AT&T's been extraordinarily coy about its
Android plans, right up through
our interview with Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega back in February -- but rest assured, the carrier does plan to get in the game, and it might just beat a number of
T-Mobile's planned launches to market. Meet the HTC Lancaster, which kinda looks like a
Magic when closed -- but open, it takes on more of a traditional
Touch Pro-ish form factor for a QWERTY slider than the
G1 /
Dream. It's got triband EDGE and 850 / 1900MHz HSPA, AGPS, a 3 megapixel fixed-focus camera, Bluetooth 2.0, microSD expansion, and a "unique HTC social messaging user interface" that we'd assume takes cues from that
Hero stuff we've been seeing recently. It's lined up for a full six months of AT&T exclusivity and -- according to our materials, anyway -- has a target availability date of August 3, meaning we could see this pretty shortly. Unfortunately, there's a note here that "Initial Lab Entry dates were based on Google Mobile Services (GMS) UI, AT&T standard UI has been requested, which puts schedule in question." In other words, AT&T wants its fingerprints all over the interface, which risks pushing out the launch -- and that's a double whammy of suck. Follow the break for a larger shot of the phone!
posted May 24th 2009 5:17PM
Why so many buttons on the front?
That could be a Pocket PC-type complement of hot keys. They come in handy, especially if they're user-mappable.
because Google requires them
Is this engadget mobile or something? The past 7 articles are all about phones..
You've got call, home, menu, back, and end just like the G1. Didn't know that was alot of buttons?
because some of us like buttons.
yeah imacmatt09, it must be, there hasnt been a pointless wireless mouse article in a while
Why so serious?
because if they only put one their ears would start bleeding from all the annoying crying from people who have unhealthy iphone love affairs and feel the need to say everything is a copy of an apple i-something or other.
The resolution sucks.
Agreed. I was considering selling my touch pro and getting that but then I saw the resolution. When will we get a android phone with a decent res.
@brotato
I really feel like the Raphael will get a decent build of Android before we get a dedicated VGA Android device.. sad really. The Touch Pro isn't cuttin' it for me these days.
im not getting a new phone until one comes out with WHUXGA...
I'm not sure Android officially supports QVGA (320x240) yet. And seeing how similar this device is to the Magic in terms of form factor and design, it seems strange to me that they would use a different screen.
It may be an error.
yes but this helps older phones with the same cpu hardware now gett a better scaled ui for android..im down.
holy shitballs
Another one!
Quad band edge but only list 3 bands?
maybe theyre just assuming that there is no such thing as a modern non-KIRF phone that has less than 4 bands of EDGE
hopefully it will come out by the end of the summer. if it is as good as it seems right now, i might get this over the next iteration of the iphone.
I don't think you read the specs.
I second the comments about the resolution- why bother with a slider and a large form factor if you're not going to give it a decent resolution for videos and such?
2.8 inch screen =fail and is that a chin i see come on HTC
I've grown to like the chin on my G1. It allows me to put the phone down on a table face down, protecting the screen and facing the speaker up, where it can be heard at pretty low volumes.
Why do you need to protect the screen from simply being placed down? If it's not glass, the phone's a hopeless failure. The iPhone has a flat profile and glass screen, and after two years mine doesn't have a scratch on it.
The other question is whether this is another idiotic HTC phone with no headphone jack.
Aw man, if the resolution wasn't so low this would be AWESOME. It should at least be the G1s resolution-why the step backward, HTC?
Agreed. I think it's more on AT&T than on HTC though. AT&T won't put anything up against their beloved iPhone; they wanted the phone to have inferior specs and HTC just delivered on their wishes.
This phone isn't that big its about the same size as a psp screen
Pros- well, i mean look at it, its hot; QWERTY, good sized Space bar (yay)
Cons- QVGA=bleh, supa-fat, has a chin (wtf HTC), and the trackball looks about the size of my eyeball
looks like a round d-pad to me
well to me that sounds worse
hey i -appreciate- my chin. ive dropped my G1 numerous times and the screen came out flawless every time all cuz of that ominous growth on the bottom! i say chin for the win! or... something less cheesy....
Why does every single Android device have the same form factor? Come on HTC....experiment a bit.
Don't worry other manufacturers are starting to make android devices (samsung, motorola, etc.) so we'll no longer have to put up with htc's shitty designs.
Next complaint - Why do all phones look alike!?
"Form factor"? I can see the use of "form", but what is "factor" adding here?
AT&T branding? YES!!! it makes a device feel better than an unlocked one :)
The thing that scares me the most is that it says nothing on here about a touch screen!
