HTC Acknowledges the USA in 2006 Lineup

[Raphael Salgado]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1671' target='_blank'>http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1671</a><br /><br /></div><i>"At CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas, HTC today revealed a new DVB-H TV phone for the U.S., and outlined other parts of its 2006 lineup for the U.S. The DVB-H phone is a quad-band GSM/EDGE Windows Mobile Smartphone like the T-Mobile SDA, but with a landscape QVGA display. The phone is designed specifically to work with the new DVB-H network being launched by Modeo later this year. An HTC executive also sat down with Phone Scoop and outlined plans for additional phones. The company plans to bring its "Star Trek" ultra-thin clamshell Smartphone to the U.S. in mid-2006, and its Hermes PDA phone to the U.S. in Q4. The Hermes is a 3G update to the Wizard device currently sold as the Cingular 8125 and T-Mobile MDA. The U.S. version of the Hermes will sport tri-band WCDMA (850/1900/2100) with HSDPA."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/salgado_hermes850.jpg" /> <br /><br />Leave it up to PhoneScoop to bring our community some good news like this. It looks like HTC is actually aware of the demand of good Windows Mobile phones in the United States and will grace us with US-friendly versions of their most anticipated devices after all. With Cingular's continued rollout of 3G to major cities (New York Metro is the latest offering), it looks like these HTC phones will arrive just in time, and probably offered by the US carriers with subsidized prices. Personally, I got weary of spending as much as $800 for a Pocket PC Phone. Don't ask if I regret making the switch to Verizon with my XV6700 - but check with me again in several months when the Hermes and US 3G comes busting through. ;)

[100thMonkey]

The writer of the front page article suggested that NYC has Cingular UMTS, which is not currently the case at least at a level appreciable by the consumer. Although the Modeo article does mention having spectrum for Digital Video Broadcasting, the article also states that it is has Modeo has their own spectrum, not necessarily using Cingular's UMTS network. While the service may also be eventually be available over Cingular's network, for the moment it appears that Modeo has dedicated spectrum to offer their services and that this is the intended meaning of the original source.

"New handset leverages Modeo's planned national mobile broadcast distribution infrastructure

To support the new TV phone and a wide range of other mobile devices, Modeo has in place unencumbered spectrum rights and the unique expertise across wireless network, broadcast and content platform operations necessary to deliver a high quality mobile TV experience. The company successfully pilot tested its DVB-H mobile broadcast network in Pittsburgh during 2005. Modeo plans to officially launch this network and its commercial-grade multicast mobile broadcast center during 2006 in select major U.S. markets, including New York City. The company currently is working on deployment of the network to the top 30 U.S. markets, with launches targeted throughout 2007. "

[Janak Parekh]

The writer of the front page article suggested that NYC has Cingular UMTS, which is not currently the case at least at a level appreciable by the consumer.
Not only that, Cingular UMTS/HSDPA is 1900, not 2100. I hope that Hermes isn't 2100-only UMTS; otherwise, it's a colossal mistake.

--janak

[100thMonkey]

It looks like the first Hermes will be 2100 only, apparently a later sister model will be 850/1900/2100. It looks like we are entering a new era. Whereas many companies used to produce 2 triband GSM phones, one for the Eastern hemisphere at 900/1800/1900 and one for Western hemisphere at 850/1800/1900. It seems that the new style will be one for the Western hemisphere at UMTS 850/1900/2100 (since the WCDMA 850/1900 will be backward compatible with the current GSM 850/1900 systems) and then a second model will be introduced with quadband GSM and UMTS 2100 for the Eastern Hemisphere. Of course, we are not likely to see a quadband GSM/triband WCDMA handset for a long, long time.

[Janak Parekh]

It looks like the first Hermes will be 2100 only, apparently a later sister model will be 850/1900/2100.
Yeah, I reread this. It's interesting: I don't know what Cingular's roadmap is to convert both 850 and 1900 to wCDMA, but it'll be great to see it happen. Personally, I can't wait: the sooner we ditch GSM/GPRS/EDGE, the better. CDMA and 3G all the way! 8)

--janak