HTC TyTn II PDA-phone, great value for money

BANGALORE: The HTC TyTn II is a PocketPC phone running the latest Windows Mobile 6 Professional. The large touchscreen, although not VGA, is crisp and clear. However its most unique feature is the sliding keyboard that pops out from its side. Once popped out you can tilt the screen up so that the phone looks like a mini laptop. And believe me, this makes entering text on the device much, much more easy as one needn't hold the phone at an unnatural angle to both key in and view what you type.

You can even prop it up on your desk next to your laptop. The keys are large and easy to use. In fact, this entire review is being written on the TyTn II itself in the back of a car stuck in the Delhi traffic. You also have the option of an on-screen keyboard or handwriting recognition using the stylus.

But that's not all that the phone has. It's a 3.5G phone that is GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSPDA/HSUPA compatible. Although neither 3G nor 3.5G is available in India, but if you're a world traveler you can get the advantage of using super high speed Internet on your phone in many countries.

The phone also has 802.11g WiFi, giving you the option of high speed Internet on your wireless network in your office, home or hotel. Both Microsoft Exchange Direct Push and BlackBerry Push Email support is built in. Also included is BlueTooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP to give you even more options.

Another great feature of the phone is the built-in GPS. This is a very fast GPS system that got me an initial satellite fix in less than 2 minutes and subsequent fixes in less than 15 seconds. Unfortunately the phone doesn't come with any city maps of India. However, I found that the free Windows Live Search for the Mobile (wls.live. com) works well with the GPS and has city level information for India. If you have a more detailed GPS program, MapKing (www.mapking.com) is a product you can try. It has detailed maps of all major Indian cities with routing and vocal navigation too.

In terms of camera, the phone has a great 3.2MP autofocus camera at the back and a VGA camera in front. Both are capable of taking photos and videos. And you can even use the front facing camera for video calls! The only thing missing here is a flash for taking night shots. However, the camera performs great otherwise and taking crisp shots in even moderate light is easy.

In terms of internal specs too this phone is at the higher-end. With a 400MHz CPU, 128MB ROM, 256MB RAM, it can tackle large number of open apps at the same time. Syncing with Outlook is a breeze and the number of 3rd party apps for this platform is huge and varied, including ones that give you an iPhone-like look and feel if you want.

Sadly this phone is not yet available in India, although I ordered it online from a store in the UK and had it delivered to me within 3 days. It cost me about Rs 34,000 including costs of shipping. If you are in the market for a high end business phone, this should probably be your choice.

Bottomline: With the multitude of features crammed into this small form factor, it's great value for money in the high-end phone bracket.