Sprint gets official with HTC Touch: November 4 for $249.99

Is it safe yet to declare that carriers are looking at finger-friendly touchscreens as The Next Big Thing in wireless? Sprint today has officially announced its HTC Touch, a device codenamed "Vogue" that brings all of the original's unique personality to the world of CDMA (and, thankfully, EV-DO). Besides the touted support for 3G data, features include a 2 megapixel cam, microSD slot with support for up to 4GB of expansion, Windows Mobile 6 Professional with HTC's TouchFLO interface, and comprehensive support for Sprint's media features including Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store, all packed into a shell measuring 4 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches and weighing in at 4 ounces (trust us, it looks and feels pretty flippin' small). Interested parties don't have terribly long to wait, either -- look for it to start showing up in retail channels November 4 for a penny under $250 on contract with rebates.

[riggs @ Oct 17th 2007 9:05AM]

if this can be bought with the SERO plan, then this is my new phone :)

[Adam @ Oct 17th 2007 9:06AM]

I am really excited...I wonder how hard the keyboard will be to type on?

[darkstar @ Oct 17th 2007 9:07AM]

i got a chance to play with it earlier and i wasnt impress. it has a lot of features as you read, but it feels really bulky and the interface wasnt that slick as with the ....iphone.

[Argot @ Oct 17th 2007 9:11AM]

But this is a modern phone unlike the iPhone so it's comparing apples and oranges.

[PCFanboisrock @ Oct 17th 2007 10:13AM]

I was wrong. You know what actually I just got to play with a friends iPhone and it may actually be the best phone out there. I'm trying to see if I can get one for christmas from my mom. The lack of 3G is actually really cause I can just pick up wifi and the battery last's 8 hours talking or browsing the web. Seriously I know of no other phone that does that. I'm Sold.


Get an iPhone you won't regret it.

[Argot @ Oct 17th 2007 10:15AM]

WoW I had no idea it got 8 hours of talk time. Your right. Hmmm.... Maybe the iPhone is the best phone out there. I think I was wrong too.

I'm getting an iPhone

[tpp @ Oct 17th 2007 11:07AM]

I've had some hands on time with the HTC Touch as well.

I did not like it. At all.

The Windows Mobile OS just does not work well with a touchscreen.

[John Doe @ Oct 17th 2007 11:07AM]

"Get an iPhone you won't regret it."

I don't have an iphone and I already don't regret it. I think I'll stick with the status quo and say fuck the iPhone and its proprietary everything.

[jman315 @ Oct 18th 2007 12:44AM]

i love how people have to be on one side or the other of the iphone love/hate spectrum. People can just think its a pretty good phone or has some good features. Its either god, or a brick piece of crap. haha

[mike @ Oct 17th 2007 9:38PM]

I want of these "Iphones" too ... they sound super duper cool.

[blupit @ Nov 21st 2007 11:01AM]

the problem is all you iphone users think your the shit!!! the fact it the touch was out BEFORE the iphone. the thing is the iphone mabe cool but the service SUCKS!!! i have the touch and it is AWESOME!! i dont sit around thinking, man i wish i had an iphone... i have something BETTER in my eyes.. the touch does basically the same thing WITH BETTER SERVICE...

[darkstar @ Oct 17th 2007 9:15AM]

remember the first blackberry? it wasnt comfortable up your ears because its so wide? yeah... thats my other complaint, comfort. u'll prolly use your bt headset most of the time.
by the way, i dont have an iphone. i have a blackberry pearl.

[Jesse S @ Oct 17th 2007 12:33PM]

I played with this thing at Digital Life, it is very small.

[Chrisphillers @ Oct 17th 2007 9:16AM]

This 'phone' is dire, I have had a play with it. Its basically Windows Mobile 6 with a 'touch' overlay - which means you cant use your fingers to do all things, you have to use your stylus for some actions. All the touch part often does is direct you to the relevant windows mobile page. Its a poor excuse and an attempt to catch up with the 'touch phone that came out a few months back but shall not be named'!

Dont get this 'phone'.

