HTC Touch Diamond shots and specs: this week's big announcement?
By Ryan Block 
posted May 3rd 2008 4:51PM
posted May 3rd 2008 4:51PM
- 2.8-inch VGA display
- WinMo 6.1 Pro
- WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0
- eGPS, FM tuner
- Quad-band HSDPA 7.2
- 4GB internal flash, microSD slot
- 528MHz CPU
- 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus
- 10.7mm (0.47-inches) thick
- Supposedly also features an orientation sensor / accelerometer
[Thanks, Kevin]
Wow do I ever wish this thing ran linux.
Or andriod.
I would totally get one of these instead of a Xperia if it wasn't for the fact that this doesn't have a touch screen.
Or if this is vastly cheaper than Xperia I would get one.
This does have a touchscreen.
Of course it has a touch-screen. Where are you getting the information that it doesnt?
@Syphon Filter
By this.
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/04/23/htcs-raphael-and-diamond-coming-to-sprint-and-looking-good/
Unless my reading skills are failing me,E-mobile said the diamond wouldn't have a keyboard,rite?
This does have a keyboard,and last time I checked it didn't say anything about a touchsreen.
So wouldn't those pics shown be the Raphael,and not the diamond?
Please correct me if I'm wrong,cause I would like to know where I possibly messed up
@Ace B
WinMo 6.1 PRO=touchscreen
Pro=touchscreen
Standard=non-touchscreen
The Diamond is supposedly the replacement for the Touch.
It will have a touch screen but no hardware keyboard (if they do a Dual type thing then it may have a keypad, either 12 of 20 key version).
The Raphael, apparently will have a sliding qwerty, making it the replacement for the Kaiser.
This is speculation/educated guess work. I am sure all will become clear in a couple of days when HTC have their day in London.
Ace, solid point. I think the assumption was that this is the HSDPA version of the Raphael, but that's not necessarily a safe assumption to make.
Raphael = sliding QWERTY keybaord
Titanium = vertical numeric slider
Diamond (this) = touchscreen only, with 4GB storage.
Ryan, Engadget seems to be behind the rest of the internet on this one ;)
Oh,ya think I should have known that by now.Or at least should have picked up on that..Well,Well,either way,I want one of these things.
I would love a price for these.
@ Ace b and everyone else
Wait, just wait, of course it has a touchscreen, where do you think the name "HTC TOUCH Diamond" came from?!
@Nirvan
Gee,when ya say it like that ,ya make it seem like we don't want a touchscreen.
I just said it didn't look like it did from what I've read,but I'd love to be proven wrong in this case.
Sweet! Look's really good. So many phones, so little money.
You suggest you had many devices and had slow syncing on all. Its obvious to all something is not right. You either had many dodgy devices, don't know what your doing, or have a didogy machine. The anti-fudd union of engaget gave me the job of detemining who's a troll or not.
I may be a boy but I'm also you buddy.
balls that was for the thread below!
Sorry.
I agree. Looks sweet, but can it deliver? HTC is by far my favorite phone manufacturer and I'm excited to see this one.
http://www.HTCTouchDiamond.com
Although 528 MHz is very nice to see, as someone who's used many Windows Mobile phones, I can say for certain that as long as the OS is Windows Mobile, the thing will never be very good product.
It always amazes me how long it takes for these things to sync too– just to update a few calendar changes on a very fast Vista machine, it takes at least 20-30 minutes.
Are you kidding me?
My iPod syncs the calendar in about 30 seconds.
I just hope the 3G iPhone comes out soon so I can finally switch to the dark side.
are you kidding me? even on my old 8125 whenever i put in my 7 day work schedule in my phone and synced it w/ my PC, it took at most 1 minute to do (this is syncing appointments that i made on PC to phone, from phone to PC and then random contact changes/tasks/notes that were made). 30 minutes? you must have a really shitty PC. Quit trying to spread FUD, the sync works just fine on my vista machine.
You smoking crack?
Takes me 30 sec to sync my e-mail and calendar, on a ho hum windows machine. This is with 30-50 emails.
It took me 5 minutes to sync 700 contacts to my Windows Mobile phone. Please.. that is not very slow at all.
20-30 mins?
