Ok, I just saw this on The Boy Genius Report, and I’m not sure if this is a prototype, a hoax, or who knows what. (The baby, or the cat, or whatever is making noise in the background does make you wonder.) But it is sure intriguing. Try on a super large tablet with an 80GB HD, an OLED touchscreen, WiFi, WiMax, Bluetooth, HSDPA, GPS, and a battery life of 30 hours. Oh, and it runs Windows Mobile.

Again, not sure what this is, but, that is one big tablet.

HTC Mogul users are unfortunately starting to get used to this familiar song. When the Mogul was released last year, the pitch was that a ROM update featuring EVDO was on the way soon. Soon turned into late fall. And indeed there was a ROM update in the late fall. Unfortunately that ROM update was flawed and bascially got dumped with HTC urging users to roll back to the earlier version. It also didn’t include the promised EVDO Rev A update. Word from on high filtered out that the promised upgrade would happen on January 28. (An HTC rep at CES actually confirmed that to me.) Now that the calendar has rolled over to January 29 a lot folks are wondering what’s up, since no update has been released. Well, except for a leaked Beta of the new update. (Boy Genius has the scoop on that.)

And of course there is a similar tune being sung about the release date of the HTC Shift.

All of this comes on the heels of a Digi-Times report that HTC has slipped from #1 to #3 vendor of Windows Moble-based smartphones. behind Motorola and Samsung. HTC still retains the #1 position on Windows-Mobile based PDA phones.

In the most recent GBM Podcast Sierra and I covered a range of topics. Two of those topics seem to be continually popping up in the news these days and worth pointing to.

First, there seems to be a real race going on in the ultra-portable space kicked off recently by the Asus EeePC. It seems that one day we’ll hear about an update to the Eee PC, and then we’ll hear similar news coming from the VIA based ultra-portables as well. This space sounds like it is really heating up. As an example, The Eee PC is coming out with larger screens soon. Now we hear from Ultramobilelife.com that the Everex Cloudbook, which is just about to debut with its 7 inch screen model is aiming for a summer release of a 9 inch model and adding more colors.

Secondly, Sierra remarked on the podcast about her thoughts on the HTC Advantage. Jenneth at Gear Diary has a very extensive, Day in the Life of post about how she uses the HTC Advantage.

With most of the attention on small portable devices centering on MIDs and the recent MacAir announcment, neither of which is in users hands right now, these very different devices seem to be having quite an impact at the moment, and my hunch is they will continue to for some time to come. Interesting times.

When HTC named their new Ultra-Mobile PC the Shift, I doubt they realized how appropriate that name would be to the device’s future. First we’ve had shifting dates, and now it looks like there is a shift in the naming, at least based on what we are now seeing from the FCC. That’s right, the FCC docs on the HTC Shift are now a little more complete and available and like earlier editions they reveal a new name. Try the Clio 100 and Clio 200 on for size. The new names demark which 3G networks we will be looking at when the Shift/Clio ships. The Clio 100 is for GSM/HSDPA networks and the Clio 200 CDMA/EVDO networks.

While that dilineation makes some sense given the two different network apporaches, I’m wonderinf if this isn’t just another shift by HTC to try and regain some market traction and move away from original name.

I first picked this up from Mobility Site and Unwired has more details. Also a hat tip to Kevin Tofel on this one.

Earlier I gave out some very quick hands on impressions of the HTC Shift, which indeed did make an appearance at CES 2008. Here is the promised video of the HTC rep showing off the HTC Shift. Watch, as before your eyes, the HTC Shift magically shifts from being the UMPC that Steve Ballmer held and praised to no longer being a UMPC.

It is good to hear though that the HTC Shift is supposedly going to ship by the end of the first quarter of 2008.

Download the High Res Video here.

Click To Play

It exists. At the moment there is at least one on the US Mainland, and it was here tonight at The Digital Experience. And the HTC Shift isn’t a UMPC. More on that later. I’ll be posting up video of my interview with the HTC rep soon and you can find out why HTC doesn’t consider the Shift a UMPC any longer, along with the fact that they are planning to ship in the US within this 1^st Quarter of 2008. Still no price point though. My quick first impressions? Lighter and sturdier than I thought. Nice screen. The trackpad and mouse buttons will take some getting used to. The keyboard is not as cramped as I thought.

