Derrick
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- Joined
- Nov 22, 2010
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The latest HTC device comes in the form of the sleek and sexy Touch Diamond. It’s a great business device with enough multimedia features to satisfy casual users.
The phone wars are officially on! Almost every one of the major players in this space has launched or is about to launch an iPhone killer of sorts - a mobile device they hope will be able to take on that lucrative iPhone market.
HTC’s phones have traditionally been known as business and enthusiast devices, and it’s a market in which it is slowly rising to the top. Windows Mobile-based devices also seem to pop up everywhere these days, and even the development community is getting excited about it.
Towards the end of June, HTC launched the HTC Touch Diamond, their latest touch-sensitive phone with an overhauled interface, gorgeous aesthetics, and a back cover that sports a wicked diamond-inspired design. At the time of writing this, I have been using the Touch Diamond for about two weeks.
It’s been a good experience thus far and people seem to respond to it very well, but I have some concerns about the Touch Diamond as an iPhone competitor.
But before I get into that, let’s have a closer look at the HTC Touch Diamond, the new flagship HTC device.
What I really liked about unpacking it is the way in which HTC presents this device. It comes in a funky looking box and you can see that a lot of attention was put into the details. The USB cable is not your average flimsy cable: it has a slightly thicker rubber sleeve with a matte finish.
The connectors on either end are also neatly rounded, with a piano-black coating matching that of the phone itself. The same applies to the headphones. Even the power adapter, which incorporates the USB cable to charge your phone, boasts an HTC logo, which glows when it’s plugged in.
Also included in the box is a spare stylus and a pair of sponge earphone covers.
The phone itself feels really good in your hands and its glossy piano-black finish gives it a classy look, while the brushed steel frame gives it a solid feel.
The large 2.8-inch TFT LCD flat touchsensitive screen has seamless borders and the navigation pad just below the LCD is wrapped inside a set of invisible buttons.
The first thing you will notice when you switch on the phone for the first time is that the screen resolution is remarkably good. This is thanks to its spiffy new VGA-resolution LCD, which allows for much better-looking graphics.
The Touch Diamond runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, but the Interface you work with is called TouchFLO 3D. This interface was designed by HTC to make it easier to use finger-based input commands.
Scrolling through your menu ribbon, for example, simply requires you to sweep your finger across the bottom of the screen. Reading your e-mail or browsing your contacts is equally easy - just flick your finger up and you’ll skip to the next message.
TouchFLO 3D also makes it easier to access programs or adjust the most common phone settings with a few flicks of the finger.
Not surprisingly, synchronising the Touch Diamond with Exchange Server is an effortless experience. The HSDPA compatibility allows you to download your mail or browse the Internet at impressive speeds.
Another interesting addition to the Touch Diamond feature set is A-GPS (Assisted GPS). The ‘assisted’ part means that the GPS transceiver will get the latest satellite coordinates from the Internet to allow it to lock onto a GPS signal much quicker than devices that have to do a cold search. Unfortunately, there is no GPS software bundled with this device.
To be honest, I have never been a big fan of touch-sensitive phones. This is because I hate to pull out a stylus just to use a device. The Touch Diamond almost manages without a stylus, but sadly, because the TouchFLO 3D interface is basically just a skin for Windows Mobile 6.1, there are instances, such as changing certain settings, where you will need to use the stylus. It’s moments like these - when you are taken back to the core operating system - that you realise that this phone is still a traditional Windows Mobile device. This is not meant in a bad way. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that this is possibly the best Windows Mobile phone to date. But here is where I have an issue with the iPhone comparisons.
The HTC Touch Diamond is a PDA-first device. This means that at its core it’s a workhorse. Obviously, it has many multimedia features: it can play music and videos, you can browse your photos using finger gestures, and it even has a built-in FM radio. But there are a few things that emphasise my earlier point.
The USB earphones mean that you cannot connect your favourite set of Sennheisers, and the 4GB capacity is simply not enough to compete with music player-first devices such as the iPhone.
As someone who uses a phone for business rather than pleasure, I was very impressed with what the Touch Diamond had to offer. TouchFLO 3D works really well and it’s a visual treat to see how this device handles finger gestures. It also stores your text messages in conversation format, and the new Opera Mobile Web browser, a customized HTC-specific version, enables easy one-handed viewing and navigation.
When you flip the phone horizontally the auto tilt makes it a pleasure to browse the Net without the need for a stylus. I have no doubt that the Touch Diamond will be a big seller - it has everything you’d want from an HTC. There is also a version coming out that will feature a slide-out keyboard, but there has been no confirmation on when it will be available.
