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Still no plans for U.S. release of HTC Artemis; CNET cries

Company says there still are no plans to release the HTC Artemis in the United States.

Bonnie Cha Former Editor
Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
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Bonnie Cha
HTC Artemis
HTC Artemis HTC

HTC makes some great smart phones, such as the T-Mobile Dash (a.k.a. HTC Excalibur) and the Cingular 8525, but one smart phone we've anxiously been awaiting is the HTC Artemis. Why? Well, it has this really cool navigation wheel, which they call RollR, that combines a trackwheel and a trackball (á la T-Mobile Sidekick 3) and makes navigating the device so easy. It almost mimics the experience of a mouse, as it it brings up a cursor on the screen, and you simply have to press the trackball to click an app or menu. In addition, the phone has a bright, 2.8-inch touch screen if you want to select items that way. All this, plus the full capabilities of a Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone, integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, multimedia support, and a 2-megapixel camera.

Anyway, I met with HTC this morning here at CES 2007, and figured I'd hassle them (again) about details of U.S. availability. Alas, they said there are no plans for an imminent release, but they didn't necessarily rule it out. Perhaps they saw the disappointment on my face, because I think they're going to send me an unlocked version--yippee!--so stay tuned for a review, and keep your fingers crossed that it lands stateside.