Finally some hands on time with the HTC Shift at Micro PC Talk

Finally some hands on time with the HTC Shift

Its been known for quite some time now that HTC would be making a leap into the UMPC market with the HTC Shift. Finally someone gets their hands on a unit and gives it a thorough looking over. Be sure to thank Hugo Ortega from for his in depth and hands on video with the HTC Shift. Check out the whole story over at Gottabemobile.

Published by Benz145 August 11th, 2007 in Micro PC

14 Responses to “Finally some hands on time with the HTC Shift”

Feed for this Entry Trackback Address

1 1 Rorschach Aug 12th, 2007 at 3:06 am

Hugo always gets these pre-production units to “review,” and he never has anything negative to say about them. Smart guy.

Does he mention the resolution? Last I checked, we were looking at 800 x 480 on a 7″ screen?

How about price? I recall Engadget speculating $2000 USD.

With those dimensions and for that price, I think it would be wiser to just bump up to a nice ultraportable notebook.
2 2 Benz145 Aug 12th, 2007 at 4:02 am

Yup I’m fairly sure its 800×480 with a 7″ screen, as you said, price and all you may as well have a more powerful tiny notebook. Buy hey, I’m sure that thing is quite a bit cooler then a notebook : P

Shame, I wish they went with a 1024×600 screen, 480 height is just not enough for most apps, and even internet browsing.
3 3 Hazmat Aug 12th, 2007 at 7:47 am

The Shift looks nice, I will view the video and try to get a further impression.

The UX for is great…it’s biggest failing is the lack of a useable integrated keyboard. When I have to lug a portable KB and mouse along I need a laptop case and that almost defeats the pupose of UMPC.

If Sony can somehow integrate a folding KB in the next version without appreciably adding to size/weight, it would be awesome.

That is the Shift’s great advantage…a seemingly useabke KB integrated with unit for portability.
4 4 shinji Aug 12th, 2007 at 10:44 am

If you look at the video, he changed the resolution from 800×480 to 1024×600. So yea, both are available.
5 5 Hazmat Aug 12th, 2007 at 3:40 pm

Well after watching the video, I must say the Shift is fairly impressive and a great piece of tech.

However, it is not a handheld at all, in fact you MUST set it down to do any typing as the width would preclude anyone from thumbing the KB.

For those folks that use a separate folding KB now..it is a great alternative. For those of us who use an external KB sparingly, the handheld functionality of the UX still trumps the Shift.

Both are compromises in their own way. Both great choices and with unlimited resources I would own them both…howver until that happens I’ll stick with my UX…happily.
6 6 Rorschach Aug 12th, 2007 at 6:07 pm

This is how Hugo opens his video:

“This is the most exciting video i have ever done…

Period.”

While I’ll admit that Hugo’s geeky gadget giddiness is contagious, I’m not as taken with this device as so many others who want to dub this the jesusumpc.

For those of you who have yet to watch the video, here are one man’s observations:

The design is slick. Not as sexy as the UX, but very clean. Nice finish.
It took over 3 minutes to wake from sleep mode.
It has a sim slot, but will NOT have voice capabilities.
Hugo later mentions that it will be 1024 x 600 interpolated.

His enthusiasm had me psyched for the first three minutes as he rained compliments on everything from the stylus to the battery. I didn’t see much to validate that enthusiasm as the video wore on. Especially waiting more than 3 minutes for it to wake from hibernation while he gave us an overview of the Pocket PC platform. I suppose we can play Bejeweled in the meantime.

Watching him switch from tablet-mode with a stylus to placing it on his laptop to type to an awkward looking 2-handed method where he held it in one hand to hold it as he used his index finger on the touch screen AND to one-finger type with the other made ME tired.

I realize I’m sounding as biased as Hugo does in this video, but I can’t say I’m sold. Why these bloggers and commenters seem to wet their jeans over this thing is beyond me. I can’t wait to see some benchmarks.

Now don’t take my word for it. I appreciate the video, and it is definitely worth watching, but this thing isn’t the UMPC messiah.
7 7 andrew Aug 12th, 2007 at 6:07 pm

quite an interesting video, i must say i do like the shift, if it was smaller, say the size of the ux, id probably be changing to it ……….however its not so i stay with my ux, i really look forward to how sony will respond to its competitors with its next iteration of the UX series.
8 8 aussie Aug 13th, 2007 at 8:32 am

It’s a crappy device, and incredibly slow!
9 9 GOF007 Aug 14th, 2007 at 1:39 pm

Integrated PocketPC is very interesting.
More accessible PIM, Misic, Video ~~~~
10 10 Rorschach Aug 17th, 2007 at 3:15 am

I replicated a number of my concerns here in a post over at the Gotta Be Mobile site.

It was deleted.

Amazing. That’s the last time I’ll be visiting that site. I wonder what Hugo and Gotta Be Mobile are getting from HTC to promote their products? Exclusives? Free review units?

Pathetic. It’s sad that they would compromise their integrity for material bullshit.
11 11 Kaz911 Sep 1st, 2007 at 5:50 am

I just finished a short preview of the HTC Shift and not all positive

You can check it on : http://kaz911.blogspot.com

best

Kaz911