Contents Background RIM and HTC Hardware Connectivity Software Use Case: Phone Use Case: Email Issues and Bugs Conclusions Specifications

HTC S710 (HTC) Reviewed by: Chris Edwards Date Published: June 6, 2007 Purchase Link: Purchase [Affiliate] Image Gallery Discuss this review

Background

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.

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.

RIM and HTC

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.

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.