After upgrading the N95 8GB, the auto-rotate feature became functional and it made me love the phone even more. The auto-rotate feature never became an annoyance to me back then, but if it did, it can be disabled by going to the N95’s settings. It’s that simple. As long as they have settings available to turn the feature on/off, then there’s nothing to worry.

What if most users don’t need it? I don’t have any data on this (not sure if HTC collected data as their basis for removing auto-rotate) but it may be a possible reason why they left it out. If this is indeed a basis, why did Samsung have auto-rotate on all applications on their Omnia? And Nokia’s phones with built-in accelerometers? If they think most users don’t need it, HTC should think again.

There’s Another Way, Right?

Okay, so if you can’t have the device change the screen orientation automatically, then change it manually. So on my HTC Touch Diamond, I go to Start > Settings > System > Screen and… wait a minute… Manual changing of screen orientations has been removed by HTC!

HTC IS indeed preventing me from doing such task.

There May Be 3 Reasons – What’s The 3^rd?

Oh, I forgot. TouchFLO 3D may not be configured to run on landscape mode. Why is the HTC Touch Pro not showing Touch FLO 3D in landscape mode whenever its keyboard slides down? Instead of Touch FLO 3D, it shows shortcuts for applications where a user normally needs a keyboard.

Now that the newest HTC Touch Pro 2 is out, it is the only HTC device that shows Touch FLO 3D in landscape mode. This 3^rd reason may be the best one why HTC disabled landscape orientation.

Is HTC Trying to Resolve This Issue?

On the HTC Touch Diamond 2, auto-rotate can now also be done when creating SMS and e-mails. However, they’re the only additions for auto-rotate. And still, no sign of manual screen orientation.

If I were to suggest to HTC, give users the option to activate or deactivate the auto-rotate screen orientation feature. And if they do want to remove features from their phones, they should consider talking to Windows Mobile communities and enthusiasts first.