HTC's got an all-new version of its GPS-centric
Touch Cruise handset, with a thinner, slicker design and a new HTC Footprints app for integrating that location data with photos and notes. Of course, the phone doubles as a traditional in-car navigation system, cradle included, with GPS and a-GPS, but there's plenty else to love here, including quad band GSM, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a microSD slot and a 3.2 megapixel camera. The 2.8-inch QVGA screen betrays this phone's consumer-bent, but the truly notable functionality here is actually in the software: HTC Footprints takes geotagging a step further, allowing to to take notes and audio clips and embed them in a "postcard" of sorts, all still tied to that GPS location data -- the cards are even auto-named by their location. Footprints also works outdoors and indoors, which isn't quite explained, but we're guessing it just remembers where you were when you lost a signal. There's a world-friendly WCDMA / HSPA 900 / 2100MHz version, of course, but us North Americans will be getting the 850 / 1900MHz flavor as a unlocked handset for $500 to $600 in Q2. Check out the read links below for the full PR and some early hands-ons, and there's video after the break.
[Via
Phone Scoop; thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - HTC PR
Read - Touch Cruise hands-on (in Russian)
Read - Touch Cruise hands-on (in English)
posted Jan 22nd 2009 9:18AM
Looks nice, now why couldn't they do this for the G2?
Because it would be Android...
Anyway, why they keep making more and more phones? Really, improving the ones they have, with better firmware, would be a better option..
Tom Cruise phone?
@OneLove
I was thinking the same thing, I would buy one if it was guaranteed to go batshit nuts around Opera....
My thoughts exactly. It's like they intentionally make ugly phones for T-Mobile... :(
ANYTHING for the G2 would be fine as long as it has a better battery that the craptastic one they gave me with the G1.
All this "footprint" stuff has been possible forever with 3rd party apps. Sure maybe not as "integrated" but easily doable. This is gimmicky to me. And with a QVGA screen yet, it seems HTC is trying to milk non savvy consumers for $.
I wonder if that front wheel clicks like a dpad. If not then I curse this device to you know where.
Not to mention that geotagging with these small GPS chips is not a pleasant experience. Start up camera, wait 2 minutes or more for GPS to lock, take picture.
yeah right...
It's been up and running on Nokia S60 phones for a loooong time now. First in Sportstracker ( http://sportstracker.nokia.com/ ) and then also in the Nokia viNe app: http://noknok.tv/2008/11/26/nokia-vine-location-logging-app-now-available-for-download/
(Works for photos, videos and music - can be embedded on a website.)
I've used it a couple of time already for trips in Australia (end of 2007) and Italy.
000000: the Nokia 5800 finds position with A-GPS in a couple of seconds - even when you have moved to a different country. I think recent GPS chips in mobiles (not just Nokia ones) should be quite quick.
I think it's good that more and more phones get this capability, just great for travels.
@ 000000:
HTC, and all other cell phone companies, design many models every year. It's just the nature of the business. I work for a US semiconductor company that sells to Samsung so I've personally worked with them. Samsung launches a new design every 2 weeks. That's ~25 models a year (not all of them make it to the States of course). If HTC wants to keep up, they have to make more models and keep the marketing pressure on.
Secondly, even though this might sound crazy on Engadget, there are many many users who just want a phone, not a mini computer. Not everybody wants the iPhone, G1 or the Storm. Admittedly, I'm one of them. I don't want to carry a huge phone (by 21st century standards) so I can watch videos and post pictures on Facebook. I want a phone to make phone calls and send/receive texts. That's it. HTC is well aware of this market and they're trying to serve it.
The price tag is rather steep though.
So it has a modified TouchFlo 2D after all? Disappointing to all those who figured we'd be able to port a QVGA TouchFlo3D to our Kaisers and etc....
thats a good point, why make the Android phones so damn ugly or "unique".
sounds like a complex to me....
Gnome called, they want their foot icon back.
Nice.
Yea I'm thinking the same exact thing. I was sure I'm looking at the next iteration of the Android desktop (now with Gnome!) but alas it's just windows broadening their thievery portfolio.
-Tim
Stop the presses, phone the militia, an icon from an open source operating system graphics package was used in a different project!! EGADS!!
Touch HD please!!
The foot looks a little too similar to the GNOME foot. They're both left feet. They both only have four toes. The difference is that HTC foot has the arch unnaturally on the outside edge of the foot -- either that or someone walks in a serious messed up fashion on the inside of their foot. In any case there's going to be some pissed off free software fans.
they'll be coming out with a pink version called the katie phone, and one for children called the suri phone
At first glance, the thumbnail of the 4th picture made it look like a slider. Pfft... what a drag.
