Touch Diamond -- Engadget

HTC Touch Diamond2 hitting Taiwan this month

by Ross Miller, posted Apr 10th 2009 at 4:06AM

According to MobileTechReview the HTC Touch Diamond2 is due out this month in Taiwan. Local price is NT$21,900 (US$648.93) and it'll come with a 8GB memory card inside the box. Still no US release date, but with the UK version reportedly launching next week, we wouldn't be surprise if April was the lucky month for a stateside debut, as well.

HTC Touch Diamond lands tomorrow on Verizon: $299.99 on contract

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 9th 2009 at 10:59AM

It seems the rumblings and rumors were true -- every last one of them. HTC's now-aged Touch Diamond is indeed hitting Verizon Wireless this month, bringing with it the same 2.76-inch touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, TouchFLO interface and Windows Mobile 6.1 OS that we've seen ad nauseum on carriers around the world (though it does boast a microSD card slot). We're pretty baffled by the immensely large $299.99 on-contract sticker (after $70 mail-in rebate), and honestly, we just don't see VZW moving too many of these before a price drop. In fact, are you even giving this a second thought?

Gallery: HTC Touch Diamond lands tomorrow on Verizon: $299.99 on contract

Verizon's Touch Diamond in the wild

by Chris Ziegler, posted Mar 8th 2009 at 3:54AM

"Better late than never," so they say. Perhaps -- but with Sprint's version of this in the rear view mirror for half a year now, just how relevant is a Touch Diamond on Verizon these days? Odds are we'll find out next month -- or, at least, that's where the latest rumors have it lined up for launch -- but in the meantime, we've got one floating around in the wilds looking pretty much like any other Touch Diamond you've seen in the past. Like its Touch Pro, it seems Verizon went ahead and nerfed the Diamond's memory down to 128MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM (why is anybody's guess), which only serves to reinforce our concerns that this thing is being launched months too late. We love you HTC, seriously -- but with the Omnia at $99 on contract right now, we're not exactly seeing the line starting to form at 8PM the night before release, if you know what we're saying.

Continue reading Verizon's Touch Diamond in the wild

Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXXIX: meet the HTC A296 -- and its gaping maw

by Chris Ziegler, posted Mar 6th 2009 at 1:41PM

We can totally picture this scenario at a bar, party, or Engadget reader meetup: "Hey, check out my Touch Diamond... oh, oh, wait, what's this? Wha-BAM!" Out comes the numeric keypad, right out of nowhere, accompanied by a sickeningly bad S60 knockoff interface. Observers are stunned, dumbfounded; some even pass out in shock. Babies are crying, you can hear the forlorned wail of sirens in the background, and mass riots ensue. Put simply, the world was never designed to handle a fake Touch Diamond with a slide-out keypad -- but you had to cross the streams, didn't you? Jerk.

[Thanks, Jack G.]

HTC's Touch Diamond2 adds zoom bar, mega screen, surprisingly few diamonds

by Paul Miller, posted Feb 16th 2009 at 5:30AM

HTC is following up on its ultra-sexy touchphone, the Touch Diamond, with the new Touch Diamond2, which seems quite worthy of the title of successor. This time around there's much more room for screen, with a huge 3.6-inch 480 x 800 LCD up front, and around back there's a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus. The other main addition is a "touch zoom bar" below the screen -- just like on big brother Touch Pro2 -- which we presume provides expected (and welcome) functionality. There's also the new version of TouchFLO 3D running on Windows Mobile, but under the hood there's the same old 528MHz processor, and the whole kit is actually a tad thicker a 0.54-inches. Still, memory is up to 512MB ROM and 288MB RAM, and if HTC keeps hoisting pixels and sexy on us at this rate we can hardly complain. This phone should hit major markets in Europe and Asia in "early Q2 2009," with more spots to follow later in the year.

Gallery: HTC's Touch Diamond2 adds zoom bar, mega screen, surprisingly few diamonds

How would you change HTC's Touch Diamond / Pro?

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 9th 2009 at 5:05AM

HTC's Touch Diamond and QWERTY-packin' Touch Pro have run into some stiff competition here in the US of A, but as Adam Smith would certify, all that competition is only for the best. Now that you've seen what these two can do, not to mention their rivals, we're wondering how you would change whichever handset it is (of these two, obviously) that you own. Implement a Touch HD-style display? Load it up with Android? Round those edges a bit more? Add a bigger battery at the expense of style? Say it loud, say it proud, say it down in comments below.

White Touch Diamond now on HTC's website

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 9th 2008 at 4:43AM

We understand that there's a snowstorm underway at HTC's website, but we're pretty darn confident that the HTC Touch Diamond there in the middle is white not from hours under the powder, but from a certain hue of paint. 'Course, it's no surprise to find that this beauty is real, but there's nothing quite like the sweet, sweet taste of official confirmation. Now, about a US release date...

