For many years ‘convergence’ has been a buzzword bandied about by pundits in the computer industry, and by just about anyone who has ever thought ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if I could carry just one compact, easy-to-use, stable, attractive, sturdy, cool device that allowed me to store my contact details, manage my diary, browse the web, ‘phone, ‘skype’, text and email my friends, capture images and video, control my hifi, navigate my car, listen to my music collection…’
It’s not JUST me who has thought that is it?
Oh, OK.
Well, anyway, back in April I blogged on this, using the, then soon-to-be-released Mio A710 as an example of how close we were to a device that fulfilled these requirements.
The main areas where the Mio fell short was flaky software/hardware implementation, no built-in WiFi, and just a little bit too much bulk (150g).
HTC are a Taiwan-based smartphone/PDA designer/manufacturer. Up until recently they have produced phones that mobile networks put their own badges on. However, recently HTC have started marketing a number of ‘own-badged’ products.
The soon-to-be-released HTC P3300 is their most advanced offering to date, boasting:
– Windows Mobile 5 (eek!)
– 320 x 240 pixel colour screen
– Quad Band GPRS/EDGE
– GPS
– FM Radio
– MicroSD smart card
– 2.0 megapixel camera
– Bluetooth 2.0
– WiFi
All in a 58x108x16mm (not much bigger than this picture), 127g package.
Early reports indicate that the HTC P3300 is less than perfect. The camera is average, the processor a little slow, the screen not bright enough in direct sunlight, nobody seems to like the ‘rollerball’ pointer device… and did I mention it runs Windows? Not something I’d be willing to part with £450.00 for.
But the important thing is that this is not a ‘concept machine’. It IS possible to put all the components that I want into a box that is light enough to carry around in my shirt pocket. Now, imagine if Jonathan Ives’ team worked their magic on this thing. Shoved one of those new Samsung 640 x 480 pixel lcd panels on it. Enclosed it all in a drop-dead gorgeous casing. Shaved a few grammes and millimetres off it. Added a couple of memory slots. Finish it off with a decent operating system and Bluetooth earbuds. Now that is a product that would have me parting with (over) half a grand.
Ah well, that’s me dreaming…
but Christmas IS coming.
Contributed by: Brett Jordan
For many years ‘convergence’ has been a buzzword bandied about by pundits in the computer industry, and by just about anyone who has ever thought ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if I could carry just one compact, easy-to-use, stable, attractive, sturdy, cool device that allowed me to store my contact details, manage my diary, browse the web, ‘phone, ‘skype’, text and email my friends, capture images and video, control my hifi, navigate my car, listen to my music collection…’
It’s not JUST me who has thought that is it?
Oh, OK.
Well, anyway, back in April I blogged on this, using the, then soon-to-be-released Mio A710 as an example of how close we were to a device that fulfilled these requirements.
The main areas where the Mio fell short was flaky software/hardware implementation, no built-in WiFi, and just a little bit too much bulk (150g).
HTC are a Taiwan-based smartphone/PDA designer/manufacturer. Up until recently they have produced phones that mobile networks put their own badges on. However, recently HTC have started marketing a number of ‘own-badged’ products.
The soon-to-be-released HTC P3300 is their most advanced offering to date, boasting:
– Windows Mobile 5 (eek!)
– 320 x 240 pixel colour screen
– Quad Band GPRS/EDGE
– GPS
– FM Radio
– MicroSD smart card
– 2.0 megapixel camera
– Bluetooth 2.0
– WiFi
All in a 58x108x16mm (not much bigger than this picture), 127g package.
Early reports indicate that the HTC P3300 is less than perfect. The camera is average, the processor a little slow, the screen not bright enough in direct sunlight, nobody seems to like the ‘rollerball’ pointer device… and did I mention it runs Windows? Not something I’d be willing to part with £450.00 for.
But the important thing is that this is not a ‘concept machine’. It IS possible to put all the components that I want into a box that is light enough to carry around in my shirt pocket. Now, imagine if Jonathan Ives’ team worked their magic on this thing. Shoved one of those new Samsung 640 x 480 pixel lcd panels on it. Enclosed it all in a drop-dead gorgeous casing. Shaved a few grammes and millimetres off it. Added a couple of memory slots. Finish it off with a decent operating system and Bluetooth earbuds. Now that is a product that would have me parting with (over) half a grand.
Ah well, that’s me dreaming…
but Christmas IS coming.
Contributed by: Brett Jordan
