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Leaked Sprint roadmap reveals Touch Pro, Touch Diamond dates and pricing
From the looks of it, Sprint has gone and gotten a decent chunk of its playbook leaked all over the interblogs, and it's chock-full of titillating information. Thanks to slippery fingers and loose lips, we already knew that the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro were headed to the carrier, but now we have some solid dates (mid-September for the Diamond, October 19th for the Pro), and pricing ($549.99 and $579.99 unsubsidized, $249.99 and $320 with contract). Of course, this is all according to the above document, which admittedly could be the work of an extremely bored Photoshopper -- but this jibes pretty tightly with a lot of other chatter we've been hearing.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sprint, Bluefish taking names for Touch Diamond, September release confirmed
Everything prior had been rumors, hearsay, speculation, and leaked documents -- but now that Sprint has something out in the open, it's going to be a whole hell of a lot more difficult to renege on that September time frame we'd all been pulling for. The carrier and partner Bluefish have thrown up a site taking names and email addresses to be notified when the Touch Diamond is available for purchase; no exact date is given (we wouldn't be surprised if Sprint still hadn't decided on that), but they do mention that it's "coming in September." That gives 'em a full 30 days to make good -- but if it just happened to roll out on September 2 like we'd originally heard, we don't think we'll be seeing too many complaints around here.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
HTC wars: Touch Pro, Touch Diamond and S740 go head to head
Now that the cat's out of the bag it was no trouble tracking down HTC's S740 this morning, and just for kicks we rammed the phone up against the Touch Pro, which we subsequently rammed against the Touch Diamond and an iPhone for a generally violent display of smartphone force. It is worth noting that while the S740's keys are similar to the Touch Pro's, they're not quite as deep or clicky, which leads to a rather sub-par typing experience by HTC's standards. That glossy mirror finish on the phone screens isn't doing them any favors either -- even when wiped smudge free it seems to impede viewing -- and we must say the Touch Pro's matte finish makes the Diamond and iPhone 3G look cheap in comparison. Oh, and when asked about the Dream, the HTC rep quickly replied "we don't know anything." It was worth a shot, right?%Gallery-30814%
HTC Touch Diamond stuff showing up in Sprint stores
It's still anybody's guess when the Touch Diamond will actually launch on Sprint, though the latest rumors suggest that it has once again been moved up to September 2 after initially being pushed back to October. The fact that promo materials are starting to show up would certainly support that theory, too, now wouldn't it?[Thanks, anonymous tipster]%Gallery-30596%
Sprint getting Katana Eclipse in more colors, Rumor replacement?
We've been slipped a handy little document that indicates the dates that Sprint is currently targeting for the release of a few of its fall hotties, and although we already knew some of this stuff, it's always good to have some corroborating evidence in these situations. First up, the Motorola Renegade V950, i365, and Samsung M220 and M320 are all still apparently locked for September 2, as is the Touch Diamond. We've heard a groundswell of concern from tipsters that the Touch Diamond may have been bumped out to October -- it certainly wouldn't surprise us, given our jaded, overwhelmingly pessimistic personalities -- but here's hoping, anyway. It also looks like the just-released Katana Eclipse in silver will be getting pink and black siblings come October 16, along with an "LG LX600 Messaging Handset." We're not sure what the LX600 might be beyond what a confidentiality-bound FCC filing tells us, but the Rumor is getting a little long in the tooth, so it could conceivably be replacement device or a slightly higher-end QWERTY set that would sit somewhere above the Rumor in the lineup.
Snippets materialize from Sprint's user manual for Touch Diamond
The bad news is that it looks like Sprint mucked a bit with the Touch Diamond's stellar trademark interface; the good news, though, is that they don't seem to have mucked with it much. A handful of pages from Sprint's upcoming headliner HTC release have leaked onto the web, showing Sprint Music Store integration with TouchFLO 3D, a dedicated Sprint TV tab, and automatic screen orientation, among other gems. Now all you've got to do is release the actual phone and we'll be all set -- right, Sprint? Right?
Video: HTC's Touch Diamond / Pro are multi-touch gods, just not how you'd think
While multi-touch input might be all the rage in handhelds and laptop trackpads at the moment, alas, it's not on the feature list for HTC's latest Touch Diamond and Touch Pro. However, the capability is indeed present and exploited on video by HTC's own debug application. Even more interesting is the way that the handsets' entire front, capacitive surface (not just the 2.8-inch, 640 x 480 pixel display) can be used for multi-finger input. So like Dell's Latitude XT Tablet which launched multi-touch ready, expect to see future, multi-touch capabilities come to HTC's latest... someday. Click through for the vid.[Thanks, Marios S.]
