Link: HTC Kaiser gets unboxed – Engadget Mobile.
Ok, I have to admit I don’t get too excited over mobile phones and devices; they just don’t trip my trigger. I mean I had my Palm Treo 650 for over two years before it finally gave up the ghost earlier this summer. I had an HTC Hermes for a while, and I have a couple of Blackberry’s (I use to support my end users here). A phone is a phone, can I place and receive calls reliably (and in most cases every carrier has its set of warts)? I didn’t go ga-ga over the iPhone, I mean come on, standing in line overnight for a cell phone that I get the privilege of paying a premium for on BOTH the hardware AND service?
Soooo, I wouldn’t exactly call myself an early adopter, I’m more in to foundations, reliability, security and flexibility (try supporting nearly 600 people with a staff of 6 and you’ll know what I mean).
So when I got my hands on this HTC Kaiser (branded the AT&T Tilt), I was, at best, skeptical, and it was announced in March of this year. But this thing is really cool, it’s actually a bit heavier than the Hermes, but a bit thinner too, it uses Windows Mobile 6 with the TouchFlo technology allowing much easier one-handed operation of the handheld. The wireless data is HSPDA (AT&T’s 3G) in most metro areas. But the one feature that really sent me over the edge was the on-board GPS. After I loaded Windows Live Search Mobile, I had real-time mapping and turn-by-turn navigation on my mobile phone, since it’s connected to AT&T’s network, and this is the cool part, I got the name of a restaurant from a friend, used live search to find the phone number, called the place, and got the address and location with real-time GPS directions all on my MOBILE PHONE!
I can now use this handheld to do some basic but remote support of my servers back at the office; I added Microsoft’s voice command for hands-free dialing.
All of this including my standard calendar/email/phone/voice-mail/messaging applications, and for the first time I feel the realization of the promise of a personal digital assistant made by the Apple Newton in the early 1990’s.
Of course it’s not perfect, even with the improved processor it’s still sluggish in some functions. But this is a tremendous leap ahead of anything I’ve had up to this point.
Read more about the Kaiser/Tilt in the referenced Engadget article.