Verizon XV6700: Early Look at the HTC Apache Windows Mobile Phone

In November 2005, a reader-submitted photo and a mention on the previous day's podcast were enough for Mobility Today to run a short news item about a phone that wouldn't officially exist for another seven weeks: Verizon's version of the HTC Apache, the device that eventually launched as the XV6700. The original piece, headlined "XV6700BB Verizon Pocket PC Phone" and bylined to David Ciccone, still survives in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine — a genuine, dated snapshot of a leak-stage smartphone story from the last months before Verizon made the phone official at CES 2006.

What Was the Verizon XV6700?

The Verizon XV6700 was a Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone that paired a touchscreen with a side-sliding physical QWERTY keyboard, built around HTC hardware developed under the internal codename Apache. Verizon officially announced the device at CES on January 4, 2006, and it reached store shelves on January 19, 2006, priced at $299.99 with a new two-year service agreement. That's worth stating plainly up front, because Mobility Today's own coverage of the phone predates all of that by nearly two months — the site's November 17, 2005 article was published while the device was still an unconfirmed, reader-sourced leak, not a finished product with a name, price, or release date attached to it yet.

The HTC Apache Codename

Inside HTC, the hardware that would eventually reach Verizon customers as the XV6700 was developed under the codename Apache. That single piece of hardware was sold across more than one carrier and more than one brand name during its life, a common pattern for HTC-built Windows Mobile devices in the mid-2000s. Sprint's version reached the market first, launching in September 2005 as the Sprint PPC-6700. Verizon's version followed roughly four months later as the XV6700 discussed throughout this article.

How the XV6700 Related to the Sprint PPC-6700

The Verizon XV6700 and the Sprint PPC-6700 were built on the same underlying HTC Apache hardware platform, not two separate devices that happened to look alike. A commenter in Mobility Today's original November 2005 thread put it directly, describing the Verizon version as "just the 'Black' version of the HTC Apache" next to Sprint's version, which the same commenter described as carrying a "grey/silver faceplate" on Sprint's business-focused product listing at the time. That kind of carrier-specific cosmetic difference — same hardware platform, different faceplate color and branding — was a common way HTC devices of this era were differentiated across carriers, and it's consistent with how the Verizon and Sprint versions of the Apache platform are described in surviving contemporary coverage.

UTStarcom, Audiovox, and Verizon's Branding

Adding a further wrinkle to the naming, some contemporary retail listings and press coverage referred to Verizon's device as the "UTStarcom XV6700" rather than simply the "Verizon XV6700" — UTStarcom appears to have been the manufacturer or reseller of record Verizon used for some of its listings of the hardware, even though HTC was the company that actually designed and built it. Separately, PhoneDB's historical device records also list an "Audiovox XV6700 (HTC Apache)" entry, suggesting the same underlying hardware was distributed under more than one reseller name depending on the retail channel. None of this changes the underlying hardware story — it's still HTC's Apache platform in every case — but it's a genuine reflection of how inconsistently mid-2000s Windows Mobile devices were labeled depending on where a shopper encountered them.

Windows Mobile 5.0

The XV6700 launched running Windows Mobile 5.0, Microsoft's Pocket PC Phone Edition platform of the period, bundling Pocket Outlook, Pocket Internet Explorer, and Office Mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Windows Mobile 5.0 also introduced persistent storage improvements over earlier Windows Mobile versions, reducing the odds that a dead battery would wipe out a user's data — a meaningful reliability upgrade for a device positioned, like most Pocket PC Phones of its generation, as a tool for mobile professionals managing email and documents on the go.

Processor, RAM, and Flash Storage

The XV6700 ran on a 416MHz Intel PXA270 XScale-class processor, with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of flash ROM — specifications confirmed consistently across multiple contemporary and historical spec listings for both the Verizon XV6700 and the Sprint PPC-6700 built on the same platform. A commenter in Mobility Today's original thread offered a real-world data point on that processor even before the Verizon version launched: someone who had reviewed HTC's separate Universal device, built around a faster 520MHz processor, noted that Sprint's 416MHz PPC-6700 "seemed to be as fast or faster depending on the applications he was running" — an early, informal signal that raw clock speed didn't tell the whole story of how these devices actually performed.

2.8-Inch QVGA Touchscreen and Slide-Out QWERTY

The XV6700 used a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen at QVGA resolution (240x320), operated with a stylus in typical Pocket PC Phone Edition fashion. Beneath the screen, the phone's body slid open sideways to reveal a full physical QWERTY keyboard — the same slide-out mechanism that defined the Apache platform across both the Sprint and Verizon versions, and one of the earliest widely available examples of pairing a touchscreen with a full slide-out keyboard in a single compact device, ahead of the wave of similarly configured Windows Mobile phones that followed over the next several years.

