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HTC S710


HTC S710

Postby Chris Edwards » May 26, 2007 @ 5:48pm

Discuss the review or ask any questions that you may have regarding the S710 device below.

Specifications will be added shortly.

<review>
<author>Chris Edwards</author>
<promoimage>thumb.jpg</promoimage>
<keyword>s710</keyword>
<type>2</type>
<title>HTC S710</title>
<developer>HTC</developer>
<website>http://www.htc.com/</website>
<purchaselink>http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=146741</purchaselink>
<date>June 6, 2007</date>
<rating>8.5</rating>
<description>The HTC S710 is the first Windows Mobile smartphone to come with the new version of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6 operating system. What new features does this operating system provide? How does the S710 stack up against the BlackBerry device offerings?</description>

<section name="Background">
<content>The HTC S710 is the first Windows Mobile smartphone to come with the new version of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6 operating system. This review will outline the benefits of this new operating system, provide an analysis of the S710, and briefly stack up the features of the HTC S710 against several BlackBerry device offerings.</content>
<content>The review is not a direct comparison of the the S710 against a specific BlackBerry device. I've had much exposure to the BlackBerry platform over the past year, so the review will compare the general BlackBerry solution to the solution offered by a S710 coupled with Exchange 2007. Specific references to the BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry 8700 and BlackBerry Curve will be made when necessary.</content>
<content><gimg IMG_7173.jpg></content>
</section>

<section name="RIM and HTC">
<content>
A significant amount of a device’s success belongs to the software, but the importance of the hardware and how it interacts with the underlying operating system cannot be ignored. Windows Mobile devices are not manufactured by Microsoft, while all BlackBerry devices are manufactured by RIM. There are compelling arguments from both sides to support which would yield the most homogenous device. With multiple device vendors, Microsoft has the benefit of having the creative team and capital of many different companies working on different device and the market will generally dictate the top device. RIM has only their own creative team and does not benefit from the capital and marketing teams of multiple corporations. RIM benefits from having their product teams working very closely together—allowing their hardware product teams to have input into how the software works. Conversely, Microsoft has a set of hardware guidelines that a manufacturer must follow when building a device.
</content>
<content>HTC (High Tech Computer Corporation) is a Taiwan-based company that has been the largest hardware manufacturer of Windows Mobile smartphone devices. They have only recently started selling their own devices independently, but have been in the industry since 1997 as an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer), building devices for carriers and other distributers.
</content>
</section>

<section name="Hardware" newpage="1">.
<content>HTC devices have been known to be sturdy, and I’ve had positive experiences in the past. The build quality of the S710 is acceptable. I haven’t had any issues with mine, and it has withstood one month of heavy use without a scratch, but that should be said of any phone-- consumer or enterprise. I’m a little more cautious around pavement/hard surfaces with the S710 than I am with my BlackBerry. I've dropped my BlackBerry 8700 countless times without any loss in functionality, but I would not trust the S710 to withstand the same abuse.</content>
<content><gimg IMG_7157.jpg><gimg IMG_7170.jpg></content>
<content>The S710 includes a proprietary ExtUSB™ port for synchronization, charging, and headset connectivity. It offers backwards compatibility with the common mini-USB port that can been
found in many smartphones, and is also the standard for BlackBerry charging and synchronization. This means that mini-USB accessories from previous HTC devices can also be used in the S710. A result of this change is that the 2.5mm headset jack has been removed (and replaced by the ExtUSB™ port). With a <a href="http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=145867">simple and readily available adapter</a>, standard 3.5mm headphones can be plugged into the S710.
</content>
<content>
There have been many Pocket PCs with a slide-out keyboard, but this is the first Microsoft Smartphone-style device to sport this feature. There is some desired resistance to sliding the keyboard open. This prevents the keyboard from sliding open by itself during normal use. The buttons on both the slide-out keyboard and the phone keypad are back-lit to allow operation in the dark. The screen on the S710 is very nice and works well both indoors and outside thanks to a sensor which adjusts the screen’s brightness according to available light.
</content>
<content>The user manual states that the slide-out keyboard should be used for emails or long messages, but I usually only use it for passwords or for applications where the typing assist xT9™ auto-completion feature doesn’t help.
</content>
<content>Battery life has been good. Even with intensive use, I've been able to make it through the day without having to worry about recharging. If I'm light on the wifi/bluetooth usage, then I can easily go 2-3 days without recharging.
</content>
</section>
<section name="Connectivity">
<content>The S710 provides connectivity at EDGE (2G) speeds on the quad-band GSM network. Ideally, HSDPA (3G) support would have been included, but that is rumoured to be included in the next edition of this device. Realistically, there are few devices that include support for HSDPA speeds, and the inclusion of WiFi (802.11b/g) in the S710 can make up for this exclusion in some situations.
<content align="center"><img sshot017.png></content>
<content>The S710 also supports Bluetooth 2.0, including the A2DP profile, allowing for connectivity to wireless stereo headphones. Further specifications for the S710, including a comparison table with the BlackBerry Pearl and Orange C600 are included later in the review.</content>
</section>

