OFFICIAL! HTC Merge announced, coming this spring!

[Phil Nickinson]

Can you believe it? The HTC Merge is actually going to see the light of day!

The HTC Merge lives! Officially coming to 'multiple' carriers this spring!

HTC Introduces the Powerful, Feature-Rich HTC Merge -- BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

 

[Cory Streater]

HTC Merge: It's Official!

Here's a few thing I noticed.

• Available through multiple North American carriers beginning in spring 2011.
• 3G only.
• Full QWERTY slide-out keyboard.
• Android 2.2.
• HTC Sense experience.
• Large 3.8-inch touch-screen display.
• 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and flash.
• Capture high-definition 720p video.
• Integrated GPS, Wi-Fi connectivity.
• HTC's first Android-based CDMA world phone.
• Integration with Exchange ActiveSync.
• Flickr for sharing and viewing pictures With a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard,
• HTC FriendStream integrates Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter updates.

 

[mercury694]

Sweet. Since Merge and Tbolt will probably release the same day (in September), I can check them out side by side.

 

[mputtr]

basically, you're gonna be getting a very pretty desire Z that is only useable on the carrier you bought it from.
oh, and don't even think about using GSM 3G from local providers when you go international, because it only supports 1 UMTS band and that's only found in some countries and some operators in those countries.
yeah, this was a massive let down for me.

 

[mcaspe1]

No LTE, no front facing camera, and only a 5mp camera? Who cares? Why even release it? Especially in spring, which means fall or winter for VZW. I definitely want a CDMA/world phone slider from HTC but this thing will be obsolete when it comes out. Huge let down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[icu]

Congrats to those that held out. I may get my Mom to get this so I can drool over it and perhaps convince her to give it to me when she can't "make the email go".

 

[mputtr]

No LTE, no front facing camera, and only a 5mp camera? Who cares? Why even release it? Especially in spring, which means fall or winter for VZW. I definitely want a CDMA/world phone slider from HTC but this thing will be obsolete when it comes out. Huge let down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to disagree with you here. I dont believe LTE and ffc is a deal breaker at all. LTE is nice, but it's still "in the works" and I'm not too impressed with the faux G that they forced the ITU to rename it.
I feel that ffc is just a gimmick. how often do you use a front facing camera. besides, you look like a douchebag when you're walking around with the phone in front of your face while talking to someone either on speakerphone or on bluetooth. Atleast that's what I think the one time I see someone walked around campus with his iphone 4 on facetime thinking it's "cool ****" to walk and talk while staring at the screen.

finally, the camera arguement should wait till it gets thoroughly tested out. it's not the megapixels that matter, but the sensor that captures it. I have a Sony Cybershot TX-1 that shoots a mere 10.2 megapixel, but it will decimate most other point and shoots that shoot at 14 megapixels anytime, anyday, in its sleep.

the deal breaker for me is that it has extremely limited GSM 3G capabilities and the fact that it'll probably be locked down to prevent usage of 3G in the US

 

[Phil Nickinson]

basically, you're gonna be getting a very pretty desire Z that is only useable on the carrier you bought it from.
oh, and don't even think about using GSM 3G from local providers when you go international, because it only supports 1 UMTS band and that's only found in some countries and some operators in those countries.
yeah, this was a massive let down for me.

It's EXACTLY the same phone I saw last fall.

 

[mputtr]

yup.. so much for that rumor that it was pulled back to be outfitted with the FauxG hardware......

 

[mcaspe1]

I'm going to disagree with you here. I dont believe LTE and ffc is a deal breaker at all. LTE is nice, but it's still "in the works" and I'm not too impressed with the faux G that they forced the ITU to rename it.
I feel that ffc is just a gimmick. how often do you use a front facing camera. besides, you look like a douchebag when you're walking around with the phone in front of your face while talking to someone either on speakerphone or on bluetooth. Atleast that's what I think the one time I see someone walked around campus with his iphone 4 on facetime thinking it's "cool ****" to walk and talk while staring at the screen.

finally, the camera arguement should wait till it gets thoroughly tested out. it's not the megapixels that matter, but the sensor that captures it. I have a Sony Cybershot TX-1 that shoots a mere 10.2 megapixel, but it will decimate most other point and shoots that shoot at 14 megapixels anytime, anyday, in its sleep.

the deal breaker for me is that it has extremely limited GSM 3G capabilities and the fact that it'll probably be locked down to prevent usage of 3G in the US

I hear what you are saying and totally agree with you but just from my perspective I like to see newly released phones at least have what all the others do or will. That's just my thought on the subject.