EV-DO Data

The XV6700 supported EV-DO for high-speed cellular data on Verizon's CDMA network, the carrier's mobile broadband standard of the period. Mobility Today's original comment thread includes an early, informal endorsement of how that data performed on the closely related Sprint hardware: one commenter described using EV-DO via DUN (dial-up networking, tethering the phone's data connection to a laptop) directly from the Sprint PPC-6700, writing that it "works great" and delivered "awesome speeds wherever I am at." That's a single user's informal impression from November 2005 rather than a lab-tested benchmark, but it's a genuine, dated data point from someone using the platform's EV-DO connection in the real world before Verizon's own version had even launched.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Alongside its cellular data connection, the XV6700 included 802.11b Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, giving users a faster local wireless option and short-range connectivity for headsets and accessories. Both were standard, expected features for a business-oriented Pocket PC Phone at this price point in late 2005 and early 2006 — but as the next section covers, whether Wi-Fi and the phone's cellular radio could actually run at the same time was a live, unresolved question in Mobility Today's own comment section at the time.

The Wi-Fi and Phone Radio Question

This is worth covering carefully, because the original comment thread shows real, unresolved disagreement rather than a single settled answer. One commenter using the Sprint PPC-6700 wrote plainly that "when using wifi I can still recieve calls," describing browsing and chatting over Wi-Fi while simultaneously talking on the speakerphone. Another Sprint PPC-6700 owner, posting the same day, went further: "I can definitely say that there is no issue with the WiFi turning off the phone radio." Set against that, a third commenter reported a rumor circulating elsewhere — on a forum called PPCTs — that the device "does the same as the Samsung i730 [when] you turn on wifi the phone portion of the device is turned off," referencing a real, documented Wi-Fi-and-phone conflict on that separate Samsung Verizon device. Mobility Today's own author, David Ciccone, responded to that specific concern in the comments: "Yes it is but this has the Verizon EVDO from what I have seen on FCC site. Unfortunately it looks wifi and phone are a no-no again" — suggesting that, based on what he'd seen in Verizon's FCC filing for the device, the Verizon-specific version might carry the same restriction Sprint users said their unit didn't have. Because this exchange happened roughly two months before Verizon's official launch, it reflects pre-launch speculation about a carrier-specific restriction rather than a confirmed, tested description of how retail Verizon XV6700 units ultimately behaved — this article isn't asserting a final answer where the surviving record doesn't provide one.

1.3-Megapixel Camera and miniSD Storage

The XV6700 included a 1.3-megapixel camera, modest even by 2006 standards but in line with what competing Pocket PC Phones of the period typically offered, plus a miniSD card slot for expandable storage — useful for adding more room for photos, documents, and installed applications beyond the phone's built-in 128MB of flash.

Verizon-Specific Software

As a Verizon-branded device, the XV6700 shipped with Verizon's own suite of carrier software layered on top of the base Windows Mobile 5.0 experience — the kind of bundled navigation, media, and account-management tools Verizon typically preloaded onto its Pocket PC Phones during this period. The original Mobility Today comment thread doesn't itemize that software specifically, since the piece predates the phone's actual retail release, so this article isn't claiming a confirmed list of exactly which Verizon applications shipped on launch-day units beyond noting that carrier-specific software was standard practice for Verizon smartphones of this generation.

XV6700 vs. Sprint PPC-6700 Spec Comparison

Spec	Sprint PPC-6700	Verizon XV6700
HTC codename	Apache	Apache
Operating system	Windows Mobile 5.0	Windows Mobile 5.0
Processor	416MHz Intel PXA270	416MHz Intel PXA270
RAM / Flash ROM	64MB / 128MB	64MB / 128MB
Display	2.8-inch, 240x320 (QVGA)	2.8-inch, 240x320 (QVGA)
Keyboard	Slide-out QWERTY	Slide-out QWERTY
Camera	1.3-megapixel	1.3-megapixel
Cellular data	EV-DO (CDMA)	EV-DO (CDMA)
Wi-Fi / Bluetooth	802.11b / Bluetooth	802.11b / Bluetooth
Faceplate color (per contemporary comment)	Grey/silver	Black
Confirmed launch	September 2005	Announced Jan. 4, 2006; in stores Jan. 19, 2006
Launch price	Not covered in this article's sourcing	$299.99 with new two-year agreement

The two devices shared essentially the same internal hardware platform, with the differences that did exist coming down to carrier network (CDMA EV-DO on both, but on separate carrier networks), cosmetic faceplate color, bundled carrier software, and the roughly four-month gap between Sprint's September 2005 launch and Verizon's January 2006 launch.

