HTC Shift

The UMPC field is becoming a little bit like modern politics: there is a race to the center. Traditional big notebook makers like ASUS and Samsung have been releasing small and impressive UMPCs. As they try to shrink their PCs, phone makers have been trying to bulk up and add more power to their phones (especially Windows Mobile devices). Nobody has pushed smart phone functionality farther and harder than Taiwan’s HTC. HTC recently released the HTC Advantage, which is the most capable Windows Mobile device to date. Now, HTC has gone all the way to full-fledged UMPC.

The HTC Shift ships with Windows Vista Business and has enough power to run Vista’s Aero interface. It has a slide-and-tilt 7-inch wide aspect ratio touchscreen that slides to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. As you would expect from HTC, broadband wireless is integrated — including 3.5G, HSDPA, and quad-band GSM. Other wireless connectivity includes WiFi and Bluetooth.

A built-in fingerprint sensor is added for security and the integrated camera is an asset for video Skype on the move. The HTC Shift also features SnapVUE, an always-on mode that provides instant access to critical information — including e-mail previews, local weather, calendar, and SMS — even if the device is not switched on. Push e-mail gives you instant alerts whenever you have new Outlook e-mails.

General	Network	HSDPA / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Size	Dimensions	207 x 129 x 25 mm (5.1 x 8.2 x 0.9 inches)
	Weight	1.76lbs / 800g
Display	Type	TFT touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	800 x 480 pixels (Wide-VGA), 7 inches
		– QWERTY keyboard – Handwriting recognition
Ringtones	Type	Polyphonic, MP3
	Customization	Download
	Vibration	Yes
Memory	Phonebook	In shared memory
	Call records	Yes
	Card slot	1.8/3V USIM/SIM card slot SDIO slot with hotswap functionality
		– 1 GB RAM – 40 GB HDD drive – Intel® Stealey 800MHz + 945GMS + ICH7U; Qualcomm® MSM 7200, 400MHz
Data	GPRS	Yes
	HSCSD	No
	EDGE	Yes
	3G	HSDPA
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.0
	Infrared port	No
	USB	Yes, miniUSB
Features	OS	Microsoft Vista Business OS
	Messaging	SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (PocketIE)
	Games	Yes
	I/O Ports	1 USB 2.0 VGA out 3.5mm stereo audio out with microphone
	Camera	Color CMOS VGA camera for videoconferencing
		Java MIDP 2.0 Voice memo Windows media player 11 Video/audio album File manager Built-in handsfree Fingerprint recognition Left/right mouse buttons and microPad Standalone GPS Built-in microphone and dual speakers
Battery	Type	2700 mAH rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery
	Vista Operating time	Up to 2 h
	SnapVUE standby	Up to 53 h (push e-mail enabled)