Review: HTC Arrive
Apps
Wow! When WP7 first launched, there were only 500 apps in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Now, there are 10,000! That's an incredible achievement for Microsoft.
The Marketplace uses the same Zune-style Hub layout. The Apps are added to the main menu once downloaded and installed. Games are added to the XBox 360 Hub. The Marketplace shows screenshots, user reviews (including text and stars), related apps, and how much the app costs to download.
One of the new features of the NoDo system update is better Marketplace search, and they weren't kidding. The searching features are much easier to use and return better results, faster.
Because the Arrive is made by HTC, it has access to the HTC Hub. The HTC Hub is sort of like a mini Marketplace for the Arrive. There are a number of apps in there that were developed by HTC that work with the Arrive (such as a Sound Enhancer, Photo Enhancer, Stocks, etc.)
Bluetooth
The Arrive pairs with mono and stereo headsets with no problem. Sound quality through mono headsets was very good for phone calls. Sound quality for music through stereo Bluetooth headsets was also very good. This is a dramatic improvement over what I experienced with the Surround. The Arrive supports the PBA profile for syncing with vehicle phone book and voice dialing systems, but it can't pair with computers to pass files back and forth.
Clock
It's easy to read the time from the Arrive's lock screen. Press the lock key, and the screen pops to life with a nice digital clock. The time also appears sporadically in the status indicator bar at the top of the screen. Oddly, the HTC Hub offers a typical HTC-like clock and weather widget. However, it can only be seen when in the HTC Hub.
GPS
The Arrive has Sprint Navigator and Bing Maps on board. Sprint's Navigator software works just as it does on any other device, and I had no problems at all with the Arrive's GPS system. I much preferred Bing Maps, though. Bing Maps supports pinch-to-zoom, searching, directions, traffic layers, and even satellite views.
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