HTC unveils new HTC Touch Diamond, "not too big, not too small"
By Joshua Fruhlinger 
posted May 6th 2008 7:15AM
posted May 6th 2008 7:15AM
The device has some pretty nice interface tech that they're calling TouchFLO 3D that heavily emphasizes one-touch browsing and single-finger dialing. They emphasized web accessibility, zoom-in navigation with "just one hand" and not too many fingers. As expected, the device is loaded with Windows Mobile 6.1, a VGA screen and HSDPA 7.2, among other nice specs.
Updates, specs, and pics after the break!
As expected, the Diamond is loaded with prettiness and specs, including (coming as we get them, so refresh for more):
- Windows Mobile 6.1
- VGA Screen
- Quad-band HSDPA 7.2
- One-touch navigation, including single-finger dialing
- An accelerometer that rotates pictures as you rotate the phone
- One-touch music playback with an animated music browser
- A heavily-animated weather forecast app
- Full-featured desktop-like web browser (Opera) with zoom-in tech that actually reformats to fit the screen upon zoom, although Microsoft promises IE 6 coming soon for it
- Youtube app and content playback
- Available in June in Europe via Orange and the "rest of the world" sometime later
- Orange music store, games, wallpapers, and ringtone downloads
- Orange mobile TV with up to 61 channels
- No normal headphone jack - gotta use HTC's proprietary USB dongle
- "Better battery life" than their other devices (although it uses a smaller battery than the Touch - we'll keep our eye on this) -- will offer a bigger battery at a later time for those who are experiencing battery life issues
- No pricing info just yet
In Europe €499 to €549 in non subsidized channels.
Which means 700 in the U.S.
Doubt it would be that much, not with the iPhone at $400.
The most common way of converting between Euro and Dollar when dealing with electronic toys is a clean 1:1 conversion (even if that's get harder to do as the dollar loses its value vis-a-vis the Euro).
But we also have to make use of some common sense since the price of a good is affected by a number of different factors - competion, strength of seller and brand, taxes, salarys etc..
We may use two examples, the iPod Touch 8 GB and the Nokia N95. It's two well-known products. In USA the Ipod is $299 which is 1780 SEK while the price in Sweden for the same good is 2695 SEK, or more than 50% more expensive.
The lowest price on the Nokia N95 is $490 (2920 SEK) while it in Sweden is 3790 SEK, or less than a 29 percent increase. Also remember that the Swedish prices include a 25 percent VAT.
We also have much stronger protection for the consumer which may explain the higher price.
Some cautious optimism, but the proprietary usb dongle stinks, and the battery life is probably ick at only a 900mah battery - the latter potentially being a real issue.
The interface looks gorgeous, from a design standpoint, but I second the opinion that the single-touch gesture system makes the thing look kind of clunky and unresponsive. Obviously the hardware's up to it - why not attempt a more robust touch interface?
Full Specs here
http://www.htc.com/www/product.aspx?id=46286
Processor Qualcomm® MSM7201A™ 528 MHz
Operating System Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
Memory ROM: 256 MB
RAM: 192 MB DDR SDRAM
Internal storage: 4 GB
Dimensions 102 mm (L) X 51 mm (W) X 11.5 mm (T)
Weight 110 g (with battery)
Display 2.8-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with VGA resolution
Network HSDPA/WCDMA:
Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz
Up to 384 kbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
Europe/Asia: 900/1800/1900 MHz
(Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Device Control TouchFLO™ 3D
Touch-sensitive navigation control
GPS GPS and A-GPS ready
Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
Camera Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera
Audio Built-in microphone, speaker and FM radio with RDS
Ring tone supported formats:
MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, WAV, and AMR-NB
40 polyphonic and Standard MIDI format 0 and 1 (SMF)/SP MIDI
Battery Rechargeable Lithium-ion or Lithium-ion polymer battery
Capacity: 900 mAh
Talk time:
Up to 270 minutes for WCDMA
Up to 330 minutes for GSM
Standby time:
Up to 396 hours for WCDMA
Up to 285 hours for GSM
Video call time: Up to 145 minutes for WCDMA
(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A
"Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR"
let's hope they forgot to mention A2DP... I'm not realy feeling for a usb thingy connecting to a mini-jack thingy connecting to the A2DP dongle of my headphones...that would suck really bad.
Well the kaiser has A2DP... and it's the older device...
Triband just killed this for me. Guess I'll be waiting for a rightful Touch Cruise successor or Raphael since that will most likely have all the trimmings, given its a business phone.
Oh my,
No microSD card, no pen and more important 2.8" display!! Bahh for HTC...
I want a 3.5" display!!!
It has a stylus. look at the Device toor on www.htc.com (click on 7 and lok a the pic, the stylus in on the bottom right corner)
Not only that but it turns on when you remove the stylus, removing the stylus in a call opens a note for the contact AND the stylus is held in place with a magnet, no more stylus falling out incidents!
