HTC Shift Battery Details 7.4v 2700 mAh

Finally I got the details about the current battery.

Had another chance to play with the Shift – and I still like it. It might NOT be the shipping battery – but feast your eyes on it.

Seems like quite efficient machine in my book.

I have cut away the serial number.

In the recent model i played with – the Sync between the "Non WM6 WM6 with HTC Shift Vista Windows Mobile Sync Center seemed to work."

Still no browser though – only messages (email/txt), calendar and weather stuff.

Let us plug in Opera J PLEASE and let it use the full screen.

The HTC Shift Official Specs – Scanned Brochure

Well some people don't know me yet J so some "Doubting Thomases" have claimed my specs from HTC might not be the right ones. Well – here they are...

Press here for High Res Download	Press here for High Res Download

Direct from the Hand that feeds you the news. J

All brochure content is of course (C) HTC.

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.

HTC Shift Official Specs

Just arrived in my inbox...

The final Specs (as HTC Claims them) (c) kaz911 rescue
Remember you found them HERE FIRST :-)

WM6 new pictures - here
Older info and mini review- here

update - yes it is the official specs - got them from HTC today - but nothing is ever final is it?

Processor and Chipset	Intel Stealey 800 Mhz (c) kaz911 rescue Qualcomm MSM 7200, 400 Mhz
OS	Microsoft Windows Vista Business Edition
Memory	RAM 1GB
Hard disk	1.8" 40GB or 60GB hard disc (60GB option)
Dimensions	207mm (L) x 129 mm (W) x 25 mm (T)
Weight	800g with battery
Display	7" 800x480 TFT LCD display with adjustable screen angle and touch sensitive screen. (c) kaz911 rescue Supports AERO with 3D flip
Network	HSDPA/UMTS; Worldwide UMTS (Tri-Band 850, 1900, 2100 Mhz) HSDPA: Up to 3.6Mbps for download and 384 kbps for upload (c) kaz911 rescue UMTS: Up to 384kpbs for up- and download GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Quad-Band 850, 900, 1800, 1900 Mhz (c) kaz911 rescue (The device will operate on frequencies available from the cellular network)
Keyboard	Slide-out QWERTY keyboard (c) kaz911 rescue
Mouse Control	Left/right mouse buttons and MicroPad
Wireless Connections (c) kaz911 rescue	Bluetooth 2.0 Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
I/O	1 USB 2.0, VGA out, and 3.5 mm stereo audio out with Microphone. (c) kaz911 rescue
Card Slots	USIM/SIM card slot (c) kaz911 rescue SDIO slot with hot-swap functionality
Security	Fingerprint sensor
Web Camera	Colour CMOS VGA camera for video conferencing
Audio	Built-in microphone and dual speakers
Battery	2700 mAh rechargeable Lithium Ion polymer battery Windows Vista operating time: Up to 2 hours SnapVUE standby time (push e-mail enabled) Up to 53 hours (c) kaz911 rescue SnapVUE standby time (push e-mail disabled) Up to 11 days.

Gitex Pictures HTC Shift WM6

Part 2 of my Gitex Pictures Review

Of course I went to HTC J too see the HTC Shift and get some more pictures for you guys – since you all really wanted more WM6 info.

Well still looks like a very limited version of WM6 – with only mail and calendar.

But today's NEWS UPDATE is – HTC Shift HD will be upgraded from 30GB to 40GB before shipping in Q3.

2. update - read the new complete official specs here: Kaz911 Official HTC Shift Specs

Check the pictures incl. Device info. J Remember you can use the pictures if you credit kaz911 rescue AND provide direct link to this site!!

My latest info says – there will so far be no voice capabilities but it might change due to popular demand. HTC still says WM6 only support 640x480 so still black bars in the side. And as you can deduct from the pictures – no office – only Calendar, E-Mail, SMS, Weather, Contacts and settings. So far missing in my book are WiFi from WM6 without shift being online and Phone and Web Browser? But we can cross our fingers and HOPE it will be included.

