We've got enough evidence at this point to say with confidence that the
leaked HTC lineup from early this year is stone cold real, and if you remember correctly, one of the headline devices in there was the
Firestone -- a device likely destined to sit at the very top end of the company's range with aims on replacing the
Touch HD. You might also remember that there was a small, crappy pic of the Firestone in there, showing a weird silver corner on the phone's face. That disappeared in a
later (almost certainly fake) render, but it's back now -- with a vengeance. Some mysterious figure hooked up
wmpoweruser with this latest image, and we're of two opinions here: one, it's crappily-rendered enough to be fake -- but two, even if it
is fake, we're thinking it paints a very accurate picture of what the real phone's going to look like. The concept of a front corner-mounted metal mesh loudspeaker has yet to prove its worth in the real world, but if we can get a dreamy list of specs and the rumored capacitive touchscreen to come along for the ride, we might be willing to let it slide.
posted Jul 23rd 2009 9:31AM
it can only have a capacitive touchscreen if it's an android handset. Remember that WM 6.5 is not compatible with capacitive screens. I'm guessing we'll have to wait for WM7 for that.
That's Microsoft's official line, but I wouldn't put it past HTC to overcome that limitation -- the only reason they're not supported (as far as we know) is that the position data isn't accurate enough to precisely control all of WinMo's UI elements.
I like the idea of a front facing loud speaker a lot. I hate when I watch a video on my G1 that the speaker is on the back of the phone. I have to hold my hand in a particular way on the back to hope the sound bounces off my hand so I can hear it better while watching. I hope that HTC finds a way to have front speakers on all of their devices!
Thats Real Talk
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes I even alternate between watching the video and turning the phone around to hear it more clearly.
"early this ear is stone cold real"
Chris, what have you been hearing early this ear... lol
i hate the off-set call and end buttons but that's ok because i think this is an early rendition anyway. i do like the idea of a loud speaker on the front and back though. and if the firestone and star are one and the same, i think the omnia 2 will have some serious competition! (at least for MY money)
The side render is clearly fake -- look at the jagged lines.
Yeah, I know what you mean. i saw it too.
Hopefully this will be upgrable to Windows Mobile 7 : http://www.mobiletechworld.com/tag/windows-mobile-7/