HTC Advantage available Stateside

HTC has announced the U.S. retail availability of the HTC Advantage. Here at Smartphone Reviewer we are still dithering over whether the Advantage qualifies as a phone as opposed to an ultra portable PC, but for the moment we'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

As one of the smallest mobile computers available, The HTC Advantage delivers extreme portability that leverages the mobile office strengths of Windows Mobile 6 and advanced wireless connectivity in one of the smallest mobile computer designs available.

"The HTC Advantage will challenge the way people think of mobile computing," said Peter Chou, chief executive officer of HTC. "Based on customer feedback, the Advantage is a mobile computer that includes a large display and increased memory while keeping the portability and global 3G connectivity of HTC´s best devices. Building upon HTC's strong track record for bringing cutting-edge mobile devices to the market, the HTC Advantage allows customers to bridge the gap between being mobile and being in the office."

Developed from the ground up to be extremely portable, the HTC Advantage liberates the traveling executive from their notebook PC. The HTC Advantage packs powerful productivity features into a unique and innovative design that is small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or purse. Based on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6, the HTC Advantage includes Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile for quick access to email, calendar and contacts and Microsoft Office Mobile enabling the creation and editing of Microsoft Office documents. The HTC Advantage includes a thin, magnetically connected QWERTY keyboard and advanced connectivity with Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi. In addition, the HTC Advantage enables powerful navigation capabilities with its built-in GPS and optional TeleNav GPS Navigator・service that provides 3D turn-by-turn driving directions, business directory, and traffic alerts and rerouting. Other features include:

• 5-inch VGA touch display
• HDD 8GB, ROM 256MB, RAM 128MB
• miniSD card slot
• HTC VueFLO for easy navigation
• 3.5mm Stereo audio jack

With nearly a decade of experience designing and building pioneering smartphones, HTC is extending its mobile convergence leadership into a new mobile computing category created by the introduction of the HTC Advantage. Adding powerful functionality and advanced connectivity in compact and innovative designs, the company is now doing for mobile computing what it did for mobile phones.

The HTC Advantage is now available through CompUSA and Amazon.com for an approximate retail price of $899.