Well, I’m not sure if it is an “Ultimate” challenge or not, because I really am only checking out three devices here, but play along.

There are a lot of closet Stall Surfers out there. You know who you are. In fact, it is, in my considered opinion, one of the reasons that folks love mobile devices so much is the opportunity for a bit of Stall Surfing. Forget all the talk about making you more productive at work. It is all about being able to cruise the Internet, read an eBook, or check email in those very private moments. With the advent of touch devices, even those touchy about the subject are coming out of the closet on this issue. And don’t feign modesty here. You know I’m talking to you.

Not content adding a touch screen to the Asus Eee PC, jkkmobile has also recently gotten hands on with a production model HTC Shift. Could this be a shipping model? Based on jkkmobile’s early reports, for HTC’s sake I hope not. Some of the highlights (lowlights?): less than 2 hours battery life, touch screen felt soft, hinge/rails felt clunky, mousepad is useless.

Check out more of jkk’s thoughts here.

Another shift for the HTC Shift. Steve “Chippy” Paine is reporting that the HTC Shift now has a new ship date in the UK. Looks like it has shifted to after the first of the year, January 11, 2008 to be exact. There is still no definitive word (or even speculative word) on when it might be available in the US. Chippy makes an excellent point about these continued delays. The ultra mobile landscape is going to change after CES and HTC might have missed the boat when it comes to delivering this UMPC. We’ve pointed out before that while we continue to see reviews, they are still of pre-release units and not a shipping model, which is curious at this point in the game. The jury is still far from out, but it sure seems like this device which has attracted so much attention is having quite a bumpy road getting into the market.

Speaking of review units, Craig Pringle, who has one of those pre-release models in hand, points out what many Inkers have feared. The Shift is not a good machine for Inking.

It’s podcast time again at GBM, and in GBM Podcast #41, Warner Crocker and Sierra Modro cover a range of topics and products in the Tablet PC and UMPC scapes. In addition, they discuss what’s on their respective Christmas gadget wish lists and get the conversation going about CES2008 and the Tablet PC and UMPC Community Meetup and talk a bit about Warner’s 3rd Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards. Of course the trick to this edition of the GBM Podcast is finding out if Warner’s voice will hold out since he’s been suffering from laryngitis.

We’re also proud and thrilled to announce that TechSmith is back as our GBM Podcast sponsor. As you probably know, (we certainly don’t keep this a secret), TechSmith has been our GBM InkShow Sponsor for some time now. TechSmith produces SnagIt and Camtasia Studio and other great products that all of the GBM Team members use routinely in their work and play. TechSmith’s original sponsorship covered both the video InkShows and our podcasts, then for a time, it was just the video InkShows. And once again, TechSmith is sponsoring both GBM InkShows and GBM Podcasts. We’re grateful and we hope you are to. Without sponsors, like TechSmith, we wouldn’t be able to do the fun work we do here at GottaBeMobile.com. Thanks, again, TechSmith!

• Download GBM Podcast #41 here ( MP3, 43.20, 39.67mb )
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Here are the show notes:

• Updates and Prayers for Marc Orchant
• The Third Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards
• What’s Up With the HTC Shift? GPS? HSDPA? When are we going to see it
  here in the states?
• Linda Epstein’s Santa’s Wish List for 2007
• CES 2008 Tablet PC and UMPC Community Meetup

If you're a HTC Shift fan (I am still trying to decide if I am or not...) then you need to check out Craig Pringle's blog - Pronto!  He has discovered that there is a integrated GPS unit!!!  That makes it more appealing to me as it sure would make a nice (but maybe large) GPS unit to put on your dash.  I have been using my ATT Tilt as a GPS unit and the extra real estate would really be nice. 

So does this extra feature make the Shift more appealing to more people?  I think it might. Anybody else??

He also has a short video posted to make it official - see below:

I’m been without my voice, suffering from laryngitis since last weekend. On top of that it was a crazy week at work, so I got no rest on that side of my life. (I secretly think my staff likes it when I can’t speak.) But, my staff came to the rescue and stepped up to give me the weekend off from the theatre to rest my voice. The timing was excellent on a number of fronts. I could sure use the rest. My wife and I are searching for a new car purchase. And I had a number of geek and gadget projects to work through this weekend including setting up a new iMac, updating the Sprint (HTC) Mogul, and getting a printer hooked up for the Asus Eee PC. We don’t have a large apartment (life rarely gives us time there) and so when I’m geeking out, I’m usually working at the kitchen table, or setting in my easy chair. This weekend’s projects took over not just the kitchen table, but also the kitchen.

