14 DAY TRIAL // Not a very long time has passed since the last time we've got to see the HTC Athena in all its splendor and with a full featured spec sheet attached to it.
Now, the ones that get it and show it off are the guys from Dopod, a Taiwan-based distributor of Windows Mobile smartphones. Their version of the Athena is named Dopod U1000 and it has a price tag that will certainly blow your mind away: 1215 $.
You don't get it yet? Well, let me explain it. The European mobile carrier T-Mobile was the first to distribute the handheld on a wireless network and they priced at 646 $ (500 Euros for the Europeans).
I know the Athena packs quite a punch and it offers enough to justify the 646 $ price T-Mobile is selling it for but, come on, 1215 $? For what? The delivery taxes are worth 600 $? I don't think so :).
Even if it has a ludicrous price tag, the Dopod U1000 will surely get bought by some eccentric Asian customers that think a 5 inch VGA display, HSPDA 3.5G ( UMTS / GPRS / EDGE / GSM ) technology, a 8 GB drive, a 3 megapixel digital camera, wireless Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity with a A2DP stereo profile, ATi Graphic Chip W2284 (the best on the market for the moment), S-Video/Composite TV Out, miniSD memory expansion card slot with support for cards up to 4GB, USB 1.1, 3.5 mm stereo headphones socket and a 624 MHz Intel Xscale processor, are well worth the money they will have to pay if they want to take this "toy" home.
What else can you expect from the U1000 in case you live in Taiwan and want to get your hands on it? From the specifications sheet released by Dopod, the features are exactly the same available on the HTC Athena (x7500) so, if I'm right about it, you won't live to regret the moment you've decided to buy it.