HTC's Touch with TouchFLO -- the Elf with new 3D sweep interface

HTC just made their "major" announcement. Are you ready for it... wait... it's the Elf now official with its "Touch" street name. Right, the Windows Mobile device we first saw six months ago and already formally announced by O2 Germany as the Xda nova. HTC's big surprise? Well, the Touch is the first device to feature TouchFLO touchscreen technology "developed by HTC" -- though we think Microsoft had a little something to do with it. It's not multi-touch like the iPhone, but it does offer a "new and unique" way to sweep a finger (or stylus) across the screen to control the 3D interface. To recap, the diminutive 99.9 x 58 x 13.9-mm Touch runs Windows Mobile 6 with TouchFLO UI on a 2.8-inch display and OMAP850 processor while packing tri-band 900/1800/1900 GSM with EDGE, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB microSD expansion included, and a 2 megapixel cam. Best of all, it's available now in the UK, later this month around Europe and Asia, and then North and Latin America in the 2nd half of the year.

Gallery: HTC's Touch with TouchFLO -- the Elf with new 3D sweep interface

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Read -- press release
Read -- TouchFLO interactive

[Brian @ Jun 5th 2007 7:31AM]

I have to say it's not half bad. Now if only it were on the Kaiser....

[Ike @ Jun 5th 2007 7:34AM]

Hopefully all of HTC's futur phone will have this...

[BeyondtheTech @ Jun 5th 2007 7:44AM]

Really, how hard is it or what hoops to companies have to jump through just to put the fourth band (namely 850MHz) in a GSM phone? Don't they know that would simply increase sales by early adopters?

[Erwos @ Jun 5th 2007 8:09AM]

The interface looks excellent to me. Nice big icons make for happy pecking.

That said, it's still lacking a hardware keyboard, and that's a deal breaker. In this day and age of mobile email, on-screen keyboards and stylii don't cut it. The hardware buttons are also horrifyingly tiny - they've got the real estate, so USE IT.

Still, that's just whining about the phone - if they can get that interface on the PPC-6800, I'll be a happy camper.

[Stiletto @ Jun 5th 2007 8:17AM]

Why can't they release the TouchFLO UI for all their existing WM6 devices such as the 8525? It is just a program running on top of the OS.

[Argot @ Jun 5th 2007 8:29AM]

Someone mentioning "looks like iPhone bla bla bla..." in 3, 2, 1...

[Mike M. @ Jun 5th 2007 8:30AM]

Wow, this phone looks great. Does it have a QWERTY keypad anywhere? Via touch like the iPhone or a slideout? I'm suprised there haven't been more "iPhone ripoff/killer" posts by now, especially after watching the UI video here: http://www.htctouch.com/

Regardless of what it is and what you call it, this really breathes some excitement into windows mobile 6 for me. If only they, uh, added "Zune Media" features we'd have a worthy ZunePhone.

[Rich @ Jun 5th 2007 8:32AM]

Can anyone remind me what the point of a smartphone without 3G is again?

It's 2007. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung are all producing 3G smartphones en masse. Why can't HTC?

[Jeff Lewis @ Jun 5th 2007 1:09PM]

That would be the ability to do things *without* having to be connected to the internet - like edit Word documents or Excel spreadsheets... Contrary to what RIM, Apple and Nokia might want you to think - there are other things to do with a portable computer than surf and check email.

I have a WM5 smartphone and have never once connected to the Internet with it other than just to see if it could be done.

[Rich @ Jun 5th 2007 8:33AM]

Can anyone remind me what the point of a smartphone without 3G is again?

It's 2007. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung are all producing 3G smartphones en masse. Why can't HTC?

[Stiletto @ Jun 5th 2007 8:54AM]

Rich - Couldn't agree more. Why no 3G or quad band on this thing is beyond me. Seems like any "Advanced" phone these days should have these features standard. I guess they want to suffer the same shortfalls as Apple. Since Apple is making a crappy phone, it must be the cool thing to do.

[Arne Hess @ Jun 5th 2007 9:14AM]

In case anyone is interested - just uploaded two videos of the TouchFLO interface in action:

http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3899

Cheers ~ Arne

[patsy @ Jun 5th 2007 10:44AM]

I'm loving it: sometimes buttons take several taps before they click. And the "3d" interface is all nice and smooth--until you load up a couple of apps (which in WM of course stubbornly stay loaded until you jump through hoops to kill them) and it slows down to a crawl, as I'm sure will happen in the Real World. Don't get me wrong, I've been using WM and PPC for the last few years, which has also taught me what to love and what to passionately hate about it. Microsoft REALLY has to get their resource management act together on that OS, right now it's bordering on a joke. WM6 has seriously exacerbated the problem, at least on my TMO Dash, to the point where opening just a few apps exhausts the resources and PIE will randomly shut down while browsing, or the Recent Calls apps won't even come up. What's the bloody point of a phone if you can't manage your calls on it?!

