Earlier this week I asked "What do Hugo Ortega and Steve Ballmer have in common?" and today I share with you the answer - The HTC Shift! I must admit that I have been blessed many times over in the last few years with the devices that have crossed my path. I still remember being the first to showcase the Raon Digital Vega; and first with the Fujitsu P1610. On this occasion however I have yet to feel more honored than by being given the opportunity to look at what is billed as one of the most anticipated releases this year, i.e. The HTC Shift.Back in March this year I placed my thoughts down about The HTC Shift. This was more of a virtual wrap-up than anything else as very little information was available, let alone a device to feel and touch. So when I was given permission to take the HTC Shift to TechED Australia as part of my UMPC Awareness Presentation (which was a huge success) you can imagine what I said...ummmm...YES!
I had The HTC Shift for a little over 60 hours and was able to play with many of its great features, which include Pocket PC, HSDPA, Vista Business, Tilt Touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard and more. It is an incredible device with many possibilities, this video will hopefully showcase some of that. I managed to literally squeeze it into a very tight schedule I am running at present and did what I could to cover off some of the burning questions folks might have.
Machine specs (as tested):
- Windows Vista Business (3 hrs battery)
- Intel Santa Rosa A110 Processor
- 1GB DDR2 RAM
- 40GB HDD
- HSDPA (Data only) ready
- Web Cam
- Biometrics
- Windows Pocket PC (over 5 days battery life when used exclusively)
- Qualcomm 400MHz Processor
- 64MB RAM
- and more...
In summary I would have to say that this is one of the BEST Ultra Mobile PC I have ever had the pleasure of spending time with. If I were a manufacturer of a UMPC, or with a UMPC about to hit the market, then I would be shaking in my boots given what The HTC Shift is capable of. "I put my order down right away!"
Watch or download the High Res version (34 minutes, 256MB, Windows Media streaming or direct download)
50 comments:
Wooooo nice , I love it
Works tom tom 6 on it ? that was nice to have good navi on it
I don't know, Hugo. I think before you send that back to HTC, it should make a side-trip to the US. To MY address!
Man, that thing is the first UMPC that makes absolute sense to me. They seem to have done it right.
Can other apps be installed on the PPC side? Does the PPC side also have a browser?
Great vid. I am jealous.
Hugo, does the PPC & UMPC share the same HDD space. How's the file format handled???
hugo, what are you doing at 4am in the morning!!! almost had me with this one, more than 30GB hdd would be good though...
Dave
Hi Hugo,
A lot of us are wondering what the native resolution of this machine is?
Just watched the video, was great to see the device in action after all this time. You said the device was very quick and handled multi-tasking very well, however, this device has the same processor as the Q1 ultra which a lot of people say is very slow. Is there any difference in performance to the Q1 Ultra?
cheers
Tom
This machine looks very interesting. Is there a more accurate idea of price yet? I have seen from 1200-2500 usd online.
I need a new machine so i'm contemplating the shift, laptop or desktop......so many options.
Thanks for the vid. I have been waiting a long time for more info. on this
aloha
-shi
I'm speechless. I think I fainted too.
Hugo, thank you so much for showing the device to us in this incredible video even though you have been very busy at TechED!
This is so great mate! Now I know I will get one. This is a winner and it does raise the bar in UMPCs.
Hugo, please test out the built-in camera with Skype! This was a big disappointment on the Q1 Ultra.
Looks great. Where are we able to buy one?
Hugo, I have an important question for you.
The only thing that bothered me in your video is that you mentioned that the chip the Windows Mobile operation is a 400 mghz Qualcomm. This could have a huge impact for American consumers. Most of you must know that the Bush Administration has put a ban into effect against imports of Qualcomm chips because of patent case in courts against California based firm Broadcom. How will this affect availability of the Shift in the US?
I think Europe and Asia will get to see the Shift this fall but the US market will have to wait. Not sure how this will turn out.
Do you think you could ask your contact at HTC about how they plan on playing this one on the US market ?
Hugo, what is the cost $$
as you place your order?
Hugo,
Are you SURE about this Santa Rosa CPU???
I thought Santa Rosa was:
1) a label and NOT a processor
2) the label requires a Core 2 Duo CPU if memory serves right
hugo, you mention in your video that the screen isnt "pen optimized" - what do you mean by this? does it have HID drivers and hence windows recognizes a real touch interface?