You're doing something wrong mate.
Are you guys using Vista with Outlook 2007 and the non-Pro Windows Mobile?
That's what I WAS using.
Either way, even the biggest Windows Mobile zealot can agree that the sync system needs to be re-written from the ground up.
Hey Lion king fan,
Since you find it so difficult to understand, let me break this new concept to you– PCs are made by many different companies using many different combinations of softwares and hardware configurations, and thus it is not a mystery when someone has an experience that is slightly different than yours.
And no, I do not have a shitty computer– 2.4 quad core, 3 gb ram, 500 gb 7200 rpm, etc etc.
Cool...then you have a shitty phone
...says the guy who owns a 8125.
Do they even make the 8125s?
T-Mobile sure stopped selling them long ago.
sorry but I had a few win mo devices and they took no time on vista, altough I do admit, I had a few minutes to wait maybe as long as five.... Using my mac. Saying it took 30 min is just stupid attention grabbing. I dislike win mo now, but I won't go spreading lies, its childish.
BuddyBoy,
Since you're a mac user, so perhaps you don't understand that there is significant heterogeneity among PCs and due to all the diversity, someone may have an experience that is drastically different than your own.
Was I claiming that 30 minutes was the norm for everyone?
No.
yes but you assume I mainly use the mac. I don't I mainly use vista. I've use three vista machines. They are the same speed syncing as my xp machines were. You simply have a brocken machine. Fix it, then comment.
Broken machine eh?
Windows Mobile sync acts up and a perfectly working machine is now a broken machine?
Also who made you the one who determines whether someone can comment or not?
I will comment whenever the hell I want to, thank you, "Boy."
PC configurations make a REAL difference only when preforming heavy duty taks like benchmarking, gaming, and things like autocad.
Saying that your computer config made your syn take 30 minutes is pure stupid. That is like saying that PC configs make a huge difference in web browsing speeds.... unless you computer was built 10 years ago, the config will have barely any effect on a low end task like that.
So stop insulting people with your bullshit and pretending that you *know* so much about PC performance.
Seung-Hwan give it up. You lose. It's you against the world. Windows mobile isn't a piece of shit. End of story.
Dear Seung-Hwan,
You are not stupid, nor we are, but when many WinMo users tell you that the process of syncing dose take a max of 5 minutes in worst case scenarios, where a PC is encoding a file and Photoshop is running along, this means that either your WinMo or your PC is "damaged".
My Advice: do a check up on your PC, or change your WinMo device from your retail shop.
Don't talk anymore, just do exactly what I said; it is the best and safest solution for your money. You should have done this 3 days max after you faced that problem.
Enjoy your time.
It took him 30 mins because his syncing was manually typing it in.
Dude, get a usb cable. Geesh.
@ Seung-Hwan
Update Windows Mobile Device Center, you should be able to Sync your WinMo device just fine then.
I had the same issue, this fixed it.
dude ... something wrong with your computer ... Vista is very sync-o-lisious. Like 30 secs give or take.
10mm thick????
how is this possible!?
1cm
Oh noes, not teh metric measurements!
Anyone else think the watermark at first was just how it normally looked? I thought it was kind of cool...
Why would anybody want this over the 3G iPhone which will come out in a couple of months?
easy... i hate at&t and itunes
oops.. this isn't the CDMA version... still hate itunes and at&t though
Because not everyone likes Apple products?
Are u serious dude?? You are really asking why any one would NOT want a Apple product?? DUDE think a little out side the crap fruit.
You are starting to think like Steve Jobs.
Are you one of the few lucky 2ndGen iPhone testers, Surur?
MMS, better Bluetooth, higher res screen, modem support? Citing these as advantages over the 3G iPhone that's yet to be revealed must mean that you have exclusive access to the specs.
Either that or you're talking out of your ass.
Why would iPhone haters want an iPhone? If the iPhone had every feature in the world and could emulate WinMo6.1, an iPhone hater couldn't tolerate the Apple logo. They don't even like Steve's mock turtleneck. ....and one more thing....who gives a crap that those suckers will be stuck with a HTC Touch Diamond when you'll have your chick magnet 3G iPhone. Their loss, your gain.