[Thanks, Robert]

HTC's first WiMAX-enabled handset revealed: T8290, from Russia with Speed

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 10th 2008 at 9:12AM

With Sprint snagging the vast majority of the WiMAX limelight of late, we aren't going to complain with a similar network halfway across the globe yanking it back. Out of absolutely nowhere comes HTC's first WiMAX-enabled handset, the sure-to-be-delightful T8290. Reportedly, this bugger packs a 3.8-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, GSM and WiMAX radios and is expected to launch soon on Russia's Yota. Granted, we can't take this as hard truth or anything quite yet, but the images that reside in the read link are more than convincing. Oh, and HTC -- given that you're passing on the US with the Touch HD, do you think it'd be possible to get this over here for use with XOHM? We'd really, really appreciate it.

[Via Slashphone, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Verizon training schedule hints at BlackBerry Storm / Touch Diamond release dates

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 26th 2008 at 12:22PM

Let's do a quick recap, shall we? So we pretty much know everything there is to know about Verizon's forthcoming BlackBerry Storm save for the price and release date, and so far as we can tell, Verizon's version of the Touch Diamond is still expected to be totally underpowered compared to Sprint's iteration. Now that we've rounded the tables, let's have a look at this image above. This here is Verizon's internal training schedule, and given that employees have to complete their Storm courses before November 2nd and their Touch Diamond courses before December 3rd, we'd say you now have a pretty good idea of when these two will be landing. Hey VZW -- think you could make that "Blocking Features Assessment" available to the public? We're guessing it'd be a real hit.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

HTC's Touch HD, Diamond and Pro get together for photo shoot

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 22nd 2008 at 2:22AM

You've seen HTC's Touch Diamond, Touch Pro and Touch HD handled in separate instances, but CNET Asia took the opportunity to get all three of the handsets together for a little get-together. Atypical for most sibling relationships, these three seemed to get along fairly well, though we did overhear the Touch Diamond calling the Touch Pro "a fatso." Hit the read link for a few more looks.

[Via SlashPhone]

HTC's US Touch Diamond now shipping from Best Buy

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 19th 2008 at 4:19PM

It's no shock to see a US 3G-enabled Touch Diamond showing up at Best Buy (unlike the hamstrung sibling over at CompUSA) -- though we can't say we were expecting the big box retailer to start shipping this soon. If its website is to be believed (read: don't book it just yet), the unlocked Touch Diamond 3G you're about to order for $699.99 will leave Best Buy's warehouse within one business day. If that's not cool with you, you can also pick it up "at most stores." Shame there's no white option listed...

[Via MobileTechReview]

HTC's Touch Diamond coming in white

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Sep 16th 2008 at 10:15AM

If you're jazzed about the Touch Diamond, but have a thing for albino devices, a Danish site may have unearthed just what you're looking for. According to HTC-User, the company will be introducing a white version of their popular touchscreen device come October. ~~We can't say for sure if this intel is pure gold or a pile of festering garbage~~, but if the pics we see (just renders right now) and the retail order page the site is linking to are any indication, this magic will be a reality sooner or later. That's a good thing, too -- you don't want Apple cornering the market on white and black touchscreen phones, right? Check out one more huge picture after the break.

Update: Engadget Spanish has confirmed that these are -- in fact -- the real deal, and will be headed to store shelves come October.

[Via Engadget Spanish, HTC-User; Thanks, Jesper]

Continue reading HTC's Touch Diamond coming in white

Sprint's Touch Diamond, now available

by Thomas Ricker, posted Sep 14th 2008 at 2:28AM

Like they said they would, Sprint just spun the HTC Touch Diamond out for retail. $250 (after $200 instant savings, $100 mail-in rebate, and 2-year contract) takes home this WinMo 6.1 candybar with HTC's TouchFLO 3D salve layered atop a 2.8-inch touch-screen display, 4GB of memory, WiFi, 3.2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, and EV-DO Rev. A. The tough decision is buy now, wait for Sprint's Touch Pro launching on October 19th, or hold-out for Best Buy to get its act together and put the $700 unlocked 3G Touch Diamond out onto store shelves.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Hands-on with Sprint's Touch Diamond

by Sean Cooper, posted Sep 10th 2008 at 3:22PM

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.

Sprint launches HTC Touch Diamond and Pro into officialdom

by Sean Cooper, posted Sep 10th 2008 at 10:33AM

Yeah, we all knew -- or rather, hoped with all digits crossed -- they were coming, and what better venue to make the announcement than at CTIA in San Francisco. We've talked about these two for what seems like ages so we won't bore you with the tech babble, the important bits are Touch Diamond on September 14th, Touch Pro on October 19th. Pricing? Touch Diamond will run you $249 on two years after $100 rebate and the Touch Pro $299 on the same term after the same $100 rebate. Job well done busting these two out Sprint, we can't wait to get hands-on.