No great surprise here – after all, HTC CEO Peter Chou already exclusively confirmed it to us back in October – but HTC have officially announced that the HTC HD2 Windows Phone will be headed to the US in early 2010. According to a new press release today, the HD2 “will be available with a major carrier in the US in early 2010″; previous leaks have suggested T-Mobile will be the lucky network to offer the smartphone.
One of the most common questions we’re being asked in the aftermath of our HTC HD2 unboxing is how its on-screen QWERTY keyboard compares to one of the other eye-catching smartphones of the quarter, the Nokia N900. We’ve staged a quick size and keyboard comparison, and you can find the gallery – and read our early opinions on both devices – after the cut.
It’s fair to say that the last time we saw excitement to this degree about a Windows Phone it centered on the HTC Touch HD, and so it seems only right that it’s the company’s successor to that handset, the HTC HD2, that is prompting such interest in 2009. Announced last month after copious rumors, what makes the HD2 special is its 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen, HTC Sense UI and 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. It’s taken a while, but the HTC HD2 has finally dropped onto the SlashGear test bench, so check out our first impressions and an unboxing video after the cut.
Updated with first-boot video demo after the cut
T-Mobile UK have announced that they’re preparing to offer the HTC Touch2 and HTC HD2, though it seems that someone in their web team hasn’t been keeping up with the rumor-mill. Both Windows Phones are listed as coming in November, but the HD2 is illustrated with an image of the Touch HD and said to come with a 3.8-inch display and access to the Android Market.
A new HTC patent application could indicate the company’s next direction in smartphone UI, following on from TouchFLO 3D and HTC Sense. Described as “Electronic device and user interface display method thereof”, the application outlines a “virtual book” in which different pages are different applications, and can be rifled through with a fingertip.
Android 2.0 may only have been officially announced last week, but don’t underestimate the speed of the open-source community. They’ve already got a basic install of the new OS running on the original HTC Dream (aka the T-Mobile G1); it’s not optimized yet, which means the handset chugs along rather than whipping through the pages like we’re finding on the Verizon DROID by Motorola, but it’s certainly working.
Video demo after the cut
Recently I asked, if a DROID could take on the Death Star? Now, Motorola and Verizon, along with some help from Google launched DROID. I’ve spent the day with a device and here’s what I think so far. First, Verizon was clear that DROID is going to be a family of devices running Android, Motorola’s device will be the only one called DROID, others will be known as the DROID-XXX. DROID is the first Android 2.0 device and the Google branding points to the fact that this is stock Android. And I do mean stock Android: there are zero Verizon services on this device (with the exception of a non-branded visual voicemail app). No VCast. No nothing. One wonders if Verizon were willing to go to this length a few years ago, would the iPhone have landed on Verizon? Android 2.0 is a great update and finally is starting to feel complete. Compared to V1 Android running HTC Sense, it’s a mixed bag. HTC’s UI is lightyears ahead of stock Android in my opinion but the DROID performs so much better than any Android V1 phone I’ve used and is nearly feature complete that it’s hard to recommend a V1x device at this point.
Has Peter Chou just crushed our HTC Dragon dreams? In an interview with Forbes, the HTC CEO has stated that there will be no Android-based HD2: “technically, we could make the HD2 an Android phone,” Chou explained, “but I have to take care of Windows Mobile.” It’s all part of rejuvenating interest in Windows Phones, Chou reckons: “We’re working hard on these kinds of products to get excitement about Windows Mobile back.”
We may have accused the HTC Eris – aka the Verizon DROID Eris by HTC – as having underwhelming specs this week (what can we say, we want some Snapdragon!) but according to the latest batch of leaks Verizon will at least be pricing it right. gdgt’s Peter Rojas has heard from “a very trustworthy source” that the Android smartphone will be priced at $99 with a new two-year agreement, just half the price of the Verizon DROID by Motorola.
HTC have confirmed to us that they’ll be offering an update to Android 2.0 for the HTC Hero. The update means that HTC will be skipping Android 1.6 – as on the HTC Tattoo, for instance – to concentrate on fettling HTC Sense to play nicely with the newest version of Android. However, the company have not given a definitive timescale for the release, asking only that owners “be patient”. Full statement after the cut.
Chrome OS: Waiting Is The Hardest Part…Though Necessary
Apple is no longer the Nordstrom of Tech, they’re the “New Nordstrom”
Can Anything Replace Windows XP As the Best Netbook Operating System?
Hey, Premium Notebooks or Netbooks, Get the Basics Right!
SlashGear Japan
