Introducing The T-Mobile Ameo

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketinfo.nl/artikel/7269/t-mobile-lanceert-de-ameo.html' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketinfo.nl/artikel/72...rt-de-ameo.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"THE AMEO are use in two manners: as loose pda without keyboard where you use mainly the touchscreen, or as a mini mini-laptop with keyboard, where the keyboard is magnetically confirmed. Given the weight (355 grammes) the AMEO worry about exactly between ordinary pda and subnotebook."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/hisham-20070124-tmobileameo.jpg" /><br /><br />Looks like the Athena is turning up everywhere :). Dutch site Pocketinfo.nl has also got their hands on a unit, this time in the guise of the T-Mobile Ameo. Apart from the different livery (I'm not sure if I don't like the two-tone HTC version better ;)) the specs appear to be the same, and there's an indication that the device will soon be announced by T-Mobile in Europe. You can take a gander through the Babelfish translation <a href="http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=nl_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pocketinfo.nl%2Fartikel%2F7269%2Ft-mobile-lanceert-de-ameo.html">here</a>.

[ricksfiona]

Cool device. It's borderline too big for a Pocket PC PE. Plus you can't type unless it's sitting on something.

[Ed@Brighthand]

I can see some drawbacks in the design, too, but at least the Athena isn't exactly like five other models already on the market. Kudos to HTC for pushing the limit, and (possibly) to T-Mobile, too.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

...and (possibly) to T-Mobile, too.

I'll admit that really surprised me - I never thought I'd see this released through a carrier first.

[virain]

The problem is that it will make to America not before 2008, considering T-Mobile USA record, if it will ever make it 0X

[whydidnt]

I'm surprised by a couple things. First off, at this price point this device has a pretty limited market to begin with. Why eliminate the North American Market completely by leaving out the most popular GSM and 3G bands for the US? The device is obviously large enough to accommodate any extra radios. Also, why not include GPS? If someone is going to bring a large device everywhere they may not want to have to bring a separate dedicated device for that.

Also having to put the device on a flat surface to type is going to be troublesome. Sony and OQO have it right with their slider mini-PC's. You can at least stand and use one of those while waiting for a plane/train, etc.

[nd4speed]

Why eliminate the North American Market completely by leaving out the most popular GSM and 3G bands for the US?

This sounds like the makings of another boneheaded "HTC Universal" move. Last time it was UMTS, This time it'll be HSDPA. Apparently it doesn't dawn on them that there are some people in the US that are willing to carry a more feature filled device at the expense of size.[/u]

[efjay]

msmobiles has links to a russian review with some pics

http://msmobiles.com/news.php/5989.html

[gorgoroth]

Why eliminate the North American Market completely by leaving out the most popular GSM and 3G bands for the US?

This sounds like the makings of another boneheaded "HTC Universal" move. Last time it was UMTS, This time it'll be HSDPA. Apparently it doesn't dawn on them that there are some people in the US that are willing to carry a more feature filled device at the expense of size.[/u]

It's not exactly that. HSDPA is a UMTS v2, backward compatible. Creating a GSM or a CDMA phone is completly different, and you have to change 30% of your hardware to support this.

The world GSM market is much bigger than the US market, and I can can undertand their aim for a billion user market.

USA suffer because it has two standards, and because telcos are asking much bigger price effort from the phone maker.

A universal didn't cost me more than 350 euros at the release date, for a one year year contract (500 without contract). It certainly change the perspective about this device, and I don'T expect it to be much higher than 750 euros without contract in some european countries

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Also, why not include GPS? If someone is going to bring a large device everywhere they may not want to have to bring a separate dedicated device for that.

Actually, it does - the Athena includes a SirfStar III chip.

[inteller]

The problem is that it will make to America not before 2008, considering T-Mobile USA record, if it will ever make it 0X

well maybe by then tmobile US will actually have a data network built that this phone can take advantage of.

[whydidnt]

well maybe by then tmobile US will actually have a data network built that this phone can take advantage of.

Not based upon current specifications - Everything I've heard is T-Mobile is planning on using the 1700 MHz spectrum for their 3G Network - a completely different standard than the rest of the world and even different than Cingular in the US. No wonder manufacturers tend to consider the US an afterthought for some of these devices.

[nd4speed]

Why eliminate the North American Market completely by leaving out the most popular GSM and 3G bands for the US?

This sounds like the makings of another boneheaded "HTC Universal" move. Last time it was UMTS, This time it'll be HSDPA. Apparently it doesn't dawn on them that there are some people in the US that are willing to carry a more feature filled device at the expense of size.[/u]

It's not exactly that. HSDPA is a UMTS v2, backward compatible. Creating a GSM or a CDMA phone is completly different, and you have to change 30% of your hardware to support this.

Nevertheless it's not an outlandish technical feat to include US Band HSDPA (ie. Hermes).
If it can be done on Hermes, it can be done on Athena (and could have been done on Universal for US band UMTS).
If HTC does end up omitting US band HSDPA in Athena it will be more evident then ever that HTC is under the impression that US customers won't purchase larger more powerful PPC Phones, which I regard to be patently ignorant on their part. With more manufacturers (read Arima) coming into the fray it won't matter much, American's will simply vote with their wallets :D

[whydidnt]

Nevertheless it's not an outlandish technical feat to include US Band HSDPA (ie. Hermes).
If it can be done on Hermes, it can be done on Athena (and could have been done on Universal for US band UMTS).
If HTC does end up omitting US band HSDPA in Athena it will be more evident then ever that HTC is under the impression that US customers won't purchase larger more powerful PPC Phones, which I regard to be patently ignorant on their part. With more manufacturers (read Arima) coming into the fray it won't matter much, American's will simply vote with their wallets :D

Agreed 100%. That was my original point. High end devices by their very nature have a limited market. Why does HTC further limit that market by excluding US customers? It can't be because of support costs, they hardly support what they sell today. I'm not saying that the US is the largest potential market for this device, but it's certainly a large, fairly wealthy market that would seem to be a good fit for something like this (or the Universal for that matter).