Live from CeBIT: HTC Wizard vs HTC Hermes

We were passing by and thought, hey, let's see if we can get the HTC Wizard / T-Mobile MDA stacked up next to the HTC Hermes / T-Mobile MDA Vario II. And that's exactly what the good folks over at T-Mo did for us. Afterall, it'll still be a few months before this hot-tay ever make it to the US of A -- they could sense our pain. Click-on for some hot Hermes on Wizard action after the break.

HTC Hermes / T-Mobile MDA Vario II (right)




HTC Hermes / T-Mobile MDA Vario II (top)

[crispetp @ Mar 11th 2006 1:58PM]

I think I actually like the vario II better. It's the darker casing that does it for me. I may feel differently if I saw them in person. You better send me both so I can make a fair judgement:)

[ArturoRoyal @ Mar 11th 2006 2:10PM]

That's the Hermes not the Prophet.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/15/htc-hermes-appears-at-3gsm/

[Mateo @ Mar 11th 2006 2:11PM]

Is there an estimate as to how much time it will be released to the U.S.?

[Mikey @ Mar 11th 2006 2:13PM]

They both have the same internals, I assumed... So, other than external case differences, they have the same quirks and have not...

Silver is my choice so both will do in case of case color...

[andrew k from AZ @ Mar 11th 2006 2:32PM]

The thumb-board of the MDA looks nicer, having seperate keys. I'd have to hold them both in my hands to decide which I'd rather have tho.

[Simon @ Mar 11th 2006 2:43PM]

The Prophet (or Hermes) seems to have a JogDial (or whatever non-Sony term it's called) which, currently owning a SE P900, makes it a lot more attractive to me.
JogDials are just the most versatile thumb-driven navigation device.

Anyway, a Spec one-on-one would be a nice addition to the photos. You know ... pr0n by numbers ...

[Simon @ Mar 11th 2006 2:50PM]

Hmm, should have checked the link first ... that's definetly not the Hermes ... if anyting the Hermes looks somewhat like the Vario II, but surely not like the Prophet ...

[JG @ Mar 11th 2006 2:59PM]

Im waiting for this instead of picking up the 8125...

[Alex @ Mar 11th 2006 3:06PM]

does anyone notice the "Z" and the "Y" keys are switched on the keyboard on the left (The Prophet)?

more importantly, does anyone know why?

[reggel @ Mar 14th 2007 8:13AM]

That is the German keyboard layout

[TZK @ Mar 11th 2006 3:19PM]

I was under the impression that was the HTC Hermes?


http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/hands-on-with-the-htc-hermes-t-mobile-mda-vario-ii/

[rick @ Mar 11th 2006 3:24PM]

for me, it comes down to the keyboard.

i tried a prophet last night a a T-Mo store here in SF and it seemed like the chicklet-membrane keys are pretty lame.

here's to hoping that the vario2's have more play and a bit less resistance.

[Thomas Ricker @ Mar 11th 2006 3:26PM]

Indeed, that is the Hermes, not Prophet. I just soooo wanted to say "hot prophet on wizard action" that I lost my marbles.

Thomas

[Raja @ Mar 11th 2006 3:28PM]

I don't understand why everything has to go to Europe first and then it may or may not show up in USA.

Very frustrating. My friend in India is a proud owner of nokia N91 for the past 2 months. Nokia N91 in US????

God knows when!!!!!!!!!!

[werk @ Mar 11th 2006 3:29PM]

DAMN! A jog dial! Nice addition. grr...wish my MDA had that.

Otherwise, let's see...HORRIBLE power button placement! Faster processor, nice. HSDPA or UTMS or whatever support doesn't really matter for us US users. Video conferencing camera...meh. So those are the major differences. I'm not feeling too much buyer's remorse for getting my MDA (except for the jogdial). :)

[zac @ Mar 11th 2006 4:24PM]

9 Its because this is the german model from TMobile. Thats the way german keyboards look. The y key is hardly used in german while the z is used in quite a bit

[Geoffrey @ Mar 11th 2006 4:31PM]

The "z" and "y" keys are "switched" because it's a German keyboard layout.

