Pocket PC Italia Discusses Upcoming HTC Hermes

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketpcitalia.com/News/2006/02/Esclusiva--Ecco-l-HTC-Hermes-' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketpcitalia.com/News/...o-l-HTC-Hermes-</a><br /><br /></div><i>"It has not been announced during the 3GSM World Congress and before that it arrives on the market it will be necessary to attend still various months. However, we have had the possibility to put the hands on the new HTC Hermes. next Pocket PC Phone Edition of HTC with support UMTS, of which you we propose the technical images in exclusive right and detailed lists."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20060215-PPCItaliaHTCHermes.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://216.239.37.104/translate_c?u=http://www.pocketpcitalia.com/News/2006/02/Esclusiva--Ecco-l-HTC-Hermes-/">Bad automated English translation</a> aside, it's pretty easy to spot the rumored new features of the Hermes over the HTC Wizard: 300MHz Samsung processor, UMTS/HSDPA support, Bluetooth 2.0, and a 2.1 megapixel camera. If this is the case, I hope US UMTS frequencies are supported. However, this unit is still unannounced and it will be awhile before it's confirmed and in users' hands.

[mr_Ray]

Well to be fair, the Wizard already has BT2, it's just waiting to be switched on in a ROM update.

As for the rest, it seems to me to be a reasonable incremental upgrade, but I'm not to sure about the practical changes to it...

First of all, is that MiniSD slot moved to the side? I've always hated that. Not that there are (m)any MiniSD peripherals, but having addons poking out the side is as user-unfriendly as you can ask for. IR on the bottom of the device seems a strange choice, too. Hold it upside down before you can use it.

Buttons.. the same as the Wizard, but with the two top buttons moved to the side. Side buttons are good, but there are already some there. One side has two buttons next to each other and one below, the other two buttons and a jog dial directly next to each other. I hope the next generation still has space at the side to actually hold it!.
Also bear in mind that in landscape mode, side buttons become top/bottom buttons. Ergonomics-wsie, this seems a step down.

Still, UTMS, a proper camera, and a camera for voice chat aren't improvements to dismiss, either.

Given a direct choice between this and it's predecessor, I can't say straight up which I'd go for.

[Raphael Salgado]

1. It's a microSD slot, previously known as TransFlash. Used initially in the Motorola V710 from Verizon, it was a really tiny memory module and had a maximum capacity of 256MB. I think it's up to 512MB now, but they are hard to come by.

2. The S3C2442 processor from Samsung is likely a step up from the S3C2440 processor found in the E-TEN M500/M600 (aka TORQ P100/P120). So, if you've played with those Pocket PCs using Windows Mobile 5, imagine it running 25% slower, and that's what the Hermes might feel like.

3. If there's no EDGE, it'll be very similar to the JASJAR for US customers, especially if there's no compatibility with UMTS/HSDPA (or if Cingular didn't roll it out to your area yet). Either GPRS or Wi-Fi, and there's a big difference between the two.

It's a few steps forward, and a few steps back. But hey, at least there's a jog dial. ;)

[MarcTGFG]

@MrRay: Its Micro SD (=Transflash) not Mini SD!

I still think that the Alpine (6700) has the best keyboard and button arrangement of all the Wizardstyle devices.

The Alpine has the two softbuttons to the side of the keyboard, easy to use with two hands.

And compared to a Nokia 9300 ALL these devices make VERY poor use iof the real estate under the screen. Look at how much space is simply wasted and dont tell me this is absolutely necessary for the sliding mechanism.

The Nokia 9300 manages to squeeze all the standard alphabet buttons, additional buttons for european characters like ä, ö and ü and an addition ROW of number keys PLUS an additional row of application keys in a space quite comparable to that of a Wizard or Hermes. How do they do that? For one, the device is longer, which explains how they easily managed to cram in the extra european character buttons. Another reason: They opted to leave out the four directional keys (which are somewhat redundant since you can still use the Dpad) and opted for a joystick instead which uses 1/4 of the space of 4 buttons.

But the way they crammed in TWO additional rows of buttons for numbers and applications (the latter ones are a bit smaller in size) is something the engeneers at HTC should have looked at long ago and copied in their designs. I simply dont understand why I have to use the special (blue) function key every other second while typing.

On the photograph, the buttons dont look square but a bit wider than tall. Why not make them square and also 1-2mm smaller in height. That would make room for an addition number row and maybe enouight room for some special characters to the right.

[MarcTGFG]

@Raphael: You beat me to the punch :-)

I am not quite sure though, why you are getting so excited about the jog wheel. Its probably just used for adjusting the phone and device volume like before..

[mr_Ray]

Aaaah MicroSD. I completely misread that. :oops: You know what it's like when you miss something like that because you're just not expecting them to do something so dumb. MiniSD isn't perfect, but at least it currently goes up to 2GB for a decent enough price.

Wow, that would completely kill the device for me, even if it wasn't for the wizard.