Form Factor: Touch
They should have got rid of the chin and made the whole slide out part a screen, higher res cam, and higher res screen. Also a headjack
HOLD ON...AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT NOTICED THAT IT SAYS TRI BAND...THAT CANT BE RIGHT!
AT&T USES 850 AND 900...FOR THIS PHONE TO BE TRI BAND, IT WONT WORK IN CITY CITIES. I KNOW FOR A FACT 850 DOESNT WORK IN LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY...
SOMETHING DONT SEEM RIGHT...
It could be an error and all, but triband doesn't always imply the same 3 bands. An American triband phone has different bands than a Euro triband.
Really because my iPhone is on 850 in Lexington.
Those tri-bands should work since AT&T uses 850 and 1900. 900 is mainly used in Europe/Asia.
QVGA, if that's correct makes it a no-go.
It is a touch screen, right?
Where's the WiFi?
I'm looking forward to an AT&T Android phone to replace my curve. This is close, but not it.
ugh, this seriously piqued my interest until I read "In other words, AT&T wants its fingerprints all over the interface"
no no no :(
I just want an Android phone with a QWERTY keyboard and 3G access that works on AT&T. (And no restrictions software wise)
Yea, i'll never understand why these stupid carriers have to fuck up a perfectly good phone with their stupid crapware and 'customizations'. It's such bullshi-t.
Cool I've been waiting for the Memphis to land somewhere. I just didn't think it would be AT&T.
One thing that has me a bit worried.
"AT&T standard UI has been requested"
The ugly memphis makes its appearance. So:
1) Thick phone with Dead space a plenty upfront.
2) Small screen with the lowest possible resolution.
3) Comes with extra ugly
No thanks.
This phone would be with Windows Mobile
dfde21a5
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/12/htcs-2009-haul-seemingly-leaked-packs-all-sorts-of-gorgeous/
I believe that is the phone that was identified as the Memphis, in the line-up leak from early in the year.
The Good:
AT&T 3G
Physical keyboard
Sleeker/sexier look than the G1
The Bad:
4 row keyboard, instead of 5 row
I bet it's not a tilt screen (like the HTC Touch Pro 2) ... that would have been dreamy
Looks like it still has a trackball instead of a dpad.
Triband GSM instead of quadband
I get the feeling that this isn't exactly going to be a top-of-the-line smartphone, considering it's being marketed at the Facebook/Twitter/Moron crowd.
Finally an Android phone that works on AT&T's 3G. What took so long (oh yeah there's the iPhone blocking this from happening). Only thing I'm worried about is the AT&T restriction crap that they might do.
AT&T can suck the fun out of anything. I can't imagine the UI would be worth much after they get finished with it....or any handset or device.
Why does HTC make their Android mobiles so ugly?
They're ugly so they can develop a good personality.
I'm not kidding btw:
http://www.mobilemag.com/2009/02/17/understanding-the-jay-leno-chin-of-android-phones/
Now that is a nice phone... I would sell my iPhone for one of those... maybe!
I am excited to see another Android phone coming out and particularly excited that ATT is getting into the game. I agree with the commenters that the screen resolution (and size) is disappointing. ATT and HTC are capable of and need to turn out a higher resolution screen. No excuse in the middle of 2009 for a phone with this resolution.
Shawn
www.twitter.com/shawnjroberts
Hm. QVGA. So AT&T will ship the Lancaster with Donut. I wonder if Donut will be stable enough in August.
Unless, of course, HTC made some big hacks on Cupcake - and then A LOT of programs won't run because they're waiting for HVGA.
are they going to pronounce it the pennsylvania way? lank-a-ster?
Take it from a Treo 700w owner: You do NOT want a smaller resolution than everyone else on the platform. Most apps just don't work, and the ones that do have scroll bars. Its horrible.
Please just put Android on a Touch Pro 2. This "Lets sabotage Android with 2nd class hardware!" mentality is getting old.
...You had me at "Hello"
W00t! AT&T 3G HSDPA!
Android is frickin wicked, with the exception of the lack o' 3G on a rooted G1. I really can't decide whether I enjoy the slow EDGE on G1 with Android better than HSDPA on a Diamond with WinMo 6.1.
I do! I DO!
...but I miss the 3G.
...and that resolution HAS to be MISTAKE! Please, Please, PLEASE BE A MISTAKE!!
no 3.5 audio jack?
no flash camera?
those are disappointments for me. like the formfactor though.
so is at&t going to cut the balls off email like they do all their other 'dumb' phones? i know it says pop3 but their mobile email app is 5 years outdated and gmail isn't supported at all....... i'm sure if anyone could fuck up android, it would be at&t.
HTC's New Strategic Plan: Take all Windows Mobile phones in inventory, reformat them, install Android, rename and sell them.