<section name="Software" newpage="1">
<content>Prior to Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft had very little to offer enterprise users. The BlackBerry camp offered remote device wipe, push email, a vast IT policy configuration options, and tight integration with the corporate network. </content>
<content>For the past 5 years, the Windows Mobile//Pocket PC operating system (OS) has had a hard time finding a market, especially as a phone. The OS was far too clumsy and complicated for anyone but bleeding edge users. The first phone devices were clearly built on an OS that was not meant for one-handed use. Even making a simple phone call was clumsy on some of the early devices.</content>
<content>Windows Mobile 5 and 6 introduced significant changes to the smartphone edition of the OS to improve the basic phone features. With Windows Mobile 6 installed, the S710 features these new enhancements:
<ul>
<li>Support for HTML Email</li>
<li>Increased integration with Microsoft Exchange</li>
<li>Quick email/SMS searching</li>
<li>Integrated call history</li>
<li>Support for Word/Powerpoint/PDF viewing (and basic editing) directly on the device</li>
<li>AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) support in Internet Explorer</li>
</ul>
</content>
<content>
There have also been considerable enterprise-focused changes:
<ul>
<li>Storage card encryption</li>
<li>Remote device wipe</li>
<li>Enhanced device lock</li>
<li>Push Email (previously available via an update)</li>
</ul>
</content>
<content><img sshot015.png><img sshot004.png></content>
<content>
HTC has put significant effort into pushing the S710 into the consumer market. Besides the already included Windows Media Player Mobile, they have included Audio Manager which makes managing and playing music files on the S710 a breeze. Instead of having to do a manual update of the library when new music is added (such is the case in Windows Media Player Mobile), the application will automatically detect the new music and add it to the library. The Audio Manager does not support album art, but is still a generally more user-friendly applicaton
</content>
</section>
<section name="Use Case: Phone" newpage="1">
<content>While it may seem like a simple task, making a phone call is an important feature on a mobile phone that has been often overlooked on smartphone devices. Both Windows Mobile and BlackBerry have had difficulty in adapting their software to be more user friendly as a phone device.</content>
<content>The S710 offers some dialing features that make it significantly easier to place a phone call. Spelling the name on the number keypad will start searching for name possibilities from the contact list. This contact list can be easily synchronized with Outlook on the PC, or Exchange Server in the enterprise environment. The BlackBerry Pearl (and previous devices) lack such a fast search feature in the call display screen, but it is present in the just-announced BlackBerry Curve.</content>
<content><img sshot014.png><img sshot012.png><img sshot013.png></content>
<content>Windows Mobile 6 features a revamped contact screen. It features call history information alongside the contact's phone number, address, and other available information. This screen is displayed when the user is slected from the contact list. Previously, it was not possible to view call history with a specific contact without searching through the entire call history screen. Now, there’s a quick link to view all calls with that contact directly from the contacts entry in the address book.</content>
<content>Voice dialing is available on the S710 as it was in previous Windows Mobile 5 devices, but it is still based on voice tags. This means that in order for the phone to recognize a name, it must be pre-recorded into the phone. The BlackBerry Pearl allows for voice dialing without any pre-recorded voice tags, which is a much preferred scenario. After the tags have been recorded, the voice dialing works fairly well, but with many contacts, it would be quite the task to record all of the voice tags.</content>
<content>
Windows Mobile 6 includes an upgraded Bluetooth stack from Windows Mobile 5. This includes better support for Hands-free sets, as well as an upgrade to Bluetooth 2.0. The new stack performs much more reliably than previous devices when tested with the Acura TSX hands-free system. It sends complete status information to the car—such as battery level, signal strength, and roaming status. Windows Mobile 5 supported connectivity with the hands-free profile, but did not send this additional information. The BlackBerry Bluetooth support matches the support found in Windows Mobile 6 for this Bluetooth profile.</content>
<content>Both the BlackBerry Pearl and the HTC S710 provide for a simple dialing process. The BlackBerry Curve will provide a much-desired upgrade on the call dialing screen, allowing for quick dialing from the contact list. This upgrade will put it on par with the HTC S710 dialing solution.</content>

