While the long-awaited 3G iPhone is still nothing moer than
a rumor, other cell phone makers are already updating their “iPhone killers.”
In a move similar to what happened last year, HTC unveiled HTC Touch Diamond,
the new 3G version of its HTC Touch.
Lat year, HTC Touch was unveiled on June 4, a month ahead of
the official launch of the iPhone.
As to technical specs, HTC Touch Diamond offers a 2.8” LCD
touch screen with backlight, a 240 x 320 dots resolution with 65,536 colors and
a 3.2 mega-pixel camera with video calling.
The Touch Diamond measures 102 x 51 x 11.33mm and it weighs
only 110g with battery and, according to HTC, has a standby time up to 300
hours/100 hours with push email and a talk time of 4 hours. The integration of
the 3G technology is not the only novelty.
The Touch Diamond has a new 3D touch interface called
TouchFLO 3D.
The interface can be spun by swiping a finger right or left
across the display, providing efficient access to the features consumers use
most. TouchFLO also enhances finger touch scrolling and browsing of Web pages,
documents, messages and contact lists.
It provides animated access to people, messaging, email,
photos, music, weather and more. Other key features include FM radio and
WorldCard Mobile to manage business cards.
HTC’s Touch Diamond is powered by Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528MHz
and it offers 4 GB Internal Storage, 256 MB flash and 192 MB RAM.
HTC Touch Diamond uses Windows Mobile 6.1 and it promises an
entirely new mobile Internet experience that utilizes broadband-like speeds
with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA wireless connectivity.
Unveiled at last year’s 3GSM World Congress Windows Mobile
6.0 was meant to be similar to Windows Vista and there are three editions
available: Windows Mobile 6 Standard, Windows Mobile 6 Professional and Windows
Mobile 6 Classic.
Microsoft has managed to sell only 11 million units of
Windows Mobile during the last year. The new version of Windows Mobile, 6.1,
was unveiled at CTIA Wireless 2008 and improves navigation and security.
The HTC Touch Diamond will be available in Europe next
month, while the customers form Asia and the Middle East
will be able to buy the new phone later this quarter. The North American and
Latin American versions of the Touch Diamond will be available in the second
half of 2008, the Taiwan-based company said.
Also, HTC CEO Peter Chou said that the HTC Touch has sold
three million units since its launch eleven months ago.
Of course, it’s not so impressive compared to iPhone, but
the company hopes to boost sales with the new Touch Diamond.
The 3G iPhone is expected to be unveiled at the beginning of
June during Jobs’ speech at WWDC.
However, it will be interesting to see how the new Touch
Diamond and even the iPhone will compete with the recently confirmed Nokia
Tube, the first cell phone with touch screen technology from the Finnish
company.