[DorianGray @ Oct 17th 2007 9:31AM]

"The-Phone-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named" -- I like that! I hope it sticks!...

[Constable Odo @ Oct 17th 2007 9:21AM]

That's a slick looking design. Looks very rugged. If it works as advertised it should sell rather well.

[ScOObyDoo @ Oct 17th 2007 9:23AM]

Sprint MobileTV? They don't even have this on the Mogul... Fingers crossed someone rips it off the Touch for us...

[pdateky @ Oct 17th 2007 9:47AM]

i own one and you don't really need to use the stylus. what's great is that the touch flo allows for ease of use for the standard users but the underlying windows mobile is available for the advanced features.

for the iphone fanboy. the iphone was made to be easy to use with no advanced features. essentially it was made for dumb people. everyone i know has never had a problem learning how to use a phone.

[Seth Porter @ Oct 17th 2007 9:34AM]

Kind of cool, but the iphone still has a better interface. Not to be an apple fanboy or anything, but ever since the iphone came out, alot of ripoffs of it are emerging. You have the htc touch, the meizu, and others.

[I.E @ Oct 17th 2007 9:47AM]

Have you played with the htc touch firsthand? how would you know anything about how good/bad the interface is?

[Argot @ Oct 17th 2007 9:53AM]

Let's get it straight. Since the LG Prada came out a lot of rippoffs have been popping up, like the iPhone, Samsung and others.

And this is a 3G phone, not an old 2G relic like the iPhone.

[Zenshai @ Oct 17th 2007 10:01AM]

@Argot:

We're talking about interfaces, why do you keep saying that its 3G? Who cares what 'G' it is if it's unusable?

[Argot @ Oct 17th 2007 10:03AM]

Well a phone without 3G IS pretty much useless.

[unsigned @ Oct 17th 2007 10:45AM]

@Argot, But AT&T's 3G network (where the iPhone lives) is not the holy grail. Surfing on the iPhone is not much different than surfing on the 8252 (TyTn). In fact, around here Verizon has the best 3G network... (Full disclosure: AT&T customer, iPhone and 8525 WM6 owner)

[Argot @ Oct 17th 2007 10:25AM]

Oh wow actually with 3G talk time is like 2 hours that's why apple uses EDGE (2.5G) I never knew that. It allows them to get 8 hours of talk time on a single charge. Much better than carrying around spare batteries.

[Matt @ Oct 17th 2007 10:50PM]

This is not an iPhone knock-off, it came out months before the iPhone did!

[Bob @ Oct 17th 2007 9:46AM]

Can this be unlocked ?

[Brad @ Oct 17th 2007 8:06PM]

What is there to unlock?

It's a CDMA phone (no ATT/TMo), and Verizon limits the ESNs on their own network to their devices. Even when identical phones come out for sprint and verizon, you can't put the sprint one on Verizon's network. These don't use SIM cards, they register with the central server.

You can already install any software you want on it. No digital signatures, no crappy BREW (does have full Java Midlet support though)

[3boos @ Oct 17th 2007 9:46AM]

The SD card support up to 8GB not 4GB. As per Sprint fact sheet for the Touch.

[mountain_racer @ Oct 17th 2007 6:08PM]

The SDHC standard (all form factors including MicroSDHC) is written to 32gb, not just 8gb. Currently there are no MicroSDHC over 8gb, but if the phone is compliant with the standard ....... I would guess that Sprint will want you to buy a new phone to use anything larger.

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 17th 2007 10:01AM]

The industry was getting away from large, flat, wide phones as they moved towards smaller, thinner keyboards (i.e. Katana, RAZR, etc) and now we are moving back towards large flat, wide phones with touchscreens?

No matter what touchscreen phone is released, it better be no larger, wider or deep than the Iphone.

[rico D @ Oct 17th 2007 10:16AM]

so the Touch is the right size:

http://www.easydevices.co.uk/pp/PDA/HTC/images/style9_htc_touch.JPG
http://www.wmexperts.com/articleimages/P1010375-1.jpg
http://www.wmexperts.com/articleimages/P1010378.jpg

[riggs @ Oct 17th 2007 11:18AM]

not everyone has girly hands.

