MWC08: HTC Shift available in Europe today with Origami Experience 2.0
The HTC Shift is HTC's first foray into full-blown Windows and it runs Windows Vista along with HTC's cool new SnapVUE technology. SnapVUE provides instant access to email, calendar, SMS, and contacts and many people have mistaken it for a dual Windows Mobile device in the past. The HTC Shift has a 7 inch display, slide-n-tilt screen, Windows Vista Business, 40GB hard drive (IMHO it should have been larger for the price), tri-band UMTS/HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0, and WiFi. It is available today from Telefonica for EUR1199 (about US$1750). I just picked up a Fujitsu U810 for US$930 and am not sure my wife would appreciate it if I picked up a Shift in Europe, but we'll see what happens.
UPDATE: I had a chance to use the shift for a while today at the show and this latest version of hardware is much improved over what I saw just a couple months ago. I was amazed at how responsive the device was in switching and opening apps and captured a bit of it on video that I will be posting when I get to the good connection in the press area tomorrow. The screen looks very nice and the device seems quite functional for working on the go. My only worry and something I'll be keeping an eye on when reviews hit the streets is the battery life. I am getting something like 4.5 hours with the U810, which is great for a small mobile machine.