14 DAY TRIAL // You have already seen the HTC Athena; I already saw it, they have already seen it! But now we are all seeing it in all of its beauty and not as a part of a blurred out picture.
This is what the future to be launched Pocket PC by HTC looks like. Pretty innocent isn't it? And also not quite Pocket PC looking at all. It doesn't matter what it looks like, because - as the saying goes - you shouldn't get influenced by what you see at the first glance.
In the last article I wrote about it a few days ago I said this might just be the best equipped smartphone I saw during 2006. It just happens that this wish of mine is the truth and, no matter what everybody else says about it, I have really fallen in love with the damn thing.
It might seem ugly to some of you, but just think about it for a second: this is practically the single smartphone coming with a 5 inch QVGA touchscreen display (as the new rumors say) and with a lot of other pretty impressive stuff implemented on board of it.
If you are thinking the QVGA should have been replaced with something else due to the large size of the screen, you are right and I agree with you but, for now, I'm happy with what it has.
This smartphone "beast" is also the first ever to offer 256 MB of integrated ROM memory and a 624 MHz Intel Bulverde processor that comes together with 64 MB of RAM and a SDIO/MMC memory expansion card slot.
What else will we be getting if and when the actual thing will be officially launched? A 2100 mAh Li Polymer battery that will probably be able to give enough energy to the internal stuff laying around inside it, an 8 to 10 GB disk drive, UMTS/HSPDA quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE capabilities for the version that will be launched in USA, a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack, GPS features, a 2 megapixel digital camera, dual 3D surround stereo speakers, USB 2.0 connectivity and a USB 1.1 host, 802.11b/g WiFi, TV out and wireless Bluetooth 2.0 with support for EDR, A2DP and AVRCP profiles.
Another feature that will be a first for the smartphone market is the detachable QWERTY keyboard that will enable the user to have a true table top full featured keyboard instead of trying to make some use of the usual thing that comes with other smartphones out there.
If you think of getting such a device for your personal use when it will arrive on the market be ready to save some money because - as the rumors say - the Athena will cost you something between 1500 and 2000 $, a thing that surely and drastically strips down the number of customers that will buy this new HTC handheld.