To capture the true essence of a handset, we typically like our visual footage
in-the-wild style -- but there's something to be said for the clean, refined appearance of a good press shot, too -- and on that note, well, here ya go. The shot clearly shows what could end up being the HTC Kaiser's revolutionary feature, a flip-up screen that adds another dimension (literally) to the form factor popularized by its predecessors, the venerable
Wizard and
Hermes. Of course, with HSUPA data on board, the trick screen is far from being the only hotness here, so it pretty much goes without saying that we're a little excited for the (planned) mid-year release in "P4550" HTC-branded trim.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Curt Chambers @ Mar 22nd 2007 4:20PM
Anybody who had been on a Blackberry ever switch to to this style HTC device? Good, Bad, Indifferent?
doyouflip @ Mar 22nd 2007 4:36PM
@ Curt, nevermind the style of the device. It's running Windows Mobile.
I've had 3 Palm phones, 2 Windows Mobile 6 and 1 Blackberry. WM6 was by far the worst of the bunch (for me and my tastes).
Go to a store and try out the OS on any QWERTY device and try to do basic operations such as booting up the device, switching on and off wireless, making a call, muting a call, etc. and see if you like the way it functions and performs. If so, I'm sure this device would be a decent decision. One of my WM6 devices was HTC and I had no issues w/the hardware.
bob.autrey @ Mar 22nd 2007 6:14PM
Curt: I am running Blackberry Connect on my HTC Hermes (8525) and it's fantastic. Our company only supports BES so Exchange push was not an option but if it is for you then it's just about as good if not a dead heat as the Blackberry solution.
Hey Doyouflip: How many Windows Moble 6 devices have you used? Two? Seems kinda odd since they haven't launched even one yet. I have the unoffical WM6 ROM on my Hermes and it ROCKS. Maybe you just aren't famliar enough with Windows Mobile to make an intelligent comment about it if you don't even know what version you're talking about... ;-)
doyouflip @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:47PM
Hey Bob,
I see what you're doing there. Just because you have a smiley doesn't make you less smug.
In any case you're right, I was referring to WM5 (I guess I've been reading too many blogs lately). Despite my mistake I knew that OS better than I'd bet 80% of its users would ever want to know it. They just want to pick it up, make a call, ensure it doesn't call people when it's in their pocket, get fast response with few crashes, etc. That wasn't my experience. There were too many issues out of the box, so I messed around with clean versions, tweaked versions, modifications to registries and all that junk...all the stuff an average Joe wouldn't. So people either settle with the issues, give up, have lower standards than me, or are more advanced and find better solutions than me.
This is why I suggested he try one first. I'm happy for you if you like WM. I didn't. He'll never know for himself until he gets one in his hand. Preferably, that'd be before he reaches for his wallet.
VOODOOS!L @ Mar 23rd 2007 10:59AM
true, WM6 is great but also true WM6 requires to tweaks some things to get it all as you want...but, at the end, you can make it just like you want! and thats so great about WM6! Also, there are so many nice applications available for WM6...
this new HTC Kaiser from HTC seems to become another popular device, like the Wizard...the specs makes it a "near to perfect device"
Curt Chambers @ Mar 23rd 2007 11:46AM
Thanks for the comments - it helps! Curt
E71 @ Mar 24th 2007 3:20PM
Why oh why are haven't they changed the GPS chip to a Sirf one yet? ... and why have they gotten rid of the IrDA port... we still use it damn it! Ever heard of a remote control?
E71 @ Mar 24th 2007 4:33PM
Comparison between the next two "kings" of the PDA market:
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacomparer&id1=733&id2=745
Eric @ May 30th 2007 4:16AM
This looks amazing.. but I heard talk of a follow up to the HTC Universal - called the HTC "Omni" a few months ago... Since then, nothing... Has anyone else heard about this or have any further info?
ShaneD @ Sep 2nd 2007 4:03PM
This is close to the perfect device, except one major drawback... it still has the weak 240x320 screen. Why not at least VGA? With a device with this much on board, screen resolution can make or break the useability.
This is true for most programs used on the device, but take just one example. Web browsing for instance. The reason I don't use my phone more for surfing websites is that it is not user friendly. And it's not just IE. I have used Opera, Symbian, Blackberry, etc. None of them are that great and I usually tire of trying to navigate around after a short time.
However, this experience has changed with two devices I recently used. The E90 and the iphone. Both have very large resolution displays that makes browsing much easier, and although the iphone is missing a ton of features I want, the Safari browser on that phone is the best I have ever used on a mobile device.
Now the Kaiser is supposed to support HTC's new Touch interface, so there is high hopes that the features that make web browsing so great on the iphone will be included on the Kaiser. But with a resolution that is half that of the iphone, you will not be able to get much on the screen. This means too much scrolling back and forth to me.
The rumored HTC Omni is supposed to have a much higher resolution screen, probably even higher than the iphone or the E90. So I guess I will keep waiting to see how HTC will screw up the perfect device once again. What will they leave out this time?