HTC Announces the Touch Diamond, the "iphone killer"

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

With only a week left to the HTC new mobile phones announcement we are already witnessing the first bits of information about the highly expected devices. The campaign bearing the ambitious title "Something beautiful is coming" will reach its culmination at the official event at May 6th. As for now here are the expected specs of some of the devices and a few pictures that should give you the idea of what to expect.

HTC Touch Diamond is the first to make its mark. It's already known as T-Mobile's MDA Compact IV from CeBIT 2008. It is going to feature some really high-end specifications such as 2.8-inch VGA screen, 528MHz Qualcomm CPU and a GPS receiver. It will also feature 128MB of RAM and will run on the latest Windows Mobile 6.1 platform. The internal memory will offer 4 gigs worth of storage space and will be further expandable through the microSD card slot. There will also be a built-in accelerometer for automatic rotation of the user interface.

As you probably would have expected from a pocket PC the HTC Diamond will have one of the best connectivity feature-packs around. 3G with HSDPA and HSUPA support is on board, along with USB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It will feature almost no hardware keys and will come in the amazingly compact dimensions of 51 x 99 x 10.7mm making it a great successor of the HTC Touch.

There will also be an O2 version of the HTC Touch Diamond - the O2 XDA Diamond.

HTC Raphael is the next expected device. Seen as a successor of the HTC TyTN II the Raphael is expected to be sold as HTC Touch Pro. It features almost the same set of features as the HTC Diamond but adds a full slide-out QWERTY-keyboard. The 4GB of internal memory is also missing and the dimensions will get a bit beefier at 51 x 99 x 17mm.

HTC Titanium is another rumored platform that is expected to make the news on the 6th of May - presumably as HTC Touch Dual Pro. As the name suggests it is coming as a successor of the HTC Touch Dual and will probably have a feature pack similar to the just described previous two PocketPCs but with a 12 or 20 key slide-out keypad this time.

Another really exciting device that is expected to be announced next Tuesday is the HTC Dream Android, which will be the first device to feature the new Android OS.

Finally, we come to the HTC Touch Find, which will feature a 2.8-inch touchscreen but this time with the more modest QVGA resolution. It will also boast Wi-Fi, a 3 megapixel snapper, GPS and 3G with HSDPA support. Here is how it's supposed to look like based on a leaked photo.

Along with the devices the HTC is expected to showcase its latest user interface known around the internet as Manila. It is probably going to come preinstalled on some of the just described devices and as some sources around the internet claim the Manila is going to be a more than worthy successor to the TouchFLO interface.

Source

These new phones look promising and I'm looking forward to May 6th. I'm so glad I didn't purchase HTC Touch Cruise. It was the biggest disappointment for me from HTC because of lack of driver support. I hope these new devices will be top-notch.

[Echilon]

I don't think they got it quite right with the design this time. :wacko:

Specification looks good though.

[Berserk87]

sadly, i think ill be going for a nokia for my next phone, instead of the htc i have right now.

[evo_spook]

I was looking at getting a HTC Touch, in the end I got a iPhone, looking at a lot of manufacturers phones/mp3 compared to the Apple way of selling is that they off a multitude of different models often with strange names and in the end it all gets a too confusing product line that gets changed after a few months.

If I was going to get a touch then they'd be so many different models to choose from

[Colin-uk Veteran]

dammit, I only got a Tytn about a month or 2 ago, should have waited for the touch dual pro :pinch:

I wonder if they'll have the display driver issues sorted for these models, the diamond looks pretty nice :)

[Brian M. Veteran]

I wonder if they'll have the display driver issues sorted for these models, the diamond looks pretty nice :)

This is HTC we're talking about - it'll never happen.

[funkymunky]

Hmmm

The diamond seems intriguing :)

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Do you guys think it will be possible to upgrade the Diamond or pretty much any of these new models to Windows Mobile 7 when they are out?

[funkymunky]

Do you guys think it will be possible to upgrade the Diamond or pretty much any of these new models to Windows Mobile 7 when they are out?

Absolutely :)

My Windows 5 is upgraded to 6.1 - I won't go into details though

[Osiris]

Apparently a new slider also expected the debut. Possibly a more advanced slider to compete with Xperia. They will likely launch at the same time at the rate HTC gets things out.

Whilst no one can say for certain these days if you buy a phone it has a pretty good shot of being able to run the next platform up since alot of the specs have become homogenous and more modulated ie differences have come down to: gps, dbtv, rom etc. Even devices which dont have the outright capacity to run WM6 often have users persistent enough to cook up roms ie, the HTC Strtrk or with one of mine the HP 6828rw which is more than capable for whcih HP would not do an upgrade now a user has gone all out and even done a comptabile and nicely working 6.1 rom and this phone is over 2 years old - I keep coming back to it for the flip hardface cover.

