The HTC Merge has been the source of much speculation but it has reappeared over the weekend in a short press release from HTC. The announcement indicates that it will be arriving in North America during the Spring from "multiple carriers".
The handset has been a bit of a mystery up until now, briefly appearing on Verizon's website back in November but quickly disappearing without a trace. On Verizon's product page for the device it allowed users to view the Merge in 360 degrees but didn't confirm any of the specs or the release date.
HTC calls the Merge a "truly complete smartphone" though it isn't more fully featured than many other handset out there and in some respects is less impressively spec'd. The main draw of the device will be it's 3.8" display with a full QWERTY keyboard hidden beneath it.
Powering the Merge is an 800MHz processor backed up by 363MB of RAM. There's also 4GB of internal storage and a 5mp camera but no front facing camera for video calling. It will be running Android 2.2 with HTC's Sense UI. The phone does have the distinction of being HTC's first Android CDMA world phone.
If it had been released when it first appeared on Verizon's website it might have looked more impressive. Now the specs point to a more affordable mid-range device though no details on pricing have yet been revealed.
"Combining the functionality of Android with the HTC Sense experience, the HTC Merge is the perfect device for those customers who are looking for a reliable mobile experience with the features and functionality of a smartphone, whether it's at home or travelling around the world" said Jason Mackenzie from HTC.
It seems certain that the Merge will land at Verizon which also has a number of Android world phones in the form of the Droid 2 Global and Droid Pro. There's no clue as to which other carriers will be getting it but with a Spring release date it shouldn't be long before more is revealed.
No comments:
Post a Comment