Things that I must have in a phone
FM Radio - Yes a touch antiquated but when out on a walk or a bike ride Im an avid radio listener. DVB would be nice to get some of the lesser known stations like planetrock 

3G - Just because im a geek and it exists out there.  Handy for moments when boredom strikes when dogging lol

Email and IM - Im not about to start wearing braces and going Ya... like in the yuppie days but seeing as I spend more time going to trade computer shows abroad its a cheap way to stay in touch.

Camera - Essential for me for when the creative urge strikes

Nice things in a phone Id like

Wifi - Free browsing at hot spots with Opera is just too tempting to not be able to want it. 

GeoTagging - A nice feature, not essential but living in pembrokeshire does provide ample photo oppertunities

Skype - Free phone calls on wifi, thank you.

Video playing - Train plane and automobile time killing.

Anways my phone is released today and orange just called to tell me its on the way.  I will admit to being a touch excited with regards to it and if all goes well, blog posts on the move ;-)

According to a photo that was posted at the SprintUsers.com forum (not pictured here), the HTC Touch Diamond (also known as the MP6950) will be coming to Sprint on September 2nd.

The same photo shows off a few other handsets allegedly coming to Sprint and their release dates:

July 27th:

• LG Rumor in Blue
• Palm Treo 800W
• Blackberry Curve in Red

August 17th:

• MotoRAZR VE20
• Novatel EX720 Express Card Refresh
• Sierra AirCard 595 PC Card Refresh
• Katana Eclipse by Sanyo (SCP-6750)

September 2nd:

• M320 by Samsung
• M220 by Samsung
• Motorola Renegade V950
• MP6950 by HTC
• Motorola i365

As the hype from the 3G iPhone rests a little, the spotlight has now been trained on two "iPhone killers" these past two weeks - the Samsung Omnia and HTC's Touch Diamond, which went on sale lately.

The Omnia, which went on shelves last weekend, costs almost identical to the Touch, about $500 to $600 with a no-frills two-year plan (check prices at singtelshop.com, m1shop.com.sg, and starhub.com).

If you add that $100 incentive voucher from, say StarHub Hubbing, or M1 loyalty vouchers, and throw in a trade-in phone for $200, that's a brand new full-featured phone for under $300. Good deal!

So, how do the two stack up? Early looks suggest:

Round 1: UI
Winner: A tie. Both have touch-sensitive screens. Samsung have haptics, which means you know when you press on a button on-screen. HTC, meanwhile has its prettier TouchFlo 3D, which really wows the socks off people.

Round 2: Looks
Winner: HTC, for a really pocketable size, and the better-looking finish. Samsung's not bad too, but it looks too much like an iPhone.

Round 3: Specs
Winner: Samsung, for having handy GPS (and the superior Agis maps), and a whopping 16GB of memory. That's enough for my 13GB - and growing - bunch of MP3s! If the HTC has more than its 4GB of memory built in, it might just tip the scales in its favour.

Round 4: Screen
Winner: It's a tie again. I really prefer the sharpness of HTC's excellent VGA screen. For old geeks, you'll remember that VGA (640x480 pixels) is the resolution we used to have on our old 14-inch CRT monitors. Now we have it on a small screen, that's why it's super fine! Why is it a tie then? Simply because the Samsung screen is bigger - it makes pictures and particularly 16x9 videos much more watchable.

Early verdict: It's tie, but it's not because I don't want to stick my neck out. I thought I was sold on the HTC Touch Diamond, after I got less-than-enthusiastic with the Samsung demo at CommunicAsia. But today, over lunch, the Samsung folks passed some of us in the media retail sets of the Omnia, and they seemed to zip along a little faster on the UI, making me think about that 16GB onboard again.

If you have to buy one of these phones this weekend, here's my suggestion: Get the HTC if you use it more as a phone and less as a multimedia powerhouse (coz it is more pocketable for the weekend and not everyone needs 16GB of memory). Get the Omnia if you want all-out multimedia on the go (if you like everything in one gizmo).

Otherwise, look out for the review in Digital Life next Tuesday. No, it's not a smart ploy to get you to read ST, but simply because I haven't fully reviewed the phones yet to form a better verdict!

Endelig er den her! HTC Touch Diamond med norsk build. Jeg fikk sett på'n med engelsk noen uker tilbake.

