Kaz911 Interview with Kevin Chen about HTC Shift

Today I was lucky enough to meet up with Kevin Chen (Picture), General Manager for HTC Middle East, Africa & CIS. Kevin is a very nice and open guy, well.. as open as you can be J when the world is on your back regarding information on the HTC Shift.

I asked Kevin a lot of questions especially about the HTC Shift. So I have filtered out all the stories about old days, as we know some of the same people in Taiwan (they might come in a follow up – remember I'm an "old" IDG PC World Editor J ) and concentrated this write-up on the bare HTC hardware and software questions most of you guys have posted to me.

First of all – as some of you know – Qualcomm is suffering some patent setbacks in the US - but according to Kevin the current Qualcomm problems will NOT affect delivery to USA. HTC expect to launch late November or December to the US market place. Availability in UAE and possibly Europe will be early Q4 – maybe first weeks of October. This question was from Rob and the guys @ www.gottabemobile.com and hope answer was clear enough. :-)

Second – Kevin and HTC keeps saying... "The HTC shift does NOT have Windows Mobile embedded, but a (in my words) a Wireless data modem with advanced BIOS and some of the same applications as you would see on a Windows Mobile Device. Well – again in my interpretation it is Windows Mobile – but very limited version. J - There are no plans for any voice capability or full Windows Mobile Office for that matter. It is ONLY there to perform as a modem and provide push mail technology while the rest of the computer is in sleep mode. But anyway my pictures clearly show a Windows Mobile kind of OS J so let's see what can be done about it from 3^rd. Parties.

Regarding the screen. I asked Kevin why they chose a tiny resolution LCD, and the answer is simple. The screen is only 7" and since power consumption has to be low, HTC decided on the low resolution screen. That's it final J

Well that was all I could get out of him so far J but we agreed to touch base closer to the shipment date. But while browsing round at the stand J I overheard that something else will be ready for the HTC Shift launch – maybe we are talking SSD drives or high speed internal ready boost memory? I keep you posted – as always.

Last thing missing is now figuring out the Voltage of the battery for Chippy from www.umpcportal.com J but that should be coming - so we can calculate how efficient the HTC Shift spends its battery juice.

Well – in my wish book for the perfect UMPC for the Road warrior is:

Take the HTC Shift and the Sony UX90s and put them in a blender and let the best parts survive. J I HATE the keyboard on the UX90, but I love the screen – even though it could be 5,5" to 7" and not 4,5" for 1024 x 768. Take an enhanced TyTN keyboard and put it on the UX 90s – would be a big step forward J then embed a true Windows Mobile - and I would be happy – and finally – add an ACTIVE touch screen with a good pen and it would be perfect. J Add a 5-7 hour battery life and I would never look back.

My other HTC Shift Postings

HTC Shift Official Specs

HTC Shift WM6 UI Pictures

HTC Shift Sneak Preview

HTC Shift launch at Gitex in Dubai

PS: If you look at the second picture – to the far left is what is now the tallest building in the world – Burj Dubai. Estimated final height between 650 and 800 meters.