[Mario @ Oct 17th 2007 10:05AM]

I think is about time to ditch my beloved Treo 700wx.

[cc @ Oct 17th 2007 10:14AM]

I've used the sprint version of this phone too. Its really not all that great. The touch stuff takes a little bit of training to get used to. The whole touch interface is basically 4 screens. Once you need to leave those screens (you know to actually use an app) you're stuck in a standard windows app that requires a stylus. Entering text is pretty difficult since the screen is so small. Also, I feel like the whole thing just looks kinda cheap. I'd pass.

[ZSX @ Oct 17th 2007 1:19PM]

With any luck that will be sorted soon. HTC have said that the extensions seen in the HTC Touch Dual (SIP keyboard, photo viewer, etc.) will be made available for the HTC Touch. Download and install.

[Argot @ Oct 17th 2007 10:14AM]

WoW I had no idea it got 8 hours of talk time. Your right. Hmmm.... Maybe the iPhone is the best phone out there. I think I was wrong too.

I'm getting an iPhone

[Argot @ Oct 17th 2007 10:17AM]

Wow a bitter crapple fanboi has spoofed my nick. :)
Well, you know what they say, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. :)

[Argot @ Oct 17th 2007 10:20AM]

Woops wrong thread. Sorry


VIVA LA IPHONE!

[dawggpie @ Oct 17th 2007 10:22AM]

wifi? gps? No mention on the Sprint PR. Also, I've yet to see what the touch keypad for text entry looks like.

[Yorch @ Oct 17th 2007 11:10AM]

for those bitching about the iphone. You can use this app and use the same keyboard as the iphone (if not better). works really fast too!.
http://www.pocketcm.com/keyboard.php

[Adam @ Oct 17th 2007 12:02PM]

That is really a sweet UI. Great now I can have the iPhone...just with some actual features.

[Ricardo @ Oct 17th 2007 10:54AM]

A decent processor would make this a really really attractive phone.

[adamjhwkfan @ Oct 17th 2007 11:03AM]

I'm using this phone on sprint's backbone right now.. and I don't have too many complaints with it. People talking about the interface not being favorable, but it's Windows.. you all know how to use windows right? It's not a normal phone GUI. Get over it iPhone users. That's the point of it being Windows Mobile. The keyboard is touch QWERTY (in a couple different styles actually) and just like other phones you can change it to use T9, abc, etc..

[Brian @ Oct 17th 2007 11:09AM]

Does anyone know if it it has a full browser?? Also is this a "world phone"?

[Yorch @ Oct 17th 2007 11:16AM]

Again. you can install any browser you like, that's the beauty of it. You have the default Pocket Internet explorer, or you can choose from:
-Opera browser, (they are announcing a new version, it should come out soon)
-Netfront Browser (browse java pages and such, good browser)
-Mozila Minino (beta, and not feature ladden, but Firefox announced a mobile version soon)
-Picsel Browser (as close as the iphone version browser, with full browsing, zoom in, etc, very good one)
-Deepfish (Microsoft future browser, just like Picsel, very cool)
-and there are lots more, there is a new version that runs the Safari core, so there are plenty of variety.

[Boynamedsue @ Oct 17th 2007 11:35AM]

don't they know that when apple takes a word, people can know longer use it? Apple sues people who use the word "Pod" in their product name.

so apple of course would own the word "touch" along with "tunes" "book" "life" and any other word you could throw the letter "i" in front of.

[keovani @ Oct 17th 2007 11:47AM]

Actually dumdum...HTC owns the word touch..so HTC could sue apple for using the Ipod Touch name...No this isnt a world phone. no it doesn't have wifi..bit with it being upgradeable to EVDO REV A in a couple of months who the hell needs wifi..??? Processor has been doubled to 400mhz not bad. this is Def a iPhone killer. only thing i would say is at a disadvantage would be the resolution... 320x240 that suks even my 700p has the 320x320

[Boynamedsue @ Oct 17th 2007 11:50AM]

miss the point much?

[Donald Hansen @ Oct 24th 2007 6:49PM]

They don't own iDEN, WiDEN, i930