Rumors of an amazing new HTC Athena Win Mobile 5 smartphone

[Bob Russell]

It's been a long time since I saw a new smartphone that got me excited. And I've been waiting for a decent Win Mobile VGA smartphone for along time. But the new HTC Athena rumors are enough to make any gadget lover drool.

Judie over at GearDiary has collected some great information about the rumored device, including pictures and specs. While it's unsubstantiated, it's pretty exciting. Here's the bottom line goodness:

* 5″ VGA 640×480 screen (Woot!)
* Detachable keyboard
* GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS
* Bluetooth 2.0
* Wifi b/g
* 624 MHz CPU
* 8 GB drive
* 3 megapixel camera with flash
* GPS
* 2200 mAh battery
* G-Sensor
* VGA out
* Stereo speakers
* miniSD

The keyboard is multi-functional as keyboard, stand or cover. It's partly clear plastic, so when used as a cover, you can still see part of the screen. It is kept in place with magnets.

As long as we're dreaming, I'd love to see next generation smartphones have specs like these as a baseline. But it's unclear whether this will ever come to market, or simply remain a rumor. And if it does come to market, will it be >$2,000?

And, finally, let me reiterate in case you didn't notice... it's still just a rumored device!

[yvanleterrible]

It looks like a UMPC. How big is it? Do you have to bring it to your ear to use or does it come with headphones?

[igorsk]

I assume one can use a Bluetooth headset.

[Bob Russell]

Engadget has come up with some info also...
http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/21/h...uad-band-UMPC/

[radleyp]

This just has to be a brick: how on earth can this be a phone? As Yvan suggests, it almost certainly requires headphones, so the use as a phone is compromised. It seems to me that this a mini-computer with data connectivity, but not a phone, whatever it is called.

[Bob Russell]

Specs for Athena were confirmed by industry sources according to DigiTimes...
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20061225PD200.html

"Athena will have the following features: a Marvel 624MHz processor; Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC operating system; a 5-inch VGA screen; a separate QWERTY keyboard which can combine with the screen to become a mini notebook PC; a built-in 3-megapixel phone camera with an 8GB hard disk drive; support for Wi-Fi, 3G, HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access), Bluetooth and GPS (global positioning system), the sources pointed out. As Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and 7-inch screens are mainstream specifications for UMPC models, Athena is different in these two respects, the sources noted."

It's expected 1st half 2007 at the earliest.

Hard to consider it a UMPC, due to the Win Mobile OS, but it might be very powerful as a tool anyway due to the better screen and keyboard. If the digitizer is powerful and the microphone is good, then tablet pc type features might work well, such as note taking or voice input.

It will be exciting to see the first hands on reviews of this device.

[Bob Russell]

Here is another similar device: http://www.carrypad.com/journal/2006...tung-umpc.html

CES may be very very exciting this year!

[yvanleterrible]

They finally found a good format for the UMPC. It was too thick and bulky. Retransforming it to a phonesized or palm sized device was the only way to popularise it. Looking forward to it unless it's over a grand!