HTC Shift Available from Orange this Month

HTC Shift

Orange recently announced the pending introduction of HTC's UMPC, the Shift, to its lineup. The Shift, which runs the Windows Vista operating system with the Origami 2.0 user interface extension, is a 3G mobile computing device that offers push email and HTC's SnapVue technology. SnapVue allows users to access typical smartphone related content such as contacts, calendar, SMS without the need for booting up the entire Vista OS.

The HTC sports a large 7" touchscreen display that slides and tilts, similar to HTC's TyTN II handset, a full QWERTY keyboard, a 40GB internal hard drive, Bluetooth, WiFi, and UMTS/HSDPA (850/1900/2100MHz) connectivity. For when a 3G signal is not available, the Shift also supports quad-band GSM/EDGE. The Shift weighs 800g (28.2oz) and has a battery that provides up to 2 days of standby battery life running Vista, or 11 days of standby time when running in SnapVue mode.

The HTC Shift will be available online at Orange.co.uk and in select Orange retail stores throughout the UK at the end of this month. Pricing is set at 999 British pounds (US$1963.43).