HTC confirms Diamond with VGA touchscreen launch next month?

We already knew it was coming, now HTC has seemingly confirmed that its Diamond handset will be announced next month presumably at the May 6th event. Unfortunately, the wording of the Taipei Times article (which we assume was translated from Chinese) leaves HTC's comments open to interpretation. Speaking to a group of investors, HTC's financial executive Cheng Hui-ming, said that revenues will grow by 20% this year thanks to the launch of a new Touch phone next month. Referring to the HTC Diamond by name, he then calls the device "the most important product for HTC this year." Interesting considering that HTC is widely expected to launch the first Android handset -- dubbed Dream -- before the end of the year. Regardless, the 3G Diamond with Windows Mobile 6.1 running beneath a large, glossy, VGA touchscreen display with WiFi and 3 megapixel camera is certainly going to attract a lot interest from us and our wallets.

[SimbaDogg @ Apr 29th 2008 5:15AM]

yeah, i dont care how cool this phone is...
before you go around throwing new phones in the mix....HTC, please do me a kindness will ya. FIX THE DRIVERS FOR MY KAISER. thanx

[LordFarkward @ Apr 29th 2008 5:27AM]

dream on... with the new handsets coming out soon, i'd be (very pleasantly) surprised if HTC actually did anything to resolve the driver issues of the old models...

i wonder how many of the old fans who got burned will get the diamond

[roflercopterer @ Apr 29th 2008 5:16AM]

That goes a long with the things detailed in the link I tipped you guys to yesterday on MoDaCo:

http://www.modaco.com/content/pocket-pc-professional-news/267824/htc-prep-htc-touch-diamond-for-imminent-reveal-htc-touch-pro-htc-touch-dual-pro-details/#entry890399

According to the info there Sprint maybe launching theirs Q3, but the GSM version is going to launch sooner.

[Awakensoul @ Apr 29th 2008 6:36AM]

HTC will never ever trick me again!!! Fix my Kaiser you bastards!

[cr0ft @ Apr 29th 2008 7:31AM]

If the 900mah battery info is true then these become disinteresting pretty much right off the bat. I don't insist on fantastic battery life, but with 900mah you can't possibly get decent usage times out of these.

Imagine running the GPS, wifi and a bluetooth headset at once on these and you're looking at 15 minute run times. :p

Besides that huge and glaring flaw (why do they always do that - blight a great device with some glaringly obvious foulup?) they are indeed droolworthy. Still... looking at the Xperia myself so far.

[Lein @ Apr 29th 2008 7:54AM]

Try running just a 3G connection and GPS on a 1500mah HTC Titan. You get about an hour of constant use (on the train, for example.)

So yeah, your estimate is probably pretty accurate.

[Phoenix @ Apr 29th 2008 12:09PM]

yes BUT these will be running more power-efficient chips than the older models.

[Kris @ Apr 29th 2008 12:10PM]

@Lein, take your Titan back. I own a Titan and with the factory battery I listen to streaming internet radio fed from my phone into my car stereo on my to and from work (a total of about 2 hours of driving). I also e-mail and text message with it somewhat regularly throughout the day and I don't charge it until I get home late at night at which time it usually has about half the battery left.

While the Titan doesn't get great battery life it's NO WHERE NEAR what you claim (unless your Titan is defective of course).

[Adam @ Apr 29th 2008 8:32AM]

Obviously HTC doesn't consider Android to be very important. From what I've seen of Android so far, I agree.

[nm peters @ Apr 29th 2008 9:01AM]

What keeps baffling me is the talk of "a large, glossy, VGA touchscreen" when the specs that keep coming out are that the screens are 2.8" am I missing something?

3" plus is a large screen!!

[James @ Apr 29th 2008 10:36AM]

Never Again HTC!, just waiting for the 3g Iphone, and the TytnII is on Ebay!

[Nando @ Apr 29th 2008 12:02PM]

Well, this just affirms that they will indeed NOT fix our driver issues (or lack of drivers anyway). So HTC can just kiss my future buh-bye!!!

Unfortunately, while I anxiously await to see what the Xperia does bring. I have been told by more than one person that the SE Xperia is actually an HTC product!!!!! What the?!?!

So now I hang in limbo...not knowing what to do or what to get. A SE K850i is looking promising and I hate to say this, but a 3G iPhone is too.

[Phoenix @ Apr 29th 2008 12:08PM]

Yes, it IS made by HTC

However, they're not gonna do the same thing to us twice.

[Kris @ Apr 29th 2008 12:13PM]

@Nando, I've been looking for a new phone to replace my Titan with and while the Sony looked nice, it's only 6 months from launch and the best one they've shown to the press is INSANELY laggy. I already get that on my Titan so if they are really that far behind I wouldn't trust it at all.

The Diamond looks like a much nicer piece of hardware.

[Phoenix @ Apr 29th 2008 3:15PM]

PERSONALLY, I'm going for either the Raphael or it's successor, but I like that form factor

[mister XR @ Apr 29th 2008 1:24PM]

The HTC Universal has all this:
*A 3.5" VGA Touchscreen
*3G Capability
*Windows Mobile 6.1 (via hacks)
*reasonable battery life (and a 5200mah battery option if you really need to do 3G all day)

...and it's been out for more than two years! Its camera is only 1MP, but come on HTC! Where's the innovation? I was disappointed to see the HTC Omni fall by the wayside. Is everyone just trying to copy the iPhone now? Sad....

[Phoenix @ Apr 29th 2008 3:18PM]

No HSDPA, I'm guessing the WiFi will be 802.11b only... And it's MASSIVE. and it'll have MUCH less RAM/ROM, a slower processor....

[Phoenix @ Apr 29th 2008 3:18PM]

Oh, and No GPS I think...

[maball54 @ Apr 29th 2008 4:15PM]

UPBEAT: The handset maker was confident that its new Touch phone model could boost sales, but also warned of a possible delay in shipments as it awaits certification.

-updated on article.