I'm still waiting for it to be released in UAE as I don't feel confident buying it from overseas for warranty and service issues.
I think it's going to be released around here pretty soon anyways as htc's middle east website is now displaying it as available product.
PS. let us know how it works for you.
Handtec.co.uk £364 including shipping out here from the UK. HTC told me they had no plans to release it here, which is why I went for the buying in option.
No warranty in the UAE, and if there are any issues, I'll have to send it to the UK, which is a bummer, but we all know how long customer service takes out here anyway right? Probably quicker sending it to the UK.
I was annoyed HTC were only selling the models I didn't want, so it was buy a Desire from the UK, or buy an overpriced iphone (which I didn't want to do, but will reserve judgement on if the Desire proves to be a mistake in the compatibility stakes).
Have just called Etisalat, and were referred to the HTC care number to find out about plans. Will do that in the morning as they're now closed.
My first hurdle is, however, that I currently use a Du pre-paid sim as my telephone number. That won't be compatible with any push e-mail from Etisalat. Go figure.
hello did you get your phone yet?
i too am just about to place an order from handtec for the htc desire along with some accessories for it. order total is £383 for me.
any idea if there will be additional customs/duty/fedex charges when shipping it to dubai?
hello did you get your phone yet?
i too am just about to place an order from handtec for the htc desire along with some accessories for it. order total is £383 for me.
any idea if there will be additional customs/duty/fedex charges when shipping it to dubai?
Will let you know.. It's still with UPS at the moment, and will be delivered on Saturday (was shipped on the 8th).. It's got to go through all the UAE customs etc, and I'm monitoring its progress on the UPS site.. Touch wood, the worst that could happen is I get slapped with 5% import duty.
hello from Abu Dhabi. Got mine about a month or 2 ago from expansys.
Love the phone. Much better than any winmo IMO.
I like to describe Android as the bastard child of winmo and iPhone haha
Anyways, no issues using the phone via Etisalat/DU. Its like any other mobile.
In regards to the push mail & pre-paid DU account. Why would you need a paid Du push mail service? gmail does push-mail automatically. And if you're on a company exchange server you can automatically establish a link.
Thanks to the UAE's telecom body, you dont need to setup sms/mms/data package settings. The sim card registers all this info itself upon startup.
@dylan
thats almost 250 dhs. damn. im sure the customs charge was not that much its just ups who makes some extra $$ out of it. anyways on the bright side the shipping was super quick. do let us know how it works, i was a bit concerned after reading about the dust under screen, sd card issues, audio problem when playing videos etc on this site.
hope to have it soon, handtech did not send any email saying mine has been shipped. hope they do today.
How did you get your 3g sorted out? Every time I've texted du to 3300, it says they are unable to provision my handset...
Quote:
Originally Posted by CorruptedSanity
dylan,
hello from Abu Dhabi. Got mine about a month or 2 ago from expansys.
Love the phone. Much better than any winmo IMO.
I like to describe Android as the bastard child of winmo and iPhone haha
Anyways, no issues using the phone via Etisalat/DU. Its like any other mobile.
In regards to the push mail & pre-paid DU account. Why would you need a paid Du push mail service? gmail does push-mail automatically. And if you're on a company exchange server you can automatically establish a link.
Thanks to the UAE's telecom body, you dont need to setup sms/mms/data package settings. The sim card registers all this info itself upon startup.
you should manually enter the 3g settings. it should be the same for all android phones so if you find the settings for some other android phone you can try using that.
try this, i found it online via a google search
Name = du
APN = du
Proxy = <not set>
Port = <not set>
Username = <not set>
Password = <not set>
Server = <not set>
MMSC = http://mms.du.ae
MMS Proxy = 010.019.018.004
MMS Port = 8080
MMS Protocol = WAP 2.0
try this, i found it online via a google search
Name = du
APN = du
Proxy = <not set>
Port = <not set>
Username = <not set>
Password = <not set>
Server = <not set>
MMSC = http://mms.du.ae
MMS Proxy = 010.019.018.004
MMS Port = 8080
MMS Protocol = WAP 2.0
Thanks.. That works for the MMS, which was automatically setup by the SIM card.
