Much as I hate to use the phrase, this new HTC smartphone is bound to be heralded by some as an “iPhone killer”. Hardware-wise it’s quite the beast; the P6550 ‘Sedna’ packs a 3.5-inch QVGA touchscreen, Windows Mobile 6.0, quad-band GSM as well as HSDPA and WiFi into a vaguely Touch-like chassis.
The full specs make for interesting reading – an optional credit card reader, anyone? Rumour has it that this is set to be HTC’s further foray into the potentially-lucrative enterprise market, who will likely get a kick out of the dual MMC/SDIO expansion slots and A-GPS.
- Qualcomm MSM7200, 400MHz chipset
- Memory: 256 MP ROM, 64 or 128 RAM, Optional 1GB NAND Flash
- Windows Mobile 6.0
- Quad-band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, EDGE, GPRS
- WCDMA tri-band 2100 or 850/1900 MHz, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
- Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth, miniUSB
- 3.5″ QVGA TFT touchscreen
- 3 mpx camera with aoutofocus
- A-GPS
- Fingerprint reader
- 2 MMC/SDIO expansion slots
- Dimensions: 137×72×21 mm
- Optional credit card reader/extended battery
Personally I think that hardware is pretty much irrelavent, and that the iPhone will only be toppled by a company who grasps the simplicity and ease of use that the handset’s OS so exemplifies. The mediocre HTC Touch has already demonstrated that it takes more than a flimsy WM6 overlay to turn an interesting phone into an exciting one, and I’m yet to see any indication that Microsoft’s mobile platform has that potential.