That HTC Touch Diamond looks like something Ugly Betty would use. Fits her style rather well.
@MacVita
Maybe because firmware 2.0 is out, and there is no sign of improved bluetooth support and MMS, and the cheap data plans Apple negotiated would not allow them to let people use their phones as modems? Also developers would need to be warned of to code resolution-independently if the iPhone 2 had a different screen.
Unless you know differently of course, which I really doubt.
Hey maybe you know the iPhone 2 will come with a kitchen sink and fridge too? You know everything is possible, no matter how unlikely, isn't it.
- Apple-haters (yes... it isn't just Microsoft and/or Windows and/or PC that have haters)
- Price
- MS Outlook & Exchange support
- More 3rd party apps
- Can be unlocked for international use
- Not forced to install iTunes (and they even automatically pushed Safari for a few days)
- Not stuck with AT&T
- Don't have to pay for updates (yes... iPhone had a free update recently, but thats not always the case)
- You can replace the battery yourself, and don't have to pay the price of a mid-ranked phone just for the battery
- iPhone is starting to become a common phone.
- GPS
(to name some)
20-30 minutes to sync...whats wrong with your computer....never takes more than 2-3 minutes to sync changes
isn't the keyboard only on the raphael not the diamond? anybody know?
I believe you are correct.
Tuesday will reveal all.
i'm calling BS on the screen. a 2.8 inch vga screen? that just doesn't make sense.
And why not???
The Eten X650 and M800 have 2.8" VGA screens.
you forgot to mention, back of phone resembles Madonna/Justin music video!
So they were being chased by an HTC Diamond?
Seems plausible...
the design idea of the phone is copied from nokia 7000 prism series... maybe those where also the inspiration for the madonna/justin video.
could this be the Shadow II i only hope so
It's not, it's a touchscreen device with no physical keyboard, the Shadow is a non-touchscreen device with a sliding keyboard.
the front = lovely
the back = damn that's got to hurt in a tight pocket!
Yea I don't know about the back side of this phone...
If you look at the side photos, you'll see the corners are slightly cut. The back of the phone may be painted that way, or the plastic is cut like that, and they leveled it off with some clear plastic to make it flat.
So I don't think it would hurt your pocket all that much.
I see what you mean looking closely at the images, I hope its a flat back.. I hate odd shaped things in my pants! (think of that what you will)
pretty cooL! only 4 gigs?
4gigs but but unlike the iphone/touch you can upgrade a dozen or so more gigs with an microSD card.
Why Windows Mobile? What a waste of nice hardware...
Exactly.
I used to be proponent of Windows Mobile due to all the available softwares for it out there but it just never improved the way it should have.
Sure, push mail and outlook syncing is nice, but through all the hard resets and long sync's (which is apparently an anomaly), I have had it with it.
How can anyone disagree that the iPhone's software is a better platform?
Now with softwares coming, I don't see how Windows Mobile phones can be even a reasonable alternative.
Because Windows Mobile is more fully featured. Don't get me wrong, I have an iPhone and several Windows Mobile devices and the iPhone is sweet to use(only after Jailbreak though). But it's missing many features, a big one is Office.
Also many of us have high hopes for Windows Mobile 7 and for it to deliver a more consumer friendly device.
What I really like about the iPhone is the glass touchscreen. One thing I wish all WinMo phones have is a glass screen that is FLUSH with the surface.
I agree. If iPhone had office it would be sweet. Hopefully with the sdk and June updates we get a "phonepro" with 3g, office, the exchange support etc
What is eGPS?
egps: http://www.csr.com/egps/index.htm
This is the replacement for the Touch I think. Here's hoping they bring out a "Dual" version of this with a choice of keypads (like the Touch Dual 12 and 20 key versions).
The replacement for the Kaiser (Tytn II) is the Raphael I think. Can't wait for some of these new device. Will probably pick up a Raphael myself.
Touch was a crippled handset in terms of its hardware.
Only 200 MHz!
This hardly compares at all with the Touch, but I suppose it can be a very very significant upgrade.
The CDMA Touch is 400 MHz, 128MB RAM, 256MB ROM, 3G EVDO and GPS. Its a different phone in the same shell.
Your experience is anomalous. Stop generalising to everyone else.
