Hands-on with Sprint's Touch Diamond

You know you love it, new Windows Mobile -- even new carrier is good enough for us -- hardware always gets us all thrilled and chirpy. Sprint's really blown it open today with the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro announcements, so to honor them we got our hands on the Touch Diamond. Engadget Mobile's got the gallery and details, so hit the read link to get at it. Enjoy the pics.

[designworks @ Sep 10th 2008 3:30PM]

love my Diamond but is now 5 months old !! roll on HTC Diamond Glow hiting EU shores jan 2009

[HalfJoey @ Sep 10th 2008 3:29PM]

God damn it Verizon, hurry up and announce your Touch Pro stuff!

[Billy @ Sep 10th 2008 3:41PM]

HA. Verizon has very little say in the matter due to Sprint's exclusivity contract with HTC. Plus Verizon has to fool with the device and cripple it to make sure it can't do anything fun or useful except voice and text.

[Zelatio @ Sep 10th 2008 3:47PM]

So Sprint has an exclusivity contract with HTC....right....So the Touch Pro that AT&T has isn't an HTC?

[wud_e @ Sep 10th 2008 4:10PM]

Don't know about the exclusitivity with Sprint, doubt there is one since AT&T is getting it, but I wouldn't want it on Verizon though. Imagine the Ugly Red interface and the crippling of the phone. I can't wait to get this for Sprint next year.

[kjb434 @ Sep 10th 2008 4:11PM]

Remember, exclusivity contracts typically last about 9 months to a year. I haven't heard and detail's on this one's length.

[Paul @ Sep 10th 2008 3:31PM]

Already huh guys, I think switching from Verizon sounds like a good idea seeing as how there haven't been any more rumors about the Diamond going to the big Red.

[r @ Sep 10th 2008 3:32PM]

not good enough. i just canceled sprint to get the iphone.

[whatishalo? @ Sep 10th 2008 3:36PM]

how do you know have you used the new HTC personally?

I have been waiting for these to decide to stay with Sprint or go with an iPh@#%.

[suneh @ Sep 10th 2008 3:37PM]

Can we talk about a non-iphone related product without actually mentioning the iphone for once? Oh wait, nevermind.

[Argot @ Sep 10th 2008 3:52PM]

Why would anybody wanna get a crappy iPhone instead of this?

[steven @ Sep 10th 2008 4:32PM]

I was looking for a report with a lowest rank comment so I could see how faded lower rank comments were and I came to this article knowing that there would be a comment that had to do something with the iPhone.

[Hellaphunt @ Sep 10th 2008 3:33PM]

Such a beautiful device. I hope AT&T acquires new HTCs before my renewal in January, next year.

[Ray @ Sep 10th 2008 4:05PM]

MUST! RESIST! URGE! TO SIGN NEW CONTRACT ON SPRINT!

Damn you engadget for taking the usual non blurry crap shots of this phone in person!

[eggothewaffle @ Sep 10th 2008 3:42PM]

What I really want to know is how well it works with Skyfire.

[whatishalo? @ Sep 10th 2008 3:43PM]

It IS actually relavant here. A lot of us (non-fanboi's) have been waiting for these new phones to come to Sprint to decide if we should stick with them or move on to another provider.

Based on my personal experience using other people's iPhone and testing the currently available phones, for MY USE AND PERSONAL PREFENCE so far the iPhone is the winner.

I am hoping the new HTC has enough of the features and usability to make me stay.


(NO I do not own a Mac, Steve J's shit does stink, and I do prefer Windows for my OS)

[rafa @ Sep 10th 2008 3:45PM]

I hate to go off topic, but I have such a disdain for non-GSM phones. I think the only reason they still exist is because all the tech savvy Californians are caught up on Verizon. If they'd ditch that and go with a GSM carrier we could all advance in unison. Apple is thankfully leading the way to the right track (never thought I'd say that).

/rant

[kjb434 @ Sep 10th 2008 4:15PM]

Actually, Apple was going to make a CDMA version first of the iphone because they went to Verizon to shop the idea around. They were turned down.

ATT said we're interested. It worked out better since ATT/T-Mobile and the rest of the world are primarily GSM

[Bryant @ Sep 10th 2008 3:46PM]

Fake. The TV icon is aligned almost perfectly with the top and bottom edges of the image.

Oh wait...

[Ray @ Sep 10th 2008 4:09PM]

That is pretty odd, looks like an illusion to me... i mean, the sprint i know would never use a phones like this multimedia capabilities to client its tv service (cough*mogul*cough)

[Clasifyd @ Sep 10th 2008 3:48PM]

I recall this was supposed to come to AT&T. Is that not the case any longer?

[Laron @ Sep 10th 2008 3:59PM]

How come the back is different? There's no diamonds!

[Bradley @ Sep 10th 2008 4:13PM]

They made a HUGE design mistake with the red. Gross. Black, black. All black!!!

I'll probably paint mine or wait for the Pro.

[kjb434 @ Sep 10th 2008 4:12PM]

If you tried the Diamond or TouchPro's interface, it's a big improvement over the original touch. It works much better and is friendly towards larger fingers.

[PynkFloydd @ Sep 10th 2008 4:17PM]

...I felt a little like a beta tester with my Mogul.

[famm113 @ Sep 10th 2008 4:21PM]

I'm not sure if the telesales will offer it but apparently none of the sprint stores in phoenix know that this phone is coming on the 14th. I just left one store and the sales rep thought it was coming at the end of the month. I called another 2 and they echoed the same. Great more waiting...lol stupid carriers with their delays

[ventivent @ Sep 10th 2008 4:34PM]

Sprint and other carriers shouldn't bother marketing WinMo to the iPhone crowd. I am a long-time WinMo business user. I know the OS is klunky, and it often takes me two to three days to tweak a new phone to my liking. However: Exchange, Outlook sync, medical references, GPS, Google Maps/Windows Live, and TETHERING (for $20/month) are all essential for me to get through any given work day. Plus, I don't want to use the same phone that 14 year-old girls, mallrat "playas" and grandmothers use. Keep WinMo professional, and iPhone mainstream.