Revisiting Mobility Today's Original November 2005 Coverage

Mobility Today's original article, titled "XV6700BB Verizon Pocket PC Phone," was published by David Ciccone on Thursday, November 17, 2005 — about seven weeks before Verizon made the phone official. The piece opens by explaining its own sourcing directly: "We talked about this in yesterdays podcast and apparently one of our members delivered actual photos of the soon to be announced Verizon XV6700BB? We cant confirm the model numbers as of yet but this does jive with the information on the fcc site we spoke about yesterday." The article credited a forum member using the name "thesilverspider" as the source of the photos. That phrasing makes the nature of the piece clear: this was a leak story built from a reader's photos and an FCC filing, not a hands-on review based on a unit Mobility Today itself had received or purchased — a distinction worth preserving rather than blurring in hindsight. Three images accompanied the article, hosted at the time under file names including t_htcverizonapache.jpg and two files referencing "vzwwizard," showing the device itself. The piece drew a substantial response for a rumor post, ending with 13 reader comments, several of which supplied genuinely useful confirming detail the article itself didn't have yet — including the "XV6700" model name lifted directly off a shared PPC-6700 battery's printed label, real-world impressions of the Sprint version's EV-DO performance, and the Wi-Fi-and-phone-radio question covered above. Because this was explicitly a leak-and-speculation piece rather than a finished review, there's no surviving evidence in the original text of a hands-on impression, benchmark, or firm release-date prediction from Mobility Today itself, and this article isn't claiming that depth existed where the surviving record doesn't support it.

From Leak to Official Launch

Laid out in order, the confirmed timeline runs: the Sprint PPC-6700 launched in September 2005, built on the same HTC Apache hardware later sold by Verizon. Mobility Today published its reader-sourced leak article about the still-unofficial Verizon version on November 17, 2005, based on a member's photos and an FCC filing referenced in the prior day's podcast. Verizon then officially announced the XV6700 at CES on January 4, 2006, roughly seven weeks after Mobility Today's leak coverage, and the phone reached retail stores on January 19, 2006, priced at $299.99 with a new two-year service agreement. Seen as a sequence, it's a fairly typical mid-2000s smartphone rollout: hardware surfaces on one carrier first, a leak based on reader photos and regulatory filings builds early interest on a second carrier months ahead of any official word, and the carrier's own announcement and retail launch follow some weeks later.

FAQ

What was the HTC Apache?

HTC Apache was the internal codename for the Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone hardware platform that reached the market under more than one carrier name, including the Sprint PPC-6700 and the Verizon XV6700.

What was the Verizon XV6700?

A Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone built on HTC's Apache hardware, featuring a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Verizon officially announced it on January 4, 2006, and it reached stores on January 19, 2006, priced at $299.99 with a new two-year agreement.

Was the Verizon XV6700 related to the Sprint PPC-6700?

Yes — both were built on the same HTC Apache hardware platform. The Sprint PPC-6700 launched first, in September 2005, with the Verizon XV6700 following roughly four months later. A contemporary comment on Mobility Today's original article described the two as differing mainly in faceplate color, black on Verizon's version versus grey/silver on Sprint's.

What version of Windows Mobile did the XV6700 run?

Windows Mobile 5.0, Microsoft's Pocket PC Phone Edition platform current at the time of the XV6700's January 2006 launch.

Did the Verizon XV6700 support EV-DO?

Yes, the XV6700 supported EV-DO for high-speed cellular data on Verizon's CDMA network, the same technology confirmed as working well by a Sprint PPC-6700 owner in Mobility Today's original November 2005 comment thread.

Did the XV6700 have Wi-Fi restrictions?

This was genuinely unresolved in the surviving record. Sprint PPC-6700 owners reported no conflict between Wi-Fi and phone calls on their units, but Mobility Today's own author noted, based on Verizon's FCC filing, that the Verizon-specific version might disable the phone while Wi-Fi was active, similar to a documented issue on the separate Samsung i730. That exchange took place roughly two months before Verizon's official launch and reflects pre-launch speculation rather than a confirmed test of retail units.

What camera did the XV6700 have?

A 1.3-megapixel camera, along with a miniSD card slot for expandable storage.

Did the XV6700 have a physical keyboard?

Yes — a full QWERTY keyboard revealed by sliding the phone's body open sideways beneath its 2.8-inch touchscreen.

Mobility Today's November 2005 coverage of the Verizon XV6700 is a small but genuine artifact of how smartphone news traveled before official carrier announcements were the norm: a member's photos, a mention on a podcast, a reference to an FCC filing, and a comment section doing real reporting work of its own — confirming a model name off a battery label, testing EV-DO performance on the closely related Sprint hardware, and debating a Wi-Fi restriction that wouldn't be settled until the phone actually reached the market some seven weeks later.