HTC Warhawk and Fortress Headed to AT&T

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/24/htcs-warhawk-and-fortress-are-atandts-touch-diamond2-and-pro2/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/24/...mond2-and-pro2/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"We know that Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile are all getting versions of the Touch Pro2, but what about little ol' AT&amp;T? Turns out that device is codenamed "Fortress," and it'll accompany a Touch Diamond2 version known as "Warhawk" to market this summer. The Fortress is actually listed as targeted for May 25, which seems a bit unrealistic -- but we think the document we're looking at is a little stale, so we're sure the inevitable delay has crept into the schedule by now. It's expected to launch with WinMo 6.1 AKU6 (presumably upgradeable to 6.5 down the road) with full HSPA on three bands, AGPS, a 3.2 megapixel AF cam, 3.6-inch WVGA display, and Video Share support."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/ppct/auto/1243270765.usr7.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Some bold colors here in the releases set for soon (the Touch Pro 2) and later in the year (the Touch Diamond 2). It's nice that we have at least 1 carrier in the US that has a strong line of HTC devices, rather than the hit-and-miss (or hit-and-long-delay) other carriers bring.</p>

[whydidnt]

I don't think that is the ATT version of the Touch Pro. It has a QWERTZ keyboard not the standard QWERTY. I'm not a big fan of the dedicate number pad either, wont most people dial using a soft keypad in portrait mode? I'm hoping both these come to ATT sooner rather than later, though.

[azhiker]

This is either a fake or its an outdated release ATT worked up months back. The spec sheet that comes with the photo (seen elsewhere) does not describe the TP2 nor the TD2 very accurately, nor is the keyboard five rows as with the actual TP2. The TD2 model has a higher rez camera then the one spec'd on the ATT notice.

Or maybe these two phones are speciality models built just for ATT (lose but not the same). That would be very sad. So wrong picture or very outdated picture. In either case, this does not give me much confidence in ATT as a company to give wrong release dates, and wrong information on their spec sheets.

And what's up with the weird names? How do this phones refelct such names as warhawk and fortress?

Maybe all this misinformation is a deliberate attempt to bait or confuse the customer, or just make us consider other carriers instead.

[eugarps]

I, for one, am a big fan of dedicated numeric keys. I do lots of spreadsheet work on my machines and top row Fn+ style is a pain for me. Yes, I'll dial from the screen.

I'm thinking the person who Photoshopped the image probably, inadvertently, swapped the 'Y' and 'Z' keys.

I'm for sooner rather than later. I'd like to upgrade from my 3G iPhone and Treo Pro.

[jdmichal]

QWERTZ is used for German keyboard layouts, so either this is a stitched picture using a keyboard from a German phone as the basis, or this is a picture of a German release of the phone.

And while keyboards can sometimes vary between carriers, the layout is usually the same, with just the size and shape of the buttons changing. I can't really see them creating a whole new keyboard layout like that. Though the buttons on the original are certainly wide enough that compressing it to the older-style grid pattern might give it all enough space to fit. But buttons on the picture do not look any taller though, considering that there's only 4 rows instead of 5, and the 4 rows still take up the entire vertical area.

And the unbranded Touch Pro 2 has a dedicated number row at the top. So even without the number pad, there's no function-number to worry about.

[whydidnt]

Yes, the more I think about this, the more I think there isn't anything to it. The picture in question came from an AT&T slide show that someone got their hands on. Everyone assumes it's their upcoming lineup, but judging by the volume of handsets, it's more likely a list of potential handsets they are considering. This would explain the unlikely QWERTZ error, as it's not a real handset, just something that is potentially being considered, along with MANY other devices.