HTC- the Shift does NOT have Windows Mobile
Kaz 911 has snagged an interview at Gitex with the HTC General Manager of the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In that interview Kevin Chen has confirmed something that I have been telling anyone who'd listen that the HTC Shift does NOT have Windows Mobile. This explains why the HTC website and all specs fail to mention WIndows Mobile. So what is that WM-looking alternate shell that we've seen in videos? According to Chen "It is ONLY there to perform as a modem and provide push mail technology while the rest of the computer is in sleep mode." By that definition it would appear to be a Windows Sideshow type of functionality. Interesting.
That's a real shame. It would have been good to have WM on there with a few little apps running so you didnt have to boot into Vista.
When Hugo demoed this at Tech.Ed Australia and he did say that it would be a Windows Sideshow device, but i guess we were hoping for the full functionality of WM6. Maybe in the Shift 2.0!
Posted by: Nicholas | September 09, 2007 at 04:51 PM
Well, it was already looking iffy to me due to the low screen resolution, so another thing to count against it isn't a big deal. Shame, though.
Posted by: cr0ft | September 09, 2007 at 05:01 PM
Well, not as cool as a dual-boot system, but I have been looking forward to seeing someone use Vista to provide PDA-type functionality, so it's not all bad.
Posted by: Sumocat | September 09, 2007 at 05:20 PM
I really did not see the use of the WM6 side without any voice or data radios available on it as it was. I think the SideShow capability makes a lot more sense. Remember the HTC road map doc that was floating around the nets a few months back? There was a reference to a device code named Shangri-la. There was speculation that this was the Shift but other thought it might be an entirely new device. If I recall correctly, the document indicated that it would in fact run a dual OS with Vista on one side and WM6 on the other. It also included Quad-band GSM / EDGE / HSDPA radios. Could it be that we might still see such a device coming from High Tech. Computing or is that just wishful thinking on my part?
Posted by: Jose R. Ortiz | September 09, 2007 at 05:45 PM
How about an HTC "down-shift" that has only Windows Mobile OS?!
A perfect e-mail workstation and a web browser.
I would then just add the TextMaker's Office for full edting of Word documents and Excel spreadsheets and happily dump my other gear in the drawer to collect some dust...
Posted by: Montevale | September 09, 2007 at 07:48 PM
Shhhh... You hear that? That's the sound of a deal breaking.
The ability to exploit my investment in WM software on a UMPC-sized screen along with a full 32-bit companion OS would've had me in the preorder que faster than Apple could file a C&D order against a firm selling iPhone unlocking patches.
Shame; would love to have a low-power option to boot into WM with its instant-on usability for simple scheduling tasks or notetaking or call up Vista if I needed some serious computational muscle. Hopefully one day someone who actually uses these devices will be involved in their design and will figure it out.
Posted by: Kamikun | September 10, 2007 at 04:35 AM
I'm with Kamikun.
Posted by: gary | September 10, 2007 at 06:15 AM
THis news makes me a lot happier with my HTC Advantage.
Posted by: Don't Panic! | September 10, 2007 at 11:08 AM
The device went from perfect to needeing 8 hrs of battery life in one post. No happy at all. I was going to get one.... It "was" the UMPC that fit my needs. not happy at all. O well. maybe it wont be so bad. Time will tell.
Posted by: Cody B | September 10, 2007 at 01:56 PM
I'm finally getting a Mac.
Posted by: MiniMage | September 10, 2007 at 10:32 PM