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CeBIT 2005 coverage: more about HTC universal - the Nokia Communicator killer March 13, 2005 [Pocket PC phone] | By Edward J. R. Updated: photo of working T-Mobile MDA IV added (at the end of this news item). We have published photo review of T-Mobile MDA IV already before, but this time we report about latest status of HTC Universal developments - this time from CeBIT 2005. HTC Universal will be sold by T-Mobile as MDA IV and by Vodafone as VPA IV, and although it is a bit big in size: 
... it has many many features that justify this bigger size, like: VGA display (640x480 pixels), GSM/GPRS+3G/UMTS, 2 cameras (one of them for videotelephony), Qwerty keyboard, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and more... During CeBIT 2005 the HTC Universal was present at stands of 3 companies: Microsoft, T-Mobile and Vodafone. Our impressions about this presence, and about the phone itself, illustrated with photos, follow. First of all let us explain one important point: there were 2 types of HTC Universal phones during CeBIT 2005: one was a plastic prototype (photos below show it in comparison with HTC Magician), and the other one was a working prototype behind the glass - at stands of Microsoft and T-Mobile - that however was just running a presentation. The video recording of this presentation is here (size: 31.9 MB, format: MOV - free QuickTime player is required). In this video you can notice: the brilliant display of MDA IV that has VGA resolution = 640x480 pixels! The photos and images presented on display of HTC Universal are extremely sharp and if you used before Pocket PC PDAs with VGA display then you know what feeling you can expect. HTC Universal is the first (and by now the only one) Pocket PC phone with VGA display. Adding VGA dispaly to a phone, in combination with UMTS/3G and Wi-Fi in one device, really can revolutionize your approach to mobile phones. This is not just PDA and phone - this is almost like having a mini PC or rather a mini Tablet PC that all the time has broadband connection to Internet (either Wi-fi or 3G/UMTS). At CeBIT 2005 Vodafone was presenting all 3 Pocket PC phones that it is selling or about to start selling: 
... which are, from top to bottom: VPA IV, VPA compact and (being already on sale) VPA III. The branding of HTC Universal for Vodafone seems not to be too big and is limited to adding red text "Vodafone" with Vodafone logo on it: 
Also T-Mobile was presenting HTC Universal, here branded as "T-Mobile MDA IV": 
Interestingly the display rotation capabilities in HTC Universal are bigger than in Tablet PC computers: 
... because it can be rotated in 2 plains - as you can see in the image above. In Tablet PC devices rotation is usually limited just to one plain - using other angles may destroy Tablet PC. The only disadvantage, that we were able to spot in HTC Universal was the keyboard - with a bit too much of "membrane-like" feeling and a bit too big to be able to use with just one hand. No wonder Treo smartphones are so popular : they have Qwerty keyboards with sculptured keys (not membrane keys like in MDA III or MDA IV) and it is possible to use just one hand also to type texts with Treo phones. Conclusions: there was slight progress visible at CeBIT 2005 - with regard to 3GSM World Congress 2005 conference, where only plastic prototypes of the HTC Universal were visible. This time also some working models were available, albeit behind the glass and running all the time a presentation - not showing really any operation of the device. All in all progress is visible and we can expect that release date of HTC Universal at Vodafone and T-Mobile - September 2005 - is not endangered. Update: here is a photo of working T-Mobile MDA IV - with presentation running inside (note power supply connected the device and green lamp that denotes that device is connected to power supply and charged): 
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