HTC's Touch.B gets demonstrated, featurephone status confirmed (video)
By Tim Stevens 
posted December 3rd 2009 9:01AM
posted December 3rd 2009 9:01AM
posted December 3rd 2009 9:01AM
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@iPhoneMessenger its probably welcome for a lot of buyers who dont spend too much on their hardware but would like a better OS, I know a lot of people who buy a costlier phone (read costlier) just for a decent UI experience...
@iPhoneMessenger
I know right.. this is kinda boring
But, a low cost phone, isn't that what the WM Touch Viva/Touch 2, and HTC click are for?
@Patlex
Um... Droid Eris? How's that for low cost? You can get it for $30! How much cheaper can you want?! (Okay, okay... Monthly data plan costs factor in, but seriously.)
Besides, this phone's interface looks extremely bland. (I hope it's still in the design stage.) The Eris has a much smoother interface and much more capability. I can see HTC making a lower end phone, but IMHO low end HTC should still be high end compared to the rest of the market. What's with the small screen real estate?
meh
@webmastir agreed.
I have to admit its pretty nice for a dumbphone, I can see a 13 year old being really happy with this
HTC and feature phones??
Why is this a featurephone again?
@Freakin Ijit - Because it has a preset list of... wait for it... features, whereas a smartphone has a full-fledged operating system where you can install new software, etc.
@soul3n
It's not like they need to go pay $30 a pop for Android licences or anything to get a decent OS on this now :/
I like it. Pretty stylish and compact for it's processor. I bet it'll run fast. Can you run multiple applications in this OS?
@N900
It's a dumbphone. What you see is what you get.
@Chefgon
In most Sony Ericsson dumphones you can run multiple applications, but I don't know about this one.
ZzzzZzzZzzzzz
it looks bad.
omg we are turing the time back now huh ?!
Hey, even Apple used to make feature phones back before the iPhone 3G came out.
@Chefgon
The iPhone 3G is a feature phone.
@harkening
no, just no.
Why didn't they just copy touchflo 3D? This looks weak.
Why is this news at all? I get it that its a different look but the phone theyre showing has nothing on it. Let this guy use it for a while get a bunch of messages and answer a few on video. Maybe an app.... I thought that was standard for showing off devices......
@(Unverified)
Because no one had seen the phone before.
@(Unverified)
Yep, worst Demo ever!
This should be the last post related to this phone.
@Edobe
Couldn't agree more friend!
@Edobe AGREED. Huge let down, I was expecting a big screened android device like everyone else... :(
Ewww.....
Boooooo HTC Fails!
"but it all looks a little... limited" You mean it doesn't look like a smartphone? The screen size and lack of power mean I'm definitely not interested, but I kinda like that they've not tried to hide the fact it isn't a smartphone. Choose what you're going to do, and do it well seems a decent approach to me.
It like.... a bezel within a bezel.
I still want an HTC Touch Pro 2.... I just want it with Android on it instead of Windows Mobile. Wow this phone looked really underwhelming. Is it bad to say I'm disappointed with HTC? Because usually I rather like their phones (thus the lust for the Touch Pro 2).
@barbtx
format it with an android rom and you got an android TP2
@barbtx : Er, WinMo is one of the best perks of having the HD2.
"This isn't going to be fun, so we'll just say it and get it over with: the HTC Touch.B isn't the updated Android------"
*walks away
Best featurephone I've seen. It is quick and easy to use just like regular phones and quite unlike the craptastic featurephones of Samsung and LG. It is actually the first featurephone that looks to be as simple as using a regular i.e. non-touchscreen cell phone.
That being said, this obviously wasn't made for us...
aw, what a cute lil' guy!
@andthemaniam ur cute urself.
@andthemaniam I would leave Engadget, Delete everything about you on this website, Move countries. For your own safety just leave now!
That's what happens when you don't study. You never become a Smartphone! Heed my warning future HTC, phones.
HTC, what are you durrin?
boring...I will stick with Sense
This phone is very ........... lack of personality
Everything comes down to price. I can see this phone as being a huge hit in the $50-100 price range. Most people don't want to add apps and do crazy things. They just want a simple to use phone.
With that in mind, I think they missed the boat by not including a physical keypad for dialing. That is really a must for most dumbphones.
I don't understand all this negativism in the comments. I believe this phone will be marketed towards the low end of the market, as a "feature" phone as the report states. As a feature phone, I think this is much more refined than most of the options we have right now. Just because a phone isn't marketed towards you, it doesn't mean that it should me immediately dismissed.
like ferrari making a family sedan...
Looks like the Zune UI, version 0.10. Ugh.
If it's got good battery life, then that explains why the cheapness.
Well HTC usually makes some good quality phones, although this might not be what we want from them I'm sure a lot of people will like it. With all those HTC commercials lately I think they are really trying to go mainstream and this will help them do it.
Let me guess, MSM7200?
So, the HTC Tattoo is suppose to be their low end Android phone and you can get a phone like the HTC Touch Viva or Touch 3G for free(or close to it) in many places of the world so I don't get the point of this. Unless this is somehow easier and better to use than either of those OSes.
@Patlex If it's really affordable unlocked. Also carriers charge less per month for feature phones.