[Uni @ Mar 11th 2006 4:50PM]

The dealbreaker for me concerning the Hermes is the fact that it uses SDMicro/Transflash, which is just about useless at this point. At least the Wizard has SDMini.

[BadBatz @ Mar 11th 2006 8:08PM]

If the new fone is anything like the crap T-Mobile USA sells as MDA then thanx but no thanx. The MDA's Windows part is slower than death (even after tweaking the memory, apps, ROM, etc.) and the phone part is really bad - where a Nokia 6600 shows 3-4 bars signal strength the MDA shows zippity doodah, nada, nothing, no signal, no network.

[matt jackson @ Mar 11th 2006 9:29PM]

You guys talk so much about phones and specs here but you never mention (for us newbies) what the hell you can do with these things, that you can't do with a normal camera phone besides chat and email *yawn*.

e.g. ok they look differnt but how do they FUNCTION differntly. THey both have windows mobile I'm guessing.

And once again, what do you end up using win mobile for that you don't get from a lappy or normal cheap phone? (Honestly asking out of naiveness).

[Jason @ Mar 11th 2006 11:32PM]

MATT JACKSON:::::

1.surf the net faster if u have an edge modem built in.(for free with wifi which is faster than edge)
2.write e-mails that can include real attachments
3.play mp3s
4.play video's-movies
5.use my mp3s as a ringtone without haveing to pay ur carrier for access
6.reading an e-book
7.playing old NES & SNES & GENESIS games

and a lot of other stuff that i can't think of right now.

[Karen @ Mar 11th 2006 11:58PM]

This is for Matt:

I use the HP 6315 with T-MO. I can surf the web anywhere, check my email, stream live TV (or watch previously recorded or other videos for that matter) using ORB and MCE which is on my home PC, as well as all of the other things I can do like play games, read ebooks, use calendar, tasking, read PDFs, Excel, Word docs, print out using IR, listen to MP3's, watch converted DVDs. There's more, but it is really cool to do all of that with such a small device (and use it as a cell phone :))

[Arun @ Mar 12th 2006 5:18AM]

I really like HTC Hermes / T-Mobile MDA Vario II for its keyboard and better get-up because of its black color body

[M W @ Mar 12th 2006 7:21AM]

I have owned and subsequently returned the HTC Wizard. The processor is way to slow to be running WM5 and the internal memory is miniscule for a 'power' user's needs. I hope that the HTC Hermes addresses these issues. The design of both is awesome, but the frustration of the processor is horrible. I now have the HTC Universal (O2 MDA EXEC) and although it uses a faster processor, it is is still slow. I would say that a minimum processor of 700mhz is needed to run WM5 with a 320x240 screen to make it an enjoyable experience. Please upgrade the Wizard's processor, increase the internal memory and use a normal SD card! If they could do that and have 5 hours of battery time the WM5 phone would be perfect.

[Desmume @ Mar 12th 2006 8:19AM]

Winning combination for me would be a HTC PPC with the dimensions close to Motorola V3.

[Jaime Zamora @ Mar 12th 2006 11:08AM]

How do they perform with skype?

[Jaime Zamora @ Mar 12th 2006 11:16AM]

Hown do they perform with skype?

Best,

[bhaalspawn @ Mar 12th 2006 11:37AM]

No 13 now you know how we Europeans feel about everything else. Especially as we're paying a lot more compartively for most other electronic devices. It's swings and roundabouts frankly and the US can't have everything - didn't mean that nastily but it is true that the US gets quite a good deal on gadgets the majority of the time.

[Danny Boy @ Mar 12th 2006 2:54PM]

So what do you exactly mean when you say "a few months" - 3 months, 6 months, never?