Nå, derimot, holder jeg den norske i hånda, og du skal selvfølgelig får værra med når jeg sjekker den ut. Første inntrykk er at den er litt treg, men jeg bør nevne at dette er en prebuild, og forhåpentligvis er endelig versjon dritkjapp.

Siden denne telefonen desverre bare er på lån, har jeg ikke lagt inn noe her, så ingen meldinger, bilder, mp3's eller annet. Jeg tror allikevel dere får følelsen av hvordan den er. Ankerpunktet, enn så lenge, er selvfølgelig farten, men shitt la gå, vi satser på at endelig build er som toget.

Det er par ting å legge merke til her, enten fordi det er nytt eller fordi det er tøft (kanskje begge?). Youtube er bygget inn, helt sikkert ikke fordi iPhone har det. Men fordi det er fint. Og som vist på videoen fungerer det ganske greit ser det ut til. Det er også et nytt spill på HTC Touch Diamond, som er heelt vesentlig for meg som nå er norgesmester i Bubble Breaker. Jeg trenger virkelig et nytt spill.

I tillegg er det annen funksjonalitet her som vi ikke så på tidligere modeller. Det er kanskje en tanke å lese spekken hvis du vil vite detaljene - for det viktigste her er at den ser UTROLIG tøff ut, både inni og uttapå.

Denne skulle kommet ut 26.6, og selv om jeg har surret det til med datoer på siden før, så er'e nå bekreftet at den kommer neste uke (worst case mandag uken etter).

Løp og kjøp!

Si i fra om hva du syntes når du får den!

--Petter Tancred Olsen

Their common features are listed as follows:

• 2.8-inch touch screen, 640x480 pixels.
• Vibrant TouchFLO 3D user interface, responding perfectly to your finger gestures when scrolling through contacts, browsing the web, and launching media… all vividly displayed as photos and artwork powered by the 3D graphics processor.
• HTC Weather - providing a constant view of weather at home and abroad.
• Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA internet connectivity and Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g).
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera for quality stills and video.
• Integrated GPS for use with maps software for a full turn-by-turn satellite navigation experience.

By looking at their outlooks, it is obvious that Pro has a full-size QWERTY keyboard. Diamond has a software QWERTY keyboard since its screen is also a touch interface. Pro is 0.71 inches thick and Diamond is only 0.45 inches thick. Also, Pro is 5.83 oz and Diamond is 3.88 oz. Pro is thicker and heavier than Diamond, again, because of its full-size QWERTY keyboard. Depends on your preference, I personally prefer thinner and lighter gadget.

Other features are fairly similar as listed above. Except Diamond has 4GB of internal memory out-of-box, while Pro has only 512MB only! However, Pro has GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands (Quad band) while Diamond has only 900/1800/1900 MHz (Tri band). I am still using my two-year-old Moto K1 (Quad band). Comparing with my old SE phone (I don't remember the model but it was only a tri band), the 850 MHz band really make a different in North Ameria, at least in Canada.

From their name, Pro has more value-added features, such as 850 MHz band and longer battery life. Diamond aims for the entertainment-rich features, such larger memory for music/movie download.

Looking at Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, it is very comparible to Pro. In fact, they both have full-size QWERTY keyboard, they are both running MS Windows Mobile 6.1, they are both quad band compatible and Wi-Fi support. However, X1 is a stonger one comparing to Pro. X1 has a 3 inches WVGA (800x480, 64k-colour TFT) and lighter (5.1 oz).

Both X1 and Pro will be released late summer in 2008. It is going to be a head-to-head competition! Stay tune!

(Pictures credit: HTC & Sony Ericsson)

It's the latest sign that the "touch-screen" fad is heating up to fever pitch, thanks in much to the iPhone hype.

HTC's excellent Touch Diamond, said to be the best "iPhone killer" of the lot, is sold out everywhere, including many telco shops.

Last Friday, the Plaza Singapura shop at StarHub was sold out (customer service officer said there was a queue of 80 people who have pre-ordered it). Then over the weekend, when the ads came out again, the phone was sold out everywhere soon enough too!

The M1 e-shop didn't have it (even when I tried to renew my contract and was ready to click "submit"). StarHub certainly didn't have it in many of its shops, and I'm wondering if finally SingTel does have some stock (given that it's bet so much on the iPhone instead).