</section>
<section name="Use Case: Email" newpage="1">
<content>The HTC S710 and BlackBerry Pearl are marketed as messaging devices, and both devices perform this task very well.
Let us first note several of the HTC S710's advantages:
<ul>
<li>Tighter integration with Exchange (especially for businesses with Exchange 2007 deployed)</li>
<li>Support for email follow-up flags as found in Outlook</li>
<li>Quicker search mechanisms for finding email</li>
<li>Integrated Windows Live support</li>
</ul>
</content>
<content><gimg IMG_7153.jpg><gimg IMG_7146.jpg></content>
<content>The S710 slide out keyboard is a QWERTY keyboard with a function key enabling some of the more common symbols. BlackBerry employs a similar “alt” button. The buttons on the S710 keyboard have inferior tactile feedback to those found the BlackBerry devices, especially the qwerty BlackBerry devices, such as the Curve for 87xx series. On the S710, some of the keys are aligned slightly different than on a regular keyboard, which can make input difficult at first. As with any keyboard, practice would alleviate this issue, and there’s nothing else preventing the keyboard from being usable.</content>
<content>The SureType™ feature found on BlackBerry’s is far superior to the xT9™ features found on the HTC S710. These typing assist features aid the user when typing on an incomplete keyboard (neither the S710 or the BlackBerry Pearl have full QWERTY keyboards). When typing on the phone keyboard, the S710’s xT9™ software will try to guess which word is being typed based on possible combinations of keys. For example, instead of typing “44-33-555-555-666” to spell “hello”, it is possible to type only “4-3-5-5-6”. This significantly reduces typing time to the point where it is sometimes possible to approach speeds similar to a QWERTY keyboard. SureType™ works in exactly the same way, except that it does a better job at learning words that are not in its dictionary, as well as learning words from incoming emails and the address book. The BlackBerry Pearl also has the advantage of having more keys. This makes it easier for the BlackBerry to guess which word is being typed. The S710’s xT9™ can be clumsy at learning new words, and as far as I can tell, it does not scan incoming email for words to add to the dictionary.</content>
<content>Out-of-the-box Exchange integration is likely to be a deciding factor for organizations already employing Microsoft Exchange 2007. While BlackBerry supports Exchange server, additional software needs to be maintained to support BlackBerry connectivity. Windows Mobile 6 adds push technology out of the box for Exchange 2003 SP2 and Exchange 2007 users. Prior to this update, BlackBerry held the advantage of supporting push email, a feature that RIM is well known for.</content>
<content>For many organizations, the additional cost factor of BlackBerry will be a significant determining factor. While the device pricing is somewhat competitive and comparable to the HTC S710, the service plans can tend to be more expensive, along with the need for additional hardware and software purchases to support BlackBerry Enterprise Server installations. BlackBerry uses a compression scheme to offset the more expensive data plans, but as data prices decrease, this advantage will diminish.
</content>
</section>
<section name="Issues and Bugs" newpage="1">
<content>Over the course of the review, several issues with the HTC S710 device were discovered. Many are small bugs that are unlikely to affect the day-to-day usage. They will be reported to HTC, and hopefully fixed in an upcoming software fix.<br />
<b>Update [2007/07/24]</b> - This issue hasn't repeated itself in a few months now. It's probably not a mainstream issue, and I haven't heard of other reports.
</content>
<content><strong>[Bug] Alarm Issue:</strong> When the Alarm is changed to a new time, the alarm will still ring at the old time. This can result in multiple alarms going off at undesired times. The alarms can be deleted with a third-party tool, but that is not the desired effect. Recently I haven't noticed this issue, perhaps there was something that triggered this bug.</content>
<content><strong>[Bug] WiFi Issue:</strong> When connecting to a WPA-PSK 802.11g access point, it is impossible to disable 802.11 authentication. This prohibits connecting to the access point. Connecting to other types of access points was possible.</content>
<content><strong>[Bug] Internet Explorer with PDF/Word/Excel Documents:</strong> While the device supports reading Word, Excel and PDF documents, it does not know how to handle them in Internet Explorer. It is not possible to download a Word, Excel or PDF document in Internet Explorer, they must be received via email to be viewed.</content>

