Guest Monolithix Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 The mega-PPC MDA Ameo, otherwise known as the HTC Athena, is going to be relaunched on T-Mobile Germany with a hard drive boost from 8GB to a class-leading 16GB! Other changes will include a new keyboard (hopefully much better than the frankly useless one with the current Athena!). There are rumours of it running Windows Mobile 6.1, however this seems like it might just be Office Mobile 6.1! Hopefully T-Mobile won't restrict this to the continent and we'll see it over here in the UK too! via [The Unwired] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest micaels Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 Hopefully the new keyboard will work the 8 GB Athenas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandt Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 Hmmm, the original press release states it has Office Mobile 6.1, not Windows Mobile 6.1, or is it the same thing? Source (Auf Deutsch) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Monolithix Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 Hmm nope, definitely different! Will have to check it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Swampie Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 (edited) Hmmm, the original press release states it has Office Mobile 6.1, not Windows Mobile 6.1, or is it the same thing? Source (Auf Deutsch) Nope, Office Mobile 6.1 was the update which included the ability to open the OOXML format documents included in Office 2007 (and a few other tweaks) and can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en So, it actually doesn't appear to be anything about Windows Mobile 6.1 Edited January 19, 2008 by Swampie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squilla Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 Got excited when I first read this but I have installed Office 6.1 on my older version Ameo, and I can increase my hard drive with the use of my 4 way lead and memory sticks if need be, not that I have ever filled my microdrive. So the only improvement is the keyboard, I am really excited to see what the keyboard is like, I hate the current one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandt Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 As I thought then. What I cannot understand, is why on earth would what is arguably HTC's flagship device still use WM5? Re the new keyboard, again according to the original press release it just has new keys to make better use of the new Office suite All in all this seems like a pretty lame upgrade which is a shame really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thelondonthing Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 As I thought then. What I cannot understand, is why on earth would what is arguably HTC's flagship device still use WM5? Re the new keyboard, again according to the original press release it just has new keys to make better use of the new Office suite All in all this seems like a pretty lame upgrade which is a shame really I agree - although to correct one of your one points, I think that only the T-Mobile version of the Advantage is still released with Windows Mobile 5, although an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 is available officially. What I don't understand is why they've simply doubled the size of the hard drive rather than replace it with Flash memory. If Nokia and Apple can do it, I dont' see why HTC can't do it as well on their 'flagship' device. However, I've never really seen the point of the Advantage/Ameo - it's always struck me as far to big and limited to be genuinely useful in any situation. It's practically a UMPC in its form-factor, yet it doesn't carry a full OS, and Windows Mobile really doesn't make good use of that lovely big screen. I like the features like VueFlo (or whatever it's called) and TV-out, but I've seen these and better features included on smaller and more attractive handsets. I had always expected this device to be quietly killed off, but I had thought if there was a slim chance of an update, the priority would be to improve the looks of the thing, and perhaps overhaul it with more features to make use of its screen size, and Flash memory. The wretched keyboard always seemed to be the weakest link of the whole package in my view; I can't possibly see how even a heavy overhaul of it would improve things in any way. I've always wondered how such a big and ugly device could come from the same company that released the Universal - which was a much more successful implementation of the idea, in my opinion. Of course, the Universal had its own issues, but I think in terms of having a VGA screen combined with a 'hideable' keyboard, the Universal form factor was much better than the Ameo was or - I imagine - ever will be, unless it's redesigned from the ground up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squilla Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Well despite its enourmous size, keyboard, not being able to use it as a phone unless you have a BT headset I absolutey love my Ameo, I never put it down, I use a Universal too which is the phone I take when going out to the pub, the Universal is my 'small phone' (and sadly past its contract and on its last legs). It is gutting that they didnt upgrade the Ameo any better, but the Ameo is a love it or hate it kind of device, I much prefer it over my old Universal, its much more reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thelondonthing Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Well despite its enourmous size, keyboard, not being able to use it as a phone unless you have a BT headset I absolutey love my Ameo, I never put it down, I use a Universal too which is the phone I take when going out to the pub, the Universal is my 'small phone' (and sadly past its contract and on its last legs). It is gutting that they didnt upgrade the Ameo any better, but the Ameo is a love it or hate it kind of device, I much prefer it over my old Universal, its much more reliable. Each to their own, I guess! Personally, I found the Ameo to be far too big and unweildy as a mobile 'phone'; it always struck me as very odd that T-Mobile sold it (and are obviously committed to it with this forthcoming update) given that it's phone features are very much secondary to the rest of the feature set, mostly due to the inability to use it without a Bluetooth headset as you pointed out. The Ameo seemed most useful as a mobile internet device, whether on the move or in front of the telly. The TV out was a nice feature for me too. However, the TV out was not enough to justify keeping the handset, and it seemed wasteful to keep the device for its internet duties, given that web access is available on any number of other handset (albeit on smaller screens). In the end, I got rid of it, and got a Vario III instead. I've been very happy with that since, and I really don't miss the TV out feature, although it would be nice to see this on a wider variety of handsets. As for the Universal, it certainly had its fair share of issues. I don't think reliability was ever an issue for me (I owned both the SPV M5000 and T-Mobile MDA Pro), but it was hopelessly slow at times, and had a few irritating bugs that were never addressed. That said, it was certainly one of the finest handsets I've owned, and I'm still very impressed that HTC launched such an unusual form factor for a device of that size. But as I say, each to their own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Confucious Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 I just use my Ameo - I love it, but am reluctant to get rid of my Universal so it sits in a drawer doing nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Metoo Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 What I don't understand is why they've simply doubled the size of the hard drive rather than replace it with Flash memory. If Nokia and Apple can do it, I dont' see why HTC can't do it as well on their 'flagship' device. That would have required a costly redesign of the motherboard and the OS build. A hard disk upgrade is simply a drop-in replacement, as is the keyboard. Minimum cost to HTC = more profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hurstgroup Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Spoke to T-mobile today and apparently it is unlikley that the new one will be coming to the UK as in Germany a lot of people are returning them. not proving to be a big hit over there..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Ummm, what a load of rubbish. If it's not coming out in UK or Germany (so they say), where DO they plan to launch it? :) P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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