Non-Touchscreen is Still Cool: the New HTC S740

[Brandon Miniman]

Wow, look at this. It's essentially an HTC S730 (http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1045) but dressed to impress, with cues from the Diamond and Touch Pro all the way from the faceting backing to the marketing that HTC is using to push this device (check out the HTC website (http://www.htc.com/www/product.aspx?id=57634) to see what I mean).

The spec sheet for the S740 is quite similar to the S730 except for a thinner casing, more RAM, aGPS, and a faster processor. It has a Qualcomm MSM7225 528MHz CPU, 256ROM/RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, aGPS, and a 1000mAh battery. It's a GSM phone with HSDPA, but because of the lack of UMTS850 band, this variant won't get 3G in the US. It's slated to start shipping in Europe next month.

I'm also sensing some interface enhancements (could there be a "TouchFLO" coming for non-touchscreen devices? The press materials (http://www.htc.com/www/press.aspx?id=59830) make no mention of that). Notice the messaging switcher there in the first picture, which has been skinned.

It's good to see HTC still working on Windows Mobile Standard devices - for those of us that still like the experience that it brings. Thoughts on the S740?

[adamz]

Very nice! Hurray for softkey hardware buttons! But they need to make a flip-phone version as the StarTrek successor.

[adamz]

Looks like regular WM 6.1 with a Black Sliding Panels theme mostly:
http://www.htc.com/www/product_gallery.aspx?FolderID=5364

[benji]

Ooops... they forgot the 3.5mm headphone plug :(

[Brandon Miniman]

Ooops... they forgot the 3.5mm headphone plug :(

Probably is safe to say that HTC devs wont have 3.5mm headphone plugs anymore.

[Pony99CA]

Probably is safe to say that HTC devs wont have 3.5mm headphone plugs anymore.
Agreed. In fact, most phones probably won't; they'll use 2.5 mm jacks. Do any 3.5 mm jacks support microphone input that a phone needs?

Steve

[Jaime Rivera]

Wow... what a beautiful site.

I was beginning to worry about the lack of Standard devices debuting with WM 6.1.

True Steve, I've never seen a Tri-channeled 3.5mm connector.

[benji]

Ummm... isn't the new Palm Treo Pro with the 3.5mm headset jack (with microphone support) actually made my HTC...?

[Pony99CA]

Ummm... isn't the new Palm Treo Pro with the 3.5mm headset jack (with microphone support) actually made my HTC...?
Yes, but is that 3.5 mm jack only for audio outputl? If so, that's great for listening to music, but would be useless for hands-free calling (unless the microphone doesn't get disconnected and is very sensitive).

Steve

[benji]

It's the 'headset' jack, meaning that it is 'tri-channelled' and provides stereo output in addition to microphone functionality. Additionally, iPhone and Blackberry 3.5mm headsets (again, stereo & microphone) are compatible with it.

Surprising, given the level of expertise of the posters here, that they're all saying it 'doesn't exist'...

Yes, but is that 3.5 mm jack only for audio outputl? If so, that's great for listening to music, but would be useless for hands-free calling (unless the microphone doesn't get disconnected and is very sensitive).

Steve

[Pony99CA]

It's the 'headset' jack, meaning that it is 'tri-channelled' and provides stereo output in addition to microphone functionality. Additionally, iPhone and Blackberry 3.5mm headsets (again, stereo & microphone) are compatible with it.
Good to know, but I've seen "headset" used to refer to non-microphone stereo buds, too, I believe.

Surprising, given the level of expertise of the posters here, that they're all saying it 'doesn't exist'...
Who said they don't exist? I asked if they existed and Jaime said that he'd never seen one. I don't think anybody claimed they didn't exist. (Even if they weren't commercially available, some geek in a lab could have created one. :)) I've never seen a UFO, but I won't claim they don't exist. :D

Remember, nobody can know everything.... ;)

Steve

[benji]

I believe that enough reviewers make it a 'pro/con' topic in their summaries, and cover the inclusion or lack of a 3.5mm headset (or headphone) jack in their devices within the text of reviews, we'll start to see them become more of a standard. Would be great to see this at PocketNow, as IMO it's at the top of the list as to where users go to get comprehensive info on devices :)

[Pony99CA]

I believe that enough reviewers make it a 'pro/con' topic in their summaries, and cover the inclusion or lack of a 3.5mm headset (or headphone) jack in their devices within the text of reviews, we'll start to see them become more of a standard.
As far as I know, 2.5 mm mono or stereo jacks are the standard for cell phones, so I'd be surprised to see 3.5 mm jacks take that role. (Some people even call them "space hogging". :))

In fact, if the 3.5 mm "three-ring" jacks behave like the 2.5 mm ones, your 3.5 mm stereo headphones won't work well in them. When the Motorola Q first came out (which has a 2.5 mm three-ring jack), people had trouble using 2.5 mm adapters with their 3.5 mm stereo headphones because they were using two-ring adapters (probably microphone and mono audio); getting a three-ring adapter generally solved those issues.

So trying to use 3.5 mm stereo headphones in a jack meant for three-ring plugs might cause problem (you'd have to position the plug precisely, jiggling it might lose audio, etc.). Or have the 3.5 mm jack makers somehow engineered things so there aren't problems (maybe by making the microphone ring the top ring)?

I wonder if we could invent a dual-format jack. It would normally be 2.5 mm, but have a concentric push-down ring that allowed 3.5 mm jacks. That would avoid messy dangling adapters. (Consider this prior art if you try to patent it! :))

Steve