Database Users

HTC Universal and The USA

I've had the Wallaby since T-Mobile (USA) offered it (I think about three years). I've gotten a lot of good use out of it, mostly thanks to this forum. However, it's time for me to upgrade, and I'd like some feedback from everyone.
First, I'd like to upgrade to a device that has an intergraded keyboard, since my wife has the h4355 and, comparing usage of her device to mine in that respect, it is indispensable in my opinion. So if I upgraded now I would like to get a Blue Angel clone.
But, all these glowing reviews and pictures of the HTC Universal tempt me to wait to upgrade. It truly looks like a dream device!
Since I live in the USA, though, our carriers may not pick this up for another year (if at all?), and at my rate of years-per-upgrade I would probably miss out on quite a bit. So here are what seem to be my choices at the moment:
1.) Forget about getting my hands on the Universal for the next year (or longer), upgrade to the BA now.
2.) Wait until it is released in Europe and probably pay well over $1000 to buy it from a third party.
3.) It is worth the wait for a US carrier to pick it up. It may be a shorter time than I think.
4.) Other.
So which would you do?
Other things to keep in mind are that there are no decent BA's currently offered by any of the US carriers, they are all stripped versions, minus this feature or that feature. So I would have to get one of those from Europe anyway. Do you think US carriers will strip the Universal the same way they have with the BA? Additionally, as someone else previously mentioned, how much do you expect the Universal to be, if the BA is currently around $800?
Can anyone offer any speculation of cost or release date in the USA?
Thanks for the feedback!
Shawn

I think that the universal keyboard will be better than the thumboard on the BA - so you should not buy a BA now, unless you REALLY need something now.
The Universal will be released in europe probably sometime in september from what I have been hearing, so you can get it in a few months for the "normal" price of 900-1200 (which is what the range was for the BA when it originally came out)
It is not likely that US carriers will release this. *maybe* T-mobile will release it, but judging from their past history, it seems unlikely.
Cingular will DEFINATELLY not release it because it lacks GSM 850. Also the UMTS band that is on the universal is not 1900/850 which is what Cingular uses and will use in the future. if the universal was quadband GSM and triband UMTS it might have been a different story.
If you are on the T-Mo network and really want it, just get it when it gets released in europe. That way you have form, function and the WOW factor since it wont be released in the US
Note to HTC: please, please, please make the next version of the universal quadband GSM and at least dual band UMTS (1900/2100)

I will select the "WAIT" if I were you, T-Mobile in NYC was not able to setup my Qetk 9090 on GPRS, the anwser of their failure... we do not know this device... :? (however I succeed to make it work) But I would also wait, PocketPC Italia is talking about 2 devices this year and more coming in 2006 It only depends on how "wealthy" you are but well if you purchase the Universal and that a 9090 like shows up... what will you do?
By the way if you are in the Chicago area you may find a lost Universal
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/_assets/video/TechEd/Final-MobilityV7-300K.wvx
Bottom line this is a nice devie not SO big but the lack of Screen control on the body (like a communicator) may make it borring to use (my 2 cents)

Perhaps North American users can wait and hope for an 850 MHz model, like done with the JAM.

i voted other
i dont know whyi anybody that has already a HTC machine capable of using win2005 will upgrade for a company that dont support the machines they build.
i will stay with my qtek2020 and if i dont have 2005 for it i will choose another manufacter....
........

Re: i voted other
rictec said:
i dont know whyi anybody that has already a HTC machine capable of using win2005 will upgrade for a company that dont support the machines they build.
i will stay with my qtek2020 and if i dont have 2005 for it i will choose another manufacter....
........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some people on earth, like, who are FED UP of only being able to use his 9090 only when he is outside of his country... In Japan we ONLY HAVE 3G... and I cannot use the phone function of my 9090 that I love when I m in a GSM country... so I will buy again and again and again ANY HTC Products simply because of their amazing quality and potential (look around can you cook an iPAQ 4700 or a Treo? and how EASY it is to change a rom) and with a Phone capability...
Cheers

