Before we headed off to CES we got wind of an HTC device called the Athena. At that moment in time we didn't know much about it and all we had to go on was a badly taken picture and some rumoured specs.
Yesterday T-Mobile confirmed that the HTC Athena, which it is rebranding as the T-Mobile Ameo (pictured), is coming to the UK in March. It also announced that it will be exclusive to T-Mobile and will be available on its Web'n'Walk tariff.
Information on features is still thin on the ground but we do know that it supports HSDPA and boasts a 127mm (5-inch) colour screen with detachable keyboard. Other features (which we've deduced from the press photos) include video-calling capabilities via a VGA camera, a secondary camera on the outside with an LED photo light for taking pictures, Wi-Fi connectivity and the Windows Mobile operating system.
If, however, it's anything like the German T-Mobile Ameo, which was also announced recently with specs to boot, then it will come with Windows Mobile 5.0, an Intel XScale 624MHz processor with 8GB of on-board memory, a miniSD card slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS and a 3-megapixel camera.
Fingers crossed that we get the same awe-inspiring specs over here. Pricing has yet to be confirmed, but the German version is selling for about £350. It will probably be on a similar tariff to the T-Mobile Vario II. Expect a full review soon. -AL
You can prop up the screen like a laptop. There's also a joystick on the top-left side that we assume lets you navigate. We're still not sure if the screen is a touchscreen or not.
We're keen to test out the keypad and see how easy it is to use. The keys look well spaced and large enough to press without needing a toothpick. It's good to see there are plenty of dedicated soft keys around and we love the large screen.