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Review of HTC Universal (aka Qtek 9000 , T-Mobile MDA Pro , Orange SPV M5000 , O2 Xda Exec , i-mate JASJAR , etc) July 30, 2006 [Pocket PC phone] | By Edward J. R. HTC Universal is the first Windows Mobile 5.0 powered mobile phone and it is also the first 3G/UMTS phone powered by Windows Mobile. While it was released commercially last year several things have changed since then, so we found it worthwhile to review this phone particularly because it still (!) is the only Pocket PC phone with display of VGA resolution (640x480 pixels)... 
We will start this review of HTC Universal by taking a look at what things have changed lately:
* * * * * Review of HTC Universal Firstly everybody must realize that this mobile phone is not really a mobile phone but rather a super mini notebook with cellular functionalities! The first distinctive feature of HTC Universal is VGA display that enables comfortable reading of eBooks: 
... and documentation. In fact some PDF documentation cannot be read in other Windows Mobile phones without excessive horizontal scrolling but HTC Universal can handle it nicely ... particularly when the display is switched to horizontal orientation: 
... what is done either automatically by moving the display (see below) or by pressing the button on the home screen (see orange arrows above). Also device lock is available from the home screen and also the button/icon that calls communication manager: 
... where users can switch on and off the following: phone part of the phone (GSM and UMTS), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, sound, synchronization with Exchange Server, data connection, push email. From the cellular point of view HTC Univeral supports European/Japanese UMTS standard and is also a tri-band GSM device: 
... what means that only one American GSM band is supported (GSM1900 but not GSM850) and that American UMTS/HSDPA band is missing. Also EDGE is missing. All these bands are supported in HTC Hermes Pocket PC phone... but obviously not everybody will take advantage of these all bands. Interestingly in several European countries and in USA the HSDPA (i.e. fast UMTS with accelerated downlink) is already operational and gives speeds up to 1.6 megabit per second (realistically) compared to 300 kilobit per second (realistically) in classic UMTS. It is worth noticing that HTC Universal can be also used as an UMTS modem thanks to this utility that is pre-installed in the phone: 
Similarly like SMS is part of the standard of GSM cellular system, 3G video calling is a part of the standard of UMTS cellular system (but it is not a part of a standard of other 3G systems like CDMA EVDO), and HTC offers 3G video calling in HTC Universal: 
Since Microsoft is headquarted in USA and not in Europe or Japan where UMTS is operational for a long time already, there is no 3G video calling support in Windows Mobile (despite numerous naive claims of various Microsoft employees) and HTC has developed 3G video calling component itself: 
Speaking of HTC developed components: there are many additions to the standard Windows Mobile OS created by HTC, one of the most interesting ones is streaming video player that makes it possible to watch video streaming also in Real format: 
As mentioned above HTC Universal can be considered to be a super mini notebook: 
... that however is very flexible and has rotable display similar in principle to Tablet PC notebooks: 
... so that it can be used as regular "touch screen PDA phone" or as "mini notebook". Here is an image that shows how this display should be used properly to avoid damage: 
Obviously this phone can be used in any mode that suits the user, including the PDA phone mode where the QWERTY keyboard is hidden: 
HTC Universal features full size SD memory card: 
... what means that super cheap full size SD memory cards are available. While maximal size of the memory card in micro-SD format is 1 GB, in mini-SD format is 2 GB, the maximal size of memory card for full size SD card slot is 4 GB! Furthermore one can insert many SDIO cards in this slot, like for example barcode scanners, TV tuners, GPS receivers, etc, etc. In the front of the keyboard on the side of the phone one can notice stereo speakers (left and right side) and 4 buttons (from the left to the right): camera, note taking, light and volume control: 
Above, in the middle, one can also notice infrared port. All those buttons are programmable and user can assign other functionalities. The stylus of HTC Universal looks like this: 
... and apart from the camera for video calling in the front, HTC Universal also features 1.3 megapixel camera on the back: 
Here is how battery and SIM card are placed in the phone: 
Interestingly this phone is manufactured in Taiwan (Made in Taiwan) what usually means higher manufacturing quality than products that are "Made in China". In the package with the HTC Universal stereo headset with microphone is included: 
... that interestingly uses 3.5 mm connector and not 2.5 mm connector as other HTC manufactured phones. On the other side of the phone one can find phone buttons for initiating and ending phone calls and the industry standard mini-USB connector (for charging and for synchronization): 
When the phone is booting (after it is switched on initially) one can observe version numbers of various components of the operating system (WWE = World Wide English): 
... and which one is which one can see by comparing photo above to this screen shot: 
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