Everyone's looking forward to the HTC Athena

Why wouldn't they be? Speculation aside, if the rumored specs are any indication, the HTC Athena could be one of the most powerful Windows Mobile phone devices yet. Several folks have opinions or reports on what we might see from HTC:

• SlashGear wonders what the price will be on the feature-packed device.
• the::unwired provides the updated pic above and specs; questions if this is all rumor.
• Carrypad thinks this might be the ultimate carrypad.

Among the rumored specs, the Athena will possibly have:

• 5-inch VGA touchscreen
• Windows Mobile
• GPS / GSM / GPRS / EDGE / Bluetooth / 802.11 b&g connectivity
• 3 megapixel camera
• detachable keyboard
• 8 Gigabyte drive

My initial thoughts (if the specs are correct):

• You won't be able to touch this device for under $500 to $600, i.e.: near the price of low-end UMPCs with more features and a more powerful OS.
• The detachable keyboard is nice, but not for heavy duty use; it looks too flat and small
• Once you have a VGA WM device, you'll never want a QVGA one again. VGA is a "disruptor", much like 3G connectivity.
• The 8 Gigabytes of storage are likely flash-based to save battery life
• Although there appears to be phone capabilities, holding up a 5-inch screen to your ear will likely cause most owners to use a Bluetooth headset.

You've got my thoughts. What do you think? Does a device with these rumored specs appeal to you?

Comments

[jk]

8 GB of flash memory would push the price up to $1,000 range, easily so I'll bet it's a microdrive.

[Scotty]

For that price point it needs HSDPA.

[Cheryl]

IIRC, Engadget had less impressive specs for this device, particularly for the screen -- QVGA. Supposedly it wouldn't support Edge, either.

However, if the specs you listed are closer to reality, I definitely would be interested in this device. For right now, I'm kind of considering getting an HTC Universal whenever the prices get lower... I'm fine with my MDA for the near future, though. :)

[Cliff]

No 3G??????

NO 3G??????

NO 3G?????

I don't think anyone is going to touch a device like that if it doesn't offer HSDPA or EVDO.

[Mike Cane]

Die Nokia 770 Die!!!

[Cheryl]

Oops, didn't realize that the specs posted here are supposedly specs that correct what Engadget (and others?) posted. Obviously I hope the specs here are the true specs. :)

[Keith]

I'm not sure whose specs are right, Engadget's or these. They have more (and high quality) pics and specs from a Polish site (pdaclub.pl) and I would think if anyone has an actual device to take real world pictures of, they'd also have accurate specs.

As for lack of HSDPA and EVDO , I'd guess that's simply because it's a Europe only phone at this point (it has UMTS 2100 according to engadget).

[Don't Panic!]

As much as I love being an American, I sometimes lust after the English and Gernman Data options on their mobile devices. QVGA would be unacceptable. Love the keyboard case arangement though, reminds me of my Q1. I wonder if that combo weighs less than a HTC Univeral?

[mobieDave]

Its the old question of price vs value. Love the idea and desceibed features but there are viable options at the 500-1K price point. Mostly, I am interested in mobile Web access when I do not want to lug a lap top. On a tangential note, I recently returned from Europe. seemed to me that there are way more people accessing the Web on their phones. Understand Korea and Japan are even more active. Wondered if anyone could explain this is so??