Well, what happened to eGPS then? And why don#t they launch the Raphael at the same time, this is not really all that interesting since it does not have a full keyboard...
"GPS ready" ? Hmmmm.
It means that you have to install a GPS app (like tomtom) unless it's offered by the operator.
Why are people wondering?
Sprints Gettin This & The Raphael in the Fall to replace The current "Touch" and "Mogul".
Hate To squash your dreams "T-Mobile" and "Verizon" lovers. Not to mention Verizon Just got its Touch last month so its not gettin the Diamond till long after Sprint gets it first and they have a half dozen Mogul alternatives.
Why would At&T get it? Theyre already gettin the Experia. They have enough phones already.
****
Thinkin ill get the "Raphael"...only cuz it has the slide out keyboard
When this device comes to SPRINT iam all over this.... My Mogul will be handed down to a family member like i do all my phones.. This interface looks HOT.. I refuse to giveup my GREAT Sprint data plan for the iphone...AT&t is just to expensive and slow..
That 3D engine looks amazing.. The animated Weather App seems really cool. Cause its using WM that means the amount of interesting Apps to come will be great.
And is that a coverflow system for contacts?...SWEET.
This is possibly the cheapest handset made by HTC yet. It marks a major milestone in VGA screen technology on 2.8 inch LCDs for the company so it's the first in a long line of products to receive the 2.8 inch VGA LCDs. TouchFlo technology is also more refined in this model which is software based which will allow other Windows Mobile 6.1 users new software on their existing equipment. Already Apple's iPhone sees competition on the corporate front from other Windows Mobile 6.1 devices such as the Kaiser, Nike, Elf, and other such models with TouchFlo software. Raphael will be the culmination of the efforts in an all-tech device that will have the 2.8inch VGA LCD. The Touch Diamond is a great mid-market phone for HTC and I think that the new TouchFlo software is excellent.
Wow, thanks for the press release.
Astroturf much?
I don't see stylus anywhere. Does it mean no handwriting recognition? In that case HTC took little too far to compete, I am sorry to copy iPhone.
I think if you see on the Device Tour, at HTC page, the 7th pic shows that it has pen. Whorray for that!!!
Not only that but it turns on when you remove the stylus, removing the stylus in a call opens a note for the contact AND the stylus is held in place with a magnet, no more stylus falling out incidents!
Ah, I thought this was going to truly be better than the iPhone but after having a 3" screen on my iPhone I wouldn't want to go to a phone where the screen isnt full length.
Soooo...who actually likes USB headphone dongles? Any takers? Any? Anyone?...No? Then WHY?!?!
I wanted this to be my next phone but 4gigs? I guess this is not the phone for me. Can't wait for the 3g iphone!
is youtube integrated with the browser or not ?
i meant flash... but same thing..
if it's anything like their current model not it's not, it works like the iphone: you whenever you click on a vid on the youtube website, it open another program that plays the vid but you can't watch it directly in the browser.
If only if only it ran android!
Where is the Qwerty keyboard? While my iphone keyboard is good for what it is, I still prefer the good 'ol keyboard of my now gone tilt...
I stopped caring after reading:
"No normal headphone jack - gotta use HTC's proprietary USB dongle"
That totally killed it for me.
Like how HTC turns defensive into offensive with their marketing: One-Touch vs Multi-Touch. So why Multi-Touch when you can do it in One-Touch. I like this. Apple has been great at marketing and hype Multi-Touch as a feature. Not as a benefit though. And by and large, the average consumers accept that. Would be interesting if the message of One-Touch will triumph.
Am I the only one not excited about the Diamond? Yes, it looks cool. But, it is only a tri-band GSM phone and no US 3G support. The only carrier the GSM version will work with is T-Mobile. It may work in some markets with AT&T, but not all. Yes, it has GPS and WiFi. Yes, that will kill your battery. I'm sorry, but until all major phone developers make quad band devices, I can't get too excited about them.
For those of you looking to purchase one in the US, check out this link, http://www.expansys-usa.com/d.aspx?i=168017. eXpansys US has it for $854.95 US. I know they are shooting for a June release. We all know of HTC's (and other manufacturer's) reputation of releasing phones on time. This probably won't hit the market, even in Europe, until July or August.
According to a T-Mobile insider (reputable to say the least) .... T-Mobile will be the first in the STATES to release the phone, however, it will not be exclusive (meaning, at some point in time or another from what has been revealed....it will possibly be sold by Sprint in the near but distant future)
june in europe? end of this quarter in asia? isn't june the last month of this quarter?
Does anyone know if the Diamond will be carried by Alltel phone services?
I'm gettin ths but will it come to sprint or no and when