| HTC phone offers "3D" UI |
Nov. 11, 2008
 AT&T has released an HTC-manufactured phone that includes a 2.8-inch VGA-resolution touchscreen display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The "Fuze" includes the "TouchFLO 3D" user interface, Windows Mobile 6.1, dual cameras, GPS, 802.11b/g, and Bluetooth, the company says.
(Click here for a larger view of AT&T's Fuze)
Apparently gone forever are the days when carriers concealed the HTC origins of any phones they were selling. The new Fuze, pictured above, is emblazoned with an HTC logo almost as big as AT&T's own. Of course, it makes sense for the carrier to capitalize on HTC brand awareness since, in almost all respects, the Fuze resembles HTC's previously released Touch Pro.
The Touch Pro, originally announced in June, was HTC's second phone to feature "TouchFLO 3D" (the first was the Touch Diamond). TouchFLO 3D built on the HTC's original TouchFLO user interface. Touted as a "great leap forward," the new "3D" version added "animated" access to contacts, messages, photos, music, and weather.
AT&T's Fuze includes both TouchFLO 3D and a custom build of Opera Mobile 9.5, said to offer touch-based zooming and panning around web pages. The Fuze also includes a five-way controller that doubles as a scroll wheel, a built-in accelerometer to switch its display from portrait to landscape orientation automatically, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard "designed specifically for AT&T."
The Fuze has a 2.8-inch display with 640 x 480 resolution. While AT&T does not specify its processor, the device probably uses a Qualcomm MSM7201A processor clocked at 528MHz, as on the original HTC Touch Pro. In addition, the phone has 288MB of RAM, 512MB of flash storage, and a microSD expansion slot.
According to AT&T, the Fuze has four-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity, plus tri-band (850, 1900, 2100MHz) HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access). The phone is capable of operating not only on AT&T's BroadbandConnect 3G network in the U.S., but also in more than 200 other countries, the carrier says.
Other wireless interfaces include Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g local area networking, and GPS. Offering a 3.2 megapixel main camera with auto-focus, plus a secondary VGA-resolution main camera for videoconferencing, the device is designed to operate with AT&T's Video Share service. Video Share is touted as "the first service in the U.S. that allows users to share live video over wireless devices while participating in a voice call."
Features and specifications listed by AT&T for the Fuze include:- Processor -- not specified, but probably Qualcomm's MSM7201A clocked at 528MHz
- Memory -- 288MB of RAM and 512MB of flash storage
- Display -- 2.8-inch screen with VGA resolution
- Keyboard -- slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- Cameras -- 3.2 megapixel main camera, and VGA-resolution secondary camera
- Wireless:
- WAN -- GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz) and UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100MHz)
- LAN -- 802.11b/g wireless
- PAN -- Bluetooth 2.0
- GPS
- Other I/O -- HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB connector also provides access to audio and video output)
- Battery type/life:
- 1340 mAh lithium-ion battery
- Talk time -- Up to 7.4 hours
- Standby time -- Up to 19.3 days
- Dimensions -- not specified, but likely similar to the Touch Pro's 4 x 2 x 0.7 inches (102 x 51 x 18mm)
- Weight -- n/s, but likely about 5.8 ounces (165g)
Note that this same basic device is also available from Sprint, in a version featuring that carrier's dual-band (800/1900 MHz) CDMA and EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) Rev. A data network. For more information, see our earlier coverage, here.
AT&T says the Fuze is available now, for approximately $300 after the required two-year contract, mail-in rebate, and voice and data calling plans. More information may be available on the carrier's website, here.
For a complimentary review of the AT&T Fuze just published by the WMExperts website, see here.
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