However, it's the 3g I'm more concerned about. From what I understand, I have to download the data bundles from Du, and that's what I'm having the issue with.
As far as e-mail is concerned, I have an eim account and use outlook based on my pc. I'd like to setup a push from that.. Any ideas?
expansys shipping is cheaper, but phone is a bit more expensive.
final price will depend on whether there is a difference of duty paid when shipped from expansys or from handtec.
Today I was at Sharaf DG in Ibn Batuta and the sales guy told me that they'll have the desire by the end of the month. I asked him about the price and he said it'll be around 2600 Dhs
but will the desire have android market? i have another samsung android phone which i bought officially in Dubai and there is no android market which means i cant download any apps from android market. samsung said none of their android phones in UAE have android market for some strange reason.
in my samsung android phone i dont even have the android market app/icon in the menu. so i have not even got to the stage where i see the free/paid apps.
Today I was at Sharaf DG in Ibn Batuta and the sales guy told me that they'll have the desire by the end of the month. I asked him about the price and he said it'll be around 2600 Dhs
Surprising.. HTC Dubai told me they won't be releasing in the Middle East at all..
Surprising.. HTC Dubai told me they won't be releasing in the Middle East at all..
On thursday I called HTC and the guy said he has no idea when or if desire will be released around here. Then I sent and email to them complaining why they are putting the product in the middle east section of the web site if they are not going to release here. this is what I got back today: New Response Dear MR.Gholam Thank you for contacting our Customer Support Center With regards to your inquiry, kindly be informed that the device will be released soon We invite you to visit the support area on our Web site. Please go to: HTC - Support
or you can go to: HTC
select your country and then click on the Support tab. Thank you once again for your continued patronage. Best regards, (Engy) htc
You'll see all apps but can only download the free ones.
Use an application called "market enabler", you can download it from the market.
It can make your phone looks like it is from the US or other countries so you will see the paid applications too.
Does the "Voice search" work for you guys in the UAE?
I thought "market enabler" is only for rooted devices?
Also, you can see the paid apps, you just cant buy them. There is no way to add your credit card info to buy it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Replay
Use an application called "market enabler", you can download it from the market.
It can make your phone looks like it is from the US or other countries so you will see the paid applications too.
Does the "Voice search" work for you guys in the UAE?
got mine for 2190dhs from handtec phone+car charger+silicone gel cover+ screen protector+shipping+customs.
not bad as the dubizzle sellers were all asking for 2250+ for just the phone only. shipping was super quick too 2 working days.
I thought "market enabler" is only for rooted devices?
Also, you can see the paid apps, you just cant buy them. There is no way to add your credit card info to buy it.
My phone is rooted, so you could be right.
If you can see the paid apps, try to setup your "Google checkout" on a pc and it will show up on your mobile. This is how I did it.
got mine for 2190dhs from handtec phone+car charger+silicone gel cover+ screen protector+shipping+customs.
not bad as the dubizzle sellers were all asking for 2250+ for just the phone only. shipping was super quick too 2 working days.
Am in qatar and I got my fone a month bak..totally awesome stuff..
I'll answer couple of ques i see here.
I got mine from handtec.co.uk ..inclusive of shipping it cost me totally Dhs.2100
In this part of the world v only get the free apps in the market. you cannot even see the priced apps, not even search it. But free apps are good enuf.
Everythin works fine in the fone as far as network is concerned.
For Voice Search theres couple of things u gota do. firstly u gota install the Keyboard which has Voice to Text, u can find tht on this website.. nimbu.amorvi.com
Once you've installed that keyboard, ur contacts shud be saved under a Google Account and not in the fone.