And to startac – here you go – fast enough for you? J (got a comment about 3 min. ago...)

Recap of the latest news

Symbian Related

The Nokia E90 Bug list – I got it and I like it – despite the bugs

No VPN for Symbian – Why ?

Installing Exchange Certificates on S60 – Tutorial on S60 VPN

Nokia N95 - RIP – dead and gone – never Nokia N95 again

HTC & WM6 Related

Sneak Peak at HTC Shift – Mini Review HTC Shift

HTC Shift to Launch at Gitex In Dubai – The Launch is confirmed

HTC Athena / Advantage X7500 Windows Mobile 6 Review – the WM6 Mobile ROM review

12 New Phones from i-Mate – i-Mate launch at Gitex

Being HTC Touched – HTC Touch Review

Skype Related

Skype in Dubai – Skype is again working in Dubai without tricks

Sneak Peak at the HTC Shift

As I'm writing here now – I'm sitting with a HTC Shift prototype. No not the final – but a late prototype. I had a chance to play with it for a while.

My initial impressions are that it is a really solid device. Much better than I anticipated. The screen tilt stuff works well and you can position the screen as you like. The screen supports is really only 800 x 480 but supports 1024 x 600 resolution – but at 1024x600 it can seem a bit "muddy to look at"

The current model only got a "limited" Windows Mobile 6 built in. No Mobile Office in it. Bit of a shame. But it does support e-mail. I don't know if you can install custom applications like Skype on it. But it is connected to the "pc" part so it will act as a modem in Vista for your Mobile Data Connection. But it does have parts of the HCT Touch (the phone) front screen interface with calendar, clock and weather + direct access to mail. It did not seem to enable the Vista Windows Mobile Sync interface to sync the Windows Mobile part. But one can hope that changes for the final version – so you don't have to double sync your outlook to get calendar and mail in to the Windows Mobile part.

Unfortunately Windows Mobile do only support 640 x 480 – so when in Windows Mobile mode the screen is "enlarged to fill the 600 pixel screen height – but leaves 16:9 equal empty bars at either side.

The mouse works well and the device seems quite snappy. It claims a Vista Performance index of 2.0 which is quite reasonable for such a small pc. But it does have a camera on the front for Skype J and other Web Chat systems. Nice.

But the keyboard is very very small. You can't touch type on it – but tactile feed is great and I do think you can get away with writing on it at a reasonable speed when you get used to it – but 2 finger typing seems best J But a lot better than my Sony UX-90s.

The Pen is a typical HTC "fold out" pen. Not the best really. And I hate not having an active touch screen like on my ThinkPad X60. But newest "rumour" is it will support multi touch for a lot of things. J Fx. Place 2 fingers on screen and move fingers closer together to zoom in – and move them apart to zoom out. Nice touch (no pun intended)

HTC Shift shipping and price

Price point will be the same as the HTC Advantage x7500. So in UAE Dirham – about 5.000. (US$1.362) Shipping is said to start no later than 4 weeks after Gitex. Nice and small christmas gift then :-) More info from Gitex during 8-12 of September. :-)

Will I get one.. Yes I ordered one FIRST in LINE... J It will replace my Sony UX-90 I guess.

more HTC Stuff:
HTC Shift to Launch at Gitex
HTC Advantage X7500 WM6 Official ROM Review

Over and out for today.

HTC Athena /Advantage / HTC X7500 WM6 Review

HTC X7500 Windows Mobile 6 (WM6) First Impressions

As you might have read, I just got the upgrade to the HTC Athena / HTC X7500 to Windows Mobile 6. It is an official ROM – named "shipping". The full file name of the ROM is RUU_Athena_HTC_WWE_2.21.405.

So I guess if you keep searching on Google for RUU_Athena_HTC_WWE – you might find it popping up somewhere very very soon. But I can't share this ROM with you L since I want to maintain my great relationship with my HTC contacts. So don't even bother to ask J

Release date? My guesstimate is end of this week or beginning of next. The file is build time stamped the 21. August J so I guess HTC is just waiting for final go before official release.

