HTC MAX 4G gets a proper unboxing in Russia

Oh, HTC. Why do you tease us? For the legions of phone fanatics not located in Russia, the images hosted up in the read link are about as close as you all will ever get to Yota's HTC MAX 4G. The world's first GSM + WiMAX handset has been acquired by an evidently affluent individual who reportedly threw down around $1,300 in greenbacks in exchange for this gem. Those familiar with the HTC Touch HD won't find too many dissimilarities, but we'll stop bothering you with these "words" and allow you to give the images some careful attention.

[Via wmpoweruser, thanks Daniel]

[eggothewaffle @ Dec 21st 2008 11:17PM]

...So what's the battery life like with all the data radios on?

[Wes Steele @ Dec 21st 2008 11:23PM]

I don't understand how the states is so far behind in terms of mobile technology. I hate it.

[dt3k @ Dec 21st 2008 11:40PM]

it's the FCC and regulations bro.

[Temmink @ Dec 21st 2008 11:44PM]

It's early adopter syndrome on a large scale, huge investment in what is now old technology and the telcos are unwilling to invest more when people are still paying good money for what they already have. It's a shame, but thats how it is. Places like Russia are able to take advantage of the economies of scale and production that the US weren't. At least that is my completely uninformed opinion.

[who? @ Dec 21st 2008 11:45PM]

I think it is due partly to the fact that we were among first to have the modern tech like the internet and portable computers/phones, and now all of our new things are based on outdated infrastructures (ex: old, slow cell towers and internet cables) and pricing guidelines (internet bills are unbelievable compared with other countries, and the speeds are generally much too slow).

We need to pass some laws to regulate these things and catch up. Then companies will want to make cool new products and start them out here instead of other places (Russia?!?! wtf...).

[marty.com.au @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:10AM]

It is a similar story around the world. When infrastructure gets updated, the oldest stuff gets upgraded first. Depending on where you are in that cycle, sometimes you get pwned.

For example, in Australia many years ago, when they were updating the phone exchanges, the more affluent areas got the new digital ones that did three way calls etc... That was good for them. However when it came time to roll out exchanges that did ADSL and the like, it was oldest exchanges first, so a lot of 'affluent' areas got them last. as they had had the most recent update...

Now the USA is getting the same treatment on a country wide scale...

At least you guys get to complain about 250gb download caps... we get to complain about 25mb ones... and some of the 3g internet plans here have monthly caps like 5mb, (as I said to the salesperson, 5mb? thats one fuc*ing webpage - to which he replied well, most people only use it for email. So I said, ok thats four emails a month. - But hey, for another $90 a month (on top of a $90 phone plan) I can get three whole gb a month... Woo frikkin hoo.....)

[dhope @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:26AM]

I know go ahead hate me but Apple is the only company who innovates and release products in America first. They are taking their time to bring technolgy to us but we are in a hurry to share ours to them. Look what is happening we invented internet but we are number 15th in the world.

[eggothewaffle @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:36AM]

"I know go ahead hate me but Apple is the only company who innovates and release products in America first. They are taking their time to bring technolgy to us but we are in a hurry to share ours to them. Look what is happening we invented internet but we are number 15th in the world."

What the hell?

What about Intel? Nvidia? Microsoft (let's go play what's the first thing touted as a supported feature of the iPhone on the official web page!)?

A major reason why companies don't quickly release great tech in America is because most Americans are just like the commenter above when it comes to great tech: Abso-fucking-lutely clueless.

Go play in traffic. You're ruining my America.

[Shyam D @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:42AM]

dhope, Apple also has nothing to do with infrastructure. It is one thing to talk about innovation in consumer electronics where a 1-2 year life cycle is completely acceptable. The problem is in infrastructure you're talking about years before you even break even and therefor a much longer life cycle. We're merely burdened by the fact that our infrastructure is in the middle of the life cycle still. There is also the fact that our life cycles for infrastructure in the US are considerably larger due to the fact that population density is much lower then places like Europe and Japan, so hence much lower returns per year.

Technically we have Wi-Max. It just straight out blows right now, because the total number of cities that have it can be counted with your fingers. It will also be a while before that expands because the company adopting is it not doing so well. LTE is still awhile away since Verizon and ATT are far more concerned with their Fiber networks then their cellular networks. At least, be glad we're starting to upgrade that. T-mo is just now hitting 3G, so lets not jump to 4G with them yet.

The other major problem is that our Infrastructure is mostly private. Its one thing to have private companies provide power or internet, but shouldn't the infrastructure be government owned? After all, the power and telecom infrastructure are as important as our military.

