Thanks to T-Mobile Germany, I've recently received a T-Mobile Ameo, also known as HTC X7500 Advantage or under its code name HTC Athena. This unique, fully integrated Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition has a detachable keyboard and large VGA 5" screen that makes working on the move easy. Thanks to Windows Mobile 5 for Pocket PC Phone Edition and the inbuilt Opera Mobile (or Internet Explorer Mobile) web browser you can surf the internet at mobile broadband speeds, thanks to the devices quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE and triband UMTS/HSDPA capabilities. The inbuilt 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and photo light can snap photos or record videos as well a the front facing VGA cam supports video telephony.

The device features USB host functionality which allows to connect it to a printer and thanks to the VGA port, it even connects to a projectors or monitors. To store all the data, the T-Mobile Ameo features a massive 8 GB hard drive and the inbuilt SiRF III GPS shows you the way.

While I'm currently working on the review, please find bellow the first photos:

Please feel free to ask your questions in the comments bellow.

Cheers ~ Arne

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Hi,
Thanks for a chance to ask a question.  I currently use an XDA 2s, which has been great.

I am more interested in a PPC that has a phone than phone with a PPC.  So the 5" screen, VGA out, GPS, Wifi and 3G web are all important. So 2 questions.

1. I am happy to look silly with a brick to my ear for calls - but with only stereo speakers can the Ameo be used as a hand phone?  If not how good is the range of the bluetooth.  The XDA 2s is about a meter.

2. I use my XDA keyboard always.  Usability of wipping  it out and taking noted is excellent. With the Ameo's detachable keyboard can I stand up and quickly jot down a meeting?  Can I sit in a chair with it on my knee and take notes in a meeting without having a table?

Appreciate you help.

Bern

Bern wrote:

1. I am happy to look silly with a brick to my ear for calls - but with only stereo speakers can the Ameo be used as a hand phone?  If not how good is the range of the bluetooth.  The XDA 2s is about a meter.

You cannot use the Ameo in a "normal" phone mode by holding it to your ear. That's simply not support for a good reason = looking silly.
Basically you have two options:

a) Hands free/loudspeaker for instance while on your desk in the office.
b) The mentioned Bluetooth headset. II would say the range is - depending on the headset something up to 3 - 5 meters? At least I've used it while walking around the room and it worked fine.

2. I use my XDA keyboard always.  Usability of wipping  it out and taking noted is excellent. With the Ameo's detachable keyboard can I stand up and quickly jot down a meeting?  Can I sit in a chair with it on my knee and take notes in a meeting without having a table?

Yes, it works on your lap but it works better while holding in your hands. The magnets are pretty strong and if attached to the leather case, it's pretty usable to hold it in your hands and typing texts. It works, no question even if the table might be the better surface.

I am hoping to use the Athena as a mobile note taker (both hand written and typed) and then have those notes sync with OneNote 2007 via OneNote Mobile.  Have you (or can you) test this capability.  Tablet PC's just don't have the size or battery duration to support pure digital note taking for meetings, I am hoping that a large screen PDA, with good battery time and instant on will finally be the utopia I have been looking for.

MJH

Mike, OneNote Mobile works on the Athena - as expected but it has one shortcoming: [selfurl=http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3071]OneNote Mobile isn't supporting ink[/selfurl] on Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. This means you can only type or make photos but no handwritten notes. While the device seems to fit perfectly for your needs, the software lacks what you are looking for (ink support).

Thanks for the oppurtunity to ask questions! Could you please answer the following questions;
The camera application on my HTC Universal (I've had 3 models and tried all ROMs) was never 100% reliable - sometimes it would take 5-15 seconds to take the photo and be all blurry, also the video recording was usually jerky. My question therefore is: Are there any horrible delays when taking pictures? What about after opening a few applications such as IE/email? Is video still jerky (i mean WORSE than the expected 15fps)?

Thanks a lot :>

Jim

Jim Griffiths wrote:

Are there any horrible delays when taking pictures?

First of all, the camera UI is a different than used for the Universal. HTC has redesigned it. Nevertheless it has delays for one simple reason: The Athena sports a auto focus camera, not a fix focus and therefore it takes longer to get the focus. But the result are much better as you can imagine.

What about after opening a few applications such as IE/email? Is video still jerky (i mean WORSE than the expected 15fps)?

Not that I have noted any problems yet but will test again and let you know if I find any major problems.