IMPORTANT question about the US version of the Hermes

how accurate is this information ?
As feared, Cingular is crippling yet another phone for the US market. The highly anticipated and much drooled over HTC TyTn (Hermes) next generation Windows Mobile device will indeed be arriving stateside this year, but with its front video-eye gouged out and the video-phoning software disabled. Here are the leaked photos of the Yankee bound device thanks to msmobiles.com. While this is still an excellent phone and destined to be a best seller, why is the American market continually forced to deal with delayed, disabled, and walled-off handset releases?
If this is true wouldn't it be reasonable to give up the luxury of carrier warranty and buy the European version of this phone ?

The information appears accurate, but it may be a moot point: At this time, Cingular is not supporting/enabling the videocalling feature on its network.
So, even if you buy the HTC TyTN version of the device (with videocamera), you'll be unable to use that feature on Cingular's UMTS network.
If you travel internationally and want the camera (and can live without the US Carrier subsidy, support & warranty), then it might make good sense for you to buy a version with the camera.

question is will i be able to enable those features myself ?
im a USA t-mobile subscriber and intend to remain so the cingular version and its crippled hermes would not compensate me with carrier warranty.
anyone has an idea when will t-mobile bring the Hermes to the US?
is it worth the wait or i can only expect them to butcher the features as well?

Oct 5 release for the 8525 in the southern US is what I'm hearing btw.
Cingular is replacing the video call feature with PTT instead. Although its not implemented yet, the PTT software installs from an extrom cab and attaches to the former video call button.
As a TyTN owner I might consider working on a bit of engineering that allows for the toggling of it and the TyTN's video calling app depending on what network I'm using. Kind of like a press/hold = video call and short press gets PTT app.
Also in this vein, there are rumors floating around that the 8525 still has the front camera, but it's hidden under the front plate. This makes a certain amount of sense to me. I guess its verification only awaits the debunker having the 'nads to look... :shock:

any news on t-mobile ?
...that would be only way to get the warranty

Anyone know if the build quality changes are showing up in Non-US versions as well?

Hi everyone -
Based on some of the reports out there, such as the Boy Genius review, it sounds like the US (CDMA) version has some improvements over the GSM version, specifically the build quality of the slider and a better keyboard. I'm in the US but want the GSM version (I use AT&T) and am thinking of getting an import.
Given the delay in availablility, my guess is the US/CDMA version was designed and built after the GSM version, so they may have made some production tweaks. Anyone know if those same tweaks are showing up in the GSM model? If not I may just get the CDMA model, even with that stupid attached flappy thing.
Thanks!
Mike

landshark said:
Hi everyone -
Based on some of the reports out there, such as the Boy Genius review, it sounds like the US (CDMA) version has some improvements over the GSM version, specifically the build quality of the slider and a better keyboard. I'm in the US but want the GSM version (I use AT&T) and am thinking of getting an import.
Given the delay in availablility, my guess is the US/CDMA version was designed and built after the GSM version, so they may have made some production tweaks. Anyone know if those same tweaks are showing up in the GSM model? If not I may just get the CDMA model, even with that stupid attached flappy thing.
Thanks!
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i suggest u wait because even if they are producing gsm shifts with the new improvments then it will take a while till they trickle down to the shops. plus the wait will also allow the price to go down.

Pawel062 said:
i suggest u wait because even if they are producing gsm shifts with the new improvments then it will take a while till they trickle down to the shops. plus the wait will also allow the price to go down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you ever seen the price of HTC product lowering down ?
I wish the shift could get the price lowered ... will see !

koala996 said:
have you ever seen the price of HTC product lowering down ?
I wish the shift could get the price lowered ... will see !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes but i ment on the online shops. the touch cruise used to be over 800 new. not its about 700 new. shift will be same. u might see it soon going on ebay for about 1400-1500.