Is the iPhone really going to sway people in this number port game? With its delay here (SingTel won't get the first batch of July 11 3G iPhones), it looks like people are probably busy signing up on contracts with the HTC phone instead.

A mini price war seems to have appeared between StarHub and M1 too. At the PC Show, the phone was snapped up for under $500. This week, StarHub has it under $400 (for medium and high plans).

And I am still undecided which one to go - M1 or StarHub. It will depend on who has stock for the HTC Touch Diamond. This is one gizmo which has most of the nifty "touch" stuff on the iPhone - without the annoying hoopla.

Th HTC Touch Pro (left), is a touch screen phone and a precision keyboard. With it's beautiful design, the 2.8-inch VGA touch screen gives off 4x the resolution of most smart phones. The rich touch interface of this phone makes it so easy to accomplish many tasks look messaging, calendar checks or making calls. Surfing the web on this phone is amazing on this phone. The pages look crystal clear and just like they would on a PC. Both the phones here are supported by Microsoft.

Listed below is a list of the Touch Pro's key highlights:

• Mobile Internet features - surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA and Wi-Fi^®.
• 2.8-inch touch screen, with four times the resolution of most phones.
• Vibrant TouchFLO™ 3D user interface.
• Five-row QWERTY keyboard for quick and easy text entry.
• Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA and Wi-Fi^®.
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera with flash light for quality stills and video.
• microSD™ slot for expandable storage.
• Integrated GPS can be used with maps software for a full turn-by-turn navigation experience.

The HTC Touch Diamond (right) is another beautiful phone provided by HTC. With the brushed steel and flawless faceted edges the Diamond offers an elegant experience.

With HTC’s vibrant touch-responsive user interface, TouchFLO™ 3D, and ultra-fast HSDPA internet connectivity, the HTC Touch Diamond offers a rich online experience to rival a notebook computer, allowing you to interact with Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia as freely as you would with a broadband connection.

Your contacts, favorite music, videos and photos are no longer an uninspired line of text. With TouchFLO 3D, album artwork, video stills and snapshots of your friends’ and family’s faces are brought to life for you to interact, play and launch at your fingertips.

A 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera will help you capture the perfect moment in style and with a massive 4GB of internal storage you can keep all the files you need. The integrated ultra-sensitive GPS will help you find your destination as quickly and efficiently as a dedicated satellite navigation unit.

Listed below is a list of the Touch Diamond key highlights:

• 2.8-inch touch screen, with four times the pixels of most phones.
• Vibrant TouchFLO 3D user interface, responding perfectly to your finger gestures when scrolling through contacts, browsing the web, and launching media… all vividly displayed as photos and artwork powered by the 3D graphics processor.
• HTC Weather - providing a constant view of weather at home and abroad.
• Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA internet connectivity.
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera for quality stills and video.
• 4GB of internal storage to preserve more photos, music, files and exchanged data than ever before.
• Integrated GPS for use with maps software for a full turn-by-turn satellite navigation experience.

HTC Touch memang laku di Indonesia. Karena itulah HTC berencana mengeluarkan seri Touch lain di Indonesia, yaitu HTC Touch Diamond. Touch Diamond menawarkan teknologi terbaru yang disebut 3D interface, di mana tampilannya berkesan 3 dmensi (lihat gambar). Layarnya berukuran 2,8 inci. Sistem Operasinya menggunakan upgrade dari Windows v6.0. Kali ini digunakan versi 6.1. Prosesornya menggunakan Qualcomm 528 Mhz. Memorinya hanya memori internal sebesar 4GB, RAM 192 MB, dan ROM 256 MB tanpa memori eksternal. PDA ini juga sarat akan fitur multimedianya, seperti Kamera 2 Megapiksel, Radio FM with RDS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, dan dapat mengakses internet dengan kecepatan sampai dengan HSDPA (3,6 Mbs). Bodi  hape ini juga tidak telalu besar. Hanya 102 mm (P) X 51 mm (L) X 11.35 mm (T). Beratnya hanya 110 gr dengan baterai. Menggunakan baterai Li-Ion 900 mAh sebagai asupan dayanya. Bagi para penggemar PDA yang mempunyai model stylish dan simpel, PDA ini layak dijadikan pilihan.

