HTC Blue Angel/Universal Hybrid Idea

[kcrain]

Hey everyone, this is my first post ever on this or any website forum. I had this idea of a device that I don't think has been made, so just for the sake of wishful thinking, I thought I'd share. Could you imagine a device that looks a lot like the Blue Angel (I particularly like it), but also included UMTS/EDGE support and had a VGA screen? Also, I'd rather have the sliding QWERTY keyboard open from the side instead of up and down. Think about it...it would be landscape for email/IM typing, much like the Universal, but slides open instead of clamshell (which seems to make the device a little bigger). The keyboard wouldn't be as cramped as the Blue Angel, because it could stretch out laterally over the entire length of the device! Anyway, it was an idea I had and I wanted to see what other people had to say. All the other usual things should be included (GSM/GPRS, Wifi, bluetooth, lots of memory, good battery life, fast processor, etc etc etc). GPS and CF wouldn't be bad either, but I guess you can't have everything!

[Kowalski]

sliding keyboard, a good idea but i prefer clamshell design just like nokia communicators, because the clamshell design protects the screen.

[MitchellO]

The sliding keyboard would mean you couldn't use the keyboard sitting on a desk with the screen on an angle (same setup as a laptop) and rather as a thumbboard.

What would be great is if they kept the current design and stripped all that space from around the screen, shrinking the whole device to that size. Still wouldn't match the size of my XDA II Mini.

[Pigpen_the_Nerd]

If they would just put some GSM and EDGE into this device, I would be all over it...
http://www.oqo.com
:)

[Kowalski]

oqo? i dont think oqo would work for me: too big for a pda, too small for an XP machine!

[kcrain]

The sliding keyboard would mean you couldn't use the keyboard sitting on a desk with the screen on an angle (same setup as a laptop) and rather as a thumbboard.

What would be great is if they kept the current design and stripped all that space from around the screen, shrinking the whole device to that size. Still wouldn't match the size of my XDA II Mini.

Even with the Universal, it doesn't seem to me that the keyboard would really be big enough for touch typing, sitting on a desk, like a laptop. It seems like the keyboard is still most likely to be used as a thumbboard, and not much more. But maybe I'm wrong.

As for the Mini, yeah, it would be great to have a device that small with all these other features, but compromises have to be made between functionality and size. While technology has come a LONG ways, it still has further to go. To have Blue Angel/Universal functionality built into a device the size of a Mini or iPOD would be amazing...but that's just not practical yet. Maybe someday...

[MitchellO]

There are only two features that I feel the Mini has lost from the IIs - keyboard and wifi. Memory was simply a cost decision (you can get the mini upgraded to 128mb).

[kcrain]

After thinking about it a little more, yeah, I guess my idea would kinda be like the OQO, but not as big...more like an average PPC.

The point of the clamshell screen protection is well taken...but from my point of view, the Blue Angel is already above average for size (I have an ipaq 2215, which is a great combination of size and features, like CF, for me). With the universal, while all the specs are so impressive, from the pictures I've seen, it's getting bigger than would be very comfortable to carry aside from a large coat pocket or a backpack.

I like the idea of the video conferencing capabilities of the Universal, but I'm personally against the idea of built in digicams into phones and pda's, unless the quality can atleast equal a standalone camera. It just doesn't seem worth it to me, otherwise.

What does anyone else think?