HTC TyTN II

Available September - October 2007
28th August 2007

Following on from last year's original TyTN model, the HTC TyTN II is even more feature packed than the original version, with an impressive technical specification that puts it head-to-head with the Nokia E90.

A quick tour of what's in the HTC TyTN II should whet the appetites of most gadget fans - this is a 3G phone with HSDPA high-speed data, a large 2.8" 240x320 pixel touchscreen display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard with a clever hinge mechanism, WiFi, a 3 megapixel primary camera, microSD expandable memory plus inbuilt GPS with a copy of TomTom Navigator 6 taster edition installed. The TyTN II runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional, which means that it comes with a wide array of software, and HTC have also customised the Windows installation with their own HTC Home screen to make it easier to use.

It does look a lot like the Nokia E90 when opened, but the TyTN II's display is not as high resolution as its Nokia rival.. on the other hand, the TyTN has a touchscreen which is sorely lacking in the E90. On the back is a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, plus a secondary camera for video calling. This is pretty much equivalent to the E90, and then on top of that is a basic GPS system that can be upgraded to full satellite navigation for a fee. With SatNav, the TyTN II is likely to make full advantage of the smartphone's large touchscreen.

The software suite that comes with Windows Mobile 6 Professional is pretty familiar - there are pocket versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus a version of Internet Explorer and Windows Media player. HTC have added their "HTC Home" interface, plus a business card scanner and as we said earlier, the TyTN II is also bundled with a taster TomTom installation.

Connectivity is a strong point of the TyTN II, with tri-band UMTS, HSDPA (3.5G), quad-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE network support, plus 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0. You can connect the TyTN II to a PC with a USB cable, and there's a microSD memory slot too.

Overall the TyTN II is a hefty beast at 190 grams and 112 x 59 x 19mm in size. Maximum talktime on 3G is about 4.5 hours which is pretty good, on GSM about 7 hours. Standby time is around 14 days. Of course, using WiFi, Bluetooth or many other features will eat into the battery life.

The HTC TyTN II is slated to be widely available in Europe on all major networks from September onwards (although it may be sold under the carrier's own branding). Orange will be the first carrier to make the TyTN II available. Because the TyTN II has a Qualcomm chipset, it is unlikely to be available in the US in the near future (read more). Other regions should follow suit during Q4 2007. No pricing information was available at the time of going to press.