WAIT???? But I want it NOW!!!!
<Credit to Verucia Salt and Charlie and the Chocolate factory>
http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/w...lyrics_68869/i_want_it_now_lyrics_668039.html
Thanks for the replies! Yeah, I know I should wait, but I was hoping someone would say all was well and the changes had already trickled down. If I wait, I'll probably end up with an Asus EEE 900.....<grin>
Mike

Why wait?
If you want one now, just get it.
And get the one you want, the GSM model.
A few weeks ago (at the UMPC Portal meeting after CeBIT) I had a chance to hold and play a little with a UK model (what you'd probably go for).
This was the most solidly built UMPC (actually, the Asus R2E felt similar but is a completely different type) that I had layed hands on yet (and on that day I held quite a few) and I can't imagine that any improvements that they might or might not have made to the CDMA model would really be significant. The sliding mechanism worked very well, although I must admit you needed both hands to close it. To me this is no issue taking the size of the Shift into account. It is not a 3" phone that I'd expect to operate with one hand. With the way I would use the Shift in mind I actually prefer it to be a little "sturdier".
If the sliding mechanism on the CDMA model in the review really was more "loose", this could also point to production variations or some people probably would even interprete this as an (insignificantly) lower build quality oft that version .
If you should be interested in an opinion of the build quality of the German version (released last week), wait another day, I will pick MY Shift up from the post office tomorrow.
By the way, something else to consider: The GSM model does not have the case bolted on. It is really ridiculous that somebody at the FCC thought this would protect users from too much radiation Probably HTC should add a roll of aluminum foil to the package - one can make wonderful hats from that

Completely agree with the last post. My Shift is very sturdy and build quality is superb, sliding action is firm but smooth, just how you'd want it.

landshark said:
Hi everyone -
Based on some of the reports out there, such as the Boy Genius review, it sounds like the US (CDMA) version has some improvements over the GSM version, specifically the build quality of the slider and a better keyboard. I'm in the US but want the GSM version (I use AT&T) and am thinking of getting an import.
Given the delay in availablility, my guess is the US/CDMA version was designed and built after the GSM version, so they may have made some production tweaks. Anyone know if those same tweaks are showing up in the GSM model? If not I may just get the CDMA model, even with that stupid attached flappy thing.
Thanks!
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I talked to tech support today about an wifi issue. I have an import gsm
He told me in May the shift will be in US in both cdma and a unlocked gsm version. He had a unlocked gsm US version himself while on the phone with me.
Also said the US gsm version has an updated ROM than what my import gsm version has and includes telanav on both the cdma and gsm.
will not have a built in gps reciever, will triangulate position off cell towers

Touch Dual Texting, Sprint, etc

My contract with Sprint is up, and I am thinking of selling my Mogul and switching to the Dual. I really wish they would release a cdma version, but as Ill be getting a new contract anyways, I suppose Ill switch to the GMS side...
Yes I have searched all over XDA, PPCGeeks, and Google.
A few questions,
How is the texting? There is a 16 and 20 key version correct? The 20 is what I am interested in, but looks very difficult to text, or at least coming from the Mogul. lol
Does the Dual have wifi on it?
How much ram does it contain?
Lastly, does anyone know the differences between the US version, and the current? Is it worth waiting for?
Thanks a lot.

well i come from a nokia e61 to the 20key touch dual.
On a full querty its easier, but after a while, the XT9 system learned my preferences and it works pretty well now. not as fast as with the nokia, but ok.
the dual does not have wifi (check the niki upgrading forum for more info).
it has 128MBytes of RAM. plenty. I currently have almost 50mb free and i have opera 8.65, ActiveSync and the SMS App open.
the US version will include GSM850, so you have better coverage, afaik. but I am in europe, so I am not sure on the other differences.