[Will H. @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:16AM]

Russia's comms infrastructure is pretty spectacular. It's party because they've converted a lot of cold war era tech used mainly for internal anti-espionage into useful consumer comm tech. You can be out in the middle of nowhere and get full service, it's nuts.

[nikster @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:29AM]

@WillH: I am sure it's also because Russia was so far behind before. Like many 3rd world countries, it just jumped a few technologies and went straight to the best and newest. It fascinates me that I can go go any ATM and make a bank transfer to anyone else in Thailand and it's credited to their account instantly. They can go get that money from an ATM literally the second I am done. No-one's ever heard of a check here.

In addition, it helps when the Military has not reserved access to the most popular GSM frequencies (hello USA! ;) ).

[Hotrod @ Dec 21st 2008 11:25PM]

Very, very slick.

Will HTC be releasing a similar phone in the U.S. anytime soon?

[grull27 @ Dec 21st 2008 11:26PM]

No, because they're HTC and will never cater the needs of Americans. :(

[Adam @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:35AM]

So what do you call the touch diamond and the other phones they've released in the US?

Why does everything have to revolve the Americans? You poor things, HTC made a phone which won't be allowed in your self-centered country :'(

[Box @ Dec 21st 2008 11:41PM]

at year 2019 obviously.

[who? @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:44AM]

HTC = Hate Taxes and Capitalism? Velcome to soveet Russia!

[Jeff @ Dec 21st 2008 11:39PM]

*awaits comment about phone unboxing me*

[gonintendo @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:36AM]

In Soviet Russia, HTC MAX 4G unboxes YOU!

[Ryan Meray @ Dec 21st 2008 11:43PM]

This is 'the new hotness,' to my phone's 'old and busted.'

[sdemo @ Dec 21st 2008 11:48PM]

MIB 2 ftw

[BigDaddyM @ Dec 21st 2008 11:45PM]

If we keep buying incremental upgrades, then companies will continue to slowly upgrade us since we will pay for each release.

In other words, if we will continue to buy old technolgy for high prices, companies will continue to sucker us.
M

[nikster @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:21AM]

Main issue is the lack of competition in the USA. In Austria, we have 5 GSM companies competing against each other over 7M (yes... 7M) people. And a few MVNOs cropping up every now and then to serve the cheap-prepaid market. Imagine getting a prepaid data SIM with 2GB/$20 at Trader Joe's. The 3G USB stick to match is$60 (and unlocked). You can buy it alongside the milk and your breakfast cereal.

The USA is vast, so regulators would need to look into getting some competition going. The free market fails without rules (as, I think has been amply demonstrated just now). Good new rules are needed.

[you @ Dec 21st 2008 11:53PM]

tell the lucky guy to do a speed test. im curious.

[Uncontrol @ Dec 21st 2008 11:58PM]

i'm going to smash my macbook's glass screen over your face

[Nomi @ Dec 21st 2008 11:59PM]

Hmm....although the hardware is slick, I personally can't wait for HTC's next evolution in "make winmo pretty" software. TouchFlo 3...

[Quikboy @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:26AM]

Better yet, I hope WinMo 7 will have shown itself out by then (CES maybe?) and that the user interface is uber fantastic that people wouldn't mind just leaving the look as it is. It's not like Microsoft hasn't made some nice interfaces before (like the Office Ribbon, WMC, Zune, NXE, etc.) so maybe by now, the WinMo team has gotten some attention by Microsoft that it's about time it gets a well-needed facelift. And of course a better browser, better media player with Zune-like functions, more enhancements, a centralized application store, etc.

I'm really happy though, with HTC's work in making WinMo a lot nicer to use.

[Jinto @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:01AM]

Strictly speaking, the iPhone does not have OS X either.

And HTC makes some nice phones. I wonder what a Apple/HTC phone would be like? Hmmmm

[grabbydad @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:03AM]

I think you mean the FCC.

[Ddub @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:08AM]

dear T-mobile.

You could help yourself a lot if you'd just do this. Contract to offer this HTC phone as a 3g with android or a touch diamond with Android. I know you think i'm joking but i swear people will buy it. Trust me T-mobile. And i don't even like phones without keyboards.

smarter then you.

[T-mobile @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:26AM]

Dear Ddub

You almost had us convinced to do just as you suggested but the fact that you don't know the difference between then and than proves you aren't smarter than us so we'll just continue offering second-rate phones and leave it at that.