The phone wars are officially on! Almost every one of the major players in this space has launched or is about to launch an iPhone killer of sorts - a mobile device they hope will be able to take on that lucrative iPhone market.
HTC’s phones have traditionally been known as business and enthusiast devices, and it’s a market in which it is slowly rising to the top. Windows Mobile-based devices also seem to pop up everywhere these days, and even the development community is getting excited about it.
Towards the end of June, HTC launched the HTC Touch Diamond, their latest touch-sensitive phone with an overhauled interface, gorgeous aesthetics, and a back cover that sports a wicked diamond-inspired design. At the time of writing this, I have been using the Touch Diamond for about two weeks.
It’s been a good experience thus far and people seem to respond to it very well, but I have some concerns about the Touch Diamond as an iPhone competitor.
But before I get into that, let’s have a closer look at the HTC Touch Diamond, the new flagship HTC device.
What I really liked about unpacking it is the way in which HTC presents this device. It comes in a funky looking box and you can see that a lot of attention was put into the details. The USB cable is not your average flimsy cable: it has a slightly thicker rubber sleeve with a matte finish.
The connectors on either end are also neatly rounded, with a piano-black coating matching that of the phone itself. The same applies to the headphones. Even the power adapter, which incorporates the USB cable to charge your phone, boasts an HTC logo, which glows when it’s plugged in.
Also included in the box is a spare stylus and a pair of sponge earphone covers.
The phone itself feels really good in your hands and its glossy piano-black finish gives it a classy look, while the brushed steel frame gives it a solid feel.
The large 2.8-inch TFT LCD flat touchsensitive screen has seamless borders and the navigation pad just below the LCD is wrapped inside a set of invisible buttons.
The first thing you will notice when you switch on the phone for the first time is that the screen resolution is remarkably good. This is thanks to its spiffy new VGA-resolution LCD, which allows for much better-looking graphics.
The Touch Diamond runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, but the Interface you work with is called TouchFLO 3D. This interface was designed by HTC to make it easier to use finger-based input commands.
Scrolling through your menu ribbon, for example, simply requires you to sweep your finger across the bottom of the screen. Reading your e-mail or browsing your contacts is equally easy - just flick your finger up and you’ll skip to the next message.
TouchFLO 3D also makes it easier to access programs or adjust the most common phone settings with a few flicks of the finger.
Not surprisingly, synchronising the Touch Diamond with Exchange Server is an effortless experience. The HSDPA compatibility allows you to download your mail or browse the Internet at impressive speeds.
Another interesting addition to the Touch Diamond feature set is A-GPS (Assisted GPS). The ‘assisted’ part means that the GPS transceiver will get the latest satellite coordinates from the Internet to allow it to lock onto a GPS signal much quicker than devices that have to do a cold search. Unfortunately, there is no GPS software bundled with this device.
To be honest, I have never been a big fan of touch-sensitive phones. This is because I hate to pull out a stylus just to use a device. The Touch Diamond almost manages without a stylus, but sadly, because the TouchFLO 3D interface is basically just a skin for Windows Mobile 6.1, there are instances, such as changing certain settings, where you will need to use the stylus. It’s moments like these - when you are taken back to the core operating system - that you realise that this phone is still a traditional Windows Mobile device. This is not meant in a bad way. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that this is possibly the best Windows Mobile phone to date. But here is where I have an issue with the iPhone comparisons.
The HTC Touch Diamond is a PDA-first device. This means that at its core it’s a workhorse. Obviously, it has many multimedia features: it can play music and videos, you can browse your photos using finger gestures, and it even has a built-in FM radio. But there are a few things that emphasise my earlier point.
The USB earphones mean that you cannot connect your favourite set of Sennheisers, and the 4GB capacity is simply not enough to compete with music player-first devices such as the iPhone.
As someone who uses a phone for business rather than pleasure, I was very impressed with what the Touch Diamond had to offer. TouchFLO 3D works really well and it’s a visual treat to see how this device handles finger gestures. It also stores your text messages in conversation format, and the new Opera Mobile Web browser, a customized HTC-specific version, enables easy one-handed viewing and navigation.
When you flip the phone horizontally the auto tilt makes it a pleasure to browse the Net without the need for a stylus. I have no doubt that the Touch Diamond will be a big seller - it has everything you’d want from an HTC. There is also a version coming out that will feature a slide-out keyboard, but there has been no confirmation on when it will be available.