 

[sc32valve]

Someone has completely dropped the ball here. It was ready for release, evidenced by the 3D model on VZW and all the test devices that were out there.

Why pull it back and release it 6 months later? Wow, I hope multiple people were fired on this one.

 

[mputtr]

I hear what you are saying and totally agree with you but just from my perspective I like to see newly released phones at least have what all the others do or will. That's just my thought on the subject.

I agree on that point. It would be nice to get the latest of the greatest, but for me the ffc has never been a must get so I get kind of leery when people say "no ffc? this phone sucks" because alot of those people who say that will probably never use it more than a handful of times in the device's lifespan.
and the fauxG thing irks me like crazy because the ITU had to lower their standards for 4G to accomodate this... 3.5g technology due to carrier pressure (because they want to try and "refresh" the market)

 

[DolfanCole]

I was all over this months ago. But, it really seems outdated now, and definitely a mid-range device when released. It's not so much the FFC and lack of LTE for me (I'm not in a LTE area anyway). It's the processor, screen-size, and memory. Compare the Merge to any upcoming release such as the Thunderbolt, Bionic, Revolution, and Samsung 4G, and it falls short. It's a shame it has taken so long, 'cause if it hadn't I'd be owning one right now.

 

[edoublediz]

FFC is major deal breaker. how can you guys say it is a gimmick? what is gimmicky about being able to see your family members without firing up a PC. letting technicians show you the problem while you walk them through it. i skype with daughter and wife every night that i am out of town, how nice would it be to just pull the phone out of your pocket instead of laptop from bag. my wife wanted the merge so bad, but after learning about FFC i dont think she will bite.

 

[oldpueblo]

FFC is the last thing I'd ever care about on a phone, there's a reason that despite "video calling" being around for a long time that it hasn't picked up. People just in general don't want to stare at a screen while talking, worrying about being seen as not paying attention, are there boogers on their nose, something embarrassing in the background, etc. And as is I would still buy the Merge if it were available right now. It fills a gaping hole in Verizon's lineup, an HTC device with a hard keyboard. I had three family members move to Sprint to get the EVO shift because they were tired of waiting, and I've barely held out myself. It really is a great midrange phone (not the shift only, itself but the design). As fast as current market phones, not too big for a pocket, nice hard keyboard, HTC Sense which we all love, etc.

 

[dyslexicbunny]

FFC is major deal breaker. how can you guys say it is a gimmick? what is gimmicky about being able to see your family members without firing up a PC.

Because I think it is. I don't need to see people when talking to them. I don't need them noticing that I'm not paying attention to them on screen and multitasking.

How long you plan on talking? I'd rather just sit in front of a laptop if I need to videochat. And since I don't videochat, FFC adds no value to me.

Boo hoo!!! Not elite hardware, not 4g!!!

I'm coming from the Motorola W755. It's a huge leap for me and I want it. Don't care about 4g. Don't care about dual core.

yeah, this was a massive let down for me.

Puttr, what happened? Didn't you have this same phone previously? Why the change of love?

I'm really curious why the delay occurred. ~6 months has to mean something serious happened.

 

[TaeKwonDonkey]

I wonder what other carriers this will be coming to?

 

[oldpueblo]

I wonder what other carriers this will be coming to?

Sprint and T-Mobile basically already have it in the Shift and G2.

 

[Thig]

I am hoping it is coming to Alltel. I know there are only 800,000 of us but this phone would be a big step up from my BB Tour. The ffc means nothing to me and to be honest I was a little hesitant about going to a screen any larger than this.

 

[jim1969]

I'll believe it when I see it in a Verizon store.