After doing all the above, jus hold the search button (the one with magnifyin glass) till it says speak now. Also u shud b connected to the internet via Wifi or Mobile Internet.
Am in qatar and I got my fone a month bak..totally awesome stuff..
I'll answer couple of ques i see here.
I got mine from handtec.co.uk ..inclusive of shipping it cost me totally Dhs.2100
In this part of the world v only get the free apps in the market. you cannot even see the priced apps, not even search it. But free apps are good enuf.
Everythin works fine in the fone as far as network is concerned.
For Voice Search theres couple of things u gota do. firstly u gota install the Keyboard which has Voice to Text, u can find tht on this website.. nimbu.amorvi.com
Once you've installed that keyboard, ur contacts shud be saved under a Google Account and not in the fone.
After doing all the above, jus hold the search button (the one with magnifyin glass) till it says speak now. Also u shud b connected to the internet via Wifi or Mobile Internet.
Hi Chrisdoha,
I live in Oman and managed to buy from the market. at the moment I know only one way to do that.
1-Root the phone.
2- setup your Google checkout account on the web using your pc.
3- use the app called "Market enabler".
once you do all of the above, all is ok. You will see all paid apps as well and buy them too.
I have voice search on my Desire phone, but everytime I use it it shows a "connection error" or "network error". as you know it has to connect with google talk server and for countries like Oman and UAE, VOIP servers are blocked by the ISP.
So I wonder if anyone from the UAE did manage to use it
sorry im a total newbie with the phone
where in the phone can i find this voice search?
Voice search is an application you can add to your phone which will enable you to do two neat things; web voice search and sms dictation. all controlled by voice onle, no need to type in. search "voice search" in youtube and you will understand it better.
installed it and voice search works fine for me here in UAE.
even got the mic logo in my keyboard so i can use voice for composing sms. works pretty well
The Following User Says Thank You to cheap_deal For This Useful Post:
installed it and voice search works fine for me here in UAE.
even got the mic logo in my keyboard so i can use voice for composing sms. works pretty well
This is great! As I always thought my problem was the blocking of VOIP. It must be something else then. As I understand that Google talk is blocked in the UAE as well, is this right Cheap-deal?
Added few minutes later..
Voice search works fine if I use network directly. It doesn't work if under WIFI.
Last edited by Replay; June 13th, 2010 at 04:14 PM.
dont know about dylan but mine is doing great so far. absolutely love it. just waiting on my screen protector and cover to arrive as it was bought off ebay.
dont know about dylan but mine is doing great so far. absolutely love it. just waiting on my screen protector and cover to arrive as it was bought off ebay.
good to hear that. of course i'm waiting for screen protector report too.
hi guys,
good to see that there is a thread goin on by the mid-east guys!
am from riyadh, saudi arabia!
I recently sold my HTC G1, and i have decided to get the HTC Desire, initially i was goin for the Nexus one, but then realized that Desire is better then it!
anyways, good to know there are websites shipping to the mideast!
So which ones better, expansys or handtec?
one thing i really wanna know is that these devices are absolutely new, with the box seal intact as well, ryt?!
yes it comes brand new. you can use a credit card to pay for the purchase.
@replay, the screen protector was very cheap and i wanted a cover anyway so bought it as they came as a package. many people on here are using it, from the same ebay seller. you can check the thread, desire cases/covers thread on the 1st page of this forum.
@replay, the screen protector was very cheap and i wanted a cover anyway so bought it as they came as a package. many people on here are using it, from the same ebay seller. you can check the thread, desire cases/covers thread on the 1st page of this forum.
It's definitely a good idea to use screen protector.
The HTC Desire is one of the latest high end phone by HTC bringing a huge 3.7" inch high quality AMOLED screen for crystal clear viewing, powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and runs on, you guessed it, Android.
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HTC Desire UAE users
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How come they didn't ship with the phone? didn't you buy them all at the same time from Handtec?