Lets start with the Box

You won't get a proper unboxing here as I'm sure others will do that more elegantly. However, I should point out that HTC has revamped the packaging. So anyone who has recently opened an HTC Touch box, be it the Classic one or Cruise, will notice that first of all the Diamonds box is much smaller, more diamond shaped, and doesn't have the cardboard wrapping which at least I was struggling to get off each and every time I opened one.

Inside, there is a plastic box as usual layout of the device between the earphones, which is covered by the lid containing two CDs as usual (WM getting started, and Applications - with Sprite Backup, Spb GPRS Monitor, WorldCard Mobile, CE-Star and Cyberon Talking Dictionary).

Also in the box, beside the charger (more on that later) and Sync cable are a screen protector similar to the Cruise one with cut-outs for the speaker and camera. Also a Quick Start guide on how to use TouchFlo3D and Introduction. There is no longer a full CD sized printed manual, the intro is now only roughly a quarter of a CDs size and much thinner. I wonder if they noticed that hardly anyone used to look into the full manual.

The Touch Diamond Device

The actual device appears much smaller and thinner than I expected it to be. The front has the touch screen (obvious) and the navigational controls below it, ie. 4 buttons and 4-way control with center selection button. Below the screen is the HTC logo, above it are the speaker with an inset LED on it's and the front facing camera.

The four buttons on the device are Home, Back (which is actually WM OK) and call/pick up and hang up. Actually one one button function can be reassigned, which is - as I found out by trying - holding the call. It's assigned to a new version of voice commander.

The stylus is fairly normal, what's new is that it seems to be held in place magnetically (HTC does seem to have a thing for magnets now, doesn't it). A nice touch (pun intended) is that the Diamond turns on when you take it out. Nice one HTC!

Interesting, the Diamond is no longer blinking like a tree in the middle of December, actually noting blinks anymore. No green phone coverage light, amber wifi or blue Bluetooth when activated. Nothing! Yeah, great.

The Screen

Actually the screen has widely been talked about and you have to see it to actually believe it. The problem is when you actually see it, you wont be impressed for long. Everything looks much clearer, sharper and more vibrant - and that's that. Ha - you think... I had that exact same effect last time when Palm doubled the resolution from 160x160 to 320x320 (remember that?). You take it for granted and are after a reasonable about of time, the wow-factor wears off. However, when you look at an old device again, that's when it hits you - yuk, ugly, unusable... how could anyone every lived with that. So trust me, once you had it for a day, your trusty old (Cruise-in my case) looks dated and fades from memory. You simply can't use it anymore...

The Charger and Sync Cable

One of the major reasons I was initially so happy about HTC devices was that they were the first ones to ignore the trend (and major source of income, one must assume) to build their own oddly shaped connectors and charge people massively for a cable, only to change them with a new model revision. Nope plain mini USB is good enough, with the tiny headphone extension where needed. So again here, the charger is USB-out, and the Sync cable does double duty as charger connector. Also, the charger is not a brick at all, and is probably the same as the Travel Charger which will be offered, as it comes with a detachable plug to support other international configurations.

When I said earlier that the Diamond is not blinking anymore, that also goes for charging. However, they built in an elegant, white pulsating light around the circular 4-way, which silently and slowly flows up. It's faintly reminiscent of Apples pulsating sleep light, but much more elegant still. Also, when the charger is plugged into a socket, there is small HTC logo showing whitely illuminated.

The Earphones

The headset is pretty good, although it looks like it might be painful due to it's triangular shape. The cable control has become much smaller also, and now only houses a multifunctional button and the mic. For me that is a bit of a problem, as there is no more slider volume control - which was great on previous HTC device compared to - say - iPods, where you had to get the device out. Of course you can use the volume controls on the device (and it is very nice since HTC has redesigned the ugly WM6 Volume UI, more on that in the software review), however the analogue control on the cable was much more granular, and didn't require changing the system volume if just one MP3 or Radio Station was coming in very loud. Well, never mind, maybe it's just me - and I can still use one of the five or six I have from my other devices ;)

Size Comparison

As I said earlier, and size-comparison photos won't do the Diamond justice, you have to hold it to find it's the very small and nicely dimensioned.

Nevertheless, here a few photos from what I found quickly in the many box (you know how it is when you move house...). So here it is with the Classic Touch and the Touch Cruise.

