It'd already been known that HTC got a little help from the boys and girls at San Fran-based One & Co in designing
its beautiful, WinMo-defying TouchFLO 3D user interface along with the
Touch Diamond on which it premiered; apparently, HTC likes the result so much that it's snapping the privately-held firm right off the market. One & Co's expertise certainly isn't limited to phones -- its clients span from Coca-Cola to Adidas, Dell, and Palm -- and interestingly, HTC has decided that the move won't spell the end of the design consultancy, so if you were hoping to get your hands on an HTC-designed K2 snowboard, you might just have a shot. We're told that the injection of fresh thought that found its way into the Diamond will ultimately filter its way through HTC's entire lineup, which we're taking to mean Android- and WinMo-based devices alike -- and sorry,
G1, but if this means that we can eventually land a Google-powered set with a giant display and some glossy facets on its rear, you know you're getting eBayed
right quick.
Update: We've just received a correction from HTC -- One & Co was actually not involved in the creation of TouchFLO 3D, just the Diamond's hardware. Our apologies!
posted Dec 3rd 2008 12:01AM
Smart move..should produce some nice results for HTC, and some additional revenue.
I think there are some biases, ie Palm (not so much to Dell). After all, Palm is a competitor of HTC. Would HTC pull some tricks on Palm?
Maybe they can design a 3.5mm headphone jack for the next gen G1 >:(
At least they tried to make up for it with the adapter unlike apple who thinks that you should have to buy their overpriced piece of crap earbuds.
How bought they buy a company that knows how to make some fucking drivers...
What will keep people upgrading their phones every year then?
What?
I think he means the video drivers not existing on the original htc touch. the hardware was there, but the drivers didn't use its entire potential
He's still bitter that his 3+ year old mogul / touch is a piece of crap. Drivers ain't gonna magically make it run WinMo any better than it does now. Move into the future and pick up a diamond or a pro. Seriously.
Hey Xenoterranos, I got rid of my tilt because of the same reason, and the tilt is only a year old now. Drivers won't 'magically' make winmo run any faster, but it will make it a much beer experience to use. I liked Windows Mobile a lot, but the phone I ran it on gave me a bad impression on HTC phones. What HTC did was basically the same as someone selling you a nice Apple 30" cinema display that can only display 800 x 600, even though it can display a 1080p picture. I was thinking I would be getting a powerhouse of a machine when I got my tilt (my first HTC phone), and was bitterly disappointed at what my cash had gotten me. A great phone that had a really bad experience because of the lack of drivers.
I got an Iphone 3g now because I was sick of my tilt, and I won't be buying another HTC phone until there's one with specs that are way better than what my tilt had. What they've got now is basically the same hardware in their phones, but in a newer designed exterior, with a few added features. They mostly have the same gpu and cpu, some are a little bit faster, they have some nicer (and larger) screens, and they have some added software features. But as an unsatisfied HTC customer, that's not enough for me. i'm still bitter about what HTC did with the Tilt and touch, that I won't buy another HTC product for a while. (maybe when winmo7 comes out)
Oh man, I am totally going to get the first phone that promises a magically beer experience to use.
I had a ppc 6700..... That phone had the worst..... I repeat the worst battery time in the year or two I had it and the 6800 has a lot better battery and little things I wanted....... Im excited for the pro..... And now even more excited for the phones coming up......
I just got a touch pro here in japan. I LOVE it, although its kinda sluggish right now till i figgure out how to disable the auto-correct.
You have to do registry tweaks to speed up the touchflo 3d check on google you can find the cab file to install the modification program
It really baffles me how much people care about how glossy their devices are.
Really? It's why Apple's popular (say what you will about good software - the general public doesn't know the difference). I love my HTC Touch Diamond, and still prefer it over the 3G iPhone, G1 and Storm. Gloss is a major factor, but so is the screen resolution and gorgeous interface (as mentioned in the article).
HTC is the one company that almost made me not get a 3G iPhone.
HTC was the one company tha convinced me to ditch my tilt and get an iphone 3g (lack of drivers pissed me off, and I hated he 1st gen iphone, only thing that got me to get 3g was because I got so fed up with my crippled tilt)
I too was fed up with my crippled Tilt. After selling my Tilt I bought a Diamond, then a Fuze. I sold the Diamond and returned the Fuze and am sticking with my 1st gen iphone. I too am very bitter over the Tilt, the Diamond/Fuze are not significant enough of an upgrade to justify the cost. I will wait for WM7 before I even consider another HTC device. Even then they better have their act together.
I love and still use my 8525. AT&T even gave me an unlock code so I didn't have to use the xda unlocker.
HTC is one of the best cellular manufacturers available, and they're aided all that much more by xda developers.
People don't realize that drivers aren't everything when the platform is hosed. Windows Mobile 6.1 is built on the framework of Windows CE--that is no platform for a modern mobile OS to compete with the likes of the iPhone, Android, or Symbian.
It seems pretty evident that Microsoft realizes this, and appears to be completely re-designing WinMo from the ground up for 7, although as to what they're doing with 6.5 (apparently just adding a more finger-friendly interface to WinMo's launch screen and applications) has yet to be seen.
I really do like Microsoft, I hope they get it together with 6.5 and hit a homerun with 7.0. If they don't, I fear they're going to lose (what little) market share they have now to the other players.
[As a note: I'd gladly try Android if it were more widely available, or installable, on other phones. I initially thought you could install Android on any supported phone platform, similar to installing an OS on a computer. I assumed the installer would query your phone via the cable connection, configure the package appropriately, and flash over a custom Android ROM. Maybe that's coming, but nothing yet--and while I can run Android using haret on my HTC Touch, it is still far from finished, let alone every-day-use ready.]
I see this happening a lot, apparently people are confused over what makes an open platform. Yes an open platform means you can install the platform on any supported phone for free. BUT if you want to do that the *phone* itself also has to be open and allow it. Most phones today aren't open and won't let you install other OSes on it like with a PC.
Actually Windows CE 6.0 is a very good OS (take a look at the Meizu M8 for example). It should not be confused with Windows Mobile, which is inferior to WinCE 6.0. Windows Mobile 7 will be based on Windows CE 6.0.
Coca-Cola Diamond, now featuring Caffeine-Flo 3D
HTC has not provided adequate drivers. They also manufacture below standard quality devices. Their manufacturing control and overall quality in terms of software drivers and build quality sucks and needs to change fast.
There saving grace is they make nice designs and make some nice front end software. Also the community of the XDA bos and in North America they are the only real option for windows mobile phones on American and Canadian networks.
http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=1806
Take a look at this........ now stfu and realize the fact they produce low quality stuff...... Asus/Samsung/ make decent phones.... HTC's are nice but fail in build quality and there crippled driver support.
Man, i never thought my touchpro would get out done by phones that cost less and look worse... HTC sucks, im not buying from them anymore and i advise no one too if you want a quality product.
Oh, I thought HTC designed the phones they build...like the Palm Treo Pro. I guess this could explain why the small insert in the Treo Pro's box says "Designed in California" rather than "Designed by Palm in California".
Apparently HTC is getting a bit better with their driver support, at least what I can see with some of the games that have come out for the G1(Dream). The Qualcomm graphics chip seems to allow for some decent 3d, and the driver support for android seems to be there. But all I've really seen that takes advantage of it is the Neocore demo. Alas, acquiring One & Co. should boost their appeal a bit more.