HTC Announces Its First Device Running Windows Vista

Over the past few years, Taiwan-based HTC has become a powerhouse in Windows Mobile-based phones. This company makes a large percentage of the models available around the world.

Today, however, it's entering a new realm. The company has just announced the HTC Shift, which will be its first mobile device running Windows Vista.

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“The HTC Shift is combining the power of Windows Vista with advanced connectivity in a sleek mobile computer design,“ said Bill Mitchell, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Windows Mobile Platforms Division. “HTC and Microsoft have been innovating on smartphones for years, so it is exciting to see them bring that experience and innovation to mobile computers.”

An Overview of the HTC Shift

This mini-laptop will have a tablet design with a QWERTY keyboard hidden behind its 7-inch touchscreen. When the screen is slid aside to expose the keyboard, it will flip up at an angle.

The Shift will function as a quad-Band GSM phone with GPRS and EDGE. It will also support the 3G cellular-wireless networking standards UMTS and HSDPA in the frequencies used in the U.S. and Europe.

For short-range wireless networking it will include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0.

This UMPC-like device will run Windows Vista Business and come with Microsoft Office.

It will have 64 MB of RAM plus 1 GB DDR2 microDIMM, 128 MB of ROM, and a 30 GB hard drive.

The Shift was only announced a few hours ago, and details on it are still sketchy. There's no word on what processor it will run, for example, and for dimensions HTC has only said this device will be "similar in size to a couple of DVD cases".

There has also been no word on then with computer will be released or what it will cost.

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