Fuente

HTC just shipped out the first 10,000 Touch Diamonds to Hong Kong CSL, meanwhile, leaving the rest of us in the states drooling and waiting for the day they ship here.  I don't know about the rest of ya'll, but I can't wait to get my hands on one of these.  New CoverFlo software is supposed to rival the iPhone!

European users who want to get their HTC Touch Diamond slightly earlier than the June release date can hop online and buy them for a slightly exhorbitant price right now. DechoWireless, PopularElect and Welectronics have them in stock anywhere between $780 to $850 (you'll probably want to go with the $780 one) ready to ship to you. We think they ship to the US as well, so if you don't want to wait the extra few months for HTC to officially declare support here, this is your (kinda expensive) ticket.

(Via Gizmodo.)

Il Touch Diamond è quanto di meglio sia stato realizzato da HTC come materiali ed assemblaggio.
Il design è davvero semplice ma al tempo stesso molto elegante e raffinato.

clicca qui per visionare recensione

Fonte: PocketPCItalia

The HTC leader doesn't explain why he believes the goal possible, though the Diamond is known to have a wider release schedule that will start with Europe in June but quickly spread to other areas, including the US by the second half of this year. Upgrades to the Diamond also increase the accessibility of the device, as 3G support enables the new Touch to work in Japan, Korea, and other areas where the 2G-only GSM original is incompatible.

Most other handset designers typically don't release shipment forecasts for individual models, though Apple has publicly stated since 2007 that it expects to deliver 10 million iPhones in 2008. The American company reports shipping 1.7 million iPhones in the first three months of the year and is widely predicted to cross the three million mark by the end of June.

(Via MacNN.)

HTC has announced that they will be boosting shipments of their upcoming Touch Diamond handset by 50%, in anticipation for the likely demand for the product.

Originally planning on shipping 2 million, after the increase that means they are expected to ship roughly 3 million units.

HTC head Peter Chou said that the original Touch handset took 11 months to sell 3 million units but he believes that the Touch Diamond will only take 7 months to sell that same volume.

Look for the Touch Diamond to hit beginning Europe next month and spread to the rest of the world in the second half of this year.

[Via Electronista]

Mobilt bredbånd, 3G og EDGE gjør at den alltid har rask forbindelse til omverdenen (også kalt internett). Den har også støtte for kommunikasjon med trådløse nettverk.

Kameraet er kanskje det eneste som ikke er helt i toppskiktet på denne mobilen. Det er på 3,2 megapiksler, men som enhver som ikke er opptatt av tallonani vet - det er ikke megapikslene som setter grensene for kvalitet på et mobilkamera, det er linsa.

Brukergrensesnittet i Touch Diamond er etter hva jeg har sett på demovideoer ganske så snasent. Ikke helt iPhone, men nesten!

Operativsystemet er heller ikke helt OS X, men det er kanskje den beste utnyttelsen av Windows Mobile som er laget til nå - så det er så vidt jeg har sett ikke så langt etter...

Les mer om HTC Touch Diamond på disse nettstedene:

Linker: HTC Touch Diamond - HTC Touch Diamond

Me he enamorado...

Que si... que el iPhone es muy molón, que tiene gigas y gigas de almacenamiento, que también es iPod, lo tiene Risto y además lleva una manzanita detrás , pero... el HTC Diamond es mucho más chiquitín, y hace las mismas pijadas, y tiene pantalla táctil, y mejor conectividad y cámara que te cagas y además, es como más para nenas..

.

Y además, el iPhone suena muy flojito cuando te llaman!

La comparativa: aquí

But everyone knows that already.

There are now two brand new heavyweights though.

iPhone, say hello to the brand new BlackBerry Bold (aka BlackBerry 9000) as well as the HTC Touch Diamond. First, let's take a look at the iPhone's new competitors, along with a picture of the iPhone we all know and love.

The BlackBerry Bold features a full QWERTY keyboard along with the revamped and absolutely beautiful Blackberry OS and feature 3G for the first time on a BlackBerry device.

The HTC Touch Diamond is a full touch screen phone like Apple's device running on Windows Mobile OS with a sleek and sexy presentation.

All three phone look great, and all three look to go to war by the end of the year.

The Bold will be out sometime this summer from AT&T with other versions coming to other carriers as time goes on, and the HTC Touch Diamond has been submitted to the FCC but doesn't have a carrier in the US yet.