Navigating by touch: Verizon-branded XV6900 means business

Touchscreen devices have been with us for years but, for obvious reasons, they’ve been getting a bit of attention lately.
Call it “touch navigation,” arguably a more accurate term. Add the notion of touch-based input/output for productivity-minded business users, another topic du jour. (Fingers for basic menu navigation, stylus for the nitty gritty.) Engineer in a virtual QWERTY keypad for ease-of-use in messaging and handling documents. Give it 3G connectivity. Call it your own.
In fact, call it the XV6900, the latest Verizon Wireless device to hit the market, at $250 online with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate.
The device, made by HTC Corp., is the sibling of the Touch handset at Verizon’s CDMA rivals, Sprint Nextel Corp. and Alltel Corp., and embodies aspects of the ongoing battle for hearts and minds (and wallets) in an upgrade market where competition is fierce.
Touch navigation indeed has a long history, said Saeed Saatchi, executive director for device marketing at Verizon Wireless, which began with productivity devices such as PDAs, morphed to consumer devices, and now returns to productivity – with the requisite multimedia applications that have become “table stakes,” of course.
“We’re always looking at new technologies and we work with OEMs to bring them to market as they mature,” Saatchi said.
The XV6900 has minimal customization to make it as versatile as possible for the mobile professional, according to Saatchi. The operating system is Windows Mobile 6 Professional, with support for Office Outlook Mobile and Microsoft Exchange. The device offers myriad messaging options, the ability to view and edit Microsoft Word and Excel files and view PowerPoint presentations. Add a speakerphone, Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, a 2-megapixel camera with video capture and microSD slot for up to 8 GB of removable memory.
From HTC’s point of view, the XV6900 and its TouchFLO technology takes its place among the OEM’s lengthening line of touchscreen handsets, which adorn all four top-tier carriers’ portfolios.
“The XV6900 is a great example of our direction and our commitment to tailor hardware and software into one great user experience,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America, via e-mail, “and we believe the pure white XV6900 will be a strong standout in Verizon’s portfolio.”
Despite an HTC effort at establishing its brand by adorning its devices with its logo, the XV6900 is a Verizon-branded device – a point Verizon declined to elaborate on, citing confidential agreements with its business partners.
“The device offers a nice touchscreen experience, emphasizing its strengths with 3G connectivity and tight integration with corporate e-mail systems, all in a caress-able form factor,” said analyst Michael Gartenberg at Jupiter Research. “Verizon Wireless has capitalized on iPhone awareness to offer an alternative aimed at a different demographic. And the device is priced reasonably, in the context of related devices.”
The carrier branding reflects a “natural tension” between carriers and handset vendors that has been playing out for years, Gartenberg added. Both parties are interested in each handset’s branding opportunity and whether the resulting brand logo belongs to the carrier, the vendor, or both is in constant flux. As HTC places more emphasis on gaining brand recognition, that tension is bound to increase and the vendor will continue to wrestle with the issue, according to Gartenberg.
“One reason carriers liked working with HTC in the past is that they could brand HTC’s devices as their own,” Gartenberg said. “For HTC, it’s more important to get the SKU (stock keeping unit) at Verizon. Any single device is merely tactical, not strategic.”
The prospect for and interest in touchscreen devices, however, is in fact a strategic matter, according to analyst Avi Greengart at Current Analysis.
“I consider touchscreens a major form factor overall,” Greengart said, “something that all carriers will need to address with a percentage of their portfolio – this is not just about the iPhone and competing with Apple. Verizon Wireless already has touchscreen products in their line aimed at both productivity and consumer entertainment. The XV6900 falls somewhere in between (those two categories) and can be marketed either way.”