[Monolithix]

[teaser]

OK, so it's only a dummy handset...and it's locked up in a glass box, but T-Mobile are finally showing off the heir to the Compact throne. Spec's are still on the light side, but it looks like the MDA Compact IV will be sporting the following

• VGA touch screen
  
• GPS (both as expected...)
  
• 4GB internal storage
  
• Flush screen bezel a la HTC's Touch range
  
• 7.2Mbps HSDPA

But, here's the interesting thing: those look like the home and back key's normally found on WinMo Standard/Smartphone devices!. So what's going on? Click through for more pics and info![/teaser]
The MDA Compact range traditionally run Windows Mobile Professional/PocketPC, so it's surprising to see the latest model apparently switching to Standard. However on a closer look at the pictures (check out the read link below) it seems there is a stylus slotted in and that it is indeed a touchscreen. If it is Standard where is the keypad? Either we'll be seeing a hacked in SIP of some description, or we have an extremely thin slider on our hands!

Release is touted for May 08, I think this is going to be a winner when it launches!

[Phonemag]

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[idavid]

if that has a keyboard i'll have one, my new mda plus will have to go straight on ebay.

[spacerace]

yes i'm trying to decide if it might be a slider or not. more pics at engadget

[xorangefirex]

I am really hoping for a suretype keyboard on this little beauty. The shadow is a great option(and my intended backup phone), but you cannot beat a VGA touchscreen with GPS.

[NuShrike]

Speculation is it's a Shadow II, so it should be a slider.

[ZSX]

NuShrike, on Mar 5 2008, 08:01, said:

Speculation is it's a Shadow II, so it should be a slider.

MDA Compact I = HTC Magician
MDA Compact II = HTC Charmer
MDA Compact III = HTC Artemis

The MDA Compact range have always been Pocket PCs with no hardware keyboard, so my suspicion is that this is not a slider.

Based completely on conjecture, could this be the device where the Pocket PC and Smartphone OSes eventually collapse into a Windows Mobile singularity using elements of both?

[Monolithix]

I didn't think WinMo 7 was due until next year though?

[ZSX]

Monolithix, on Mar 5 2008, 10:53, said:

I didn't think WinMo 7 was due until next year though?

The blurb by the phone from one of the Engadget photos says "Mit neuestem Microsoft Betriebssystem".

Read of that what you will, but does that mean WM 6.1, 6.5 or 7.0?

[Monolithix]

That would appear to be the question everyone wants to know the answer to! We've seen 6.1 floating around and it's nothing special, so presumably it's 6.5 or 7...

[n20nine]

hmm...what if...it indeed is a slider..i am guessing its a slider coz there is a gap between the screen and the d-pad and buttons....perhaps the screen slides up? wud be interesting then..

[JAkub Scholz]

I guess its a Windws Mobile Profesional like device with touchscreen. The same buttons are also on the pictures/renders of the new ASUS P560 (link - in czech language) which is also suposed to be a device with touchscreen. So maybe it has something to do with the new versions of Windows Mobile or with some kind of new user interface.

[idavid]

yeah, the more i think about it the less likely it'll have a keyboard of any kind. sad.

[ZSX]

JAkub Scholz, on Mar 5 2008, 14:14, said:

I guess its a Windws Mobile Profesional like device with touchscreen. The same buttons are also on the pictures/renders of the new ASUS P560 (link - in czech language) which is also suposed to be a device with touchscreen. So maybe it has something to do with the new versions of Windows Mobile or with some kind of new user interface.

Well spotted! The Asus P560 is quite clearly running Windows Mobile 6 (with the Start menu in the upper left), despite having a smartphone key configuration, and the sign next to it confirms this.

I have always been a fan of the Smartphone button combo, and I guess it would be quite trivial to replicate this on a Pocket PC, with the 'home' button going to the today screen and the 'back' button being like 'OK'.

[mr.wilson]

like how much is it
becaz i have the first one
and i like that new one so tell me as soon as
you can plz

[S710demon]

It is not available yet and the price is not known at the moment.

[Perfectionist]

Excellent News !! Wasn't expecting the 4Gb of built in Memory, does it still has a MicroSD slot though ?? Would I be right in assuming it will have TouchFlo ??

[Monolithix]

Right on both accounts iirc...

Edit - although thinking about it, we don't specifically know its a HTC device yet!

[Ovie]

I doubt it will have a keyboard of any sort, as T Mobile's Compact range never has had a keyboard; only the Vario range. Also, I doubt it's WM Standard just because it has a home and back button. You can vaguely see the stylus in some photos, and I doubt a screen that large would not include touch screen! It's also flush with the device (I think) which is what a lot of touch-based interfaces have these days aka HTC Touch.

[Perfectionist]

As this has a VGA screen ..... would all my old QVGA software need to be upgraded ..... or would it all still run ok ??

[Monolithix]

In theory it should run fine, VGA just increases the DPI used by the graphics, the relative "size" of the stuff on the screen stays the same

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