HTC Announces the World's First Windows Mobile 5 3G Device

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.htc.com.tw/news/press050511.html' target='_blank'>http://www.htc.com.tw/news/press050511.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) (TAIEX: 2498) today announced its plans to release the world's first 3G Windows Mobile 5.0-based device, the HTC Universal. The Universal will enable customers to be more productive while having powerful multimedia and internet browsing capabilities. Global distribution plans for the device are expected in the second half of 2005 with mobile operators in Europe, North America, and Asia. Microsoft Corp. chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates, unveiled Windows Mobile 5.0 during his keynote at Microsoft Mobile &amp; Embedded DevCon 2005 in Las Vegas and displayed its versatility on the HTC Universal."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20050511-HTCUniversal.jpg" /><br /><br />If you saw Bill Gates' Keynote at MEDC 2005, you would have seen the HTC Universal strutting its stuff. Now comes a press release by HTC confirming the availability of the 3G device with Windows Mobile 5. With a VGA display and a 180° pivot-screen design, many of you craving a Pocket PC Phone with VGA will probably be drooling over this one as we speak. The new device is expected to be delivered to European, North American and Asian mobile operators in the second half of 2005.

[TMann]

Anyone have any guesses how much this device will cost?

TMann

[jasondearyou]

I don't know the exact price for this device, however I do know I saw a prerelease price for the h65XX listed at over $900.00. Giving that these two devices are the only closely comparative devices, it wouldn't surprise me if these devices cost around the same and or the HTC Magician costing slightly more.

But who knows..... HP or HTC ... hmmmm 0X

[andydempsey]

about damn time. I'll sign a 3 year contract to get a good price.

[G M Fude]

Are HTC the company that make most of the Palm PDAs?

[Jason Lee]

Are HTC the company that make most of the Palm PDAs?

htc makes most of the pocket pcs out there. dell, hp, all the imate clones.. all htc.

[rich710]

Anyone that have heard of a new I-mate jam with Mobile 5? or if it gonna be possible to upgrade todays I-mate Jam to mobile 5?

[biglouis]

.... have you seriously compared 3G contract prices with 2.5G? I assume this device will support GPRS/GSM as well as 3G, or else the higher cost of 3G will put some users off.

I also wonder how the soft key feature in 5.0 will get implemented on this device. Doesn't it need two strategically placed keys below the screen?

Personally, I'd take a quad-band Jam, with 128MB RAM, wifi and bluetooth over this baby any day

LouisB

[Darius Wey]

I also wonder how the soft key feature in 5.0 will get implemented on this device. Doesn't it need two strategically placed keys below the screen?

They are present. If I recall correctly, the Keynote shows this.

[krypticide]

.... have you seriously compared 3G contract prices with 2.5G? I assume this device will support GPRS/GSM as well as 3G, or else the higher cost of 3G will put some users off.

I also wonder how the soft key feature in 5.0 will get implemented on this device. Doesn't it need two strategically placed keys below the screen?

Personally, I'd take a quad-band Jam, with 128MB RAM, wifi and bluetooth over this baby any day

LouisB

Well, 128 MB RAM will be mostly moot with WM5. You'll be wishing for a larger ROM size, if anything.

[Yorri]

and great features while making it useless as a multimedia machine.

Why do they force me to buy another device (or dedicated devices) that have hard drive sizes for multimedia? Do I really need an portable mp3, photo and video AND PDA when a pda do them all (Except for space)?

Can't wait until Dell and Palm release their GB disk machines to truly show off it's capabilities. It's about time pdas get with the program!

After 3 years I am still using a 3600 because nothing out there is better. sure there are a FEW improvements but not enough for me to spend another $500-$700.

[hidefguy]

Well, 128 MB RAM will be mostly moot with WM5. You'll be wishing for a larger ROM size, if anything.

Wishing also for hardware graphics acceleration and Mobile Direct 3D support, neither of which the Universal has.

