HTC Imagio represents the change in Verizon style with its smartphone offerings, as this is the carrier’s first smartphone to support VCast multimedia services. The HTC Imagio also marks Verizon’s first ever Windows Mobile 6.5 device.

Verizon’s HTC Imagio is a touchscreen Windows Mobile 6.5 handset with spec that includes:

• 3.6-inch WVGA screen
• Wi-Fi
• GPS
• 5-megapixel camera
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• microSD storage expansion (but sadly, no included card)
• Supports V CAST Mobile TV, which is a Flo TV-based live streaming TV service that looks and feels a bit like digital cable, phone-ified.

Previously codenamed the HTC Whitestone, the phone has a 3.6-inch WVGA touch screen, a 528-Mhz Qualcomm processor, 512MB ROM, 256 MB of RAM, and support for GSM along with Verizon’s CDMA/EV-DO network.

Spec-wise, the phone’s a lot like HTC’s Touch Pro 2, the Imagio has quite a sturdy construction and is not at all flimsy or cheap.

The HTC Imagio is perfect for globetrotters thanks to its Global roaming capabilities with data access in more than 185 destinations (Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 + 2100 HSPA).

V CAST Mobile TV and Video on demand:
With the VCast Mobile TV service, powered by Qualcomm’s FLO TV network, you can view live and prerecorded TV shows on the device. With Verizon Wireless VCast multimedia services HTC Imagio customers can enjoy the best of broadcast and cable television programming – including live shows and other mobile television content – 24 hours a day from many of the best-known entertainment brands including Bravo, CBS, CBS College Sports, CBS News, CNBC, Comedy Central, ESPN, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio, FOX, FOX News, FOX Sports, MSNBC, MTV, MTV Tr3?s, NBC, NBC Sports, NBC News, and Nickelodeon.

Camera:
The HTC Imagio XV6975 is currently the 3rd Verizon device to come with a 5MP camera, after the Casio Exilim and the Samsung Omnia. The interface is basic, but it does allow for a variety of settings, such as the resolution, ISO, and white balance. There’s also a touch focus mode that only requires you to tap the screen for the camera to focus in on a particular point. Other settings include contrast, saturation, and sharpness.

The built-in video camera can record VGA quality video in four different formats (H.263, 3GPP2, MPEG4, and H.264).

Web Browser:
For web browsing you can choose between using the updated mobile version of Microsoft Internet Explorer or the Opera Mobile browser. You can even choose between mobile and “full” desktop versions of each browser, which is great if you prefer loading full versions of Web pages rather than the simpler mobile-only versions.

Opera Mobile 9.5 is more pleasing than sleek and smooth looking Internet Explorer. Not only did web pages load several seconds faster, but they were rendered slightly better.

Performance:
The Imagio has a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7600 processor and was able to perform most tasks with speed. The accelerometer was quick to change screen orientation and zooming in and out of Web pages was also fast.

The call quality can be a little choppy, even though people called said they can hear clear on their end, on this end there was a bit of background “hiss” through the earpiece speaker, and there was some distortion if the volume level was raised past medium. There was also a good amount of distortion when using the speakerphone.

The HTC Imagio has a 1500mAH lithium ion battery with a rated talk time of 5 hours and 13 days of standby time.

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