This is the replacement for the Touch, there's a replacement for the Touch Dual (the Titanium) and there's the Raphael as well.
Is it safe to say that nothing from HTC will come to Verizon with wifi?
Why not? They currently have 2 phones from HTC, and one of them has WiFi.
XV6800 (TITAN) has WIFI
A nice phone to be sure... Looks very cool, specs are spectacular (heh), and hopefully the price is right... Now if only we could have an OS for it that doesn't suck horribly. A man can dream, right?
OS that doesn't suck? Horribly?
Dream on.
(The hardware specs always look drool-y, don't they..... until you actually start using it).
@Seung-Hwan
Touch is 400 MHz
No it isn't
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/htc-touch-unlocked/4505-6452_7-32465595.html
At least not the version I WAS REFERRING TO.
200MHz, just like Sueng-Hwan said, in the link he provided which quotes 201MHz... wait, what?
(Sueng-Hwan, buy yourself a drink and relax a little, you seem tense)
For once, Seung-Hwan is right in the ball. The GSM Touch are 200mhz. Only the lucky CDMA user get the 400mhz Touch.
Other than the janky looking back, this is some sweet hardware.
Would this quad band hsdpa be the same as the Xperia. If so then it would be able to possible run on T-Mobile's USA 3G network.
Why only 528 MHz? The Hermes just has 400 MHz and even Word needs a long time to open. 128 MHz more wouldn't work that faster or is the CPU way more effective? Anybody got infos?
You don't know what kind of CPU it is. A Pentium 4 at 5 Ghz is much slower than a Core 2 Duo at 3Ghz(even if the Duo is only using one core).
Architectural differences can make comparing clock speeds worthless.
hermes, good question. I haven't seen anything definite on this but I bet it's one of the chips Qualcomm announced in February:
http://www.qualcomm.com/press/releases/2008/080211_QST_series.html
Three models: QST1000, QST1100, and QST1105. I don't know the differences but the release states "The QST1105 also has a hardware-accelerated 2D/3D graphics core capable of performing up to 2.8 million triangles per second"
Dear HTC: Oh please please please let the Diamond & Raphael have the QST1105!
is that camera in the top right corner as well?
It looks it, but it also looks to be pointing off in one direction! I wish the back of this thing looked flat so my mind wouldn't hurt so bad figuring it out.
The Question is: Manilla or Panels? Which would you choose?
This phone looks great, except for the lack of a physical keyboard. So the Raphael could very well be an Xperia X1 killer. Definitely.
HTC stabbed SE in the back, and made a lot of money in the process.
If Manilla isn't a lot deeper than the superficial TouchFLO, I guess I'd go for the Panels on the X1.
Wow cool! It even comes with free watermarking on the whole phone!
Someone change the article.
It's been known for a while that the Touch Diamond = no keyboard, the Touch Pro(Raphael) = QWERTY and the Touch Dual pro(titanium) = numeric/suretype verticle slider
C'mon, look at this thing-- beautiful. It pretty much has everything you could possibly want in a smartphone, besides a larger screen, but who's complaining.
And to think, I had all but made up my mind about the 3G iPhone-- it could come out tomorrow and I wouldn't even bat an eye.
I'm glad it runs WinMo 6.1 Pro. That pretty much means touchscreen. So far, I find WinMo to be the most versatile mobile OS. You can do a lot of things on these phones.
Not sure if this will make me consider this over the Xperia X1, but any competition is great.
Plus the whole "touch" thing, plus the fact that they wouldn't release a phone with no form of keypad or touchscreen whatsoever...
and the real X1 killer is the Raphael ;)
Yup, work for Nextel, it does have a slide out keyboard.
The Diamond (very thin one) has a slide-out keyboard, or the Raphael (much thicker) has a slide-out keyboard?
THE RAPHAEL HAS A SLIDE OUT QWERTY KEYBOARD
THE DIAMOND HAS NONE
THE TITANIUM HAS A VERTICAL SLIDING NUMERIC KEYPAD
BOTH THE RAPHAEL AND THE DIAMOND, AND PROBABLY THE TITANIUM, WILL BE AVAILABLE IN CDMA AND GSM VERSIONS!!!