Live shots of the HTC Shift
The HTC Shift was one of several UMPCs on display at the dedicated MID section of Intel's booth.
Having lost most of my interest in the device (and all 7 inchers, for that matter) last summer, I waited until the last day of CES to actually play with it. And now that I have, I wish I had done it much sooner.
Even though it's not without its share of shortcomings, I think it would have been an excellent CES companion: lightweight, compact, and capable enough for me to do all of my work with little compromise.
The fact that I have an enormous soft spot for its form factor doesn't hurt either (my HTC Advantage and AT&T Tilt make that bias pretty clear).
The keyboard was a lot better than I expected it to be. I wasn't able to immediately touch-type on it and I suspect that extended sessions would result in cramped fingers and some aches and pains, but in general, it was really quite usable.
I don't think I would use the Shift very much at home, where I usually work, so I probably won't buy one when it becomes available in the next few months. I know I wouldn't choose it over the Vaio TZ, but I probably wouldn't travel without it either. And that's sort of the point of UMPCs, right?
The HTC Shift has definitely regained some of its lost appeal . . .
The HTC Shift loks really reat, but is this "ultra mobile"?
Posted by philz | 06:18 AM on Jan 11, 2008
If only it had a full version of Windows Mobile! Actually, an active digitizer to go with the touch screen would be nice, too. And higher screen resolution... :)
Still, I like it, although it's definitely not perfect.
Posted by Perry | 12:43 PM on Jan 11, 2008
@ philz: Well, it isn't as small as the upcoming MIDs and some of the current UMPCs out there (Sony, OQO, Fujitsu, etc.), but I'd still call it "ultra mobile." For me, a 7-inch screen is the absolute limit to my definition of an ultra portable device.
@ Perry: A full version of WM would be nice, but my main gripe is the screen res. I refuse to buy another full-blown Windows-based UMPC sporting anything less than a 1024 x 600 display. Some of the other specs could use a boost too.
Most of all, though, this thing just needs to be released! I think it may have missed its chance to be really successful by several months.
Posted by Jenn | 05:36 PM on Jan 15, 2008