[Rick @ Jun 5th 2007 9:17AM]

Still no flash for the camera.

[boe @ Jun 5th 2007 11:09AM]

I agree - frankly the flash is more important to me than the camera as with programs like vjcandela, the phone makes a very handy flashlight I always have with me. Frankly I'm surprised they don't just make that a built in function of the phone - they sell knives, keychains, pens with flashlights, why the heck not make your phone have a great flashlight. I use the "flashlight" on my PDAphone about once a week.

[David @ Jun 5th 2007 9:23AM]

It is probably just a matter of time before this UI is cooked up and served up to the masses, am i rite.

[Mike M. @ Jun 5th 2007 9:37AM]

So, how do you typee-mails or text messages on this thing? I haven't used a windows mobile phone since 2003 edition before QWERTY keypads where the norm and it had a crappy little pop up on screen keypad, tell me they've thought of something better?

[murph @ Jun 5th 2007 9:43AM]

yawn. the interface looks alot like SPB Mobile Shell.

[andres Sanchez @ Jun 5th 2007 10:10AM]

really this is what passes as good looking interface for some of you guys.. a mediocre attempt to say the least.

[Ishir Bhan @ Jun 5th 2007 10:37AM]

This looks like a very clunky interface. Seems hobbled by the fact that it's tacked on to Windows Mobile without being truly integrated. How does text entry work?

[Jeremy @ Jun 5th 2007 10:44AM]

Why no IPhone related posts? Because it's before noon and the fanboys all still asleep as a result of staying up late creating websites for their cats.

[Nando @ Jun 5th 2007 10:47AM]

The interface is nice-looking but it still leads you to the ugly Windows Mobile 6 UI. If all of the areas used that nice UI, it would have been really nice!

I got to play around with the T-Mobile Wing last night and I tried using it without the stylus (because it was missing) and it wasn't a cool experience. I have skinny, artists hands and I still couldn't navigate well through Windows Mobile 6 with just my finger.

A really good UI for touchscreen mobile phones has to have big ol' buttons!!

[boe @ Jun 5th 2007 11:09AM]

The design for the exterior is nice although it needs a couple more hard buttons at the bottom and one more on the side.

The screen sucks - HTC has made VGA for 2 years now - they need more VGA phones.

Where the heck is the GPS - such a tiny thing - why not put it on all phones to take advantage of free services that include full FREE gps navigation? Take a lead from Eten and others.

More memory - not sure what isn't clear about that - MORE memory - say it with me double cheese burger, onion rings and a large orange drink - say it!

And no, for anyone interested those features don't require bigger phones, just look at what the other manufacturers like Eten and Imate have made into very small units as well.

[Sean Jackson @ Jun 5th 2007 11:20AM]

Seriously, is this more than spb mobile shell or what? Why not just get the kaiser which is more powerful and comes with everything--or even the 6800 which is the weaker yet still incredibly impressive sibling--and put spb shell on it? That way you get the 4th band and UMTS? I do not understand.

[NIck @ Jun 5th 2007 11:49AM]

Everyone is complaining about not having 3G. I think people need to look at the statistics before complaining. 3G has been available in Europe for more that 3 years now but the subscriber rate is so low that the phone companies are losing millions of dollars on the network. In Europe they have more than enough phones with 3G, but no one really cares about surfing the web at blazing speeds on their phone.

I have a ppc with wifi and use it on occasion, but we all know that a screen that is 2.8 inches in not big enough for surfing the web. This phone is more of a media device and thus the cool interface so they can keep up with the times. People who are using their phones for business hve no need for anyhting like this and should stick to their ppc's that have keyboards and 3G for their e-mail.

Personally, I love this phone and will be handing over some cash real soon to get it. I use my phone for mainly media ( I love all in one devices so that I don't have to carry my mp3 player, cell phone and camera everywhere I go. )

[Rich @ Jun 5th 2007 12:17PM]

NIck - 3G subscriber rates are low in Europe? Got any facts to back that up?

Here's the top 10 selling phones in the UK - http://www.intomobile.com/2007/04/30/top-selling-phones-in-the-uk-lg-sony-ericsson-and-nokia-top/

Every single one has 3G.

[Jon @ Jun 5th 2007 11:52AM]

I am a proud user of WM 6 on an HTC device (T-Mobile Dash), so keep that in mind before I get slammed for this comment: This looks like a real idiotic, half-assed attempt to counter what looks like Apple's superior UI on the iPhone. Typical Microsoft: they think just putting some pretty pictures on top of Windows will make it a whole new thing worthy of a big announcement. Windows Mobile is still Windows Mobile no matter what UI you put on it. It's a good mobile OS that is functional and surprisingly stable, but Microsoft just doesn't have any style.

