Might the Touch Pro 3 be real after all?

By Phil Nickinson
last updated

T-Mobile appears to be at it again. Last month they released the HTC HD2 and now it looks like they are poised to possibly release the HTC Tera. The Windows Phone just passed through the FCC and if the speculation is correct it will be headed to a T-Mobile network near you.

The similarities are close enough between the Tera PB65100 and the Touch Pro 2 that many are dubbing it the Touch Pro 3. There is some thought that maybe the Tera will be eligible for upgrade to Windows Phone 7 but the design (has more than three buttons) and the specs (see below) will have to undergo a major overhaul.

The Tera has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, runs Windows Mobile 6.5, has a 3-inch WQVGA resistive touch screen, 512mb ROM, 256mb RAM, 3.5mm headphone jack and a Qualcomm 600mhz processor.

There's no word when the Tera might become available but we'll keep a watch for it. [via cellphonesignal.com]

Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days. Subscribe to the Modern Dad newsletter!

16 Comments
  • Looks like there might be some confusion with the mytouch slide android phone, that is what is coming to T-Mo, not another QWERTY WM phone.
  • more like touch pro 2 bigger littler brother.. should have given it at least the same screen
  • Eff those many who are dubbing it the Touch Pro3. I won't accept it as that, especially with the smaller screen and less RAM. The processor's only 72MHz more for goodness' sake. I expect the real TP3 to have what T-Mo's HD2 has under the hood.
  • FAIL!!!
  • A smaller screen? Bad move on HTC's part.
  • This thing is crap, the TP2 beats it in nearly every way. The processor on this is the only thing that is better, and it is barely better.
  • As long as they don't call this the TP3, fine by me.
  • I clicked through the link and saw, "HTC PB65100, aka myTouch Slide passed FCC," as the title. Something tells me that isn't the Touch Pro 3. I'm off to find more forum posts extolling the virtues of a dummy screen.
  • If this is indeed the Touch Pro 3, then HTC's employing the same strategy here as they did with the HD2 Mini. They're offering the same overall experience but in a smaller package. A lower resolution with a slightly bumped up processor will mean better performance. i'm curious as to what the actual resolution is because i didn't think WM 6.5 supported WQVGA. Making the entire device smaller makes it more pocketable, which really comes down to personal preference as it also means a smaller screen and keyboard. It's also worth realizing that with Windows Mobile marketshare shrinking, companies are going to be less inclined to product high end hardware that'll price itself out of the hands of many. i don't see how this'll be compatible with Windows Phone 7 as the screen is resistive and the resolution is wrong. The processor is also too slow.
  • Can someone clarify the "3 buttons" specification for Windows Phone 7? I was under the impression that a WP7 phone would have to have AT LEAST those 3 buttons...not that manufactures were limited to only 3.
  • The spec IS at least three buttons, though that is not to say that the front definitely cannot have more than three buttons. The three buttons that required on the front of the phone are home, start, and search. I think it would be asinine to not allow "send" and "end" buttons on the front of the phone. There will also have to be a power/lock button somewhere on the phone. Also, the spec requires that phones with cameras must have a dedicated camera button (which will be on the side of the phone). Keyboards will also be allowed. I think people are getting a little too wound up about the "three buttons" requirement. It's not a "three buttons, no more, no less" policy. It is a "the device must have the following three buttons: home, start, and search" policy.
  • With specs this bad the phone should be called the Touch Am, it would be a shame to add it to the Touch Pro family.
  • I do not think the Touch Pro3 will have such a low-res display, so it may not the HTC Tera at all.The smartphone is it, that most likely not run Windows Phone 7 Series, but Windows Mobile 6.5 the HTC HD2, the Touch Pro3 might be upgradeable to WP7.
  • I hit a TP2 and am hunting nervy to the new product hitting this year. I hit feature that the Tera module hit a 3\" screen. I don't see how that module make the new sound more appealing.....I'm a bigger concealment type of guy. I module say that the element keyboard on my TP2 borders on too big, a good problem to have, I guess. Has anyone heard kinda HTC module be taking some of their higher end big concealment stuff (Evo, Incredible etc) and introduce versions with a element keyboard? Thats definitely what I would buy.
  • The processor may technically only be slightly faster, but it also has a dedicated processor for the phone itself so that will take a lot of the load off it and I be it would be notably faster. The slightly smaller screen may not be as big an issue for those who already are used to a smaller screen. As a SERO customer whose upgrade options are pretty much at the end of the line at this point I'd welcome this with open arms. As a realist, I'm probably going to have to bail on the plan eventually and decide if I want to go WP7, Android or iPhone (will definitely be on VZW if I have to change though.)
  • We need a newer model of the HTC TOUCH PRO2. And it better be better than the Samsung Epic and HTC EVO! That would make the best phone to be a MUST HAVE for a PDA phone.