[gibson042]

I don't know the exact price for this device, however I do know I saw a prerelease price for the h65XX listed at over $900.00. Giving that these two devices are the only closely comparative devices, it wouldn't surprise me if these devices cost around the same and or the HTC Magician costing slightly more.
This 3G VGA marvel less expensive than the Magician? People in the front of the line/queue had better look into protection from those at the end. :snipersmile:

But who knows..... HP or HTC ... hmmmm 0X
I'll make it easy: HTC. (IMHO)

[Phoenix]

This device looks really nice with great specs. It might be a big too large though, for my liking, but I'll either have to see more photos or see it person to be certain. I'm eager to see the new JAM that will be announced later this year - many of its specs should be similar. Regardless, the second half of '05 should be a great time for convergence.

I can't wait. 8)

[mr_Ray]

VGA on a phone device with a decent looking keyboard?????? I'm listening....

I can't seem to get through to the site at the moment, so does anyone have the specs for it? I could just about live with a decrease in RAM to 64MB if there's wifi and 2SD and/or CF slots (although I doubt there's CF).

[gibson042]

Follow the link in my sig for a description of the device. To summarize the known facts: 520 MHz CPU
128 MB RAM
VGA resolution swivel display (like a miniature convertible Tablet PC)
Bluetooth
802.11b WiFi
GSM/GPRS/UMTS voice/data service
GSM/GPRS on 850, 1800, and 1900 MHz bands
Two cameras: 0.3 megapixel on the front for video calls; 1.3 megapixel on the back for photos
I also expect: 128 MB ROM
1 SDIO expansion slot
Possible, but unlikely: a second expansion slot (if this does make it, expect SD or miniSD... CF and microSD/TransFlash are unlikely)
900 MHz GSM/GPRS for quad-band service
dual-band UMTS

[Jonathon Watkins]

Possible, but unlikely:[list] a second expansion slot (if this does make it, expect SD or miniSD... CF and microSD/TransFlash are unlikely)

.... which is a real shame. I would dearly love my next PPC/WM device to have a CF slot. I swap CF cards with my camera all the time and would like to get a 4Gb CF card for photos and PPC/WM multimedia duties.

This looks like a decent 'first generation' WM5 device and I look forward to seeing what the designers can come up with for the next round. 8)

[Darius Wey]

.... which is a real shame. I would dearly love my next PPC/WM device to have a CF slot. I swap CF cards with my camera all the time and would like to get a 4Gb CF card for photos and PPC/WM multimedia duties.

Eh? Doesn't your upgradeable X50v already have a CF slot? :lol:

[Raphael Salgado]

No wonder i-mate said that there will be no Windows Mobile 5 upgrade for the PDA2k. They want people to buy this next generation model instead. Nice.

[Jonathon Watkins]

.... which is a real shame. I would dearly love my next PPC/WM device to have a CF slot. I swap CF cards with my camera all the time and would like to get a 4Gb CF card for photos and PPC/WM multimedia duties.

Eh? Doesn't your upgradeable X50v already have a CF slot? :lol:

Well, using English as she is spoke ( :wink:), would make the X50v my *current* device, so logically, as I said, would mean that if I bought another device (say with an embedded phone), it would therefore be, my *next* device. :wink:

Seriously though, I have no reason to upgrade the device at the moment, though I may well be tempted by the previously rumoured Dell with an embedded phone, sometime in 2006.

[Matt Kitchen]

Does anyone else think it is a huge mistake not to put the softkeys next to the D-PAD so you can use it very easily one-handed (when closed). Is that not the point of soft keys...?

Sure you can touch the screen... but wouldn't you rather press a real button?

[Janak Parekh]

I don't know the exact price for this device, however I do know I saw a prerelease price for the h65XX listed at over $900.00.
I wouldn't give these prerelease prices much weight. They're deliberately overcharging to cash in on the craze.

The key is if carriers will offer it, and if so, what the contract price will be -- usually a contract lops off several hundred dollars. If this device was available for $499 or so with a contract (JUST speculation, mind you ;)), I'm sure quite a few power users would jump at the opportunity. I know I'd be sorely tempted.

--janak

[Don't Panic!]

