Universal successor, will HTC take notes?

[skng]

Just want to see if the design engineers at HTC read these forums...

The universal is pretty much perfect for what I use it for.
- video
- music
- ebook
- Internet (including streaming youtube over UMTS, nice!)
- a bit of gaming (scummvm is great with it's bigger screen)

I don't use it as a day to day phone as it's too big to carry in most occasions. I prefer to carry a small phone and use it as a phone!

My feature wish list for the Universal successor is:
-The look of the Omni rendered picture (perhaps thinner)
-Don't make it too much big than Universal please!!!
-3.5 to 4.0 (absolute max!) inch screen (I think 3.7 is ideal)
-VGA to WVGA resolution (VGA is good enough, iphone only has half-VGA!)
-HSDPA (should be easy)
-Full size SD slot (I don't understand why they keep using micro SD, you don't save much space on a 4.0 inch PDA!)
-3.5mm stereo audio (no 2.5mm, no USB!)
-Built-in GPS
-wifi and bluetooth (should be standard anyway)
-Physical Keyboard (obviously)
-Half decent cameras will do
-USB host
- Video out (maybe, not a big deal)
- Make sure it doesn't need a different cover for extended battery please! (should see how Toshiba e800 does it)

So basically, just a bit better than Universal, not exactly hard, is it?

With that, why would I (and people who like to use their pda to the fullest potential) want an iphone, even if it has 3G radio next year???

Just imagine with a couple of SDHC cards, you have the ultimate mobile and entertainment device!

I do hope HTC read these forums from time to time...

[akpidis]

Although I doubt it will happen, I'm still looking forward to the Universal successor.

Now, What I thing should be changed? Lots of things:

Built in GPS: prefferably SiRF Star III
256MB storage/128MB of RAM: /me drools
WiFi b/g support, bluetooth 2.0 support
2/3MP camera
MMC/SD slot: with decent transfer speeds
WM6 or 7: fully integrating the Uni's features, videocalling for example

However, there are some things that I'd like to keep from my precious Uni. Those are:

Looks: I believe the Uni's shape, colour (black) and size are perfect
Screen: Present screen size and VGA are fine imho

(in a few words I'm looking for a VGA version of Kaiser inside the Universal mold :p)

just my 2c :)

[Timeshell]

Although I doubt it will happen, I'm still looking forward to the Universal successor.

Now, What I thing should be changed? Lots of things:

Built in GPS: prefferably SiRF Star III
256MB storage/128MB of RAM: /me drools
WiFi b/g support, bluetooth 2.0 support
2/3MP camera
MMC/SD slot: with decent transfer speeds
WM6 or 7: fully integrating the Uni's features, videocalling for example

However, there are some things that I'd like to keep from my precious Uni. Those are:

Looks: I believe the Uni's shape, colour (black) and size are perfect
Screen: Present screen size and VGA are fine imho

(in a few words I'm looking for a VGA version of Kaiser inside the Universal mold :p)

just my 2c :)


OH, and yah, quad band GSM or at least a version that works in North America's region! I use the 1900 PCS band here in Canada, but I lose coverage where 850 has better signal than 1900 :(

I love the Uni the way it is otherwise, but more RAM would definitely be a plus. And I vouch for the SD rather than Micro SD. It gets to a point where small is too small. I have no problem with the size of the Uni itself except that it's hard to find a suitable belt holster for it.

Oh, a more power friendly too would be nice. That or make the standard battery last longer.

[Tbaba]

My Universal has only SD slot.. are there some models with MicroSD?

My Wish list

- I also want the new Windows Mobile to be able to edit numbers in the call history before dialling

- 256MB RAm with 1GB storage
- support for 8GB SD Cards SIO
- inbuilt FM Radio
- 3MP Camera (at least)
- more buttons in front (where the screen is) maybe 4
- longer battery life

[skng]

I do get relative good battery life out of my Universal in comparison to other gadgets like ipods, MP3 and MP4 players. No complaint at all.

With standard battery:
Music: 14-16 hours (with screen off)
Video: 4-5 hours
Reading ebooks: 9-10 hours

I have a second standard battery and that's quite enough for a long train of flight journey.

I hope HTC doesn't cripple the "Universal successor" with just a micro SD slot. I need full size SD slot! I can imagine 16GB SD will be at a "reasonable" price in a year's time. I can then a whole series of Heroes, 24, Lost, etc. with me. ;-)

[sl9]

My Universal has only SD slot.. are there some models with MicroSD?

- 256MB RAm with 1GB storage
- support for 8GB SD Cards SIO
- inbuilt FM Radio
- 3MP Camera (at least)
- more buttons in front (where the screen is) maybe 4
- longer battery life

Erm, what do you mean the Universal has "only" SD slot?! A full sized SD slot like the Uni has now is far better than those tiny MicroSD on other phones!

