Exclusive: HTC Merge hands-on

[Phil Nickinson]

As the kids today say, "boom."

Hands-on with the HTC Merge

 

[marckatz]

Why would this be better then the droid2 world edition that is supposed to be out at about the same time?

 

[jim1969]

Why Bing? I was waiting on a HTC qwerty phone.

 

[marckatz]

As someone who is contemplating getting an Android phone (coming from a Storm 1) do I need to be concerned that this phone only has 2 GB of internal storage (I think I read that the amount left after the OS and bloat is only a little over 300 MB)

 

[bw13]

It's better than the Droid because the keyboard is much better.

 

[marckatz]

What about the concern re: Gingerbread and the amount of internal storage?

 

[Spartan616]

What about the concern re: Gingerbread and the amount of internal storage?

Agreed.

I totally would get this device if I didn't know that Android 3.0 is right around the corner. It'd would have been nice if this was the first 4" 3.0 qwerty slider device. I would pay Verizon's ETF for that.

 

[EggoEspada]

Any word if this is the same Sense 2.2 on the HTC Desire HD?

 

[dominicanyorkjl]

Just wondering...will this phone be able to use the future LTE connection?

 

[marckatz]

Any word if this is the same Sense 2.2 on the HTC Desire HD?

According to what I've read and saw the unit tested ran Sense 2.1. It will not be LTE compatible but remember LTE won't be fully rolled out until 2012. There will be even greater phones out by then!

 

[aarons12#AC]

Why would this be better then the droid2 world edition that is supposed to be out at about the same time?

have you ever actually tried to type on a droid 2 keyboard? i will be choosing between the two, but right now the choice for me is clearly the htc.

 

[aarons12#AC]

i think some smart folks will figure out how to un-bing it very quickly. in fact i'm counting on that.

 

[aarons12#AC]

tis true, supposedly gingerbread will require a 1.0 ghz processor.

 

[dominicanyorkjl]

sux

According to what I've read and saw the unit tested ran Sense 2.1. It will not be LTE compatible but remember LTE won't be fully rolled out until 2012. There will be even greater phones out by then!

hmmm, ok then i guess, thank you

 

[dominicanyorkjl]

who can we call to find out if this will support gingerbread...we must know

 

[Spartan616]

who can we call to find out if this will support gingerbread...we must know

There are several blogs that reported what Android 3.0 will require. While they are mostly rumors, it seems like an appropriate measure by Google.

I'm planning on waiting until the holiday season to see what's coming up. Hopefully they'll come out with a LTE 4" QWERTY slider w/ wolrd phone capabilities and a front facing camera before my contract is up (10/2011)

http://www.androidguys.com/2010/06/30/rumor-android-30-gingerbread-minimum-hardware-requirements/

 

[ThomasT626]

So this phone isn't sporting a front facing camera? I thought it was originally supposed to?

 

[Art13]

Just listen to the latest AC podcast, and they all seem to perfer the HTC Merge ove the Droid Pro. But after reading most of your post i'm concerned about not being able to upgrade to Gingerbread when it comes out. The Mereg seems to be a better phone, but lacks the processor strength to upgrade. Buy on the other hand i dont want to be saddled down with a year old phone model, even if the hardware is new.

 

[bw13]

If you really read about this chip, you'll discover that this 800mhz is actually faster than many of the current 1ghz chips. This is the same chip and same speed that is in the new G2 and I can't imagine that it won't accept Gingerbread. As for typing on the Droid 2 keyboard, it's dreadful. I love my droid but motorola cannot make keyboards.

 

[Brett]

tis true, supposedly gingerbread will require a 1.0 ghz processor.

that is incorrect. google has commented on this and stated that the 1 Ghz requirement was a false rumor. they did not specify what the requirements would be but they made sure that cleared up that rumor real fast.