HTC Touch Diamond review (Part 1) – ‘The Overview’
Today I managed to get my hands on an HTC Touch Diamond which I have on loan for a few days and I’ll be starting our review from here. My plan is to use the Diamond as my main device and to see how I get on with it day-to-day as a replacement for my TyTN II.
I should state at this point that loan unit is still a pre-release version and while the hardware wont change between this and the retail unit the software and ROM may well be different as “Test only, not for resale” is very much evident at bootup. The latest update from HTC is that the retail version will be shipped to us next week so at that point we’ll be able to compare the two.
GENERAL
So let’s start out with the basics. As this is a pre-release device it arrived in a plain black box which just a charger and USB cable so I’ll leave the “What’s in the box?” until the retail unit arrives next week.
On the front of the Touch Diamond we have the 2.8″ VGA Touchscreen which is completely flush, no bezel to be seen. You would normally consider this to be a bad idea as it would mean that the screen was more likely to get scratched but HTC tell us that the screen is more scratch resistant than most as it’s made from glass rather than plastic.
Just above the screen is the front facing VGA camera (used for video calling) and the phone speaker. Below the screen there are just a few buttons. Home, back and send/end call keys plus what looks like a regular dpad style navigation control. However HTC have built in capacitive touch sensors in to the dpad so the unit will respond to the lightest touch. In addition to working as a regular up, down, left and right push button control you can also run your finger around the outer ring which acts as a zoom control.
Looking at the bottom of the Diamond only the mini ExtUSB connector is obvious. This is where you plug in your charger, usb sync cable and headphones. Once again, if you want to use your own headphones with a 3.5mm jack you’ll need to get an adapter.
On the left hand side of the device are two buttons for volume control. Interestingly these are two separate buttons rather than a rocker so it is possible to press them both at the same time (if you want to).
There are no controls be found on the right side but here you’ll be able to find the stylus which is fixed rather than telescopic. The stylus stays in place because it is magnetic which is a great idea. The stylus also turns the device on when removed.
On the top edge of the Diamond is the power button, which is a little hard to press with big fingers, and below that is the external loudspeaker. Loudspeakers are normally placed on the back of devices but moving it to the top of the Diamond is a good idea as it means that you don’t cover it up when the phone is on a desk and it’s also easier to hear ringing when the phone is in a jacket pocket for example. I suspect, though, that the decision to put it in the top may have been to save valuable space.
Finally, on the back of the Diamond is the 3.2 Megapixel auto focus camera. Unfortunately there is no flash included. Also, as you can see from the image below, the back of the unit, which removes entirely to access the battery and SIM card, has an angular or faceted design presumable to emulate a cut diamond. The design works well!
Now it’s time for me to install my SIM card and set up my email account. I’ll have more on that for you later.
Posted by: Matt
See Part 2 of the review.
See Part 3 of the review.
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, orange, HTC, HTC Touch Diamond]
O2 is planning to hatch a series of attractive propositions to boost 3G iPhone sales in the UK, according to Macworld UK’s sources.
Macworld sources claim the device will cost £100 and be sold with an 18-month contract, but Apple’s UK network partner may harbour deeper plans for the launch of the device. Including free upgrades, free phones for high-tariff users and pay-as-you-go deals.
Dial2Do lets you do common tasks by just calling a number and speaking. Use it to send EMAIL or TEXT messages, record REMINDERS to help you remember things or even post updates to your TWITTER or JAIKU stream. Use your favourite services just by talking. It’s easy, handsfree and it works in the UK too.
The Mobility Today weekly podcast is available. If you use this and copy the address into your aggregator. Or you can use the Itunes feed here.Now you should be all set and automatically download any of our podcasts on the fly. If you would not like to use an aggregator you can download the direct link by right clicking here. Tonight Dave, Jerry, Chris and Mike are all up in arms about the laggy HTC Diamond
LONDON—June 4, 2008—Apple® today announced that movies from major film studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), Sony Pictures Television International and Lionsgate UK are now available on the iTunes® Store in the UK (www.apple.com/uk/itunes). Movie purchases and rentals feature iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying movies as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes has always been. The iTunes Store in the UK features over 700 films available for rent or purchase, with titles available for purchase on the same day as their DVD release, including favorites such as “Hitman,” “I Am Legend,” “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets” and “Into the Wild.” iTunes Movie Rentals also features over 100 titles available in stunning high definition, perfect for viewing on a widescreen TV with Apple TV®.
Following on from my post about the pre-order availability of the HTC Touch Pro, HTC have just sent me the their press release making the HTC Touch Pro official. You’ll also find the HTC Touch Pro now puts in an appearance on the HTC website (www.htc.com).
Taipei, Taiwan — June 4, 2008 — HTC Corp., a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today unveiled its advanced next generation business phone, the HTC Touch Pro™. Bringing a beautiful new angle to mobile business productivity, the HTC Touch Pro utilizes similar styling and functionality of the highly anticipated Touch Diamond™ and introduces a variety of business-focused enhancements that make getting work done on the go quick and easy.
“The HTC Touch Pro and Touch Diamond have created a new generation of HTC touch devices that make the promise of the one-hand, one-touch mobile Internet a reality,” said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. “HTC Touch Pro is for those customers that demand the ease of use and enjoyment of TouchFLO™ 3D and want the styling of the Touch Diamond but also need the powerful mobile business experience that HTC delivers.”
A New Dimension To Touch – One hand, one touch
HTC has taken a great leap forward in touch screen innovation with its 3D touch interface called TouchFLO 3D. TouchFLO 3D provides a stunningly intuitive way to zip through common tasks like messaging, calendar appointments or making calls with just one touch. Delve a little deeper to find that your music, photos, contacts and surfing the web are also responsive to the touch. In addition, the Touch Pro includes a new innovative touch-sensitive control for device interaction.