HTC are making some really sexy phones lately (like the HD), but that OS, that's another thing..
nice looking. but HTC is making way too many phones. wonder who the carrier will be.
I'm sorry, what? How is it a bad thing that they're making a lot of products to
1) Increase their revenue stream and product diversity
2) Give you more choice
no capacitive screen???
@Nate
I use a stylus all the time and I hope they don't remove it. I use it to press links in full page mode, I don't waste time zooming in just to press them micro links. I have an iTouch and it can definitely use one. I hope they don't drop the stylus. My main issue is that I lost both stylus that came with my HTC diamond, so I had to order another set from ebay.
Stylus? If so, file this under uniteresting.
No one said you actually had to use it...
iPhone.
iDiot iTroll
these new phones should be having better cameras, i know its not all about the pixels but iphone and g1 cameras are doo doo
Iphone fanboyz(remember ur phones can't do half as much as winmo can) r mad cuz they have no variety in their phone choices..... so sad ...... keep wishing and hoping maybe 1 day
But teh stylus!!!!!!!
Anyway, I have yet to see an iPhone do what this phone does. Are there any third-party apps that work similarly to this "footprint" feature?
"Anyway, I have yet to see an iPhone do what this phone does. Are there any third-party apps that work similarly to this "footprint" feature?"
@Aaron: YouNote (free) allows you to make geo-tagged notes containing pictures, audio, text, etc.
http://appshopper.com/productivity/younote
And EveryTrail allows you to record entire trips with geotagged pictures and notes:
http://www.everytrail.com/iphone.php
That phone is kind of neat. It actually seems a bit more responsive than some of the other Touch devices, and I like the unique footprint GPS feature. Plus the auto-dock seems rather useful, especially because I know what a pain it is to try to put my phone some place stable while driving.
I wonder what the battery life on this device is? HTC phones have never been known for great battery life, and I can't see it lasting very long in a device that's built around GPS functionality.
"Thinner" Normally on a phone that would be great, but with HTC's designs that probably means it has a battery life of about 20 minutes.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=25+2+4+N,+121+33+57+E&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=42.03917,91.142578&ie=UTF8&ll=23.765237,121.398926&spn=5.849806,11.392822&z=7
If anyone was wondering.
another thing... how long before we get a kinetic/solar powered phone? or at least to help charge the battery... especially if its built around gps like aaron says
QVGA....ugh.
Tom's perverted brother?
LOL - I got one of these about 6 weeks ago from a friend @ HTC and didn't even realize it was a pre-production model. I checked out xda-developers and ti wasn't listed so I figured whatever. It's a cool phone, but I need physical keyboard so I'm still using my Touch Pro
HOLD IT! WAIT A MINUTE....
that wasn't TomTom he used as navigation. HTC used to come with TomTom Navigator, why did they change. and what navigation prog was it?
(BTW i'm very pleased to say that i have an iPhone now and dumped my touch cruise.)
htc's 18th iphonekiller attempt and counting,.so far 0 for 18. Failed every time .
What exactly do you mean? It's not been released yet, how did it fail? And exactly what did it fail at? I can only assume you mean market share, and let me inform you that it has never been HTC's goal to make a single uber-phone to outsell the insanely well marketed iphone. HTC is probably the most diversifying cellphone company of all, so why would you ever even draw the comparison? It makes zero sense..
Also, this particular phone is actually a mid-range smartphone, so it's not even in the same segment as the iphone. So what could possibly explain your strange desire to even mention the iphone? What simple, one dimensional way of thought could lead to this?
BTW if this guy is a troll, pretend I am talking to all the people who actually think like he seems to. (this includes the majority of engadget editors)
If you want a proper grasp of the cellphone market, do yourself a favor and actually read mobile-review.com.
But the Iphone is a mid range handset, just of a very small range.
Considering we do not generally get full powered versions of the phones as most US providers cripple them in some way to make you pay for what the phone already does for free, GPS comes to mind. I think the Touch HD would be a similar phone to an I-Phone from what little I have seen. BUT nobody in the states is offering it. Verizon said it would be too expensive but it seems more likely they did not want a phone to steal "Crackberry" Storm sales. So itsnot really a fail if its never even given a chance to show what it can do.
I loved Touch Cruise in Top Gun. Too bad he's crazy.
Footprints sounds like a great feature for tourist...or stalkers...I'm just saying...
WTF Is wrong with HTC? They bring out some awsome phones and then NEVER seem to include a flash for the camera. It's the worst thing on my Touch Diamond. Take the HD For example, Why would I want a 5MP Camera without some sort of flash? =/
So when can XDA and PPCGeeks rip the new Footprints program for use on our old phones? ;)
i wanna tap that