HTC's Athena (X7500): a WinMo PPC, not UMPC
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Dec 20th 2006 8:45AM
posted Dec 20th 2006 8:45AM
Oh sweet mother of WinMo computing, HTC looks to have a new one up their sleeves with this, the HTC Athena (X7500). It's apparently not their rumored UMPC, rather, this pup is said to run Windows Mobile Pocket PC "Pro edition" (whatever that is) so that's a 3.5-inch QVGA touch-screen with stylus and detachable QWERTY -- yes, detachable when you need to keep things light. The unofficial specs being passed around indicate that this handheld is destined for Europe: UMTS 2100 with tri-band GSM/GPRS radio (what, no EDGE or HSDPA?), 802.11b/g WiFi, 256MB ROM / 64MB RAM, 2 megapixel camera, SD expansion, and USB 1.1 interface. All running on a 400MHz Samsung processor. Still, doesn't this seem a bit light for all the device's bulk? Read on for more pics and clues from this mystery device.
[Thanks, Yoda M.]
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What, no VGA?!? You gotta be kidding!
Yeah... I got my hands on a very much preview model a month or so ago. I work for one of the big carriers in the UK and we had one at our internal handset launch roadshow. Personally I think it sucked badly, and I carry around a HTC Universal on a daily basis (!)
On the preview one, the keyboard was already broken, and the screen displayed at such a crap resolution, it was like looking at a child's toy.
Considering I'm swapping the Universal for the Samsung i600 when its out in Europe because I've already switched to an Asus R2H for portable browsing, email and MSN use, I think the days for the Athena are numbered even before it is released.
I think I'd prefer the thumb-type keyboard to this tapping keyboard which is impractical.
3.5" screen and QVGA? Where's the VGA love HTC?
Anyone who wants VGA in a WM5 phone should look to the HTC Universal. 640x480, SD, GSM, GPRS(no edge dammit), 802.11b, 2 cameras, qwerty keyboard, tabletPC-style folding, 520MHz, etc.
More can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Universal
I have had mine for a year and I absolutely LOVE it.
@timetex: Yup, I was there too. And after someone had broken one. Apparently HTC were having some issues with the magnets for the keyboard fixing wiping credit cards!
These specs are a little different than what have been found previously by xda-developers.com
Heres what they heard
"it has 5 inch 640x480 very nice screen. Features include 8GB drive, GPS, BT 2.0, 2200 mAh battery, G-Sensor, VGA out, stereo speakers, MINI SD, GSM UMTS, W-lan, 3MP camera with flash, 624 MHz processor and more."
The device looks a little big to have a 3.5" screen, which makes me think that the specs xda-developers.com found to be the "final" specifications and perhaps the ones posted here are development specs. If that is the form factor and the specs xda-developers found, that is going to be one hot device! Replace my iPod and my Hermes and probably even my laptop..
http://www.xda-developers.com/modules.php?name=News&file=showarticle&threadid=286884
I have an Orange SPV m3100 which is the HTC Hermes and it has pretty much identical specs to this yet seems ALOT more portable, in use I find it's pretty much similar to a mobile phone when i want it to be, but then like a butterfly can transform into so much more! :D
Unless these specs are inaccurate I can't see this being a sucess when they have smaller better devices already on the market with the same power and infact more features.