JupiterResearch: First Look at the HTC Star Trek

When does Michael Gartenberg at JupiterReseach find the time to review all these new gadgets? I'd be more than willing to take on some of his review overflow so he can free up some time :-)

Gartenberg posts at the Jupiter Analyst Weblogs about his first impressions of the HTC Star Trek Windows Mobile 5 smartphone. He writes that:

This phone delivers! The form factor is wonderful, razor thin, it has sleek, sports car like lines and captures that feel of caressability that is so elusive (more than one passerby has commented on the phone and the fact that while sleek, it doesn't look like everyone else's RAZR, a few thought it was a follow up to that product). The front cover is dominated by a large round screen that alternately shows caller ID information, displays one of several very cool clocks and also acts as a media interface control. That's right, media interface. That's because just below the screen are three buttons that let you bring up WMP and perform media basic functions while the phone is closed. Open it up and you have a flat etched keypad (clearly inspired by that other phone from MOTO) and a big bright color screen. Software is the wonderful Windows Mobile 5 for Smartphone. I've talked about the platform in the past and it works well with all the features you'd expect.

Gartenberg then points out some of the quibbles he has with the handset:

First, if you're a Blackberry or Treo loving user, this isn't the device for you. Like all phones without a QWERTY keyboard, this phone is great for email triage on the road and light web and browsing but you're not going to want to pound out text on this phone. Second, despite pioneering the use of min-USB connectors on phones for charge and sync, the Star Trek uses a new connector. While it comes with a power adapter and a USB cable (that also charges off the USB port) it's less convenient than straight USB. At the very least, this thing needs an adapter for that purpose. Likewise, there's no headphone jack. Either you like the headphones that come with the unit and get plugged in to the proprietary connector or you don't. Finally, there's no support for mini-SD, instead, there's a micro-SD slot, so if you've invested in other memory cards, you'll need to upgrade (and these cards top out at about 1 gig at the moment). Finally, Smartphone OS lacks basic tools for reading Office documents. My test device had versions of the Clearvue Office viewers installed, but they didn't offer a great experience for even basic viewing. This is something in general that Microsoft needs to quickly address for the platform.

He concludes by opining that "for now, there's simply no other device on the market that marries the power of the Smartphone platform with a killer industrial design. HTC has knocked one out of the park here. I've been told that there are plans to get deliver a version of the phone in the US. While it will likely need a re-branding from the Star Trek moniker, whichever carrier gets this to market is going to sell quite a few of them, starting with the one they sell me."

Me want too. The clamshell form factor is starting to grow on me and I'm partial to smartphones. For me to be a homerun it would need 3G and hopefully Wi-Fi as well, but I could live without the latter if need be....