3GSM 2007 On-site Coverage

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Posted: 11 Feb 2007, 10:38, by PhoneArena Team

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HTC Booth

HTC officially announced and showcased the S710 Vox here at the 3GSM, which is their first and only (for the moment) phone coming with Windows Mobile 6 straight out of the box. Neither the new X7500 nor P3350 have this. The Vox is a device without a touch screen and so runs on Windows Mobile Standard edition, which was known as "for Smartphones" with the WM 5.

Except for the new OS version, there is nothing spectacular about its specifications. It is quad-band 2G GSM only, has slightly outdated TI OMAP processor at 200 MHz, QVGA display (which is almost a standard) and WiFi.

The Vox has interesting form factor – it is standard candybar with pocketable size and normal numeric keypad, but also slides-open sideways from the left to the right side to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. This sliding mechanism is very smooth and easy to use, and the keyboard is also comfortable, with easy to press keys which are well separated. Opening the slider will automatically turn the display into landscape orientation, and you'll have to use the soft keys located on it – they are just below the display, clearly appointed to the left and right position. In this mode, we don't like the usability of the navigation key, which is hard to reach while you have the phone in your hand.

HTC S710 Video

The P3350 was announced as a new Multimedia device, but it is actually a version of the P3300 – using the same design but with different color, it cuts the GPS off and adds
"Media Hub" software. Using the P3300 design, the phone can be navigated with one hand only, thanks to the trackball. It can be used to control a pointer (arrow) which gives experience very close to using a trackball mouse on a computer. The ring around the trackball can be rotated, similar to an iPod' wheel, which acts as a scroller.

The P3350 feature set includes quad-band GSM, 2-mega pixel camera, Wi-Fi and microSD memory expansion.


bottom-HTC P3300, up-HTC P3350	left-HTC P3300, right-HTC P3350

HTC P3350 Video

HTC showcased also their top-of-the-line X7500 Advantage (which was named Athena in earlier rumors) and we got the change to play with it. On pager, the phone looks nearly perfect, but in reality this is not case. We don't blame it for the enormous size, but having a 5" display is not worth when the OS is standard Windows Mobile 5 for PocketPC Phones, as the results is a standard PPC with huge size. In addition, why didn’t HTC use WM 6 and 800x480 resolution, but opted for the old WM5 and its top 640x480 resolution? There is almost no need of a stylus because even the smallest buttons like the X (close) are huge in this display.

Another gripe we have is about the keyboard which is way too large and can not be held comfortably in hands and used, so it has to be placed on a flat surface.
Featuring a few magnets, it is easy to plug the keyboard to the port on the bottom of the phone when you want to type with it, or to put it over the display ("close" the device) when you will not use it.

Otherwise, the specifications of the X7500 are very just superb as we've already noted – quad-band GSM with tri-band HSDPA 3G, it has 624MHz Intel processor, 8GB of hard drive, memory expansion slot, WiFi and GPS.

Our overall impressions from the Advantage are negative. The body is too bulky, the keyboard is too uncomfortable and we think the target market for such device is not very large.

HTC X7500 Advantage Video

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1. Josh (unregistered) posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:41 0 0

Does any one know if they are coming to chicago, or if there is similar events like this in Chicago? Please e-mail me if you know josh68684@yahoo.com

2. David (unregistered) posted on 14 Feb 2007, 20:40 0 0

The similar event in the US is the CTIA expo. It will take place in Orlando sometime in March.