Dave
oh and writen on HTCs website its 30gb hdd yet you say 40 or 60?
dave:
I think he means that a screen can either be pen friendly (heavy) or finger friendly (soft). If the screen is heavy, you can't use your fingers on it, and if its soft, then when your writing, it will pickup your hand touching the screen and start vectoring (turning your hand writing into scribbles).
Great Report!
1) Is there any clear information on the possibility to have a dock/port replicater? And, when? I didn't see anything on the unit that resembles something that could be used as the connectivity for a docking port. Any info on that?
2)If one is using the device at home, one may want to connect it to a larger flat panel screen and - at least in Vista mode - one may want to connect a BT keyboard and mouse. Do you know what functionally happens to an external screen and/or BT input devices when you switch? If the HTC Shift BT interface is already talking to the keyboard and mouse, would they continue to work when you switch to WM6 mode? That is, is there 2 BT environments? One for WM6 and one for Vista or are they somehow shared allowing BT (and I guess even Wi-Fi)environments to stay intact and be shared regardless of which OS you are using?
Once again... Great report!
Thanks.
While I've had an HTC phone for the past 5 years, I have to wonder why they can't do some of the things the iPhone does -
1 iPhone much SLIMMER
2 iPhone BT lets you have conversations on the PHONE - Bluetooth on the HTCs has always been bad and we can blame that in part on MS but the WM6 mogul is so bad - how could they not have called MS and said let's get this fixed - 25,000 hits on this topic on links in their own wiki.
3 iPhone battery life for daily use is MUCH BETTER.
4. iPhone has twice the resolution of most HTC phones - is it so hard to start using better screens?
5. iPhone much FASTER
That being said I still got the mogul because I needed better MS Exchange integration - who knows though by this time next year the iPhone2 may have that - what will MS/HTC have to counter it to make me still want a pocket PC phone?
Hi Hugo, can you give the size in cm of the HTC Shift ? Thanks.
Hugo first of all thanks for the review.
May i ask one more question please?
If i understood well you liked the way the screen can tilt for thumb typing, however can you reach all the keys easily? Could it become uncomfortable within a small period of time?
Thanks
to anonymous about the iphone...
1. get over it, its a phone riddled with problems, the iphone that is
and 2. this is a UMPC not a phone you should not be comparing the two at all!
Since the device has already been brought into the US, it isn't covered on the Qualcomm ban. HTC was smart enough to do sometime ago.
Kudos on a great preview of the Shift!
Just a few questions (I figured you already covered the What and Why):
1. When is the Shift exactly available?
2. Where will it be sold?
3. How much will it cost?
Keep up the good work!
Hi Hugo,
Great hands-on video!
My question: If the device is not voice-enabled, why does HTC announce support for Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE on their site?
I will be terribly disappointed if it doesn't support voice, because I will be forced to carry another device for voice. I want use this device with my BT headset to receive and make calls, what is wrong with that?! HTC, don't compromise, but please give us voice on this device!
Could you run the CrystalMark on the HTC Shift and post the results? I personally like to know the device a little bit deeper than just what I can see. ;)
Hey Hugo,
Nice, very nice. Thank you for the hard work. Can you call it hard?
I have a couple of questions, too. You expected all this feedback, right?
1) Did I see right that there was only one USB port? Maybe there were two, but I hope there is some kind of docking solution.
2) Do you have to run Active sync to get information from the PDA to the UMPC? For instance, if you are in PDA mode, and you adjust your calendar, check email, and maybe make some notes, when you boot up Vista, would those changes get transferred to the computer? If so, this would be huge! One could accomplish light tasks with an instant on, and have the ability to transfer them to a faster processor.
Thanks again. I'm headed to the U1010 video.
Steven
PS. It would have been nice to see the Shift next to the Q1U.
Hugo, what is the max resolution on the external VGA.
It sure took a long time to resume windows in the video, please tell me thats not normal.
This would be just about perfect for me. I wish it had voice capability. Then I would not need to carry a phone. The beauty of sim cards is that you can change phone per occasion. I currently use the htc advantage for almost all my daily work. The shift would be perfect for those times I actually need a full computer, although most of the time I would be using windows mobile.
That leads to the most important question in my mind, which version of Windows Mobile does it run and is it a full version? I did not see a start menu etc, but it could be under the front end. I would definately want to put a lot of programs on it to make it truly function as a pocket pc.
Along those lines, can the windows mobile program access the hard drive? If it does, not only would it be functional as a umpc, but it would contain more storage than any other Windows Mobile device.
So right away I thought I would get really excited to buy one. But now I'm really excited to move to Australia to get one faster.
