[cgavula]

And Skyfire isn't a browser - it's more like a screen-scraper. It's closer to a Citrix client than a true browser. You'll still need a browser to view local / off-line content.

[cgavula]

And Skyfire isn't a browser - it's more like a screen-scraper. It's closer to a Citrix client than a true browser. You'll still need a browser to view local / off-line content.

[JesterMania]

I don't understand why they can't just place all the 3G bands and be done with it. They can do 850/1900 or 900/2100 so why not combine them all or have at least 3 of them (i.e. 850/900/2100 like the TyTN/TyTN II). I don't buy into the excuse whereby adding more bands apparently makes the device bigger. This reminds me of the time someone opened up a phone and discovered the MiniSD slot (which was supposed to save a lot of room) was just as large as a regular SD slot.

[wmm]

Originally Posted by rkistler

FWIW: Was talking to my favorite AT&T Rep about the upcoming Fuze, and the response I got was "Probably, but don't hold your breath..."

Seems their store just received a shipment of 300 (!) Tilts with the latest version of Windows Mobile (6.1 - ?), so they are not expecting anything else in that line "soon."

That's different from the story I'm hearing over on the xda developers' board. People there are saying that AT&T store employees are away being trained on the Fuze as we speak, that managers are already carrying them, that phones are being shipped to stores next Monday (to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday), etc. Apparently (with a screen shot to "prove" it) the Fuze is already in the Radio Shack POS system at a price of $549.99, $349.99 with a two-year contract (although there's no stock yet, of course). All the signs being reported there are consistent with the idea of a launch within a couple of weeks or so.

[azhiker]

Wow, we want what we want when we want it, and to get it at a price we want, while the companies are already offering so many choices (albeit some poor choices) but choices none the less.

Would I consider the Touch HD if it came here? Absolutely, it would replace my Pocket PC and phone. It was the screen size and form factor I had hoped for. But the uncertain economic times would cause me to wait even if it was selling at my local AT&T store right now.

Anyway, a month ago no one knew the HD phone was even being made. Who knows what will be available next month. And frankly, I think seeng WinMo 7 will also see new phones to use it.

HTC seems to start selling their phones everywhere else but the USA, maybe they know somethng we don't. We are not the center of the phone universe!

[JesterMania]

Originally Posted by wmm

That's different from the story I'm hearing over on the xda developers' board. People there are saying that AT&T store employees are away being trained on the Fuze as we speak, that managers are already carrying them, that phones are being shipped to stores next Monday (to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday), etc. Apparently (with a screen shot to "prove" it) the Fuze is already in the Radio Shack POS system at a price of $549.99, $349.99 with a two-year contract (although there's no stock yet, of course). All the signs being reported there are consistent with the idea of a launch within a couple of weeks or so.

$549.99 for a Fuze + $15 eBay unlock code? That's a steal! Let's see, Expansys is charging $899.00 USD or $1046.38 CAD for one.

[alcedes78]

Sadly I don't think our outcrys are representational of US demand. We are probably just a noisy section of the minority with the majority not willing to pay $1,000 for a phone.

This does make one decision easier for me. I could have either gotten a flat 42-inch HD TV or the 3.8-inch Touch HD for about the same price. Looks the decision has been made for me.

[bubuschoeny]

"Unfortunately the American way is to prefer free or as cheap as possible phones which doesnt do HTC any good if they want to turn a profit on the Touch HD. The number of sales they would get from users of sites like this willing to import is small compared to the number they would attract with a carrier subsidy so catering to such a small market really isnt the best business for HTC."

I think that assumption is wrong. Look at what Nokia as been able to do with there unlocked media phones (n95, n96 etc.). I would think there is a market for high end phone like these. Maybe it's a niche market but that doesn't mean there isn't $$$ to be made.

[frankenbike]

Originally Posted by whydidnt

Why? The CDMA market is just as big as GSM in the US. I don't really think there is a huge difference in the demographic makeup of either, is there?

No, I'm just saying the iPhone is pretty inexpensive with comparable features. You get slightly better res with the THD, for how much more? $500 at least?

Maybe the point of the HTC reps post was that they want to milk the Euros at premium prices, and by the time that market segment has run its course, they'll have something similar but cheaper out.

Here's it's a niche market, a smaller one, and it's not worth the effort of swinging deals and FCC approval.

The point about CDMA was that without an iPhone in its pipeline, I don't think my fellow CDMA customers would spend that kind of money in large quantities. I think $400 after subsidies is the top number or close to it at this point.

Pretty accurate statement - though 6 months per phone are all some of us seem to make it.

Yeah, but you know you're special

The HP iPaq 910 almost gets there at 16 mm. I wouldn't consider it too thick. However, it has other issues - small screen, eats battery like a kid eats sugar, somewhat slow, can't rotate screen etc. But we are getting there!

I think the half inch mark is a definite demarcation. You can get all incremental, but a half inch seems like the start of what you can call "slim". But it's not. My friends Blackberries are thinner than that. Unless I'm wearing cargo pants, there's no way I could put something like my Mogul in my jeans pocket. That thing feels like a brick compared to many phones out there.

Just sayin' it's a real worthy goal to strive for.

Except Skyfire only works on QVGA devices today.

Sure, but "today" it's still in Beta. Next year it will be the product to beat. There's some user interface stuff to refine, technical issues, but it works damn good right now. High res would be next or maybe next to next. Then they can license it to HTC to package a better web experience than any phone they sell currently comes with. Or anyone else. I can get sites with Skyfire my friends can't get to work with Safari.

And it works with my memory starved Mogul.

--
FB

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

There are Blackberries thinner than 12.5mm? I'd like to see that!

It's very odd to see people paying US$500-600 for a PPC back when they were popular but yet the moment a phone is added to these devices people expect to pay less than US$200-300 for something that does even more than what the old devices did.

[JKingGrim]

Come to think of it, why is the touch HD so much more expensive than an iphone? I am not debating features or capabilities, I mean manufacturing cost wise. Does a touch HD really cost $400+ more to manufacture? What does it really have that the iphone doesnt. A bigger and higher resolutions screen.. Anything else? Windows mobile costs on the order of $10 per device. Are they just selling it so expensive because they can?