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With the HTC Shift you won’t have to shift to any other smartphone, because this model will satisfy all of your smartphone needs. The HTC Shift is a remarkable looking specimen, and is just as sleek as HTC’s other high-profile creations like the HTC Touch Pro, Touch Cruise, or Touch Diamond.

Of course, there is more to the Shift than its stylish and dazzling black exterior. The HTC shift is a third generation mobile phone, so the user can utilize both 2G (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900), as well as 3G (HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100) network, which is especially helpful. The phone also enables users to click snapshots of anything of interest, thanks to its integrated VGA camera.

When you talk of a 7 inch display, most people would think you are talking about mini-laptop or netbook. It’s practically impossible to even conceive of a mobile phone with a 7 inch diagonal display, yet the HTC Shift has made this uncertainty a reality. The HTC Shift comes with a mega 7 inch touch screen display, and does so elegantly, without turning the phone itself into a bulky, and hulking monstrosity. The display also delivers an impressive 800 x 480 pixels resolution.

Some other incredible smart attributes include 1GB of RAM, 128 MB of Read Only Memory, either a 40 or 80 GB of hard drive, and a 800 MHz Intel Stealey processor. All of these specifications would easily be standard for a laptop, or even a computer, but for a mobile phone they are beyond incredible. The HTC Shift is less a smartphone and more a laptop. So if you are looking for all the power and ability of a laptop in the palm of your hand, then the Shift might be the perfect choice.

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HTC has introduced the new Touch Pro Smartphone and bigger brother to the Touch Diamond. The Touch Pro also possesses the 3D animated TouchFlo 3D navigation interface and all of the Touch Diamond’s other functions. HTC has additionally blessed the new device with a full QWERTY keyboard.

As with the HTC Touch Diamond before it, the Touch Pro also offers a 2.8 inch TFT touch screen with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and up to 65,536 colours. Navigating the menu is done by finger – HTC already optically enhanced the TouchFlo user surface with the HTC Touch, so that is can display functions and content in 3D. Icons are located at the bottom border of the display to allow the user to quickly navigate in between functions.

With measurements of 102 x 51 x 18.5, the Touch Pro is 7 mm taller than its little Touch Diamond brother – the reason for this difference is the extendable and mechanical keyboard, which is the key difference between the two devices. It ensures for an easier typing of emails or text messages than with the Touch Diamond’s virtual keyboard. The MSM 7201a by Qualcomm is used as the processor and clocks at 528 MHz. Another difference with the smaller Diamond is that the Touch Pro doesn’t come with 4 GB of internal memory, and instead has a slot for micro SD memory cards and 288 MB of RAM for running applications.

A GPS receiver is also on board, although HTC did not mention what navigation software they were including or using. The device is additionally equipped with A-GPS for faster and improved locating. The camera comes with 3.2 megapixels, auto focus and a two fold zoom, in addition to a second camera with VGA resolution for video conferencing. A RDS radio is included as well, and music is played using Windows Media Player in the following formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, and WAV.

The Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system is the same for both the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro. The typical applications such as a calendar, address book, and calculator are included in the OS, as are the mobile variants of Windows Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Windows Media Player comes preinstalled as well. The user can surf online using the Opera Mobile 9.5 browser and news feeds are also supported. Thanks a built-in motion detector, turning the device vertically automatically displays the websites vertically, and the same holds true when holding the device horizontally. HTC has additionally developed a YouTube application to make watching videos from the site even easier.

The Touch Pro supports HSDPA with data rates of up to 384 KBit/s in the Up-Link and 7.2 MBit/s in the down link, in addition to UMTS, EDGE and GPRS. Conversations are transferred over the 900, 1,800 and 1,900 MHz frequencies. The other included wireless technologies are 802.11b/g WLAN and Bluetooth.

At 165 grams the Touch Pro is 55 grams heavier than the Touch Diamond. The higher weight is due both to the additional keyboard and enlarged battery: instead of only 900 mAh, the Touch Pro’s battery should deliver 1320 mAh. The larger battery should suffice for a talking time of up to 8 hours while operating in GSM mode (in contrast to the Touch Diamond’s 5.5 hours); the operating time is reduced to 6.5 hours in the UMTS mode. The standby operating time lasts nearly 17 days in GSM and 21 with UMTS.

The Touch Pro should be available this summer. HTC did not immediately release a price after introducing the model, perhaps so as not to shock any consumers. However, they have now put the price at a sizable £550.

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