Thanks,
T-mobile

[Quikboy @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:29AM]

Ok, just wondering, but why the need for Android on this? WinMo is pretty versatile, HTC has made the interface pretty good to deal with it, and the scores of applications WinMo is pretty huge. So again, why would asking T-mobile to put Android on this make it any better?

[Ddub @ Dec 22nd 2008 3:37AM]

Yeah because t-mobile is a top cellphone carrier that has tons of great touch screen phones? Sorry they don't. And thanks for being grammer police. Hey only morons get their kicks correcting other peoples typos on the internet comments section. Internet grammer police are tools. Go get a job proofreading. This must be you: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/05/12/99-grammar/ If t-mobile had a ton of good phones and was the number one cellphone carrier they'd be above criticism but they aren't. And this, with Android would be a great product for those that don't want the bulk of the g1. It makes sense from a business standpoint.

As for the guy commenting about windows mobile. Personally i've used the diamond and found it slow and and not very responsive. Additionally, many people found the UI counter intuitive and cumbersome in many places. For example, they didn't like flipping through tons of individual letters to get to a single email. they preferred a list a simple list. Same for piks. Yeah I know i spelled it rong!

[T Hom @ Dec 22nd 2008 5:53AM]

Are you trying to say grammar?

Oh and no one said that T-Mobile had amazing phones Ddub. In fact the the guy that responded to your post mentioned T-Mobile's "second-rate" phones. I'm glad that you got angry/offended for nothing. Well done with the purposeful misspelling at the end. I busted out laughing........... (no I didn't)

[zioncat @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:10AM]

I have an htc touch diamond sometimes I dream that it will turn into the 4G but I wake up only to find that I live in America and every other country is ahead of us in almost every fascist of technology.

[Flashpoint @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:11AM]

IN SOVIET RUSSIA - email Pushes YOU !

[Game_playa @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:15AM]

In soviet Russia ass sucks YOU!

[Liam @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:23AM]

so smart you say then instead of than?. however, i do agree.

[i.c. weiner @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:43AM]

lolwut

[Kris @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:26AM]

No the iPhone runs a customized version of 10.4. Apple already confirmed this.

[mos @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:33AM]

Is 4G better than *$*&($ 3G?

[ducky @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:37AM]

@Kris, don't fall for Apple's branding bullshit. iPhone does not run OS X. The underlying core of OS X (Darwin) cannot run on iPhone's processor. Therefore, iPhone is not running OS X.

Remember, it's Apple. Exaggerated advertising is their business. My iPhone gets as little as half the battery life that Apple claims it should be getting, and it's not even jailbroken or anything. They can brand iPhone OS however they want to.

[Kris @ Jan 7th 2009 12:04PM]

I fail to see how it can't...

[adam.plante @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:44AM]

@zioncat
Except Canada. We have the worst cell technology in the world. The biggest of the three cell companies in canada uses CDMA with "fake" 3G being the best available and wiMax is available in like 10 cities country wide.We just got the iPhone and are only dreaming of the G1. We also pay a mint for data access on cell phones. Limited plans start at like $70 a month. And I pay $60 a month for my cell line and I only get 100 daytime minutes. free evenings and weekends, and unlimited incoming,

[Rod @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:10AM]

Wow...that sucks big time, you're being robbed blind!! At least in the UK there's lots of competition to force prices down and to keep the technology flowing. Man that is such a rip-off!

Has anyone seen the condition of the London transport system? A classic case of if you invent it or adopt it early...you're fucked in the long term!

[Uncontrol @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:51AM]

as much as i want an iphone, it looks really ugly compared to most other touchscreen phones

that chrome bezel is really dated looking and so are the ultra-round corners

[patriotsn1 @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:55AM]

... how does any of this have to do with the iphone and your desire to own one?

[Uncontrol @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:28AM]

If you'd read the source, you'd see there are comparison shots between the HTC MAX and the iPhone. It was simply a comment on how good modern touchscreen phones -- including the HTC MAX -- look compared to the iPhone.

[ducky @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:57AM]

@Uncontrol, it's really just trends in industrial design... Companies have been on the rounded corner/square corner fence since time immemorial.

[Shugg @ Dec 22nd 2008 2:34AM]

wow your so alone on that comment,.worldwide iphone smartphone sales speak fir themselves. Dominating not only in USA but globally in smartphone industry ,.black n chrome outdated ? U have a gremlin by any chance,.

[Uncontrol @ Dec 22nd 2008 2:35AM]

i have the new aluminum macbook, actually