The WM6 Version Numbers

OS Version : CE OS 5.2.1238 Build 17745.0.2.3
Radio – 1.50
ROM Version : 2.21.405.2
ROM Date : 07/20/07

Initial Impression of WM6 for HTC Advantage X7500

Well the news and improvements are small and but some of my issues with the X7500/Athena has been resolved, but the most annoying "feature" is still the same. Namely not TRUE OS supported VGA support despite screen being 640 x 480. Now if you are only surfing on Internet it does not matter at all. But if you want to use the X7500 as a desktop "replacement" from time to time – it is really annoying that you cannot utilize the high screen resolution. I had really hoped that with WM6 native support for 640x480 that this would have been resolved. L

Open Mobile Excel and you only got 5 x 8 Rows to work in and all menu texts are oversized for a 5" screen. My Nokia E90 – has a slightly larger resolution (800x352) but manages to present me with 14 x13 rows of data and that is still readable.

Open Word – and your typing is great if you are near sighted. But everything again is "oversized" and not really great to work on.

Mail – is also oversized and not using the great real estate the screen offers.

What a shame – It actually turns a potential business tool in to a toy, which for me is a total deal breaker and therefore my X7500 goes up for sale, and I'll stick to my Nokia E90 for the time being. (and get the HTC Shift when that comes out..)

Another thing missing from my ROM is the VoIP part of WM6. HTC has some issues including it – so I hope another upgrade is on the way.

Another thing that would have been nice is the "HTC Touch" front screen, to which I have grown rather fond. But that is not included in this ROM. So only the TyTN II / Kaiser will get that it seems. (Well officially anyway)

Last thing that does not really bother me – but is "the talk of forums" is the powerbar only moves in 10% steps – and with the new firmware this has not changed. Still 0-10-20-30-40-50-60-70-80-90-100%... Nothing in between.

Last bug just found.. I got 3 SMS's while writing this. Read them –and noticed after a while that I still had one "Unread" SMS. But none unread in my Inbox. I deleted all SMS's – but still shows 1 unread.:-)

But on to the good things:

• The Touch Screen works a lot better. Much better finger control and more consistent "pressure sensitivity". Before when pressing on screen – the device would ignore finger presses if you was not careful. This issue has been resolved.
  
• Phone seems to react quite a lot quicker.
  
• Windows Update is working now – but did not find any updates J
  
• Wi-Fi seems to work a lot better than before. When streaming from ORB before i could never get "re-buffer" free streams at more than 160 kbps. Now I can do 320 kbps without a hitch. Coverage test will follow later.
  

This was my Initial Impressions – out with the X7500 for now... And let's see if someone can make a High Res WM6 device where all the applications are using the big screen as they should. (Remember Windows 2.11?...)

I really look forward to Gitex J - greeting from Dubai.

HTC SHIFT launch at Gitex in Dubai

The much awaited HTC Shift is rumoured to launch at the Gitex Computer Exhibition in Dubai that takes place from 8^th to 12^th of September 2007. I have heard from an inside source that the entire HTC Staff will have HTC Shifts to demo, and work with from Gitex and onwards (read – HAVE to work with! and they have to ditch their old notebooks for this one). Chippy confirmed Gitex as the launch date as well on the UMPC Portal

The HTC Shift is a portable Vista based UMPC with a built in Windows Mobile Computer. So it is a combination device, giving you the benefits of having a "Real" Computer when you need it and a Windows Mobile device for the quick and dirty stuff.

Battery life is said to be about 3 hours running Vista and 5 days of battery life if you only use the Windows Mobile part.

It is going to be interesting to see how HTC have made the integration between the two devices. It would be a killer if both "machines" have access to the same file system, so you don't need to copy/paste between them.

Well the Shift is on my wish list for Ramadan or Christmas J anyway. Gitex btw. got a big "Gitex Shopping Section" where you usually can buy the latest gadgets - so one can hope it will be available there.