HTC Touch Diamond launching on Sprint in September for $299.99?
It won't be the first launch in North America -- those honors go to Telus at this point -- but Sprint won't be far behind. A pretty believable new slide deck suggests that big ol' Number Three will take delivery of its Touch Diamonds in September and start hawking them for the princely sum of $299.99 on contract after rebates, netting customers a 3.2 megapixel cam, 4GB of internal storage, and EV-DO Rev. A, among all the other spoils that only Windows Mobile 6.1 can offer. Is the back end of it red? Can't really tell from this angle, but if the goal is to offer up a high-end business tool, we've gotta believe black will be available either way.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Telus' HTC Touch Diamond gets video review
While Sprint and Verizon consider final monikers for the HTC Touch Diamond, some North Americans are already enjoying the thing up in the Great North. The ecstatic folks over at Mobile Syrup were able to snap up Telus' version of the WinMo 6.1-packin' handset, and of course, they put together a video review for us Americans to drool over. The 7:15 clip includes a few comparison angles with other mobiles and a full walk-through of the user interface. Reviewers found the web browsing on Opera Mobile to be a real treat, and of course, they couldn't deny the awesomeness of the 640 x 480 resolution display. You can check the review in full just after the jump, but if you're easily made envious, we'd suggest you not.
Sprint readying a red HTC Touch Diamond?
We won't even front with you -- we have some serious doubts about this one, but with all those other red handsets that have emerged on Sprint over the years, we suppose that image above has a sliver of credence. We've no details whatever outside of two more shots of the red HTC Touch Diamond (or Victor, to be proper) in the read link, but these could very well be someone's best shot at using Photoshop to gain 15 minutes of internet fame. What say you, dear readers? Real or fake?[Via Brighthand]
HTC Touch Diamond with US HSDPA going to the highest bidder
Okay, so officially, there's no such thing as a Touch Diamond that can hang on 850 or 1900MHz HSDPA networks -- key word there being "officially." The FCC knows better than that, and at least one eBayer looking for a little extra spending cash seems to as well. A fellow with a so-so 92.9 percent feedback rating claims to have the most elusive of Touch Diamond models in his possession, but wants to sell it and wait for the Touch Pro instead (can't say we blame him). Of course, from his perspective, it also helps that this thing is worth many times what it'll be worth in a few weeks, months, or years -- whenever it is that someone gets around to releasing this puppy in a slightly more official capacity. As always, caveat emptor in these sorts of situations.[Thanks, Moe]
HTC's 1.93 ROM now available for Touch Diamond
Folks never satisfied with ROMs as they are (we see those hands) can celebrate jovially, as version 1.93 for HTC's Touch Diamond has officially emerged. Said ROM was already available on the intarwebz, but this time it's ready for downloading at the handset maker's actual website for UK / Europe-based users. Reported improvements include "camera navigation, text alert speed, tab-switching speed and a new city selector in the weather tab to make it easier and quicker to choose your location." Give it a go and let us know how it turns out, would you?[Via coolsmartphone]
HTC to ship one millionth Touch Diamond this month
We know how much those suits love to hit wild targets they set without any real understanding of the future, so we're pretty sure at least one or two are getting the kudos of their life with this one. Earlier this year, HTC boldly predicted that it would move a staggering two million Touch Diamond handsets before 2009 dawned, and according to a new report, it'll ship the one millionth unit sometime next week. With Sony Ericsson having all sorts of difficulties moving its mid- to high-end mobiles, one may wonder if HTC really can sell another million before December 31st. But we have all ideas the looming Sprint / Verizon launches will be all the help it needs to call itself a proven prophet.[Via MoDaCo]
HTC Touch Diamond headed to Telus on August 14th
While Sprint and Verizon still haven't officially nailed down an exact release date for their incarnations of HTC's desirable Touch Diamond, Telus isn't keeping its customers (or potential ones) in the dark any longer, with it now announcing that the handset will be available on August 14th. Prices will start at just $150 on a three-year contract, and jump to $350 on a two-year one, $400 on a one-year deal, and a full $450 if you don't want any strings attached at all. You can also expect to pay $15 a month for a basic email and IM plan, or $30 for email, web browsing and IM -- on top of your usual voice plan, of course.
