Love it! Might be my next phone... If not a Touch Pro2.

Hey guys, REALLY enjoyed the podcast. Actually the first 'cast I've listened to in a long time, and I think I'm hooked. Looking forward to the next one.

A few remarks on i-mate: I think you give them too much credit for the period when HTC was their ODM partner. Every device i-mate ever released was an HTC reference design with a lot of Microsoft input (despite what CEO Jim Morrison would have you believe). Even the now legendary i-mate Jam was merely the HTC Magician, which also appeared on European and Asian operators under various names. Same goes for the i-mate JasJar, aka HTC Universal, my all-time favorite communicator device.

When HTC decided to build their own brand and give i-mate the shove, i-mate showed their true colors: a pathetic brand with poor leadership and even worse product design. Their collaborations with TechFaith Wireless were awful, and their Ultimate line with Arima were not much better. i-mate couldn't execute a successful product launch if its life depended on it... And guess what? -- Its life ultimately depended on it.

To i-mate, I say good riddance. They were a thankless facade for HTC's genius for far too long.

I rarely every comment on these things, but this one deserves it: it's evident from this post that Drew Olanoff is an a-hole who doesn't understand business or marketing. No wonder he blogs for a living.

Sorry, Drew and DownloadSquad.com, but you're not earning any respect here.

Do you honestly think Android was first with that design? The Iris is the CDMA version of the HTC Cavalier, which has been on the market since July. The Cavalier, for its part, is an update to the HTC Excalibur (aka T-Mobile Dash) that has been on the market since 2006. Look at any of these devices -- or any Treo or BlackBerry, for that matter; are they all just "duplicates of the Android virtual machine?"

Questions:

1. I see there's a headphone jack on the bottom of the device next to the ExtUSB port. That makes this the first HTC-manufactured device in a while to offer an actual audio port instead of requiring an ExtUSB-to-3.5mm converter. Can you confirm if the jack on the Iris is 2.5mm or 3.5mm?

2. Early leaks about the Iris indicated it includes A-GPS. Can you confirm if this model has it?

Comment:

I have the GSM version of this device, the HTC Cavalier, and absolutely love it. It's the first time in ages I've kept a single phone for more than three or four months. ;)

Negri Electronics is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG... Why does Engadget keep posting their info?

One minor comment: UBiQUiO is owned by eXpansys, not TechFaith. Although TechFaith manufactured this particular product (as well as its successor, the 503G), UBiQUiO could source their products from any OEM much in the same way that Palm, HP, Apple, etc. do.

#4 - You're (basically) correct. The TyTN is the HTC-branded successor of the "Wizard" reference design. The TyTN's reference design is codenamed "Hermes," so to really nit-picky about it, you would say the Hermes is the successor of the Wizard.

#5 - HTC is a Taiwanese designer and manufacturer of PDAs and smartphones, particularly Windows Mobile devices. HTC re-brands and sells its devices to other vendors and carriers around the globe, including UTStarcom.

Take the Sprint UTStarcom PPC-6700 (a reference design called the "Apache"), for example: the PPC-6700 was designed and manufactured by HTC on behalf of UTStarcom, which then sold it to Sprint (and subsequently Verizon as the XV6700). In that particular case, UTStarcom is acting like a VAR (value added reseller), though the company designs and manufacturers its own products, as well.

Are you sure this isn't actually the Libra or Titan you previously reported? Both are rumored to be provided by UTStarcom and destined for Verizon Wireless before year's end.

Link: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/08/31/roc-a-fella-shows-three-new-verizon-wireless-winmo-devices/

You can see external photos of this device here:

http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com/index.php?showtopic=11695