[Adam @ Mar 12th 2006 4:53PM]

I own a wizard, I just got it last week. Personally I would have preferred to get a model with UMTS, so that is my major disappointment with my model. However the general look of the keyboard of the prophet is worse, there doesn't seem to be any speaker holes so I wonder what the sound will be like, and with the jog dial issue, it is possible to remap the volume slider and turn it into a semi-jog dial.

[matt jackson @ Mar 13th 2006 12:43AM]

Thanks karen

I guess you can do a lot.

Does that mean people expect more from you or does it just mean that you have the convience to do things when you want? Personally I'd rather do all that on a much larger screen, so to me it's not that interesting. If I could ditch my phone and just use my Ipod to make calls I'd be happy to have more space in my pocket. That aside I don't really feel the "hole" in my lifestyle needs that phone tech is trying to fill. (although I must say I love having a camera on my phone and which it was better, so maybe I'm living in ignorance *shrug*).
I drive my commute, sit infront of a laptop, come home, sit in front of a laptop. No time when I'm way from a computer long enough to need to break out excel on my phone.
To me it seems more of a status symbol then anything else.
I'll wait for more important functions I guess.

[matt jackson @ Mar 13th 2006 12:45AM]

But then again, I don't even own a TV so... laptop is my plug to the world. (and it's just the one the company gave me).

[Karen @ Mar 14th 2006 12:20AM]

For Matt if you're still checking here,
I enjoyed reading your Excel comment-made me laugh. My PPC isn't a necessity, but it is a fun toy. I really do use it when standing in long lines--to read, etc. I've also used it on road trips to look up maps or other info on the web. I've been at conferences and used it to IM and email colleagues, as well as check my work and Hotmail accts. On my commute, I sometimes stream CNN in the car, with the sound coming thru the car speakers. I'm a TV junkie, and sometimes watch a pre-recorded TV program like Desperate Housewives or Lost during lunch. I'll put on my bluetooth ear piece and listen to music at work.
Sorry, I do go on and on. I would be devistated if I lost it.
I don't know about it being a status symbol. I'm not really into that sort of stuff.

If you could have an ideal device, what would it do for you?

[Adam Lein @ Mar 14th 2006 7:28AM]

I don't see a headphone jack in there.

[Ray @ Mar 14th 2006 2:18PM]

Does anyone know if HTC hermes will have a 2.4" LCD or 2.8" LCD as Wizard? Any word on actual dimensions?

[DAVID @ Mar 27th 2006 10:32AM]

Anyone knows when will be HTC Hermes on the stock?!
THanks in advance

[Mike @ Apr 8th 2006 8:44PM]

I bought the T-Mo MDA in the US and was told it will work here in Japan.
Is this true?
What company do I contact in Japan to get service, DoCoMo, AU-KDDI, Vodaphone?

[Jason Brown @ Apr 30th 2006 7:41AM]

The reason nothing is released in N.america is because:

a. they are not made in n.america
b. the need for the fourth band
c. european/asian market dwarfs n.american market.

Solution: Get rid of the cdma networks to improve the gsm market and lose the fourth band.

[Ivan @ May 24th 2006 2:43AM]

If you think it's bad in the US, pity us poor fools in Australia. You get your gadgets a few months late, whilst we normally don't get them at all!

[Hannah @ May 28th 2006 1:29PM]

As o2 Germany are releasing this as the XDA Trion, any word on a UK o2 release date?

[Shane @ Jul 28th 2006 11:03PM]

I don't think that getting rid of the CDMA network is a solution by any means, it's the only 3G network we currently have (the pending unveiling of UMTS not withstanding), and it's pretty heavily entrenched in N. America (also WCDMA in Japan, super-fast). It's limitations are glaring (only one packet-switched connection in/out, token-ring data network), but it's speed of transfer and voice-quality kind of win out over that. No, what needs to happen in N. America is we need to get rid of the damn analog TDMA network entirely. Convert it to CDMA, GSM, whatever, but get rid of it. I'm sick of cell companies advertising the "largest cell network" when half of their network is ANALOG!