<content><strong>[Bug] Creating Documents:</strong> It is not possible to create Word or Excel documents on the device. Documents can be read or edited, but not created. This feature has been taken out of Windows Mobile 6 Standard and only exists in the Professional edition found on Pocket PC’s. This is undesired.</content>
<content><strong>[Request] VOIP Support:</strong> The Windows Mobile 6 OS supports VOIP (Voice Over IP), but this feature has been disabled in the Standard edition of the OS. With the wifi support on the S710, making VOIP calls would be very useful, and could be the difference between this device and a wifi-based BlackBerry solution for many corporations. The exclusion of this feature is unwarranted, especially for a non-carrier device.</content>
<content><strong>[Request] Windows Media Player:</strong> There has been no update to Windows Media Player in this version of the OS. Some added features in regards to library manipulation and usability would have been greatly appreciated. It is not a friendly user experience to navigate the music library, especially with large libraries. With a memory card, it is possible to store upwards of 300 songs on the HTC S710. The media player was obviously not designed with such library sizes in mind.</content>
</section>
<section name="Conclusions" newpage="1">
<content>
The HTC S710 is one of the best all-purpose smartphone’s available. The improved enterprise features coupled with the already existing multimedia functionality would offer most working professionals a complete feature set for their work and personal needs. Microsoft shops will enjoy the improved integration of Exchange which cannot be found on BlackBerry devices. If messaging is a much higher priority than voice, and the tighter Exchange integration is not required, the BlackBerry devices should be considered given their superior input capabilities.
</content>
</section>
<section name="Specifications">
<content>
</content>
</section>
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</gallery>
<gallery width="6">
<image>sshot001.png</image>
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</gallery>
</review>
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Last edited by Chris Edwards on Jul 24, 2007 @ 5:30pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Postby Matt Keys » Jun 20, 2007 @ 12:11am

Nice review chris
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Postby diederik555 » Jul 24, 2007 @ 2:57pm

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Postby Chris Edwards » Jul 24, 2007 @ 5:27pm

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Postby diederik555 » Jul 24, 2007 @ 9:19pm

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Postby agent80 » Aug 24, 2007 @ 2:35pm

Hello,

I was wondering how one would be interact with webpages on the HTC S710.

The S710 does not have a touch screen. Does the user need to scroll the entire page to select a link? or is there a cursor?

I haven't found a video of the HTC S170 that shows how users would interact with webpages. Perhaps PocketMatrix could put one together.

Secondly, does the S710 detect a WiFi signal if it does not have a SIM card in it? Can the phone be used without a SIM card?

TIA
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Postby diederik555 » Aug 31, 2007 @ 11:19pm

Hi,

I have the phone now, and it lives up to all my expectations, its a good phone, just some things that could be different in the os.

About the internet, yes you have to scroll down the pages with the navigation keys, you do not have a cursor. But the scrolling goes faster then you would think, the navigation through the internet pages is fine in my opinion. i'd give it a 7 on a 1 - 10 scale. I am not sure on the fact that you can have a connection without a simcard, maybe the phone wont even start, but i think it will since it has a option to just turn off the phone function. So i guess its possible.

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Re: HTC S710

Postby oslik0 » Dec 11, 2007 @ 2:52am

Hello, i was wondering if you could help me. I would like to know where did you get the MSN messenger on the phone. I got it in UK, but MSN messenger is absent and i can't find it online anywhere? It can clearly be seen on your screen shots.
Thank you
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