Craig Pringle, a Microsoft Tablet PC MVP, recently got his hands on the HTC Shift and is offering up some really, really good info. He's got some of the best stuff I've seen lately on the operating system and the Windows Mobile 6 side of the Shift. Check out the below bullet list of articles from Craig. Be sure to follow his site, because I expect many more articles from him on the Shift.

By the way, why we are still only seeing pre-release models in these reviews? As most people know, stuff tends to change somewhat between pre-release and production, and at this point in the year, I would have expected production ready machines. Along those lines, I know many U.S. folks are wondering when they can expect the Shift to make its way state-side. Granted, we can go to Dynamism and order it, but seeing it available at Amazon, Buy.com, and more Value Added Resellers like Allegiance Technology Partners would make folks quite happy.

• The HTC Shift Operating System
• How Useful is the HTC Shift
• Shift Review Part 1 - The Tour
• I've feeling a bit Shifty

The FCC, the world's greatest place to find upcoming product non-announcements, has just posted another patent application. Apparently HTC is preparing what appears to be an EV-DO version of the HTC Shift. If this is indeed an EV-DO Shift, that means that HTC will have a Shift for everyone.

Regardless, this new device most definitely will have EV-DO, as well as WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0.

via JKKMobile, Gizmodo

Chippy has really been hitting the HTC Shift hard the past week or so.  If you've missed any of the coverage, head over to some of these links below.  Its been fun to watch as he tries different things with the unit.  The keyboard to me seems to be a little small for my big hands, but it seems like Chippy is getting used to it as well.  One thing that some users (Like me with Cingular) will like is that he is reporting that the HSDPA works like a dream on the Shift.  Read more below:

UMPC News : HTC Shift saving my bacon.

UMPC News : HTC Shift. HSDPA performs well. Video playback too.

UMPC News : HTC Shift testing. Hacking. Breaking. Videos. images. Opinions

UMPC News : HTC Shift gallery.

UMPC News : HTC Shift Unboxing

Chippy, from UMPCPortal.com, just took ownership of an HTC and has two videos where is puts the Shift through its paces. That keyboard looks little painful to type on.

 Also, JKKMobile has found the HTC Shift manual here.

If the consonants  j, k, h, t, and c, mean anything to you, then you know you are a follower of the mobile tech scene. HTC is a company to keep an eye on, as we’ve said many times. They’ve brought the Advantage to market, and are now rolling out the Shift, (now in Europe and hopefully soon here in the States). And of course the letters j and k can stand for either James Kendrick of jkOnTheRun or jkk of jkkmobile, both of who cover the mobile tech scene like a blanket. Both have recent HTC news posted on their respective sites.

James Kendrick has posted one of his Day in the Life reviews of how he uses the HTC Advantage.

And on jkkmobile, jkk is linking to coolsmartphone, who has put up a look at the HTC Shift, including a raft of videos and pictures.

Now if someone could only buy a vowel.

Concerns over the screen resolution on the HTC Shfit is still a confusing issue. At least it is for me. Steve “Chippy” Paine has picked up some images from Mobile01 that purport to show the device running in 1152 x 864 mode. I’m sure this is using pixel doubling technology, but it would be nice for HTC to hand out some solid info on this.

The HTC Shift has been the most anticipated device since the iPhone in most mobile circles, but it has also seen its pre-release shine diminished by a number of different factors, one of which is low screen resolution of 800x480. Steve “Chippy” Paine captured some pics and video of the device at the recent British launch of the device, and is telling us that the 1024x600 resolution (I’m guessing some form of pixel doubling) is better than he originally thought it would be.

When looking for a good ultra-portable device, it is always good to get some outside opinions.

Web Worker Daily has a good overview of three such devices: the HTC Advantage, OQO Model 02 Tablet PC, and Samsung Q1 Ultra.

Notebook computers have become a huge success story in the hardware world, even replacing many desktop systems, but many web workers may want to take a look at some of the slick notebook alternatives that are arriving. I’ve used the Windows-based examples that I’ll round up in this post, some of which can fit in your pocket, and they are surprisingly competitive with notebooks in terms of keeping you productive. Best of all, they are much lighter and easier to tote.