Eitherway glad I held off on another test upgrade/purchase the diamond does look tempting.

[DigitalE]

Looks nice. :)

How much would one of these cost?

[crazzy88ss]

I hope it's better than the HTC Touch for sprint.. that phone's awful.

[Osiris]

Looks nice. :)

How much would one of these cost?

That will also be interesting to see. Cheapest I have seen the dual touch for in Aus is $699 so I am thinking/hoping this will be about a $1000AUD.

[Osiris]

Diamond just got confirmed at the launch. Looking sexy.

I am not a fan of throwing around labels but I would be hardpressed not to agree that this is the flagship WinMo Iphone killer.

- Available in Asia and some other regions June, rest of the world later in the year (about the same time as Xperia by the sounds of it)

- Available of 5 key UK networks and similar blanket coverage in other countries.

Edited May 6, 2008 by Osiris

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

After much a fuss and rumors HTC announcements today all came down to one single device - the HTC Touch Diamond. The device features the latest HTC Touch 3D interface (codenamed HTC Manila), which was also showcased officially for the first time today. The HTC Diamond is extremely touch-optimized - a route Windows Mobile should have taken a long time ago.

Video

We've already told you about the tons of HTC devices that were expected today. Only the HTC Touch Diamond was announced at the HTC event in London which is a bit of disappointment. The device itself is nothing near a disappointment however.

Powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro, the HTC Touch Diamond packs a 2.8-inch VGA display and is extremely thin at 11.5mm. It has a built-in accelerometer which allows screen auto rotation - another feature that should have been on-board a long time ago. A GPS receiver, Wi-Fi and a 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera add to the lengthy specs sheet

The HTC Touch Diamond will run on a Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 MHz processor and will have 192MB DDR SDRAM. Additionally, it would have the sweet 4GB of storage memory (no memory card slot though). FM radio with RDS and a proprietary HTC mini-USB port are also on board along with Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR.

The highlight of the new HTC Touch 3D user interface will be the web capabilities - smart desktop-like rendering and superb touch navigation through web pages and hyperlinks. Besides Wi-Fi the HTC Touch Diamond will also make use of dual-band UMTS support plus HSDPA 7.2 Mbps.

The only let-downs about the new HTC Diamond (yes, there are some) are the tri-band-only GSM support (N)(N)(N) and the inadequate 900 mAh battery, which hardly last the thing long in data or GPS intensive applications.

The HTC Touch Diamond will be available in June 2008 throughout Europe and Asia with availability in other regions expected before the end of the year. Unfortunately, we were not invited to the HTC event in London so we won't be able to provide you with hands-on coverage of the device just yet.

The resolution is 480 x 640 pixels, btw, I'm glad they've finally fixed this; however, I am extremely disappointed with triband support; it's such a stupid business decision.

Edited May 6, 2008 by Zhivago

[Elliot B.]

sadly, i think ill be going for a nokia for my next phone, instead of the htc i have right now.

Nokia N96 is out soon, with the 'Tube' out in Q4 2008 or 1H 2009.

[zeroday]

:wub: Diamond looks sweeeeetttt. I think I'll be getting one when it comes, sell my current HP and get one of these :yes:

tri-band-only GSM support

What does that mean in laymans terms?

[ThehAWKs]

What does that mean in laymans terms?

HTC Diamond

Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 900/1800/1900 MHz That means it does not do 850

like my TyTN II

GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Quad-band 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz

[iownyou14]

What does that mean in laymans terms?

Wont work in North America.

[ThehAWKs]

it will work in North America it has 1900 , Europe 900/1800

[profets]

Wont work in North America.

i dont know about AT&T in the states, but in canada rogers/fido has both 850 & 1900, so it should work there.

Also, didnt notice, is there details regarding which UMTS bands it supports?

[ThehAWKs]

i dont know about AT&T in the states, but in canada rogers/fido has both 850 & 1900, so it should work there.

Also, didnt notice, is there details regarding which UMTS bands it supports?

HSDPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz

works on UMTS

HTC Touch Diamond nice phone but it wont replace my TyTN II

[profets]

thanks for the reply there... just saw on one of the sites about 900/2100. so i guess for now north america isnt a priority. i'm sure with time theyll have updated models geared for north america

[Beastage]

Look the 850mhz range is almost dead so triband is the way to go....

The only problem with the diamond (I nearly creamed when I saw it) is the lack of a bloody SD card... I went from joygasm to sadface in 0.00001seconds

4gb of flash is just not enough with GPS maps , music and video.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

:wub: Diamond looks sweeeeetttt. I think I'll be getting one when it comes, sell my current HP and get one of these :yes:

It does look quite stylish (Y)

What does that mean in laymans terms?

It will work in the cities in North America, but not in the country :/ where it will have lots of reception problems.