- We don't need 256MB RAM, 128MB should be plenty. Because any increase in RAM size uses more battery power, and you are very unlikely to notice the difference between 128MB and 256MB on any Windows Mobile device.
- The Uni already supports 8GB SDIO cards! In fact it also supports 16GB SDIO cards, you can get these right now from eBay!
- An FM radio would just be a waste of space IMO, using valuable battery life and circuitry which could be used for much better things. You can have FM radio on your Uni already over the internet with UMTS!
- I agree about camera. We need 3MP+, with a very powerful flash led, something like the Luxeon Rebel. It should also be able to capture smooth video in at least 640x480 at 25fps+ with decent quality sound.
- Why more buttons? Already the Uni has more buttons than most other phones! I think it has enough now :)
- With ALL mobile phones, you can only get really longer battery life by getting an extended battery. You can get these for the Uni now, they are very cheap, but of course they are much larger. It is always a trade-off between battery size and battery life - you cannot have both!
- And Uni needs built in GPS (SurfStar chipset), and HSDPA (much less important, 3G is already mostly fast enough). Then it is a perfect device ;)

[Rudegar]

i doubt they read what is written in forums
i think Athena is the product they wanted to tak
over for universal

the reason why i doubt they read it and even if they did
then this is an enthusiast forum and PM's who deside what products
are developed not engineers have to think about how big a market
there is and enthusiast market is not that big

[Tbaba]

Erm, what do you mean the Universal has "only" SD slot?! A full sized SD slot like the Uni has now is far better than those tiny MicroSD on other phones!

- We don't need 256MB RAM, 128MB should be plenty. Because any increase in RAM size uses more battery power, and you are very unlikely to notice the difference between 128MB and 256MB on any Windows Mobile device.
- The Uni already supports 8GB SDIO cards! In fact it also supports 16GB SDIO cards, you can get these right now from eBay!
- An FM radio would just be a waste of space IMO, using valuable battery life and circuitry which could be used for much better things. You can have FM radio on your Uni already over the internet with UMTS!
- I agree about camera. We need 3MP+, with a very powerful flash led, something like the Luxeon Rebel. It should also be able to capture smooth video in at least 640x480 at 25fps+ with decent quality sound.
- Why more buttons? Already the Uni has more buttons than most other phones! I think it has enough now :)
- With ALL mobile phones, you can only get really longer battery life by getting an extended battery. You can get these for the Uni now, they are very cheap, but of course they are much larger. It is always a trade-off between battery size and battery life - you cannot have both!
- And Uni needs built in GPS (SurfStar chipset), and HSDPA (much less important, 3G is already mostly fast enough). Then it is a perfect device ;)

I was refering to the other post where da guy said his universal had microSD

So the 16gb supported cards dont have to be partitioned to 4GB parts? The new Universal shouldnt support the cards as 1 partition.

About the FM radio, I beg to differ. In MANY places where there's no UMTS or its very expensive, havng an inbuild radio would be good. And I know a whole bunch of other devices with radios that dont affect battery life that much.

They should also include better Power amangement in the universal to improve life amidst all these addtitions

I personally would prefer more buttons so manipulating the device without opening the keyboard could be possible... playing games... accessing menues... running programs etc. Basically you should be able to leave you Universal in portrait mode forever...

I definitely agree wit the inbuilt GPS

Ciao!

[Rudegar]

if one really want a fm radio you can buy headsets to use for the pda
which also have fm radio build in

[skng]

Some companies build personal video/media players. Some other companies build mobile Internet surfing devices. The Universal can do both very well with decent battery life. It's also a PDA and a phone!

After 2 years, I still use my Universal heavily. I always feel good about just having to carry one device for all the entertainment I need. When I am bored with what I've got on my SD cards, I can watch the full youtube (not just the subset catered specifically for mobiles) over 3G! Also, you can't beat the keyboard for online chat and text messaging.

Is there not a market for something like the HTC Omni? A pocketable mobile Internet device with rich multimedia functions.

Is there really a market for the 5 inch Athena. Who are the target consumers?

[Rudegar]

"Who are the target consumers?"
Andre the Giant :P

[Menneisyys]

Is there not a market for something like the HTC Omni? A pocketable mobile Internet device with rich multimedia functions.

Is there really a market for the 5 inch Athena. Who are the target consumers?

Prolly the same as with Nokia's Internet Tablets.

(BTW, the Athena sales are pretty lowish - MUCH lower than any current HTC models. No wonder, I'd say - they contain, in addition to a very bad thumbboard, already outdated hardware. For example, the old, ppower-hungry and not multimedia-friendly PXA-270 instead of the PXA-3XX)

[kdskamal]

Prolly the same as with Nokia's Internet Tablets.

(BTW, the Athena sales are pretty lowish - MUCH lower than any current HTC models. No wonder, I'd say - they contain, in addition to a very bad thumbboard, already outdated hardware. For example, the old, ppower-hungry and not multimedia-friendly PXA-270 instead of the PXA-3XX)

Yes, you're right. They should have equipped the athena with much reliable flash drive of 8GB too for that price. Also, HTC, please do away with those magnets(if plan for Athena II)! They formatted my friend Laptop's HDD too(the way it did for Midget_1990)

freaking magents. Just due to the magnets, microphone and HDD, I did not get the athena, otherwise, its such a nice device. They could have lowered the screen size to 4.0' and put-in a microphone too. May be then, most of the universal owners would have jumped to it :)

"Who are the target consumers?"
Andre the Giant :P

nah.. its Great Khali now. Andre is dead guy now :p