14 DAY TRIAL // As expected, Alltel has started to take pre-orders for the HTC Merge 'world phone,' although the carrier is yet to announce a shipping date. The smartphone is priced at $124.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year agreement.
Customers who reserve the HTC Merge won't have their credit cards billed until the device is in stock. In addition, the carrier states that orders are not guaranteed to ship on launch date, if the demand for the Merge is high.
Along with Motorola's DROID 2 Global, HTC Merge is one of the few Android smartphones to feature support for both CDMA and GSM networks.
The HTC Merge is an “old school” Android smartphone that comes with Froyo on board and HTC Sense UI on top.
Although previous rumors suggested that the device will be available from Verizon long before Alltel, it appears that the release dates for both operator versions will be in the same time frame.
The mid-budget handset is powered by an 800 MHz Qualcomm processor and features a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors and 480 x 800 pixels resolution, as well as accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate and proximity sensor for auto turn-off.
It also sports an average 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, face detection and video recording capabilities (720p), but lacks a front facing camera.
Other highlights of the 'global phone' include: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, DLNA function, Stereo FM radio with RDS, microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB), and GPS with A-GPS support.
The phone's 1400 mAh Li-Ion battery is rated by the carrier for up to 6 hours of talk time or up to 330 hours of standby time.
There's no telling how long the pre-order period is going to last, but it shouldn't take more than a week.