[Mark @ Jun 5th 2007 1:03PM]

AHA! And the award for saying it looks like the iphone goes to... Jon! We all knew it was going to happen and now due to this phone being touch screen and having buttons on the screen(never been done before right? except maybe by HTC itself) the comparison has been made. Apparently another ripoff of the iphone.

[Jerry @ Jun 5th 2007 12:05PM]

I like the look of it.

[patsy @ Jun 5th 2007 12:38PM]

Just because they buy a 3G capable phone doesn't mean that most customers also subscribe to 3G data services. As long as those are hideously expensive and don't offer a widely appealing "killer app", they won't take off. Just because you and I love us some mobile web browsing doesn't mean that the average Joe thinks that's worthwhile. Check out the US 3G data plan fees, and even to a die-hard geek such as myself that's hardly a wise investment out of my own pocket.

[MasterCKO @ Jun 5th 2007 12:30PM]

I'm sorry, what? what's wrong with you people? This actually looks interesting. The sweep thing applied to everything with scroll bars (like the contacts list) is huge. The 3d interface part is also kinda cool, too and very stylish, I feel. I wish my 6700 did stuff like that.

[Sam @ Jun 5th 2007 12:52PM]

No HSDPA, no deal.

I don't care how much people use it or don't. I use it very often with my 8525. And for those that thinks its expensive, I pay $30 for unlimited 3G data and 1000 text messages. And browsing the net on my phone is not the use I'm concerned about. I tether it to my laptop when I'm on the road (or my power goes out). So if they want me to spend my money and upgrade, they will have to give me the features I want.

[Ryhan @ Jun 5th 2007 1:34PM]

I love the icons that are bigger than those on the iphone... however,portable windows continues to take all the fun out of it...

And for those of you complaining over a stupid camera; first of all, cell-phone cameras suck. Its better to simply have more memory, and get yourself a seperate, high quality camera. Unless you want heavily pixilated photos and no place to put them... :D

[Leemo @ Jun 5th 2007 2:22PM]

I really wanted to like this - after looking at the HTC site it looks fantastic - but the videos on 'Unwired' kinda confirm my suspicions.

It's still just a bit of software tacked on to Windows Mobile, it doesn't make Windows Mobile really any better - you're still reliant on its contacts, internet and phone applications - all of which still look clunky, slow and old fashioned (and ultimately still require a stylus to be used properly).

Windows Mobile in Apple clothing? Perhaps. Yes, I know Apple didn't invent this 'let's touch the screen' malarky, but they certainly gave HTC a tip off or two on the design of this interface - fortunately Apple isn't reliant on the Windows Mobile underbelly.

-Leemo

[Robert @ Jun 5th 2007 9:32PM]

Funny, all that show and no substance. No Quad Band... Looks like a Dash with an extra Flash OS shell. Poor execution.

[Kelvin @ Jun 5th 2007 10:30PM]

Looks pretty and sexy. I would love it as a second phone (given the average specs). The first one of course must be the killer HTC Kaiser!

[jaysins @ Jun 6th 2007 12:22AM]

Looks like beryl for a phone. Very cool design and it runs impressively smooth considering they have a slow and outdated processor in the machine. For that reason alone I would not own this device. However, if they bring the UI to other, more capable devices cough kaiser cough, I could definitely see myself upgrading to a HTC device, though I do love symbian and my N95.

[The Steven @ Jun 6th 2007 1:39AM]

Lust, oh yeah, I'm in lust.....

That main screen does remind me a bit of the desktop on the NeXT OS

[mike @ Jun 6th 2007 3:03PM]

Why no IPhone related posts? Because it's before noon and the fanboys all still asleep as a result of staying up late creating websites for their cats.
--
This thing is nothing like the iPhone.Obviously. This is a GPS for fishermen, right?

[Werner @ Oct 4th 2007 7:43AM]

I have one of those thingies, first it is a really nice phone, if you dont mind not having gps, or umts, the phone is small the touchflo once you are used to the needed guestures works as it should.
The downside, the touchflo interface is almost non configurable, you have 5 small areas which you can fill with your own program presets, the second downside, you run constantly into wince, touchflow is a combination of wince program starter and a handful of applets and programs on its own, in about 60% of all day to day cases you run into windows ce programs where you have to pull the stylus, mainly the video player and normal phone works without it, as soon as you hit sms, you have to pull the stylus.

As for memory and slowing down, true, due to windowsces idotic program management, fortunately you can turn on that a press on the x will close the programs instead of hiding it, so that is a non issue, once you have figured that out, but one thing htc screwed up here is, that the X still is in its original wince size, making it hard to hit without a stylus.

Overall a nice phone, really small and with a long lasting battery, but dont expect any extraordinary usability, this is just wince with a nice program starter frontend and 2-3 adjusted programs.

I hope HTC improves the touchflo a little bit, it definitely has potential.