Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/12/21/htc_athena_revealed_on_web/
HTC's eagerly anticipated entry into the ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) market has made an early, unscheduled appearance on the web, adding weight to the company's own admission that it could release a UMPC-like product as early as 2007.
(http://www.pdaclub.pl)
The pictures shown here come courtesy of Polish-language website PDAclub, which presented them (http://www.pdaclub.pl) and a whole load more this week.
HTC admitted last month (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11/16/htc_readies_umpc/) that it's investigating the ultra-mobile PC arena with a view to moving into the market some time next year.
Likewise Samsung recently said it too has its eye on the UMPC-phone market with a device of its own (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11/07/samsung_unveils_wimax_phone/).
(http://www.pdaclub.pl)
The move would certainly be a logical one for HTC, which last year launched 'Universal', a 3G PDA phone handset with a fold-up-and-rotate 640 x 480 display and a QWERTY keypad. HTC has also shipped handsets with slide-out QWERTY keypads. Any of these designs could feasibly be scaled up to UMPC size, and with a suitably powerful but low power consumption CPU you'd have a solid alternative to the likes of the OQO and Samsung's Q1.
What's most interesting in the new pics of the HTC machine - said to be codenamed 'Athena' - is the detachable keyboard, allowing users to choose whether they want to take it with them on the road or leave it behind. ®
Dopod UMPC launch lifts HTC Athena's skirt (1 February 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/02/01/dopod_launches_u1000_umpc_phone/
Sony to bring Flash-only UX1 UMPC to UK (29 January 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/29/sony_brings_vaio_ux_to_uk/
T-Mobile announces Ameo UMPC-like PDA (26 January 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/26/t-mobile_announces_ameo/
HTC's Dopod to launch Athena UMPC-phone 'next week' (25 January 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/25/dopod_to_launch_athena/
HTC UMPC-phone to debut on T-Mobile? (24 January 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/24/htc_athena_to_ship_as_t-mobile_ameo/
HTC 2007 roadmap revealed on web (3 January 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/03/htc_07_roadmap/
Vodafone offers buyers Samsung BlackBerry-a-like (2 January 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/02/vodafone_offers_i320/
Samsung launches HSDPA slider phone... again (27 December 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/12/27/samsung_ships_z720/
Man boots Mac OS X on Asus UMPC, shoots video (19 December 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/12/19/umpc_boots_osx/
HP revamps iPaq for UMPC era (30 November 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11/30/hp_revamps_ipaq/
HTC to combine UMPC, smart phone in 2007? (16 November 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11/16/htc_readies_umpc/
Samsung unveils WiMAX UMPC phone (7 November 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11/07/samsung_unveils_wimax_phone/
Japan offered UMPC-like laptop (7 November 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11/07/kohji_micro_laptop/
Japan's Brulé touts would-be crème of UMPC crop (18 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/18/brule_touts_raon_vega_umpc/
Asus announces GPS-equipped UMPC (25 August 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/25/asus_announces_umpc/