HTC Shift -- the cellphone company finally goes UMPC

It's been a long time in coming, but after HTC's long, gradual feature buildup all the way from the very first Pocket PC phone in 2002, they're finally putting the "computer" in High Tech Computer by making the jump to ultraportable PC-maker. That's right, HTC's first foray into the UMPC market, the Shift (codename Shangri-La), is officially announced today. We don't yet have hard details on release date or price, but we do know it should be available in Q3 (we'd estimate for under $2,000). As for features, we know not to expect anything out of the ordinary (except lots of 3G), although the form factor is pretty notable: not too many UMPCs have a sliding keyboard, and none that we can recall have a tilting display in this orientation. Some specs:

• VIA CPU (the one we tried had a 1.2GHz chip)
• Vista business (yes, it was running Aero)
• 7-inch sliding, tiling wide-touchscreen
• 30GB drive
• Tri-band UMTS / HSDPA, quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE
• WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0
• Biometric reader, front-facing camera

We got a chance to play with an engineering sample of the Shift the other day; while we couldn't take any shots of it, we could say that the slide and tilt screen felt rock solid. Unfortunately, the full keyboard just had way too many keys packed in to type remotely accurately on. Stay tuned for more on this one; from today on HTC's playing a whole new game.

[Chris @ Mar 26th 2007 11:30AM]

WOW now THATS SEXY!

[ScOObyDoo @ Mar 26th 2007 11:38AM]

Poor OQO.

[Phil Perman @ Mar 26th 2007 11:59AM]

Looks like someone has finally nailed the UMPC form factor. Next battery life and finally price (a realistic order) and it'll be perfect.

[Mike on a Bike @ Mar 26th 2007 12:07PM]

THERE IS A GOD!

Make sure this thing had good battery life and I'll toss my current cellphone, get this thing and start leaving my laptop at home...

[ZSX @ Mar 26th 2007 12:08PM]

There is a (tiny) bit more information on the screen mechanism on jkk YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agUbsgip0Vo

Looks like the same mechanism as the HTC Kaiser.

[marc @ Mar 26th 2007 12:09PM]

Hot Damn! But what i want to know is if i buy this thing can i finally get rid of my phone as well (i.e.: somebody needs to make a UMPC with a sideshow phone built in...and 3g of course)

[KatJa @ Mar 26th 2007 12:14PM]

about the keyboard size... for me it's perfect!!
I can't type on a mac laptop keyboard because the keys are so large and far apart. Yes I'm female but not particualry small (174cm) I guess I must just have small hands - but I can't be the only one. I used to have a psion which had the perfect size keyboard for me and would fit in my back pocket - I have been waiting for somthing similar to it ever since they discontinued it. In fact why doesn't someone just re-release it?!

[bungsana @ Mar 26th 2007 3:26PM]

shoot. i just bought a cell phone recently too. i was wondering why one one did this sooner. makes too much sense.

[Steve Paine @ Mar 26th 2007 5:03PM]

Strange feeling of Deja-Vu
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=308

which I'm very happy about because our design was for the ideal UMPC and apart from 1024x600 and mouse pointer, its almost there!

Price? My guess is around $1500 but you'll see it it sold through the normal HTC channels which means 1/3 prics and 24 months contract. Significant!

Steve / Chippy

[3rdsun @ Mar 26th 2007 7:47PM]

HTC is gonna change the UMPC game with this like Apple is suppose to do with the iphone (sorta)

[tv junkie @ Mar 26th 2007 8:15PM]

i want

[mesaboogie @ Mar 27th 2007 12:19PM]

It'd be better if it had a Core 2 chip in it... but I guess it's ok.

Looks good. Now, how much?

[John Doe @ Mar 28th 2007 2:12AM]

*rolls eyes* Yah and it would get maybe an hour of battery life with a Core 2. Its a UMPC not a freaking laptop.

[realgd_@flash @ Mar 27th 2007 2:17PM]

this is great, cant wait to see it in the shops and maybe have a play!

[mesaboogie @ Mar 28th 2007 4:58AM]

FYI, there are Low Voltage Core Solos out there. Sony, for instance, has them in (at least) one of their UX series... and with the coming of 45nm chips from intel, they'll suck even less power. According to Engadget, the new Samsung Q1 Ultra (Q2?) will ship with a 800mhz Intel dual core and rumour has it that it'll be a 45nm chip.

