Athena -- Engadget

athena posts

Misplaced wings no sweat for DARPA's new aircraft control system

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jun 12th 2008 at 12:56AM

One of the problems -- outside of the obvious -- with a significantly damaged aircraft is that pilots often overreact and add to the situation. In other words, when a plane gets nailed by something like a missile, the person at the wheel panics. DARPA and Athena's Damage Tolerance and Autonomous Landing Solution adds a full flight automation and backup system that uses a plane's internal inertial navigation system and GPS systems to land safely by automatically adjusting to the new configuration -- a physics computation that a human is in no condition to deal with during such a crisis. In a recent unmanned flight test, Rockwell Collins showed off the tech with a scaled-model F-18 in which nearly half a wing is blown off and then landing the plane safely. Hit the read link to watch the strangely calming video.

[Thanks, jr]

HTC Advantage now available, $899 at retail

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 7th 2007 at 5:22PM

HTC today announced official US availability of its mobile monster (and we do mean "monster"), the Advantage. Known alternately as the Athena and X7501, the sucker rocks pretty much every feature one could want in a pocketable device: 256MB of onboard ROM, 128MB of RAM, 8GB hard drive, HSDPA 850 / 1900 alongside quadband GSM, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 3 megapixel autofocus cam, integrated GPS, and an incredible 5 inches of VGA display madness sitting atop Windows Mobile 6 Professional. Coming in at a hefty 134 x 98 x 16mm (20mm with keyboard attached), the term "svelte" doesn't exactly apply here -- but for folks who think power trumps pocketability, this may just be their soulmate. Find it now at CompUSA and Amazon for a buck under $900.

T-Mobile Wing / HTC Herald shows up in FCC

by Ryan Block posted Apr 24th 2007 at 1:09AM

As expected any day now, the T-Mobile "Wing" (aka HTC Herald or P4350) has shown up on the FCC (this time in full glory), and also as expected, it's definitely due for US release. Besides the requisite MyFaves support, don't expect any surprises: it'll have Bluetooth, WiFi, and EDGE data (which is fine enough for T-Mo's 2.5G network). Fingers crossed this will launch soon and on time, and with Windows Mobile 6, to boot.

[Via Phone Scoop, thanks Kashif and Mario]

Hands-on with the HTC Advantage

by Ryan Block posted Mar 26th 2007 at 11:02AM

So we happened to get our hands on an HTC Advantage last week, and damn is this thing ready to rumble. The keyboard (which we just weren't that fond of) snaps into place from a good inch away, and feels more like an industrial magnet than something you'd find on a consumer device. The VGA screen is fantastically large and bright, and played back full-res video without a hiccup. It even has an idle mode with a couple mini-widgets and an email ticker when the keyboard is magnetically latched onto the body to protect the screen (that VueFLO nav, we think). Check out the gallery to get a better sense of what you're in for, but be warned: this is a machine by and for handheld computing enthusiasts and cellphone nerds. So even though HTC wants you to replace your laptop with an Advantage for short trips, it's still a beast of a connected PDA at heart.

Gallery: Hands-on with the HTC Advantage

HTC Advantage coming to US... under the HTC brand

by Ryan Block posted Mar 26th 2007 at 11:01AM

Another from HTC we saw coming, but that's still a pleasant surprise: HTC's Advantage (codename Athena) will in fact be making it Stateside! Noice, but even better, HTC will be releasing the Advantage (now camera-free) under its own brand. In other words, the little ODM we all watched grow up in the last couple of years has finally broken free of designing handsets for others and the perpetual carrier rebadges, and is officially launching devices under its own brand in the US. Perhaps they finally have the cachet to play the game outside of the normal carrier / device ecosystem (or, equally likely, no US carrier was brave enough to sell the Advantage), but either way users can look forward to:

5-inch VGA touch display
Tri-band UMTS / HSDPA, quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE
WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0
GPS navigation
8GB drive, 256MB flash memory, 128MB RAM
miniSD card slot, HTC VueFLO nav
3.5mm audio jack

Coming this summer -- hard price and date not yet established.

HTC X7500 "Athena" has tri-band HSDPA

by Chris Ziegler posted Jan 26th 2007 at 12:09PM

Is this a dream? Have we landed in some alternate reality where the world's hottest devices inexplicably rock 3G radios with compatibility on American bands? That's the only conceivable explanation we can come up with after catching wind that HTC's X7500 / Athena / T-Mobile Ameo will pack not one, not two, but three frequencies of glorious High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, aka HSDPA, aka "we must have one, now." Since all our intel thus far has suggested that the Athena would come out of the gate with 2100MHz only, we'd normally be our jaded selves and reject this new spec as hearsay, but Boy Genius himself has scored what appears to be a legit spec sheet straight from HTC that delivers the good news. Guess there's only one way we can confirm this (HTC, you have our mailing address) but we're cautiously optimistic that things are looking up for North America's mobile warriors here.

HTC Athena gets previewed and fondled

by Darren Murph posted Jan 25th 2007 at 1:29PM

We'll admit, we're a bit envious of this one, as it seems one lucky soul has got his / her palms around an HTC Athena, and thankfully, hasn't kept it all bottled up. In a rather nice preview of the unit, we find an (expected) 624MHz Intel PXA270 processor, 128MB of RAM, 256MB of Flash ROM, 8GB hard drive, TV-out, five-inch 640 x 480 resolution backlit screen, three-megapixel camera, VGA mode for video telephony, rechargeable Li-ion battery, built-in microphone, GPS receiver, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, USB, and of course, a bevy of communication options including GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA. Yeah, we know you're burning through this text just to find out about the photos, so if you've hung in there this far, be sure to click on through for a few more shots, and hit the read link for even more pictorial delight.

[Thanks, KC]

Continue reading HTC Athena gets previewed and fondled

T-Mobile rolls out HTC Athena as "Ameo"

by Chris Ziegler posted Jan 23rd 2007 at 3:31PM

Move over, Universal, there's a new sheriff in town. The Athena from HTC is finally starting to make some public appearances in carrier livery, and we've gotta say, T-Mobile Pink is suiting this thing just fine. Specs for the new reigning king of HTC's expansive Windows Mobile lineup include a 5-inch VGA display, an 8GB hard drive to supplement any Flash you might have stowed in the miniSD slot, on-board GPS, quadband GSM plus HSDPA (sorry, yanks -- 2100MHz only), 3 megapixel camera, an XScale core clipping right along at 624MHz, and -- get this -- three styli in the box, two traditional and one multi-function pen. T-Mobile's European division will get this as an exclusive for a few weeks as the "Ameo," at which point we'd imagine a wider European release is in order. American availability, as always, is an open question.

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

by Thomas Ricker posted Dec 21st 2006 at 7:45AM

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]

HTC's Athena (X7500): a WinMo PPC, not UMPC

by Thomas Ricker posted Dec 20th 2006 at 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.]

Read (Polish)

Continue reading HTC's Athena (X7500): a WinMo PPC, not UMPC