XPERIA X1 White Paper, Specs etc

Seems there has been a lot of people still speculating despite the fact that confirmed info has been available on the phone for some time. Revision 3 of the white paper details quite a lot of stuff about it and is available here on SE's developer website. You just need to enter the 4 letters to confirm you're a real person and not a robot. Interesting points (either from the white paper or an interview I saw with the phone's dev team and marketing guy:
The phone definitely HAS got proper 3D drivers. I have also seen this confirmed in an interview with the development team.
While built by HTC, the phone is engineered by Sony Ericsson; they designed it themselves apparently, HTC is just the ODM.
No Opera...ships with IE only. BOOOOOOO!
There will be a US and European version of the phone. The US version has 850MHz UMTS while the Euro has the 900MHz band instead. The US version is also crippled in some features (mainly relating to video recording/playback - only records QVGA video at 24fps when Euro does it VGA at 30fps. Also doesn't decode H264) due to some issues with patents in the US.
Comes in 2 colours: black and silver
Has a touch mouse as well as a 4 direction button controller (though sadly there are no arrow keys on the keyboard. If you look at the photos you CAN see a CTRL key though, which is great...finally keyboard shortcuts work!).
Should hit the market end of August or in September, so a bit earlier than was previously thought.
Oh and one more thing. People are commenting from pre-production phones that the panels are slow (sometimes using this to justify that it doesn't have working 3D drivers). This is due to the fact that the panel app is still being worked on and has been in debug mode on the pre-production models, or so I read...when it's compiled properly for the production model it should be much faster.

it's not really new and there have been circulating info about changes since then

Yeah I'm aware of that, just noticed that there were still some people commenting on 3d/lack of 3d drivers in here as late as yesterday so thought I'd better post it...

why i had an impression that the version sold in europe would work fully all around the world and have multiple bands to be able to use umts and everything in europe and US.. i must me mistaken then huh?

Should still work pretty much everywhere, is quad band gsm...it is just not on every band for UMTS...850 is only common in America and Australia (only on Telstra's network) as far as I'm aware...900 is more common elsewhere and will even be coming to Australia eventually I think when they stop using it for GSM...

Xperia X1a, X1c and X1i
Does anyone even knows the difference between Xperia X1a, X1c and X1i?
And if so, does anyone know which of them will be released?
There will be a US and European version of the phone. The US version has 850MHz UMTS while the Euro has the 900MHz band instead. The US version is also crippled in some features (mainly relating to video recording/playback - only records QVGA video at 24fps when Euro does it VGA at 30fps. Also doesn't decode H264) due to some issues with patents in the US.
First i guessed that the x1a was the prototype but they write about stuff like it is better on the x1c then the x1a?
In the white papers they talk about x1a and x1c what they say about x1a sounds like the US version you are talking about and the x1c sounds like the euro version u are talking about.
BTW i havent seen that the phone even has quad-band? Where did u find this info?
Which ones will be available?
And does anyone even knows a release date?
MDA Vario IV (HTC Touch Pro/Raphael) is delayed instead of mid june to 4-8 august since htc did something for this phone i guess the release of this phone is delayed to?
ThnX

nobody got anything but guesses
only official word is q4
some say september some say november

X1c is the chinese model.

masterflasher said:
i havent seen that the phone even has quad-band? Where did u find this info?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is in the white paper (general technical info section).
"Quad-band EDGE
•850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Tri-band HSPA
•X1a: 850/1900/2100 MHz
•X1c: 900/1900/2100 MHz"

caeci11ius said:
It is in the white paper (general technical info section).
"Quad-band EDGE
•850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Tri-band HSPA
•X1a: 850/1900/2100 MHz
•X1c: 900/1900/2100 MHz"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
omfg, really sorry here i think i had just read over it.. i only saw the Tri-band HSPA.. Sorryy again.

Are there reliable specs on the amount of Ram - both included and available? I could see a pre-release device on a road show in june, and it showed only 80 MB Ram installed of which only 19 MB were free. So I guess that the device had really 128 MB on-board. However, 19 MB available Ram is not enough for applications like navigation which require lots of ram for routing purposes.
The Sony guys I talked to could not comment on this - in fact, they were somewhat surprised that anyone would inquire on the Ram on a mobile phone. Obviously they were not yet used to the world of WM6, where the customer is interested in more than just Rom for MP3-storage.
Lit

http://smape.com/en/reviews//Sony_Ericsson_XPERIA_X1-prev.html
got some nice pictures too

Thanks