HTC Returns to the Messenger Market with the Maple Smartphone

It’s been a long time since HTC had a device in the messenger space. The Excalibur, HTC’s first messenger style device, was a smash hit with T-Mobile users under the name of Dash. This device was also sold across many other carriers and under many other names, including HTC’s brand as the s620. Following the Excalibur, HTC released the Cavalier. This device added 3G, but never managed to get any traction and didn’t last very long. At this point, HTC turned their focus to other devices and left the messenger market to it’s own devices and companies like Samsung and Moto came in and took over with their BlackJack and Q series of devices.

If the pictures posted by Cnet Germany (via WM Experts) are any indication, all that is about to change. The new HTC Maple is the first messenger device from HTC in a while and it sure looks nice. There is no official comment from my sources at HTC and as such, there is no official specs to be had. But if we look at what HTC has been doing and what this image shows us, we can guess at what features this might have. HTC’s most recent WinMo Standard device, the Rose, has a 528Mhz processor with 256MB for RAM and ROM and 3G in a very small package. I would be surprised if these specs don’t make it to the Maple. WiFi is also a staple on most, if not all HTC devices, so expect to see WiFi. Further, you can clearly see the trackball on the front of the Maple. This is a welcome change from the horrible JOGGR touch panel that the original Excalibur and Cavalier sported. The screen appears to be 320×240 and shows the sliding panel home screen from WinMo 6.1. Don’t take this as an indication that there won’t be WinMo 6.5 on the device. We haven’t seen any screen shots of 6.5 on a standard (non-touch) device. So it’s unclear what the user can expect to see with 6.5. WinMo 6.5 will mainly focus on finger usability, so it’s possible that there is no new user experience changes to standard devices.

GPS should also be expected. Although, to be honest, you can never tell these days. Some devices where you expect to see it, it’s doesn’t get added. It sure would be nice to see this with GPS, as I use it so much these days. With any luck, we’ll see a spring launch and hopefully it will be here in North America.

I’ve got my fingers crossed – can’t wait to try the new HTC Maple.

What Devices are Used by Mobile Device MVPs?

Fellow Mobile Device MVP, Todd Ogasawara, thought it would be a good idea to interview the Mobile Device MVPs and see what device(s) they are using. This video was recorded during the MVP Summit this past week in Seattle. The summit was 2 days of product group meetings with a day on either side of keynote speeches. The summit is always a good time to get together and hang-out with other Mobility MVPs, as well as yelling at Microsoft about what they need to change.

Take a look at the video when you get a chance. You’ll find me at around the 1 minute mark.

On another MVP note, all the MVPs went to the Experience Music Project where Microsoft had setup a nice little reception party with Rock Band for people to play with, along with a real band for singing karokee. In this video you can see Helio from PocketPCFreak singing with the WinMob’s dancing around on stage with him. And if you think there’s something funny about that beaver, you would be right – It’s Rocco from Smartphone Thoughts. Go Beaver, Go Beaver!