O2 Germany Introduce Black Xda III - Without Camera!

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.ppcw.net/?itemid=2138' target='_blank'>http://www.ppcw.net/?itemid=2138</a><br /><br /></div><i>"At the same press conference, where o2 Germany previewed their Xda IIi the first time this week, o2 also confirmed that their version of the HTC Blue Angel - called Xda III - will be launched without camera! o2 Germany explained this step with the high demand of their corporate and business customers to get a Pocket PC Phone Edition without camera. More and more companies in Germany and worldwide disallow the use of camera enabled devices on their company terrain and therefore o2 Germany decided to go this way with their Xda III..........According to the German product manager, the demand for a Xda III without a camera was much higher than the demand for such a device with camera and the target market for the Xda III and Xda IIi are different"</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/XDAIII.jpg" /> <br /><br />So O2 join T-mobile as another German mobile company that <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33798&amp;">gets it</a>. There are a LOT of folks that do NOT want a camera on their phone or Pocket PC. O2 Germany will introduce one Xda III version, sans camera, while T-mobile will offer both versions. I wonder if O2 will introduce this camera-less Xda III into the rest of the European or worldwide market. The demand is certainly there. Make sure you check the 6 high resolution photos of this device in the <a href="http://www.ppcw.net/?itemid=2138">PPCW.net article</a>. That black styling looks really smart. Lets hope that this marks the start of the retreat of the scourge of embedded cameras in everything. :wink:

[ctmagnus]

:drool:

Very nice colour!

[IpaqMan2]

I'm sure I will be the only one with this opinion on this, but I think having embeedded cameras on PDAs is a wonderful idea. I can understand why some business would not want embedded cameras and think the need for the option with out them is in demand, but outside of the business world I think it is a very nice touch. It's unlikely that an embedded camera will replace my dedicated digital camera anytime soon, but sure's heck nice to have since I am always carrying around my PDA and not my camera. To see a "retreat" of PDAs with out a camera I think will be sad and a very dull move since many people I know who have PDAs use them more outside of their jobs as a way of life than using them inside their business or work.

[Duncan]

So - T-Mobile Germany and Fujitsu-Siemens are setting an interesting trend - consumer choice over camera or no camera. Must be something about German companies...

[Typhoon]

that is probably the coolest PDA I have ever seen (after the Clie UX50).

[Jonathon Watkins]

I'm sure I will be the only one with this opinion on this, but I think having embeedded cameras on PDAs is a wonderful idea.

Not at all IpaqMan2, there are plenty of others like yourself who feel that way. :wink: With just about every decent phone (and many new PPCs) sporting a camera it looks like the manufactures are fixated on adding them to everything. I'm tryting to be a voice of reason about the embeded camera issue, which is why I talk about it. I am looking for choice and options and if a unit has a camera, it means that I and many others can't use it - or would have to leave it behind all the time.

....outside of the business world I think it is a very nice touch. .
Yes and no. With many schools, sports centres etc banning cameras, it means that you can't take your Pocket PC or phone everywhere with you. It's OK if you are prepared to leave it behind, but then what's the point? As usual thought, your needs may not be the same as mine. :)

To see a "retreat" of PDAs with out a camera I think will be sad and a very dull move since many people I know who have PDAs use them more outside of their jobs as a way of life than using them inside their business or work.

Well, there is a growng backlash against this trend, so having onboard cameras may an unwise move in long run.

[Jonathon Watkins]

that is probably the coolest PDA I have ever seen (after the Clie UX50).

Agreed. Black just goods good with everything. :lol:

[amnon]

Why not just having the camera as a module, i.e. It will be removable and the PDA box will be supplied with a cover when you want it removed.

The camera is manufactured as a module anyway by a 3rd party, it could be removable.

It took years to make a PDA with a removable battery. Will it take years to create a PDA with a removable camera?

[surur]

I'm sure I will be the only one with this opinion on this, but I think having embeedded cameras on PDAs is a wonderful idea.

Not at all IpaqMan2, there are plenty of others like yourself who feel that way. :wink:

Whistling quitely in the corner :worried: Who me :wink:

Surur

PS: Anyway, choice is good. It will give a real measure to the market, and is the only way to assess a trend.

[JvanEkris]

I'm sure I will be the only one with this opinion on this, but I think having embeedded cameras on PDAs is a wonderful idea.

Not at all IpaqMan2, there are plenty of others like yourself who feel that way. :wink: With just about every decent phone (and many new PPCs) sporting a camera it looks like the manufactures are fixated on adding them to everything. I'm tryting to be a voice of reason about the embeded camera issue, which is why I talk about it. I am looking for choice and options and if a unit has a camera, it means that I and many others can't use it - or would have to leave it behind all the time.I think it is a good thing to be offered the choice. Unfortunatly it isn't as clear as a lot of people want it. I would like to see what this device would do if it was offered freely on the market, as a competitor to it's camera armed brother. Then the market really could have it's say.

My feeling is that in the top-range of telephones and PDA's this camera is not a great feature. Aiming at the the business segment, these people generally already own a decent digital camera it has to compete to. Although i sometimes use the camera on my phone (SonyEricsson P900), it is useless 99% of the time. If i really want to take pictures, i take my digital camera with me. The pictures comming from these phones are crap. The lenses used are low-quality and the shooting-speed is too slow. When i compare this to my 3 year old digital compact-camera that camera still wins. If somebody offered me the same device without the camera, i would definitely buy it.

Jaap

[Darius Wey]

What can I say? WOW! 8O

Black certainly does work with everything... Although I think the thumbpad could do with a shape revamp, but that's open to interpretation. I prefer a more-rounded thumbpad. ;)

[Typhoon]

One thing I don't understand... if they give the LCD the ability to slide up and have room for a keyboard, why not the 1s, 2s, 3s, etc.? That doesn't make sense... That would be cool if you could have it slide up in portrait mode OR flip it to landscape mode and still be able to slide it up vertically and find a keyboard like an OQO type PDA =) &lt;-- hey I like it...

[gibson042]

Anyway, choice is good. It will give a real measure to the market, and is the only way to assess a trend.
By my count, this will be the eighth branding of the HTC Blue Angel, and two of the eight come without cameras (the T-Mobile Germany MDA III and the O2 Germany XDA III). With this being the best GSM PPC Phone Edition available, I expect it will also be the best assessment to date of the desire for integrated cameras. Hopefully the slightly decreased demand from the "pro" crowd (due to its low resolution VGA camera) will be offset by the slightly decreased demand from the "anti" crowd (due to the difficulty of getting one outside of Germany, and especially outside of Europe).

[Jonathon Watkins]

In all seriousness, does anyone know how I get hold of one or more of these? I have friends that are interested in a Pocket PC without camera and this fits the bill perfectly.

Thoughts?