[Foo Fighter]

I don't understand what the point of all these redundant hardware designs is. Is HTC throwing Spaghetti at the walling, waiting to see what sticks?

Apache...Wizard...Hermes? They all look the same to me.

[alese]

If I could choose between Hermes and Wizard, the advanced features on Hermes would prevail. But since I allready have a Wizard and really like it, I'm not sure that Hermes is enough of an upgrade to get me to switch.
Also like previous poster said it, they could put more keys on the keyboard, there is plenty of space...

[PiatekHS]

I would like some of the new features, but I'm not about to throw away the recent money spent on MiniSD.

First CF (Ipaq), then SD (HP), then MiniSD (Wizard) - fair enough - size and things do move on but for HTC to change to MicroSD from MiniSD - enough is enough.

I hope the report is wrong..

[moaske]

Aaaaah !! Finally it's seems to be nearing release :)
I've been waiting for this baby...
I'm currently on a Jam, and it's getting old in terms of connectivity. I thought the Wizard was quite fat, but apart from that perfect in size. Hermes seems to fix that: it looks like a regular Jam, but with a slide out keyboard (and all the wireless :drool: goodies ofcourse). Dual cam is cool...only too bad for the MicroSD slot. 1GB will be available shortly, but that seems small these days....doesn't it ;)

[Gti]

... If this is the case, I hope US UMTS frequencies are supported.
Not supported for Usa, for now.
Ciao, Gianni.

[bnycastro]

Well we dont have UMTS here so getting this unit is like wasting money for me [personally] I doubt that the 2MP camera is really that much better than the Wizard's 1.3MP... microSD [if it is true, from the size of the slot it does look like microSD] is a bad move IMO. Maybe when the next version of the Hermes is out and we have UMTS this device might be on my list of what to get next... it's good to see that they moved the numbers and it looks like it will be easier to input numbers with keyboard. also it seems like this unit will have only one speaker [mono] unlike the current wizards which have stereo speakers.

[doccppcd]

Lack of innovation is what it is. Their decision to choose a slow processor and another memory card format just goes to show that they don't listen to their target audience, pretty disappointing if you ask me.

And don't think this device is a lot thinner than the Wizard, at the most about 15%, THATS IT. This device isn't going to bring in the money like they hoped, thats for sure. Oh well, there's Artemis, Star-trek and Muse to look forward to.

[alese]

Lack of innovation is what it is. Their decision to choose a slow processor and another memory card format just goes to show that they don't listen to their target audience, pretty disappointing if you ask me.

And don't think this device is a lot thinner than the Wizard, at the most about 15%, THATS IT. This device isn't going to bring in the money like they hoped, thats for sure. Oh well, there's Artemis, Star-trek and Muse to look forward to.

The device is basically an upgrade/refresh of the Wizard, just like Alpine was for Himalaya. Not realy groundbreaking, but still good...

[Janak Parekh]

Lack of innovation is what it is. Their decision to choose a slow processor and another memory card format just goes to show that they don't listen to their target audience, pretty disappointing if you ask me.
The Samsungs are known to be pretty fast, as the iPAQ 19xx series have shown. I wouldn't call it "slow" until reviews suggest it is.

And don't think this device is a lot thinner than the Wizard, at the most about 15%, THATS IT. This device isn't going to bring in the money like they hoped, thats for sure. Oh well, there's Artemis, Star-trek and Muse to look forward to.
How much thinner can you make it? The slide-out keyboard needs some depth to make it robust and to allow key travel.

--janak

[Raphael Salgado]

Someone on HowardForums just pointed out that the mini-USB port does not seem to conform to any of the current USB types. What the heck is HTC up to?! :cry:

Just when some of the big tech companies are trying to pick and promote a standardization that would reduce the cost of developing new accessories for each new device that gets released, HTC seems to pull a stunt like this. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but if I'm not, then this is just another nail in the coffin for this device, along with its 300MHz CPU and the microSD slot.

http://www.pocketpcitalia.com/News/2006/02/Esclusiva--Ecco-l-HTC-Hermes-/Hermes_3.jpg

Understanding USB types: http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/connections_glossary.html?term=usb_port
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus

[bnycastro]

good eyes BtT... maybe they put in a different 'head' for the USB? the sign still is USB though...

[gibson042]

Well, it has the USB logo so it must be a USB port. After checking out the Wikipedia article, I'm convinced that it is either Mini-A or Mini-AB. Perhaps this is indicative of On-The-Go support, which would be a good thing. :mrgreen:

[bnycastro]

what is on-the-go support?

[Janak Parekh]

what is on-the-go support?
USB On-The-Go (http://www.usb.org/developers/onthego/) eliminates the need to have a desktop or full USB host support for peripheral-to-peripheral communication.

--janak

[nz0eBoy]

One thing I haven't seen in any of the pictures yet is a headphone jack - have I missed something?

[Jason Lee]

One thing I haven't seen in any of the pictures yet is a headphone jack - have I missed something?

nope, you've seen all there is to see. There is no headphone jack on the device.