Just finished to watch Hugo Ortega's video presenting HTC Shift and I must admit I like the HTC idea of bringing to us an UMPC (Ultra-mobile computer) which has 2 processors and 2 operating systems working independently on board.

Is the UMPC form factor market ready to take-off soon ?
Is the double O/S option chosen by HTC the winning one ?

A recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• The UMD worldwide forecast is for more than 8 million units in 2011.
• 2008-2010 will be key years for the development of a market inflection point of anytime/anywhere wireless connectivity that is necessary for widespread adoption of the UMD paradigm.

Some specifications: 

• Size: 19 x 13.5 x 3cm
• Weight: 0.9 kg 0.791 kg
• 7 inches display
• Resolution : 800×480 - 1024×600
• Operating Systems : Windows Mobile 6 & Windows Vista Business
• CPU's : Qualcomm 400 MHz for WM6 & Dual Core 800 MHz Intel A110 for Vista
• 7 days battery capacity running on WM6 only. 3 hours on Windows Vista
• Ram Memory : 1 GB
• Hard Drive : 40 GB
• Communication : WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0,
• Phone data : Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE - Tri-Band UMTS/HSPDA
• 1.3 MB built-in camera
• 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 VGA port
• 1 Finger print reader
• 1 SD Card reader
• Slide out Tilt display
• Price tag : 1200 euros (?)
• Availability : Q3 2007

The very interesting concept is the possibility to switch from one environment (e.g WM6) to the second one (Vista Business) and back in just the press of a button. Input can be done either using the QWERTY keyboard or the hand-witting recognition system.

Streaming video is available on Gottatobemobile.com or there is a 250 MB video available for download here.

Shift on HTC website  

Tags: 2007, 2008, 24, 802.11, arc, ATT, availability, blog, camera, capacity, card, card reader, ces, communication, computer, connectivity, development, forecast, gsm, htc, HTC shift, ia, im, IT World, keyboard, King, lan, memory, MIT, mobile, Mobile Communications, nomadcom.net, nyt, pda, phone, press, reader, resolution, search, shift, space, Telecommunications, ultra-mobile, UMPC, usb, video, vista, web, website, wifi, windows, windows mobile 6, windows vista, wireless, WM6, world, worldwide, wp, www

After questioning about politically correctness, I found two interesting items on sale in Japan and confirm the saying "if you don't find it in Japan, it certainly simply does not exist".  

The first one called "Shotguard" (17 USD) is a pervert-proof, IR (infrared) blocking panties as apparently school girls wearing short skirt school uniform as well as athletes are facing risks to have their undies photographed by perverts using night vision camera (sic!).

At the same time, another Japanese company launches what could certainly be considered as the ultimate geek's dream: "The USB Keyboard Bra" (130 USD).

Astonishing Japan isn't it ?

Tags: 2007, angelkitty, blog, camera, correctness, cramer, find, french maid dress, geek, geek dream, im, infrared, japan, keyboard, King, lan, launch, LED, nomadcom.net, panties, pervert, photo, politically, risk, shotguard, usb, vision, wp, www

While "everybody" is expecting Apple and its future iPhone (expected in USA by the end of June 07), HTC announced on the 5th of June, after few teasing days, its own touch screen smartphone.

The HTC TouchFlo, a touch screen running on Windows Mobile 6 Professional which according HTC will revolutionize the way you use the touch screen by allowing finger scrolling and panning.

Unlike the Apple iPhone, HTC TouchFlo is already available in UK (Expansys at 520 €) and will be on asian and european shelves later this month. US market will be provided later this year. 

I wonder how the input method will work and how comfortable typing messages or entering information will be with a touch screen keyboard where a constant attention is needed to make sure that all letters have been correctly entered. 

Highlights

	TouchFLO™
	Large 2.8" touch screen display
	Tri-band GSM with GPRS/EDGE
	2 megapixel camera
	Internet browsing and Push E-mail
	Multimedia capabilities
	Stereo Bluetooth® 2.0 and Wi-Fi®

 

Technical Specification

Processor	TI's OMAP™ 850, 201 MHz
Operating System	Windows Mobile® 6 Professional
Memor	ROM: 128 MB SDRAM: 64 MB DDR
Dimension	99.9mm (L) X 58mm (W) X 13.9mm (T)
Weight	112g with battery
Display	2.8" LCD touch screen with backlight 240 X 320 dots resolution with 65,536 colors
Network	GSM/GPRS/EDGE Tri-band: 900, 1800, 1900 (The device will operate on frequencies available from the cellular network.)
Device Control	HTC TouchFLO™ 5-Way navigation control
Connectivity	Bluetooth® 2.0 Wi-Fi® IEEE 802.11 b/g HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB and audio jack in one)
Camera	2.0 megapixel CMOS color camera
Audio	Built-in microphone and 3-in-1 speaker Windows Media Player supported formats: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, WMA, WAV, QCELP, MPEG4, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
Battery	Rechargeable Li-lon battery Capacity: 1100 mAh Standby time: Up to 200 hours Talk time: Up to 5 hours
Expansion Slot	microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter	Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60Hz DC output: 5V and 1A

More information on HTC Touch site,
Source:  Presse-Citron,  Smartphonethoughts

Tags: 2007, 24, 802.11, api, apple, art, asia, ATT, blog, camera, capacity, card, cellphone, cellular, ces, connectivity, europe, expansys, gap, gsm, HP, htc, HTC TouchFlo, ia, im, internet, iphone, keyboard, lan, launch, light, map, memory, microsoft, mobile, Mobile Communications, network, Nomad Tools, nomadcom.net, pda, phone, plugin, press, rechargeable, resolution, screen, smartphone, telecom, Telecommunications, touch, touch screen, touchflo, uk, USA, usb, windows, windows mobile 6, WM6, wp, www, XP