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First Look: HTC Wallaby
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By Jørgen Sundgot, Friday 24 May 2002  
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The hardware design that's the base for the O2 XDA and several other wireless Pocket PCs is due to arrive in June if all goes well; here's a small preview of what's in store.
When the O2 XDA was first announced, there were two things everyone noticed about it; stunning looks, and the fact that it wasn't only a Pocket PC but a mobile phone as well. In fact, the XDA sports the same setup as all other Pocket PC 2002 devices to date, with an Intel StrongARM 206 MHz processor, 32 MB of ROM and RAM and a 240 x 320 pixel color display - but in addition, there's also a dual-band GSM 900/1800 MHz radio module tucked in there as well, and the device runs the Phone Edition of the Pocket PC 2002 operating system which emphasizes integration between PDA and mobile phone functionality.
 | mmO2's implementation of the Wallaby design is the O2 XDA - the most known Wallaby product to date
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That combination is however not set in stone, seen as how the hardware design, codename Wallaby, that has resulted in the O2 XDA is a base design from HTC - the same company that manufactures the Compaq iPAQ handhelds, which is also used by several other companies. Carrier Devices has its 'Joey', while German T-Mobile and its U.S. subsidiary VoiceStream will offer a 900/1900 MHz version of the Wallaby called 'MDA', and there might be more versions (as well as names) coming up.
Sleek and elegant
The Wallaby has an aluminum casing and a design that's good enough to make Nokia and Sony Ericsson at least slightly jealous. The front of the device is graced with buttons that give direct access to telephony functionality, as well as the Pocket Contacts and Calendar applications. There's of course a SIM card slot, as well as a jack for the handsfree set which has a design that's equally classy as that of the Wallaby itself, and a SD Card expansion slot centered at the bottom (which lacks SDIO support).
Surprisingly, the display of the Wallaby is only 12-bit and capable of showing 4,096 colors simultaneously whereas that of most other Pocket PC 2002 devices is 16-bit and capable of showing up to 65,536 colors simultaneously. The reason behind the decision is unknown, but it's likely that a combination of a strong desire to cut costs and prolong battery life could be what lies behind.
As with previous devices such as the Sagem WA3050, Trium Mondo, Siemens SX45 and soforth, the Wallaby can keep the radio module turned on while the Pocket PC itself is switched off to conserve power. It offers vibrating alert and ringtones in WAV format, so if you're so inclined you can make your very own ringtone and place it on the device.
Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition
One of the most important features of the Wallaby is that it runs the Phone Edition of Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 operating system, which heavily emphasizes integration of the mobile phone functionality with the rest of the operating system and applications. Among other things, SMS messages are treated as a separate service under Pocket Inbox, while Pocket Contacts has been altered to allow direct dialing to contacts and initiate sending an SMS message through one-handed operation.
For its version of the Wallaby, O2 lists the talk time of the XDA as up to 3.5 hours, the standby time as up to 150 hours, and lastly the constant use of PDA usage functions to a whopping 15 hours. We'll be back as soon as possible with a full review of the Wallaby - you don't want to miss it.
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| Hands-on impressions, news, reviews, prices and release dates; now all-in-one-page: |
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| Hands-on impressions, news, reviews, prices and release dates; now all-in-one-page: |
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