HTC Athena (X7500): a UMTS/HSDPA quad-band UMPC?

Ok kids, hang onto your hats and dose a grain of salt. According to the lads over at Mobile-Review, the HTC Athena (X7500) is a much hotter and much more highly spec'd device like we thought (hoped) yesterday when it first graced our pages. Certainly, none of this is confirmed, but that beefy Windows Mobile PPC Phone Edition device is now rumored to be running on a 624MHz Intel Bulverde processor pumping away beneath a 5-inch, 262k-color VGA (640x480) touch-sensitive display. It's overall thickness is in part explained by the fact that it spins either an 8 or 10GB disk drive while a 2100mAh Li-Poly battery provides up to 6 hours of talk, 300 hours of standby, or 8 hours of WMV video playback. Those specs certainly make more sense. Better yet, it's said to come in two flavors: one for Europe, and a UMTS/HSDPA quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE flavor for the US unlike initial reports. Other notable features include GPS, a standard 3.5-mm jack for headphones, 2 megapixel cam with LED plus another cam up front for video conferencing, dual stereo speakers with 3D surround, USB 2.0 and another USB 1.1 host, TV-out, 802.11b/g WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP/AVRCP profile support. The unit weighs in at 12.3-ounces (350-grams) / 5.24 x 3.8 x 0.78-inches (133 x 97 x 20-mm) making that QWERTY (barely) usable as a table-top keyboard and not some awkwardly held thumbpad. Estimated to be priced between $1,500 and $2,000 which makes it a non-starter for most, if true. Maybe this is HTC's first take at their UMPC after all. Be sure to hit the read link for the complete list of specifications.

[Via PhoneArena]

[nial @ Dec 21st 2006 8:23AM]

8 or 10GB hard disk? Why not flash? A hard disk of that size is just a liability these days.

[macstibs @ Dec 21st 2006 8:45AM]

Did you read over the specs as you typed them? I think you forgot the sharks with the frickin' lasers... or maybe the kitchen sink... I forget which.

[sethx @ Dec 21st 2006 9:08AM]

i so have the feeling OQO will get a SERIOUS ass whoppin' if they dont get a HSDPA radio & GSM & GPS support in their units... its all cool. And its good to see that a "detachable" keyboard will exist. finally theyre realizing that all that swivel-slide-bend action isnt good for those darn flat cables.

[Thomas Ricker @ Dec 21st 2006 9:04AM]

macstibs,

You're thinking mobile WiMax. ;-)

Thomas

[Isaac @ Dec 21st 2006 9:56AM]

Surrrre, it'll come to the US... let me know when it hits the market in Europe and Asia, if I put away $10/paycheck, I'll be able to afford it by the time it hits the US market...

On the upshot, I just signed a 2yr w/Verizon and got a Samsung I-730, so that contract should be ending right around the time this HTC hits US soil...

I'm not bitter and jaded about the US cell market or anything.

[Hotshot @ Dec 21st 2006 9:37AM]

Looks like they just reinvented the Psion.

[SHoe @ Dec 21st 2006 10:33AM]

>>HTC Athena (X7500): a UMTS/HSDPA quad-band UMPC?

>>sethx @ Dec 21st 2006 9:04AM
>>i so have the feeling OQO will get a SERIOUS ass whoppin' if

Come down now everyboyd: it's frickin' Windows Mobile

[Geoffrey @ Dec 21st 2006 10:58AM]

Yes, it's Windows Mobile at a price higher than some full Windows XP devices. I was actually excited until the price was revealed, but no thanks now.

I'm considering one of these now:

http://www.dynamism.com/sa1/main.shtml

[myscrnnm @ Dec 22nd 2006 2:14PM]

$2,000?! At this price, it'd be cheaper to buy the Sony VAIO UX, which has a high-resolution screen, backlit keyboard, Intel Core CPU, two Motion Eye webcams, and WWAN.

[trunksy @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:05PM]

As Aura Mae said, this is meant to be a convergeance device. Does the Sony VAIO UX ring like your cell phone? No!

This is meant to be a smartphone blended with your PDA. Not a UMPC. Instead of buying a smartphone and a PDA, you're paying a price premium for the engineering work to combine them into a single device. If you're looking for a UMPC, look elsewhere!

