HTC Advantage and Shift
I love it when device manufacturers actually use some imagination in naming their devices rather than giving them numbers. HTC just announced two new devices that further blur the distinction between “smart devices” like smartphones and full laptop computers.
The HTC Advantage (below) is a Windows Mobile 6 device with a keyboard that connects to the PDA body magnetically, a 5 inch VGA screen, and every type of connectivity you could possibly want - GSM/DPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA/Bluetooth 2.0/WiFi. It also has an 8 GB hard drive, 256 MB of ROM, 128 MB of RAM and a miniSD slot.
And now for something completely different - the HTC Shift. It looks like the Advantage but is slightly larger, with a 7 inch screen. What’s pretty cool is that it runs Windows Vista Business and apparently even supports Aero Glass (note the photo below). It has the same connectivity goods as the Advantage, plus a 30 GB hard disk. I’d love it if Apple would come out with an iPhone device like this (without having to run it on AT&T, by the way…).
You should start seeing these devices in the US and Europe in Q3 2007. Want to see the full press release from HTC? Click the link below to continue reading.
Technorati Tags: GPS, GSM, iPhone, Vista, WiFi, Windows Mobile
Review: Sprint Treo 700wx
The Palm Treo is a venerable smartphone - in fact, its predecessor, the Handspring Treo, was the first device to define the term “smartphone”. Palm has been great about moving the platform along in terms of technology, and it was especially nice to see the Windows Mobile 5 devices appear since Palm OS appears to be stuck in the 1990s.
Sprint has been wonderful about sending me new devices to review on a regular basis, and when I asked them for the Sprint Treo 700wx it was on my doorstep the next day. To read more about the Treo 700wx, click the link below!
Technorati Tags: palm, Review, smartphone, Treo, Windows Mobile
More Rambling Commentary
Meandering Thoughts
A couple of items for today…
Another Y2K
Well, the early switch to Daylight Savings Time has come and gone, and so far it appears to be a non-event reminiscent of the highly-hyped Y2K “disaster”. Many of our local news outlets were running stories last week asking viewers if their computers were going to be able to handle the switch, making it sound like a huge problem that was going to keep their computers from running properly.
Well, let’s see. My Macs, my wife’s PC, my T-Mobile MDA and just about every other device I have made the switch automatically this morning. No disaster there! Comcast updated my DVR time, T-Mobile appears to have sent the proper time to my phone, and the BlackBerry that’s sitting here without a SIM didn’t get the updated time, but it took me all of about 15 seconds to change the hour.
So just like on January 1, 2000, life continues with no big issues anywhere. The media just loves to toy with the possibility of a major global disasters, which probably explains the current fixation on global climate change. I’m going to just continue to my usual practice of ignoring the traditional media!
Technorati Tags: BlackBerry, Linux, palm, RIM, smartphone, Vista, Windows Mobile
That Syncing Feeling
Maybe it’s just me, but in my opinion multi-device synchronization just isn’t there yet.
I’m not talking about you lucky folks who have one computer and one device like a Palm to sync to it - I’m talking about people like me who have two computers (desktop and laptop) and more mobile devices than I can shake the proverbial stick at.
There’s more to read after the break!
Technorati Tags: Apple, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod, palm, RIM, smartphone, Windows Mobile
Nokia to nab Palm?
In an earlier article I talked about the slow, painful death of Palm. Well, there are some new figures out that show that Palm not only has one foot in the grave, but the other foot just stepped on a banana peel. And Nokia may be waiting in the wings to dig up Palm out of the grave…
There’s the undeniable fact that Palm’s market share has plummeted. In late 2005 Palm’s portion of the mobile device pie was about 9.6% (from analysis firm Canalys). In the fourth quarter of 2006, Canalys measured their share at about half of that level - 5.5%.
As I mentioned in the earlier article, Garnet OS (formerly Palm OS) is quite old and Access Linux Platform devices are nowhere in sight. Palm is still doing a respectable business in Treos running Windows Mobile and Garnet, but they no longer seem to be the darlings of the business traveler set. Now I see BlackBerrys and other WM devices as I travel around the country.
There have been some persistent rumors that Nokia may make a bid for Palm. This would make a lot of sense, since it would immediately provide a new line of WM6 and Garnet phones to the Nokia stable. That, in turn, would fend off the competition that Nokia is seeing from the higher end WM and Garnet devices. Nokia hasn’t seemed to do very well in the high-end smartphone business, so acquiring the Treo as a flagship item and adding some of that Nokia flair for design would be a good thing.
What do YOU think about the possibility of Nokia buying out Palm? Would it kill the Palm line, or revive it? Register as a commenter (see the Register link at left) and let’s hear your opinion!
Technorati Tags: BlackBerry, GSM, palm, RIM, smartphone, Windows Mobile
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Joy of Tech!
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MacLevelTen