This device makes so much since in an enterprise. Read e-mail, check schedule, and take notes in WM6 (guessing). Then when you have to do a presentation just plug it into the projector and boot Vista.
I used to think that side show was going to change how we use mobile devices, I was wrong.
And now when I get the Dell TX from work I will be disappointed it's not a Shift. I didn't see that coming either.
How fast mobile tech can change things.
Hi Hugo
I´ve been following your blog (and your fantastic ink shows) for about six month. I totally agree to your statement (in your GBM HTC Shift ink show) that this is a turning point in history (at least when it comes to mobile computing). I am thrilled with the HTC shift and it will be my first UMPC. I only have one quistion: Does it heat up? Since your are the worlds first to review it, you are the right man to ask. Keep up the god work.
Looks Promising - But as was asked earlier.
1. When is the Shift exactly available?
2. Where will it be sold? Australia?
3. How much will it cost?
shift has definitely a phone option, i repeat not Data only !!!
Dear Hugo,
Congratulations on being the first - you're the best!
I've seen conflicting specs of the Shift across the web - some sources claim that the device does have built-in GPS, and some say otherwise.
So does it have GPS?
Thanks and keep up the good job!
- Ian
HTC Shift Community
surf to :
HTTP://HTC-SHIFT.INFO
Hey guys, from now on you can even "Preorder" the Shift, the price for that is salty 1499US$ (!)
...rather expensive in my view... cause as I am a poo student, I would have loved to buy it and carry it to university, but at 1499$ I think I can not buy it =/
And...even worse (?) the 1499$ Version does obv. have just a 30Gig HDD and I'm not sure, but could it be that they missed out the biometrics on this version ?
Greetings Julian
Hi Julian,
It seems that Dynamism has some old specs and that HTC haven't completely updated their site either. Hugo would have the current specs and as he says in his Ink Show, he has a Production model so his specifications are correct.
There are many Qs here. I hope Hugo will find the time to reply to them!
I have another one -- if you still have the Shift, Hugo, open Control Panel. Do all the icons instantly appear? As you know, on the Q1U with Vista, it takes *~20 seconds* for the icons to appear! I hope that's not the case with the Shift too!
mike cane, that control panel thing - i swear its simply a vista thing in general, i have a quad core CPU with 8gb ram and still takes a while for all icons to appear!
dave
Hugo, i am from the UK and am abouts to purchase the HTC Shift (Thanks to your video's they helped me decide which one to get), i was wondering The HTC Shift in the UK is supplied with a 30GB hard drive, i know it used a 1.8" hard drive but would like to know if at all it could be upgraded, i can get a 1.8" 100GB hard drive, will this work and if so how would i do it?
Brilliant blog by the way
Regards Craig
Try www.htc-shift.info for some community action
Above site does not work, just get this message:
"Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)"
Thanks anyway
Thank you Silverlight (and everyone) for your support. The Shift is a very exciting product and one I have ordered for myself. Stay in touch...
Craig,
With regards to your question I do not know how the upgrade will go as I did not open the machine. I guess if you are willing to void the warranty then anything goes! LOL.
Hi, Hugo!
Thanks for your work!
Can you comment on Shift's battery life in Vista mode? Low battery lifes in UMPCs are quite a concern for me.
Hey Hugo,
Can it fit in that jacket of yours?
How long does it take to boot Windows?
Thanks!
What is the availability in the US? Any word of the battery life?
Hi Mary,
I am sure this is available alreay there??? The Shift was released last Thursday here.
Thanks for the comment.
Only a word ... Fantastic!!!!
Thank you Luke.
Hugo, you are so right with Shift being the turning point in the UMPC industry.
In my opinion, this is the first generation of the incoming turning point and the second generation will introduce telephone calls from the same device which will lead to unification of the IT and the Communication industry, even if the manufacturers of UMPCs, including HTC, don't want to be too quick in this.
Cheers and enjoy the Shift!
Zdenek, Czech Republic
Hi Zdenek,
I think you raise a valid point. I liken it to the petroleum giants and their fight to keep greener solutions out of the picture. If car manufacturers rush to become green then they run the risk of destabilizing an entire industry.
While UMPC do not play such a vital role I think we may be surprised just how vital they will become. Not only will the threat become higher as their popularity rises, then IT and Telco will need to begin the "war on market share".
The good news is that inevitably the winner is the consumer...you.
Hugo
What software is used to read the word documents and how do you install it on the device?
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