Making The Mobile Internet Useful and Fun
With the introduction of Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, HTC delivers an entirely new mobile Internet experience that utilizes broadband-like speeds with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA wireless connectivity. Committed to improving Web browsing, HTC provides a new customized mobile Web browser that enables easy viewing and effortless navigation of Websites in the way they are designed to be viewed on a PC. As part of this browsing experience users can zoom and pan Websites with one-hand and automatically view optimized content that has been specially created to fit the display. Turning the device sideways automatically rotates the web page view from a portrait to landscape view.
In addition to Web browsing, the Touch Pro includes an HTC-developed, YouTube application for watching a variety of user generated video content as well as including Google Maps for mobile for mapping and traffic data.
Unmatched Style With Complete Productivity
Like the Touch Diamond, Touch Pro is crafted with precision to fit comfortably in a user’s hand and brings together elegant touch screen response with the direct precision of HTC’s trademark sliding keyboard design. Introducing a new five-row QWERTY keyboard layout that makes typing-intensive tasks like composing email or working on Microsoft Office® documents quick and easy. Built-in TV-out functionality means users can deliver the perfect PowerPoint® presentation from the Touch Pro.
Bursting with Innovation
The Touch Pro delivers an unrivalled combination of features and functionality. The 2.8 inch display provides near-print quality viewing that enables beautiful Web browsing and viewing of photographs. The built-in camera includes an optical auto-focus lens that ensures the photos you take will be clear and consistent. Advanced wireless and auto sensor screen pivoting are just a few of the features that make the Touch Pro experience a stand out.
Availability
The HTC Touch Pro™ will be available to customers across all major European, Asian and the Middle East markets in late summer. The North American and Latin American versions of Touch Pro will be available later in 2008.
Key HTC Touch Pro Specifications
HTC Introduces New Accessories
Also today, HTC announced multiple accessories will available for the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro including a similarly designed desktop cradle and travel charger accessory pack as well as an extended battery and slim collapsible case for the Touch Diamond.
About HTC
Founded in 1997, HTC Corp. (HTC) designs, manufactures and markets innovative, feature rich smartphone and PDA Phone devices.
Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations and launched state-of-the-art PDA Phones and smartphones for mobile operators and distributors in Europe, the US, and Asia. These machines are available as HTC devices and as products individually customized for operator and device partners.
HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, T-Mobile, raphael, HTC, HTC Touch Pro]
Well this happened sooner than we thought – The HTC Touch Pro (aka HTC Raphael) is now available for pre-order from our friends at Devicewire!
No word on the exact release date except to say stock is arriving soon. Also no firm price but expect this to be updated over the next few days. Full details can be found HERE.
EDIT: The Touch Pro has just been released and our HTC Touch Pro unboxing video is now online!
HTC Touch Pro specification:
HTC Touch Pro Description
The HTC Touch Pro™ brings together elegant touch screen response with the direct precision of keyboard entry… leaving out nothing to deliver a powerhouse communication tool in a beautiful, compact design.
The 2.8-inch VGA touch screen provides four times the resolution of most smart devices, making email, documents and web pages sharper and easier to work with than ever before.
HTC’s rich, touch-responsive interface, TouchFLO™ 3D, provides a stunningly intuitive way to zip through common tasks like messaging, calendar checks or making calls. Delve a little deeper to find that playing media files, searching for contacts and surfing the web are also responsive to your touch.
The web browser puts the full Internet in the palm of your hand. Websites look just like they do on a PC, and TouchFLO™ 3D makes it easy to pan around and zoom in on exactly the information you’re looking for. If you need a wide screen, simply tilt the Touch Pro sideways and the page switches to landscape view.
Slide out the 5-row QWERTY keyboard to make light work of typing-intensive tasks like composing email or working on Microsoft Office® documents… perfect for when your day takes a serious turn.
High speed connectivity will keep you in touch with colleagues and contacts wherever you are. Integrated GPS can be used with maps software for a full turn-by-turn satellite navigation experience.
Built-in Wi-Fi and TV-out functionality mean you can hook up to the local wireless hot spot to surf, then deliver the perfect PowerPoint® presentation without a laptop in sight.
A beautiful angle on business, the HTC Touch Pro introduces effortless presence to enterprise-standard communications.
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, T-Mobile, raphael, HTC, HTC Touch Pro]
New CEO Tom Alexander today outlined plans for Orange in the UK, designed to deliver better quality, innovation and service to its customers, and growth for the company.
He unveiled a new three-pronged customer-focused strategy for the company in order to dramatically improve the quality of the customer and network experience; grow the business by expanding Orange sales channels and the high-speed network; and evolve the way the communications market currently operates by more-effectively combining its mobile and fixed broadband arms to provide pioneering new services.
Advanced 3D Touch User Interface, Desktop-like browsing, 5-row sliding QWERTY Keyboard and Window Mobile 6.1 create hybrid business phone
Taipei, Taiwan — June 4, 2008 — HTC Corp., a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today unveiled its advanced next generation business phone, the HTC Touch Pro™. Bringing a beautiful new angle to mobile business productivity, the HTC Touch Pro utilizes similar styling and functionality of the highly anticipated Touch Diamond™ and introduces a variety of business-focused enhancements that make getting work done on the go quick and easy.
Engineers at 3 are busy rebuilding the firm’s pay-as-you-go top-up database after the server carrying it fell over on Sunday.
Customers were left unable to add new credit for several hours, either over the phone, online or in 3 stores. A 3 spokesman said today that it took action to ensure that pay-as-you-go users were able to make calls if they had run out.
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