PDAGold Takes a First Look at the HTC Hermes

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=283' target='_blank'>http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=283</a><br /><br /></div><i>"At first glance, the Hermes... did not look that cool. The device looked sort of wishy-washy; simply a boring grey mouse. There were too many input controls (I have counted 14 altogether, including a cursor-pad and a rotary wheel!), the material appeared to be cheap plastic to me, and, above all, the slide-out keyboard did not promise much with its manufacturing quality… Fortunately, I did not take this first glance too heavily into account, and even if the stated features are not improved (and they perhaps will be improved, it is just a sample after all), everything else deserves appreciation."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/ekkie_pdagold_hermes_200605.jpg" /><br /><br />Check out PDAGold's first impressions of the HTC Hermes. The specs are certainly appealing with a slide-out keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth, 2MPix camera, and HSDPA support for "high-speed dating" (I tell ya... I learn something new everyday! ;)). Anyway, it's not a review! Pavel makes that very clear! The review comes later once the finished product is in-hand and he's had more time to play with it, but certainly the early impressions seem positive despite its rather understated appearance.

[beecher]

Just correction: It's not HSPDA (not sure if you have High Speed PDA :wink: :devilboy: ), but it's HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access)... ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Just correction: It's not HSPDA (not sure if you have High Speed PDA :wink: :devilboy: ), but it's HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access)... ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA
Whoops... that was a typo!
Thanks for the catch!

[Mark Johnson]

Wait a minute! It has a "rotary wheel" on it?! Could this FINALLY be a Windows Mobile device that has a true JogDial type scrolling option?! Oh Please! I hope so!

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Could this FINALLY be a Windows Mobile device that has a true JogDial type scrolling option?!

This is hardly new to Windows Mobile - there've been quite a few WM devices with jog dials over the years (though maybe not available in the US).

[Mark Johnson]

This is hardly new to Windows Mobile - there've been quite a few WM devices with jog dials over the years...

Maybe all the really cool toys were held back from the US market. There's never been one "JogDial" (continuous scrolling) unit I've seen in the US, only a bunch of the lame "toggle-wheel" (up/down/select) ones.

I guess the BlackBerry has a real JogDial on it, so maybe that's put the pressue on for WindowsMobile to release some units here in the US with one.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

There's never been one "JogDial" (continuous scrolling) unit I've seen in the US, only a bunch of the lame "toggle-wheel" (up/down/select) ones.

I'm not sure I understand the difference here? What do you mean by 'continuous scrolling'?

[beecher]

Difference is that JogDial is around rotating wheel and with toggle-wheel you just push it in direction you want to scroll/move. When you release it, it will get back to center position. Toggle-wheel is more like joystick, but it's not so big...

Unfortunatelly, JogDial in Hermes has just only three directions. Up, down, push, not five (left and right more) as has Sony original JogDial.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Ah...thanks! In that case I take it back - I've never seen that on a Windows Mobile device. The Hermes version is just like mine. Any link you can give me to have a look at the Sony 'jog dial'?

[joker]

with any device including an integrated phone, it is always necessary to choose between performance and power consumptionthis is totally a bs statement.

and yea, compared to e.g. my qtek 2020i, this device is total crap, of course.
wm5 = crappy cpu &amp; low memory &amp; crappy hardware in all
is this the ultimate new formula to go with or what.
are microsoft and partners seeing their best mobile market opportunities in kindergarten or what.

htc shouldn't be producing poor devices for poor men only today, they also have to produce decent devices like they did in the past.
and you all know WHAT made htc so big, right? exactly, these "old" and decent devices.

[beecher]

Joker, have you seen HTC Hermes? The speed (if the 400 MHz Samsung CPU is used) is same as you QTek (except starting apps). And where your Qtek has 3G/UMTS and HSDPA?
I think Hermes is beating every previous HTC QVGA Phone Edition device in speed, features etc. So I don' think it's poor device...

hishamh: You can see Sony JogDial on this picture: http://mobile.softpedia.com/images/phones/324_3.jpg

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Thanks beecher.

re: back on topic, considering this is only the third windows mobile device with 3G that I've heard of (outside of Japan and Korea only devices), I'd certainly consider the Hermes as a potential purchase.

[aNiMeMaN14]

with any device including an integrated phone, it is always necessary to choose between performance and power consumptionthis is totally a bs statement.

and yea, compared to e.g. my qtek 2020i, this device is total crap, of course.
wm5 = crappy cpu &amp; low memory &amp; crappy hardware in all
is this the ultimate new formula to go with or what.
are microsoft and partners seeing their best mobile market opportunities in kindergarten or what.

htc shouldn't be producing poor devices for poor men only today, they also have to produce decent devices like they did in the past.
and you all know WHAT made htc so big, right? exactly, these "old" and decent devices.
tell 'em why you mad, son.

[Jeff Song]

with any device including an integrated phone, it is always necessary to choose between performance and power consumptionthis is totally a bs statement.

and yea, compared to e.g. my qtek 2020i, this device is total crap, of course.
wm5 = crappy cpu &amp; low memory &amp; crappy hardware in all
is this the ultimate new formula to go with or what.
are microsoft and partners seeing their best mobile market opportunities in kindergarten or what.

htc shouldn't be producing poor devices for poor men only today, they also have to produce decent devices like they did in the past.
and you all know WHAT made htc so big, right? exactly, these "old" and decent devices.So you're saying that HTC should put in 624mhz processor with 256mb of RAM and you don't think it would have an impact on battery life? Or are you saying that HTC should invent new types of batteries? Either way, nothing about price was mentioned in that post you quoted. And no matter how "rich" you think you are, most people that HTC is after won't want to spend an extra 100-300 dollars on something that they get similarly get from a different manufacturer for less.

[Damion Chaplin]

this is totally a bs statement.
and yea, compared to e.g. my qtek 2020i, this device is total crap, of course.
wm5 = crappy cpu &amp; low memory &amp; crappy hardware in all
is this the ultimate new formula to go with or what.

This is totally a bs statement. :wink:

Joker, have you actually used a WM5 device, or just regurgitating what other people are saying? My K-JAM is easily the best PPC I've ever owned. I have a friend who owns an iPaq RX3115 who's always complaining that after a reset he has all of 13MB of program memory available. My K-Jam consistently shows ~25MB free. Right now it's at 23.6M free. He has PPC2003SE. I have WM5. It's all totally subjective of course, but in my opinion, compared to my K-JAM, your 2020i is 'total crap'. :)

[Janak Parekh]

There's never been one "JogDial" (continuous scrolling) unit I've seen in the US, only a bunch of the lame "toggle-wheel" (up/down/select) ones.
There is the Moto Q now. It's a Smartphone, not a Pocket PC Phone, but it has a real Blackberry-style scroll wheel... and a nice display. :)

--janak

[Mark Johnson]

There's never been one "JogDial" (continuous scrolling) unit I've seen in the US, only a bunch of the lame "toggle-wheel" (up/down/select) ones.
There is the Moto Q now. It's a Smartphone, not a Pocket PC Phone, but it has a real Blackberry-style scroll wheel... and a nice display. :)

--janak

Oh Boy! I'm heading to my local Verizon store tomorrow! Gotta play with this!

[Janak Parekh]

Oh Boy! I'm heading to my local Verizon store tomorrow! Gotta play with this!
Let us know what your thoughts are. ;) Apparently the scroll wheel can be pressed, plus there's a back button right underneath it, making one-handed scrolling/navigation easier.

--janak