Current VIA cpus are noticeably slower compared to Celeron-Ms (at the same clock), thats why I am a bit disappointed... they're not that bad though.

Sorry if my wording is messed up, not my native language :)

[John Doe @ Mar 28th 2007 2:19AM]

The big things I want to know are:
1. How snappy is a Via chip? As I said before this isn't a laptop and I wouldn't expect it to act as snappy as a C2D laptop however the basics: app launch, music, movies. How do they run?

2. Battery life. Get me 4 hours on this thing or go back to the drawing board. I've found that the smaller the device the better battery life people demand out of the device because of the likelihood of carrying the device with them more frequently. In this case I would demand 4 hours with low brightness\all wireless off\reading an e-book.

[Z @ Mar 28th 2007 7:29PM]

This looks slick but they're missing SiRFstarIII GPS. At that size, they need to include it. Little handheld phones have all the wireless this thing has, including GPS, so why doesn't this Shift have it?

I also hope that have some simple applets for phone usage.

What they need to come out with is a device that can run both Vista and WM6 Pro, and switch between the two on the fly and while on a call.

And make the device a little smaller than the Shift - more along the lines of the Sony UX Premium.

[Serjnyak @ Apr 3rd 2007 3:42PM]

I also hope this thing will work as a phone with WM6 and switch between UMPC -> Mobile. That would be perfect for battery life

[Sebastian @ Apr 7th 2007 2:47PM]

I wonder how much this weighs. 700-800 gramms would be perfect, but possible? I wouldn't want a SirfStar III Chip in there, it consumes too much power, I prefer the MTK. I have one in an external BT GPS Receiver and it can navigate for 20 hours, SirfStar III chips can't do that.

[Z @ Apr 9th 2007 8:04AM]

MTK would be a great chip. But just for the record, SsIII can go for double-digit hour runtimes. Who needs GPS for longer than that without a recharge? If you're driving and need longer runtime, you'd have the Shift plugged into a power socket, anyway.

And keep in mind, SsIII is what HTC stuffed into their Athena. So if it's fine for that WM phone, then it would be just perfect for the Shift.

[Z @ Apr 9th 2007 8:08AM]

Now that I've been thinking about the size of the Shift, I take back what I said about the size of the screen being a bit too large. It's not. The size of the Shift's screen is perfect. Rather, the Sony screen is a bit too small.

[SRCUK @ Apr 27th 2007 5:49AM]

A personal opinion, take it or leave it:
Please, take the phone out!
I already have a mobile phone, it includes bluetooth to talk to devices like UMPC. I don't want to subscribe to another GSM supplier to make a UMPC talk to the internet direct, htc seem to think we want to do this. Also, some employers/clients don't allow phones onto their premises; therefore this device wouldn't be allowed in, even if you took the SIM out.
Will this thing fit unobtrusively in my pocket instead of my current TyTN; don't think so. Bad idea to have a phone built in; stops me buying it; otherwise I would, because it actually looks pretty good!
HTC, please offer a version WITHOUT THE PHONE BUILT IN.

[Solidus Obscura @ May 12th 2007 9:24AM]

Gee, I got a 2Ghz Core 2 Duo Asus R1F with Windows Pissta and it took about a minute to fully boot up. I bet with a sucky Via, it will take no less than ten. I REALLY like how the device looks. It's very pretty, and seems to be feature rich. It makes to be the perfect internet device. But Pissta? I can't see how that can even RUN on that device. Provide XP Tablet, and then you'd have a deal. Pissta is useless.

[vactor @ Jun 4th 2007 5:38PM]

the key with a device like this is: battery life. i think that something like this needs built in 3g web surfing ability, a GREAT web browser, MS word and Excel and powerpoint, outlook and a video / music player. essentially, a boosted WM6 OS with real Office compatibility, and a 10+ hour battery life. essentially instant on (like a smartphone) and LONG battery life coupled with the basic things you want to do: write, surf, email, watch and lsiten. that should EASILY be able to be done for about &=$750. i'd get one in a heartbeat. no need for vista or XP, just a robust stable version of WM6 and the benefits of that and real office etc.

[phongnd14 @ Nov 20th 2007 10:47PM]

Please tell me when this product appear in market?