[Jason Dunn]

Alright, either I've completely missed the rumours about this device (entirely possible) or HTC managed to keep this one a secret up to the very end. This is an interesting phone! Here are all the specs, pulled right from the press release I was sent earlier tonight.

• Size: 116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm
• Weight: 140g with battery
• Networks: WCDMA/HSDPA: 900/2100 MHz for EU and Asia
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Maximum speed: UL = 384 kbps; DL = 3.6/7.2 Mbps**
• Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard
• Display: 2.4-inch QVGA screen
• Camera: 3.2 megapixel with fixed focus
• Internal memory: 256 MB flash; 256 MB RAM
• Memory card: microSD
• WLAN: 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth®: 2.0 with EDR
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
• Battery: 1000 mAh
• Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 320 minutes*** / GSM: Up to 380 minutes***
• Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 400 hours*** / GSM: Up to 280 hours***
• Special features: Sliding QWERTY keyboard, FM radio, Google Maps, RSS Hub
• Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225, 528 MHz

Looking at that list, a few things stand out. First, it's an EU/Asia release first, so no North American 3G bands - meaning where I am, it's an EDGE-only phone. The good news though is that it's a GSM quad-band phone, so as far as voice coverage is concerned, it will be solid. The 2.4 inch QVGA screen is a bit of a disappointment - I was hoping for a VGA screen. This thing looks so much like the Diamond, why not give it the same screen? 256 MB RAM is plentiful on a Windows Mobile Standard device, and with the microSD card slot this thing can load up with a lot of storage. Built-in GPS is nice, but couldn't they do better than a 1000 mAh battery? Perhaps that will give stellar battery life since there's no VGA screen...

The potential down-side? As a slider, it's going to be thicker than a candy-bar style phone. The thickness of the S740 is 16.3 mm. The previous generation slider from HTC is the S710, and it's 18.6 mm - so they've managed to shave 2.3 mm off. My Blackjack II is 13 mm thick in comparison, and my all-time favourite Windows Mobile Standard phone, the HTC S620 (aka T-Mobile Dash), is 12.8 mm.

Regardless, I'm heartended to see that HTC hasn't abandoned the Windows Mobile Standard platform like it seemed they had. Bring us more non-touchscreen phones HTC!

[Jason Dunn]

Alright, either I've completely missed the rumours about this device (entirely possible) or HTC managed to keep this one a secret up to the very end. This is an interesting phone! Here are all the specs, pulled right from the press release I was sent earlier tonight.

• Size: 116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm
• Weight: 140g with battery
• Networks: WCDMA/HSDPA: 900/2100 MHz for EU and Asia
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Maximum speed: UL = 384 kbps; DL = 3.6/7.2 Mbps**
• Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard
• Display: 2.4-inch QVGA screen
• Camera: 3.2 megapixel with fixed focus
• Internal memory: 256 MB flash; 256 MB RAM
• Memory card: microSD
• WLAN: 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth®: 2.0 with EDR
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
• Battery: 1000 mAh
• Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 320 minutes*** / GSM: Up to 380 minutes***
• Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 400 hours*** / GSM: Up to 280 hours***
• Special features: Sliding QWERTY keyboard, FM radio, Google Maps, RSS Hub
• Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225, 528 MHz

Looking at that list, a few things stand out. First, it's an EU/Asia release first, so no North American 3G bands - meaning where I am, it's an EDGE-only phone. The good news though is that it's a GSM quad-band phone, so as far as voice coverage is concerned, it will be solid. The 2.4 inch QVGA screen is a bit of a disappointment - I was hoping for a VGA screen. This thing looks so much like the Diamond, why not give it the same screen? 256 MB RAM is plentiful on a Windows Mobile Standard device, and with the microSD card slot this thing can load up with a lot of storage. Built-in GPS is nice, but couldn't they do better than a 1000 mAh battery? Perhaps that will give stellar battery life since there's no VGA screen...

The potential down-side? As a slider, it's going to be thicker than a candy-bar style phone. The thickness of the S740 is 16.3 mm. The previous generation slider from HTC is the S710, and it's 18.6 mm - so they've managed to shave 2.3 mm off. My Blackjack II is 13 mm thick in comparison, and my all-time favourite Windows Mobile Standard phone, the HTC S620 (aka T-Mobile Dash), is 12.8 mm.

Regardless, I'm heartended to see that HTC hasn't abandoned the Windows Mobile Standard platform like it seemed they had. Bring us more non-touchscreen phones HTC!

[Darius Wey]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

Looking at that list, a few things stand out. First, it's an EU/Asia release first, so no North American 3G bands - meaning where I am, it's an EDGE-only phone.

Australia, too - that is, if you're on Telstra's Next G network. The other four carriers use 900/2100MHz.

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

The 2.4 inch QVGA screen is a bit of a disappointment - I was hoping for a VGA screen. This thing looks so much like the Diamond, why not give it the same screen?

Not with Standard, unfortunately. The max supported is 320 x 320 or 240 x 440. A 240 x 440 display on this device would have been nice.

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

256 MB RAM is plentiful on a Windows Mobile Standard device, and with the microSD card slot this thing can load up with a lot of storage.

Yeah. I'm liking this even more than the Diamond at the moment.

[Stinger]

I wish HTC would include a proper 3.5mm headphone socket. Other than that (and the camera), it looks great!

[Jorlin]

I guess this aims at all the future customers that just aren't geeky enough to go for a "full-sized" PDA phone... I really wonder how HTC will alter WM6 to make it disappear... (touchflo3D will not be enough if you have no stylus and this kind of super mini touch screen).

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Darius Wey

Not with Standard, unfortunately. The max supported is 320 x 320 or 240 x 440. A 240 x 440 display on this device would have been nice.

Really? I didn't know there was a resolution limit on Windows Mobile Standard that's different than Windows Mobile Professional. You learn something new every day.

[Rocco Augusto]

I really like the look of the handset but I wish their was a North American version. You would think they would by now HTC would release some new handsets in NA the same time as EU/Asia. I know there really isn't a market for unlocked phones here in the US (not sure about Canada) but I feel a large portion of that problem is almost no one besides Dell sells unlocked handsets and Dell only sell's Nokia handsets.

[possmann]

http://www.phonenews.com/htc-s740-ro...-support-4799/

Nice to see, but useless to me (Verizon) and no sign of that comming over any time soon (sigh).

Verizon will now allow people to activate non-Verizon phones on their network - has anyone succesfully done this?