More details on HTC's Touch Diamond / Touch Pro for Verizon and Sprint
There's no doubt that both of HTC's forthcoming handsets (yeah, the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro) are coming to Sprint and Verizon. What we're still curious about, however, are the respective launch dates and the eventual names. phoneArena has it that the Touch Diamond will go by HTC Victor on Sprint and HTC Diamond on Verizon, with the former packing a slightly speedier CPU, an aluminum frame, accelerometer, 4GB of internal memory and EV-DO Rev. A support. As for Verizon's, expect it to boast half the RAM (128MB), a wimpier CPU, microSD expansion slot and a stainless steel frame. Moving on, we're told that the Touch Pro will be rechristined HTC Herman for Sprint and HTC Raphael (nice to re-meet you!) for The Network. Finally, we're clued in on a September 2nd release date for Sprint's Victor, while the Herman is expected a month later. As for Verizon? It'll probably be 30 or so days behind in both instances thanks to a presumed exclusivity agreement with its nemesis. Get all that?
Best Buy, Radio Shack gearing up for Touch Diamond launch on Sprint?
It seems that Sprint's letting the cat out of the bag on its upcoming Touch successor -- within its trusted circle of retailers, anyway. We've now received some juicy morsels of information suggesting that both Best Buy and Radio Shack have been told to expect shipments of the MP6950 Touch Diamond in the next few weeks, with the big blue box tentatively expecting stock on August 17 (we think they're fooling themselves there, but it'd be nice) and the Shack expecting a more realistic-sounding September 2 launch. Along with the Touch Pro, the Touch Diamond should go a long way toward revitalizing Sprint's smartphone lineup at a time when the carrier can pretty much use every little bit of help it can get. In fact, we think we'll hook this up to a SERO plan and... ah, wait, never mind.[Thanks, anonymous tipsters]
HTC report says Touch Diamond is coming to Sprint this month
Don't rule out the possibility that this is a complete and utterly disgusting fib, but a recent writeup in The China Post about HTC's financial situation very clearly states when the hotly-anticipated Touch Diamond is coming to Sprint: this month. If you're looking for the play-by-play, the article proclaims that the "company released its Diamond phone in Asia in June and will begin selling the handset through Sprint Nextel Corp. in August." Look, we've seen a CDMA version of this thing donning Sprint garb, we've watched it fall into the capable hands of the FCC and we know it has to arrive sometime. If all of this doesn't add up to Sprint getting the Touch Diamond in August, well, we'll let you do the math.[Thanks, Sumit]
FCC gets first dibs on HTC Touch Diamond with North American HSDPA
Want downloads on your Touch Diamond to exceed the pace of a molasses-covered snail when on North American soil? Well, if you already have a Touch Diamond, you're outta luck -- but future buyers have another version to look forward to that packs HSDPA on the all-important 850 and 1900MHz bands. We don't have any word on when this is coming, where it's going, or how much it'll run, but hey, it exists. That's a solid start.
First official HTC Touch Diamond ROM with GSM 850 support released
Not a huge fan of cooked WinMo ROMs, but desperately want in on that 850MHz action for your Touch Diamond? Well, first of all, anyone who isn't a fan of cooked ROMs is just a little loony as far as we're concerned (but we still love you); secondly, HTC's made it possible to have your cake and eat it too with a new firmware update posted to its Asian site that proclaims the addition of GSM 850 support among several other changes and fixes -- some ten in total. After working through some confusion over the appearance (or lack thereof) of 850 in the band selection screen after updating, it looks like this does actually work for a variety of Touch Diamonds floating around out there, so let us know how you fare if you decide to give it a shot.[Via xda-developers, thanks Dayne]
Unofficial Touch Diamond ROM magically unlocks GSM 850
We'd given up any hope of the Touch Diamonds out in the field ever being completely function on North American networks; the lack of 3G sucks enough as it is, but the mysterious absence of GSM 850 was the final slap in the face. xda-developers has taken its usual no-mountain-too-high approach, though, and has somehow managed to uncover and enable GSM 850 capability lying dormant in the Touch Diamond's circuitry. Granted, you'll still be poking along at EDGE speeds at best, but at least you'll be doing so in a wider swath of the colonies.[Via wmpoweruser.com]