HTC formally unveils Advantage, Vox phones at 3GSM
updated 11:00 am EST, Tue February 13, 2007
HTC Advantage and Vox
HTC has used its presence at Barcelona's 3GSM to officially launch two of its most hotly-anticipated phones. The S710 (pictured), also known as the Vox, is the company's first true stealth phone. Operable as a traditional keypad-only phone while closed, the handset slides open to reveal a full keyboard for typing in a landscape mode on its 2.4-inch LCD. Bluetooth 2.0, EDGE, and Wi-Fi will be standard, HTC says. An official launch of the Windows Mobile 6 phone is planned for Europe in the first half of this year, but should be accompanied by a wider US launch during the year courtesy of quad-band GSM.
Photos and details of the Advantage can be found after the break.
The Euro-centric company also caught some off-guard by announcing the Advantage (shown below). Although the communicator has already been codenamed the Athena and was formally launched as the T-Mobile Ameo last month in Europe, the company chose this week to reveal all of the device's key features. The Advantage is intended not just as a high-end PDA but as a notebook replacement, HTC reveals. A 5-inch, 640x480 screen provides enough room for editing Office documents and web browsing with the handset's signature detachable keyboard; storage is also unusually large, with an 8GB micro drive as standard. Despite these additions, the cellphone maker estimates a complete 8 hours of battery life -- longer than most notebooks, the firm points out.
The Advantage is also intended to work as independently as possible when away from home or the office and has tri-band HSDPA mobile Internet as well as EDGE and Wi-Fi; a GPS receiver as well as a VGA camera at the front alternately help with navigation and video calls. Bluetooth 2.0 and a miniSD card provide expansion for peripherals and extra storage.
Running Windows Mobile 5, the device is set to first appear as the Ameo through most of T-Mobile's European branches in March. As with the S710, the Advantage has quad-band GSM and is likely to appear in North America at a later date.
