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Live from IFA 2007 : T-Mobile MDA Vario III still is not market-ready ! August 31, 2007 [Pocket PC phone] | By Edward J. R. While HTC, as manufacturer, can release HTC -branded HTC Kaiser (i.e. HTC TyTN II) at any time - after all nobody can say anything if only standard type approval tests have been passed - the situation with mobile operators is different. Shortly speaking: they have more stringent requirements and demand more testing... 
(on photo above: exact software version number of the HTC Kaiser presented now at IFA 2007 by T-Mobile) T-Mobile -branded HTC Kaiser is not being presented as regular phone at T-Mobile's stand at IFA 2007, i.e. it is not lying on the table for everybody to abuse, but is being presented on-demand only... and the reason is simple: ... because it is not market-ready yet! Not only it gives such impression but also T-Mobile employees confirm it, that it requires more testing and may come to the market around October, but not in September! Regarding HSUPA we have been explicitly informed by T-Mobile that this phone has no support for HSUPA whatsoever. T-Mobile in Europe is now in the phase of launching of faster HSDPA in selected places (7.2 Mbit/second instead of usual 3.6 Mbit/second) and also HSUPA with upload speeds up to 1.4 Mbit/second is being launched and available in some places. The fact that HTC Kaiser misses out on HSUPA means that mobile operators that have launched HSUPA - i.e. Vodafone and T-Mobile mainly - will not be able to take advantage of their networks. However since only few mobile phones offer already 3.6 Mbit/second HSDPA (that HTC Kaiser has!), still this phone can be a hit, particularly because it offers tilted display and built-in GPS also. Regarding HTC TouchFLO situation is such that although HTC Kaiser doesn't offer HTC Cube (a 3D launch-pad pulled from the bottom of the screen) it indeed offers finger scrolling! Yes, we have tested it! In other words when you are in Word Mobile, in Internet Explorer or in other application, then you can a) move the content with your finger, b) the content keeps on moving (and slows down) when you lift the finger. We had a feeling however that it is not working as smoothly as in case of HTC Touch phone, so it is difficult to say whether it is hardware support like in HTC Touch or some software trick on part of HTC. Anyway finger scrolling works but it is yet to be seen how well it will work in production unit - when this phone will be more market-ready! Below some more photographs of T-Mobile MDA Vario III that is now being presented at IFA 2007! Firstly let us underline that T-Mobile MDA Vario III (i.e. 3), although thinner than number 2 (i.e. than HTC Hermes), stilll is much thicker than HTC Touch: 
... what may be caused by the fact that HTC Touch doesn't have slide-out keyboard/keypad and that is why it can be so thin! Obviously tilted display is the unique feature that only HTC Kaiser offers: 
... and sometimes this phone may look like as if it would be broken: 
... although in reality it is perfectly fine. Conclusion: since T-Mobile sells a lot of HTC-manufactured phones it is vital that their tests of HTC Kaiser will succeed as soon as possible. As of now it looks like T-Mobile is not satisfied yet... but obviously purchasing a phone with subscription, from a mobile operator that you trust, translates into much bigger sales. Anyway in case T-Mobile MDA Vario III indeed will be delayed and released in October or later, then there is always an option of purchasing this phone online - with HTC branding as HTC TyTN II - it should be available online at the beginning of September 2007!  Post your comment (free registration is required to post, but if you register you can edit your posts later)
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