If that second slot should be CF I just may finally be assimilated. 8)

I'm really not into the minituarzation trend current PPCPE devcies are going through. Come on a 2.8 inch screen? That's to small.

[Jason Lee]

Does anyone else think it is a huge mistake not to put the softkeys next to the D-PAD so you can use it very easily one-handed (when closed). Is that not the point of soft keys...?

Sure you can touch the screen... but wouldn't you rather press a real button?

The two soft keys are there on the top of the keyboard.. But i agree.. there should also be two below the display/above the d-pad for use then in tablet mode. Touching the screen will work ok.. but i would rather have the buttons.. :)

[kcrain]

.... which is a real shame. I would dearly love my next PPC/WM device to have a CF slot. I swap CF cards with my camera all the time and would like to get a 4Gb CF card for photos and PPC/WM multimedia duties.

Eh? Doesn't your upgradeable X50v already have a CF slot? :lol:

I agree that it's a shame if the Universal doesn't have a second slot for CF or SD (I know it is a palm, but the tapwave zodiac has 2 SD slots, which doubles your storage capacity at any one time). I would prefer a CF slot, so you could use either flash cards or microdrives, simply because CF/microdrives are typically cheaper per gigabyte than SD, even though the difference is narrowing. I just want the most capability. Yeah the X50v has CF, but it doesn't have the keyboard and phone capabilities either. After just checking Newegg, Sandisk Ultra II SD 2GB = $179, Sandisk Ultra II CF 2GB = $171 (but there are more, slower, 2GB CF cards for less), and Hitachi's 4GB microdrive = $174. So, the verdict is SD/CF are basically the same. The microdrive deal is twice as good. And more higher capacity microdrives are on the way, so for those of us into media on our PPC's, microdrives are still cheaper and better for mass storage.

[gibson042]

.... which is a real shame. I would dearly love my next PPC/WM device to have a CF slot. I swap CF cards with my camera all the time and would like to get a 4Gb CF card for photos and PPC/WM multimedia duties.
I'm really hoping for CF as well, because of all the cool hardware that just doesn't come in any other form for PPCs. The Universal's ancestry and other specifications just make it really unlikely. My camera is SD, but if it was CF then it would be really hard to decide whether to pick one up or pass. As it is, I'm going to get one, but CF will be missed if it is indeed absent. :sigh:

[gibson042]

Does anyone else think it is a huge mistake not to put the softkeys next to the D-PAD so you can use it very easily one-handed (when closed). Is that not the point of soft keys...?

Sure you can touch the screen... but wouldn't you rather press a real button?
Absolutely. In my opinion, the biggest loss from the Blue Angel to the Universal will be the loss of all six application buttons on the front of the device. Adding the video call camera certainly took up space (and I have no idea why it's below the screen), but there is still enough room for two soft keys plus two application buttons. Instead, all of the buttons are found on the keyboard, with only the send, end, soft keys, and I think two more (record and something else) duplicated on the outside and available when the device is closed. And judging from the MEDC keynote, the soft keys are on the top. :roll:

[T-Will]

Look very cool! Are there any more pictures/info anywhere else?

[Paragon]

If that second slot should be CF I just may finally be assimilated. 8)

I have a screenshot of this statement, Bobby. ;) As I have said many times in the past...resistance is futile. :-)

[Jonathon Watkins]

If that second slot should be CF I just may finally be assimilated. 8)

I have a screenshot of this statement, Bobby. ;) As I have said many times in the past...resistance is futile. :-)

Hey, if it has a CF slot you can prise me away from it first! 0X :wink:

[Paragon]

If that second slot should be CF I just may finally be assimilated. 8)

I have a screenshot of this statement, Bobby. ;) As I have said many times in the past...resistance is futile. :-)

Hey, if it has a CF slot you can prise me away from it first! 0X :wink:

Yeah, it would be nice wouldn't it, Jonathon?! Too bad it's such a long shot. ;)

Dave

[Jason Lee]

even though i got my sx66 not all that long ago, i will be donating it to a needy family member when the the time comes.

now that imate has a presence in the US maybe i can get one of those easier and not have to depend on cingular for my updates. ;)