Shift by name, Shift by nature.

…all the way into 2008.

By the time the HTC Shift ships on Jan 11 2008 (latest date, UK, on Expansys) the biggest consumer electronics show of the year will be over and the Internet will be a wash (awash? Sorry Mum ;-)) with talk of the next-gen mobile Internet devices, low power mobile device platforms, longer battery life and lower prices. Yes, it will be months (and months) before we see those promised products but why would someone go out and spend over $1200 on a device when there’s going to be a step-change in the technology just months later?

You could argue that HTC’s main customer-base is going to be large-volume corporate sales that already already have strong HTC ties but IT departments don’t exactly ignore the voice of the Internet. When they search again for ‘umpc hsdpa’ at the end of Jan, the results page will look a lot different and the HTC Shift will be tucked away in niche searches. IT departments will see a completely different picture and their purchasing decisions could be steered away from the Shift. Its the tech web-sites, bloggers and early adopters that create these Internet pages (and search results) and if HTC don’t communicate with these people, its going to hit them in the back side very quickly because they are getting annoyed at the delays. HTC should take a leaf out of Dennis Moores book. He’s CEO of OQO, runs his own OQO-focused blog and is constantly communicating with his potential customers on OQOTalk. Just look at the activity on that forum. There’s more traffic there than on the whole of the UMPCPortal forum and you can guarantee that a lot of the good feeling that is emanating from that is translating into sales.

My communications channel with HTC and their PR company seem to have become a little blocked since the ‘launch’ in London at the beginning of November and it’s echoing what happened with the Medion UMPC. I hope it doesn’t go the same way because I still like the device and want to see it in the market ASAP.

If you’re tired of waiting for the HTC Shift already though, maybe it’s time to consider the U1010 3G, the Q1 Ultra HSDPA or the OQO HSDPA/EVDO