After a rather embarassing drunken mistake last night (I’ll tell you lot later) it’s another morning of handsets, handsets and even more handsets. This is the HTC Libra, soon to be released as the UTStarcom 5800 and it’s another Windows Mobile device to pop up at CTIA. Just look… look at it. A numeric keypad and a QWERTY one on the SAME phone. Hello baby! I like that, I like that a lot.
The HTC Libra is also smaller than a lot of the current QWERTY HTC devices (like the SPV M3100 we reviewed) and it’s reckoned to be around the same size as a normal “candy-bar” phone. The QWERTY keyboard has just three rows of keys due to it’s smaller size and the CDMA version is said to be appearing in the USA early next year. It will also have support for EVDO for quick browsing and – apparently there’s to be a GSM version next year too. Wehay!
From the screen shots it seems to run Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC although we have suspicions that this is a fake background and it could be WM for Smartphone, which would be fantastic. Although this is on display at the UTStarcom booth the device should also be distributed by HTC and branded by carriers.
We like the look of this.. a lot. The one thing I sometimes wish that devices like the SPV M3100 sometimes had is a keypad in addition to the QWERTY keyboard. If this has Windows Mobile for Smartphone and goes GSM soon then I’d definitely be buying one. I’d can’t stress this enough – the HTC Libra has some immense potential.
Links – Engadget – Phonescoop