Son of a Dash: The Dopod C730 is here!
 

Well, it's there, anyway. In Asia. I am a huge fan of the Dash, and this is terrific news.

Take the Dash, add WM6 out of the box, remove the annoying xt9, add copy/paste, and...what else? I know I'm forgetting some other small improvement.

Oh, yeah: global tri-band HSDPA.

They fixed the only thing that sucked about the Dash: it was cursed with yesteryear's dialup-speed data. Now that all the whyPhone users are slowly poking and pinching their way out onto AT&T's EDGE network, HTC is offering us a high-speed, 3.5G alternative.

Full hardware keyboard with tactile feedback: check
Full sync of contacts/mail/calendar/to-dos with Exchange: check
Runs thousands of Windows Mobile and Java apps: check
Data speeds up to 3.6Mb/s almost anywhere in the world: check
Bluetooth stereo audio, modem, and file exchange: check

Initial reviews are very positive. I'm ordering one today.
http://www.dopodasia.com/global/prod..._c730_fea.html

Does this work on Korea CDMA network and also in japan?

Yes, yes it does. It works pretty much anywhere there is a modern wireless network. Since it's sold unlocked, you can put in the SIM from any operator and use it locally.

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 + GPRS + EDGE
WCDMA 850/1900/2100 UMTS + HSDPA

It works on Korean and Japanese WCDMA networks. Not on the bog standard CDMA networks. Might be an issue if you're heading to the hinterlands.

For touchscreenless smartphones this us the absolute UBER phone.

Between this and the upcoming Kaiser I'd say HTC is well on track to becoming the nr.1 smartphone company in the world!

It lists 3G....but does its 3G frequency match Cingular's? If it's EDGE-only in the US, it would be a deal-killer for me.

Any pricing on this or availability from importers? I would do just about anything to throw my Q out the window and get something else while I wait for the HTC S730 to come out.

Good luck to HTC, but they're going to continue to struggle getting into the mainstream with devices like this. All singing, all dancing devices they're getting really good at, and it's a nice niche for them. Number one smartphone company? Not in terms of volume, that's for sure...

I've been waiting for this! How much?

They sell their devices to every major operator in the world. Even the backwards mobile country the US is has several HTC devices in their assortment. The T-mobile MDA, SDA, Wing and Dash, the Sprint Mogul, the Cingular 82xx and 85xx devices etc...

They are about as mainstream as you can get.

In Europe operators like Orange ship massive amounts of HTC phones.

No idea why you claim they will struggle, they have already proven to be perfectly capable of selling to, and playing with the big boys. Their devices are highly desirable.

WCDMA 850/1900/2100 UMTS + HSDPA

that would mean it works just fine on Cingulars 3G network.

I just bought one (thanks, Scooby ;)) and it's on its way as we speak.

<--- happy camper

$437 unlocked

http://www.1shopmobile.com/catalog.p...41772/pd808788

Not bad for an unlocked phone. Now I just want to see this compared to the forthcoming Motorola q9 (because I'll be able to get that from AT&T at a subsidized price). I'm so glad that the iPhone is finally released so now maybe the wireless companies will release some other phones.

Selling to rather than playing with, is my take on it. They're still a little known brand outside geekdom, and that's also where their devices are aimed. BenQ can tell them a thing or two about what'd be likely to happen to ODM contracts were they to make a real brand-building effort...

I'm sure they'll continue to do well, I just can't see them being the number one player. Not through operators and certainly not under their own brand.

Please let us know your impressions of the phone, especially relating to stability. My chief problem with the Moto Q is it's dramatic instability, requiring multiple reboots and battery pulls throughout the day, a radio that turns itself off without warning and other idiosyncrasies that has me dreaming of throwing the thing against the wall.

Keep in mind, this is a virgin Moto Q without any hacks or changes and just Google Maps and the Opera Browser installed, so it's obviously inherent instability due to either the OS, the phone itself or the changes to the OS done by Sprint.

Perhaps a clean install of WM on an unlocked smartphone/pdaphone would be more stable than the hacked and modified versions installed on most US phones. If so, I would happily pick one of these phones up pending the S730 release - even if I would need to migrate to Cingular :(

I have a contact in HK and KL who could buy one locally and send it to me, but the 'where to buy' websites listed at the link did not have any pricing information...I hope it's available locally (without agreement) for less than the importer's price.

one major thing
 

there is ONE major additional FEATURE of this, carried over from the DASH that I wish they would just get rid of

it still has the junk the touch pad on the side, that is just junk junk junk.