advantage
Latest
Official TyTn WM6 update loosed by HTC, others on the way
We're not sure why HTC waited longer than virtually all of its carrier partners to unleash a Windows Mobile 6 upgrade for its own-branded Hermes, the TyTn, but no bother -- the point is it's now available, so there's really no good excuse for anyone with Hermes hardware to still be rocking old-skool WM5 at this point. Meanwhile, users of the P3300 (Artemis), S620 (Excalibur), and Advantage should all get their hookups this month if everything goes according to plan. Wasn't it, like, an eternity ago now that T-Mobile rocked WM6 on the Dash? Better late than never, we suppose.[Via the::unwired]
Will DirecTV's HD push stimulate competition?
Arguments have already begun over who will eventually reign supreme as the dominant HD provider, and while cable has had years to take advantage of their increased HD offerings compared to satellite carriers, that gap is quickly closing. DirecTV has already launched one HD-centric bird into orbit and apparently has number 11 ready to rock, and the firm's recent HD marketing campaign just might "light a fire in cable to reconsider the pace at which they invest" in HD rollouts. Of course, DirecTV's latest stunt (you know, the sixty-second countdown commercial) is full of asterisks and features a quick-lipped dame throwing in a multitude of "up to"s and "potentially"s, but what's clear is how harshly it comes down on cable. Hey, we're all for taking the gloves-off approach to getting things done, especially if we cable customers actually benefit from DirecTV's aggression.
HTC's Advantage X7501 lands at CompUSA website
You knew this beauty was coming, and you've even had ample time to stare it down and get acquainted, but now you can get that mousing finger ready as the HTC Advantage X7501 has snuck onto CompUSA's website. Currently listed as "Coming Soon," the sale page doesn't lend any hints as to when it'll actually be available to purchase, but we are assured that it'll run $899.99 whenever that time does come. As expected, it'll come pre-loaded with Windows Mobile 6 Standard, a 624MHz CPU, built-in 8GB hard drive, miniSD expansion slot, integrated GPS, Bluetooth / WiFi, a three-megapixel camera, TV / VGA outputs, and just about everything else you'd need in a UMPC / cellphone hybrid. Hold tight folks, it's almost here.[Thanks, Naval]
HTC Advantage docking station hooks things up
For those of you waiting patiently for your HTC jack-of-all-trades to hit the doormat, you can at least kill some time by picking up one of these new docks and trying to envision a phantom Advantage resting comfortably in the slot. The docking station features a second battery charger, two USB ports, a miniUSB port (for charging and syncing), a 3.5mm headphone jack, and two video out options (VGA and S-Video) -- giving you at least a few ways to get inside (and out) of the Advantage when you're at home. The whole connection-packed affair will cost you £70 (around $140), which is kind of a steep price to pay when you've got nothing to stick in it yet.[Via Pocketables]
Engadget Podcast 105 - 03.30.2007
Sure, the Xbox 360 Elite was finally announced, but we've got a fair bit of interesting cellphone news this week, too. Check out Samsung's UpStage, finally launched; or the long-awaited Helio Ocean dual-slider QWERTY featurephone -- not bad eh? And then HTC had a whole slew of gear, too, from their first UMPC to the Advantage's US launch. We won't only be talking about cellphones this week, but if you're not down with mobile gadgets then you might want to snag our enhanced RSS and skip some chapters, because we've got some CTIA stuff to catch up on. Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC). [RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [RSS OGG] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in OGG) to your RSS aggregator. Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Solvent - Instructograph (Ghostly International) Program: 00:50 - Xbox 360 Elite and 120GB drive now official 07:22 - The Helio Ocean 12:31 - Sprint announces Samsung UpStage, 99 cent songs over the air 17:15 - HTC Shift -- the cellphone company finally goes UMPC 19:46 - HTC Advantage coming to US... under the HTC brand 23:29 - HTC 6800 / Titan hands-on 25:36 - HTC S720 vs Vox and TyTn hands-on 26:02 - Hands-on with the Samsung Ubicell 34:15 - How-to: Upgrade the drive in your Apple TV LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com
Hands-on with the HTC Advantage
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-2240%
HTC Advantage coming to US... under the HTC brand
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.
