Photos: HTC Touch Diamond to rival iPhone?

With all eyes on the Australian iPhone release, HTC has stolen some of the limelight with the release of the Touch Diamond. Coming in glossy black, with a large touch screen and an array of features, everything about it screams iPhone rival.

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With the iPhone still setting the standard for touchscreen phones, challengers to the throne all seem to be trying to out-elegance one another — witness the new Samsung Armani, for instance. Now along comes the HTC Touch Diamond, "a new benchmark for phone sophistication," the company crows.

Central to the phone is the company's TouchFlo 3D interface, which HTC says provides "animated access" to people (by calling, we presume), messaging, e-mail, photos, and more. There's also a touch pad alongside the screen. Under the hood is the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system.

Credit: HTC

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1. Form and Function combined BChau -- 07/05/08

   The user interface is very appealing. Combined with the full functionalities of WM 6.1, Best of both worlds. I like it very much. This or the HTC Rapheal could well be my next phone.

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2. Windows calamity Anonymous -- 07/05/08

   Windows mobile is a clumsy power hingy pig of an OS, it has a very long way to go to catch up with apple.

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   1. Not really Lord Watchdog -- 07/05/08

      I own a HP iPaq which is made by HTC and it is a great device. Windows and Office work well, as does IE, contact list, the whole shebang. After almost two years of power-usage I've had no stability problems with Windows and no hardware problems with the phone itself.
      
      Many recent Apple creations have suffered severe hardware shortcomings and software is useless without reliable hardware. Magnetic power plugs exploding, cracked screens on iPods, batteries overheating, etc.
      
      The iPaq has one slight shortcoming - the bell isn't loud enough. Maybe they've improved that for this new model.
      
      On an unrelated note, I've recently tried out a Telstra Country Phone - big mistake. Before I had the chance to road-test its claimed long distance data and voice capability it shat itself after a mere two months' use.

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   2. sorry pal Anonymous -- 07/05/08

      Doesnt sound like you own an apple device, lord farquar. I have used both, and may others from other manufacturers.
      And besides, let the product speak for itself, and I am afriad WM is world renown for being expensive, eating batteries, heavy foot print and abysmal performance unless you throw major hardware at it. I'll stick with my nokia smartphone, I get 10 days standby out of it... I get about 36 hrs at best from a windows 'calamity' mobile, als long as it doesnt lock up on me first.

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   3. Don't agree BChau -- 07/05/08

      Sorry pal, doesn't sound like you own a WM device either. I have an imate JASJAM running WM6 and it has been rock solid. No lock up for as long as I can remember. As for battery, it depends on how I use my phone, I suppose. I don't know really as I do a lot of desktop syncing and it also charges the phone over USB. As a result, I never notice if there is any battery problem.

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   4. Sorry Pal, Buddy, Chum... Lord Watchdog -- 07/05/08

      I own an Apple iMac. I do believe Apple made the machine?
      
      As for my iPaq, I am still using the original battery and I get lots of standby time. Either your appraisal of Windows Mobile is a little inaccurate or you don't look after your belongings.

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   5. both wrong sickko -- 08/05/08

      the whole point is the touch flo - I've had win mob 5, 6 and played with mac-lock-in stuff... htc kicks both... yes, runs on windows mobile, but the similarity ends there, they've built a new interface on top. I have an HTC Touch - came out *before* iBrick and i think the only thing(s) missing from my life are 3G and GPS... Diamond does both - everyone who sees the "old" touch interface is blown away... this new one looks compelling. Lets face it, the iBrick isn't *actually* innovative... is expensive and ... well... is associated with $teve Job$

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   6. windows mobile - never again Anonymous -- 09/05/08

      I had an imate smart phone. What an unreliable piece of crud it was. Had to reboot every now and then not just because WM ate all the memory and slowed down, but it would also forget about the network and not ring!
      
      Never, ever again.

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   7. again, sorry pal Anonymous -- 14/05/08

      I have been exposed to support operations with WM devices, and I am afraid they are the bottom of the pile when it comes to reliability, battery life...
      The iphone regardless of how you look at it stands out from the rest, by miles. That is innovation.
      Still, i'll stick with Nokia, they know how to make phones and make mobile operating systems. $MS knows how to... um... not sure if they are good at anything anymore..?

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   8. Windows calamity tony roanbld -- 25/06/08

      Apple SUX
      Steve Jobs SUX
      Apple SUX

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3. iphone rival? Eric Wolfe -- 07/05/08

   eh, no.

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   1. iphone rival? Anonymous -- 20/05/08

      umm, no.
      
      more like iphone KILLER!!

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4. Javascript enabled? Anonymous -- 13/05/08

   Nice phone but does anyone know if it handle Javascript, flash etc on sites like the N810?

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   1. Java YES!!! Anonymous -- 31/05/08

      Built in customized Opera mobile browser. Youtube client the same as iphone, so flash YES. Accelerometer YES.
      
      I do not own an iphone so I'm not going to be a smart a** here( have ipod touch). but the main feature differences are,
      
      WM6.1 VS MAC: WM is more expandable and popular to be mistreated despite minor bugs.
      
      touch keyboard a little difficult to handle than apple's.
      
      diamond senses which side up the phone is and changes itself to silent mode.
      
      3.2 MP with mechanical autofocus.
      
      Smaller screen but higher resolution.
      
      I'm not sure if iphone has HSDPA.
      
      cutting edge GPS hardware.
      
      with Diamond is also easier to manage file transfers, with WM device center, than with itunes.
      
      WM can be rigged with third party media players to play more video formats than OS X. You don't need to encode those 700mb divx's.
      
      BUT the diamond lacks the standard earphone jack, so you probably can't use your favorites.
      
      There is a sensor where the stylus goes, so when you pull it out it turns the display on and goes to the notepad.
      
      shorter battery life is to be expected.
      
      Separate Graphic processing unit.
      
      Proximity sensing buttons, very useful when taking pictures.
      
      In conclusion I'd already purchased the diamond.

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   2. HSDPA Anonymous -- 03/06/08

      Just to confirm, HTC Touch Diamond is 7.2Mbps HSDPA.

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5. But one things missing chikanos! Anonymous -- 15/06/08

   the htc diamond has only internal memory og 4 gb and no expandable sd card... al though its quite the "IT" phone to beat apple...

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