[I, Robot @ Dec 21st 2006 12:44PM]

Do these people even get it? $1,500 to $2,000 dollars is NO WHERE near $500 dollars. For this same price I could by a laptop and use Skype. How exactly is this item progress? Everything described here can also be found in your everyday PDA. (for $500 dollars or less)

Manufactures just stop!! All you’re doing is embarrassing yourselves, because you don’t know how to LISTEN!!! $500 dollars and not a penny more!

[Richard @ Dec 21st 2006 12:44PM]

They did just re-invent the Psion!

But with M$ software.

The Dark Side is calling to me now!

[Rev. Aaron @ Dec 21st 2006 1:27PM]

Umm... This is _not_ a reinvention of the Psion. Why is it that whenever a PDA with a keyboard comes out people say it's just like a Psion? This thing is far from the utility of a Psion or even the similarily awesome Jornada 720. Unlike the Psion and J720, this doesn't have a half-decent keyboard- I don't see how having a crappy thumboard makes this device a neu-Psion anymore than the Linux-based Zaurus models, which also have a similar crappy thumboard.

The key feature of a Psion or a neu-Psion is a touch-typeable keyboard, something with a key mechanism like that of a laptop, not little nubs like on a TV remote control. This is the difference between the 60-70 WPM I can type on a Psion, Jornada 720 or Sig3 and the 10-20 WPM I can type on a Zaurus C760, PPC-6700/HTC Apache, or the HTC Athena.

I hope it at least has a 5" keyboard- the last report said it was a 3.5", and a screen that smal would make
it even farther away from a neu-Psion.

For something that is a *ton* more like a neu-Psion, check out the NTT DoCoMo Sigmarion 3. I had one of these for a while, and it is an *incredible* machine. Using remoted X11 apps and RDP connecting to a machine in my basement, this took over as my desktop at home. I used actual CE apps when I was using it on the go. This was my primary machine for the year I had it, but I had to sell it to make rent. Unlike the HTC Athena, it has a real, laptop-like touch-typeable keyboard. The Sig3 is reasonably priced at $400-500.

http://conics.net/shp/pda/sigmarion3/

If you want another modern device like the HTC Athena, including the detachable keyboard, but missing the built-in cell radio, check out the Samsung Nexio XP40 or the older S160. The lack of a cell radio could be good or bad depending on your situation, same with the use of real WinCE. WinCE is definately a useful OS, and I personally have found more useful Linux/Unix ports than for the Zaurus (that may have changed!), and regular WinCE is more powerful and useful than WinMo/PPC, though with less software support.

http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=284
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/335/C1757/

I still have a Jornada 720 which I use for certain occasions. It's an older machine with only a 206 MHz Strong ARM and older software, but it can still run a lot of new software. The WinCE machines I mentioned (Sig3, NEXiO, J720) can all run most WinMo/PPC apps using a few tricks, and if you are a power user willing to do a little tinkering these machines can replace a laptop.

The real issue is: why the hell doesn't someone release a device like these for the US market? The Jornada 720 is old and the Sig3 and NEXiO are both meant for non-US markets, though they can be converted to a good extent. My dream machine would be a Sig 3 created for the US market, with a swivel screen like the Zaurus C-series to be converted into a tablet, with builtin Bluetooth for connecting to my phone (Spring PPC-6700, the HTC Apache), on which caps out at a totally decent 1-3 megabit.

HTC- *please* make one of these for me!

[Aura Mae @ Dec 21st 2006 10:12PM]

I think many of you are complaining because this isn't "computer enough." Remember that some of us want a phone that is more computer-like that can be our primary device. You know, "I take it everywhere" kind of thing. I won't have a UMPC that doesn't have a cell phone because I don't want to carry two devices. Isn't that what convergence is supposed to be about? One device that meets my needs. Maybe it's just me.

[myscrnnm @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:15PM]

"As Aura Mae said, this is meant to be a convergeance device. Does the Sony VAIO UX ring like your cell phone? No!

This is meant to be a smartphone blended with your PDA. Not a UMPC. Instead of buying a smartphone and a PDA, you're paying a price premium for the engineering work to combine them into a single device. If you're looking for a UMPC, look elsewhere!"

The Sony VAIO UX also uses Cingular's EDGE network. Plus, it's got the two Motion Eye webcams. So the UX can also function pretty much like a phone because you can use it to make VoIP calls wherever a mobile phone can be used. Plus, you can have video chats. I'd take the UX anyday.

[Aura Mae @ Dec 24th 2006 3:14AM]

Add a HSDPA cell phone to the UX and I'll buy one today!