The HTC MAX 4G: The future of phones?

The world’s first integrated GSM/WiMAX mobile has just been introduced to the market, and it’s available to oligarchs only. OK, all Russians. It’s quite an unusual step for HTC, and is down to the fact they’ve partnered with Russian company Scartel. People lucky enough to live under Medvedev can look forward to high speed Internet browsing, with a basic package that includes access to games, maps and messaging. Similar to the Touch HD, the mobile has a 3.8 inch touchscreen that utilizes TouchFLO 3D and runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro. You also get a five megapixel camera bundled in and a 3.5mm jack which is always appreciated.

The phone is equipped with flash streaming, and combined with the networks traffic algorithms allows online TV and video to be viewed with no interruptions.. They’ve also incorporated a Video on Demand service, and intend to show 23 free digital TV channels so you can watch your soaps on the go.

The online catalogue that comes with the handset offers a wide selection if film, music and even e-books for downloading and as they’ve included a TV out socket, you can transfer content from mobile to TV easily.

It weighs in at 151g and contains 256MV of internal memory with an 8GB expandable flash drive. It’s a tri-band device that runs the usual GSM/GPRS/EDGE, with the WiMAX being the stand out feature. Add to that the fact that there’s VOIP support and you may be looking at the end of high monthly charges, similar to 3’s S2 phone.

Exclusive to Scartel, and will only be available in Russia from Nov 26th.

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