Can HTC's touchscreen Diamond outshine the iPhone?

Tue May 6, 2008 11:14AM EDT

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Just unveiled at a lavish event in London, HTC—maker of the sleek Touch for Sprint—has a new touchscreen gem on its hands, although the aptly-named Touch Diamond arrives in the rough that we call Windows Mobile.

But before I get all grumpy about Microsoft's tricky mobile OS, let's behold the Diamond's sparkling design and touch UI—and from this standpoint, there's a lot to like. 

First off, the Diamond comes in a sleek, and relatively light (according to the specs, at least) jet-black shell. Measuring 4 by 2 by 0.45 inches, the Diamond is a little shorter, narrower, and a hair thinner than the iPhone, and at 3.9 ounces, it's almost a full ounce lighter.

Then there's the touchscreen: 2.8 inches diagonally and at full VGA resolution, easily beating the iPhone's 480 by 320-pixel resolution. Whether one can appreciate VGA resolution on a 2.8-inch screen is an open question, although initial reports indicate that the Diamond's display is, indeed, dazzling.

And that brings us to the Diamond's TouchFlo interface—a sleek, easy-to-use touch UI that runs on top of Windows Mobile.

On the Touch for Sprint, TouchFlo looked like a 3D cube that you spun around with your finger. On the Diamond, TouchFlo boasts a row of icons at the bottom of the screen (for functions such as messaging, music, weather, photos, and Web browsing)—tap an icon, and the display spins and twirls to the appropriate application. Nice.

The Diamond also looks good in the spec department: HSDPA for 3.5G Web browsing and downloads, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 4GB of internal memory, a 3.2MP camera, and an accelerometer that turns the display to landscape mode when you turn the Diamond on its side.

For Web browsing, you get Opera for full HTML rendering and zooming in to Web pages, along with a separate YouTube app.

All very enticing, but lurking underneath it all is the professional version of Windows Mobile—and undeniably powerful OS, but tough to use when you're out and about. Indeed, with its intricate menus, the pro version of Windows Mobile is almost impossible to use without a stylus, so let's hope the Diamond has one.

Still, Windows Mobile Professional (the new version 6.1) means full compatibility with corporate Exchange servers, along with Microsoft's mobile Office suite (good for composing and editing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents).

So, can the Diamond take on the iPhone? On paper, it certainly wins out thanks to its HSDPA and GPS abilities (although the upcoming 3G iPhone will probably draw even come June). And I like the size and weight of the Diamond, plus the sheer capabilities of Windows Mobile (the iPhone has yet to get a true office suite).

But while the TouchFlo interface looks like a pleasure to use, Windows Mobile itself is a bear without a stylus—and with all its tweakable features and options, it's a tough nut to crack for a novice.

In any event, I'll hold off on any final judgments until I see one in person—which may not be for awhile. The Diamond is set to arrive next month in Europe and Asia, but it won't land here in the U.S. until the second half of the year. No word on pricing yet.

So, what do you think? Is the Diamond looking like an iPhone killer? Fire away!

Related:
Web site [HTC]

Comments on Can HTC's touchscreen Diamond outshine the iPhone?

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  • 26 Posted by raven1744 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    The iPhone is a piece of crap and I refuse to put iTunes on my computer. So yeah this phone is already an improvement.

  • 27 Posted by suavecali on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    The memory doesn't seem all that large. But generally, I would never trust a Microsoft product. I purchased IPAQ and other mobile phones and encountered numerous crashing bugs out of the shrink wrap. The overall experience from Microsoft has been negative. In their product family (cross pollination), their desktop offerings like Vista seems run by marketing and cost too much for basic functionality and bogged down by features (copy protection) that users don't want to pay for. In Apple, iPod experience has generally been really good, and their related family of products with Mac OS X is a good experience so far. With VMWare Fusion, I can use multiple environments (Linux, Windows) along with my Mac, but I cannot do the same with Windows, i.e. I cannot run Mac programs on it, which some of them are really good. Adobe products seem to have better intuitive environment on Mac. Regardless of OS, I like iPod experience, and wouldn't give Microsoft the time of day due to bad experiences on that platform.

  • 28 Posted by suavecali on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    The memory doesn't seem all that large. But generally, I would never trust a Microsoft product. I purchased IPAQ and other mobile phones and encountered numerous crashing bugs out of the shrink wrap. The overall experience from Microsoft has been negative. In their product family (cross pollination), their desktop offerings like Vista seems run by marketing and cost too much for basic functionality and bogged down by features (copy protection) that users don't want to pay for. In Apple, iPod experience has generally been really good, and their related family of products with Mac OS X is a good experience so far. With VMWare Fusion, I can use multiple environments (Linux, Windows) along with my Mac, but I cannot do the same with Windows, i.e. I cannot run Mac programs on it, which some of them are really good. Adobe products seem to have better intuitive environment on Mac. Regardless of OS, I like iPod experience, and wouldn't give Microsoft the time of day due to bad experiences on that platform.

  • 29 Posted by wdelcore on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    People may or may not care about iTunes but the fact remains that itunes sux!

  • 31 Posted by wirthywirthy on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    This the phone I'm waiting for. Windows Mobile is the only way I can access my corporate e-mail. Plus I use other programs that will only work with WM as GoToMyPC. I don't even give non-Windows Mobile phones a second look. So, hurry up and set a U.S. launch date.

  • 32 Posted by volleychick_2013 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    idk which one would be better, but i like the way this phone looks compared to the Iphone. it wont mattert hough beacuse it will be WAY to expensive to buy!!!!! :)

  • 33 Posted by joecas7 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    I phone fees are not practical in this economic climate. Why do you need all those features? If youu do it's just another example of how this generation is turning out, more impersonal! I will take my Blackberry curve any day over that nonsense.

  • 35 Posted by cgroenier72 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    i think that the iphone and itouch are still wayyyyy better, me owning one myself. if you actually hold one and listen to it for a couple hours, play videos on it, check your email, text your friends, etc. it is still better. it is also very easy to figure out and use. who cares if it has a .01 better resolution, it is still better

  • 36 Posted by inspdave on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:24PM EDT Report Abuse

    Have to agree with timefrentz... Itunes/apple, whatever, the entire empire is entirely too restrictive, protective, expensive..... anything with an "ive" at the end of it. Buy a new computer and see how difficult it is to reload your ITUNES from your existing IPOD. Or try to play MP4 files on anything but an IPOD..... get the point? After frustration after frustration with IPODs I went out and bought an 80 gig Zune and I'm absolutely delighted with it....It has a superior display, interface, usability and interchangeability with other media.

  • 37 Posted by britetiger11 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:13PM EDT Report Abuse

    And does my compuer science degrre from MIT come with it? Why is everything so complicated? I guess they never heard of KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.

  • 38 Posted by noeltorrey on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:40PM EDT Report Abuse

    Let's not forget the music industry is badly hurting for money, so the fact that iTunes passed Wal-Mart is crazy, that reminds me of the cable vs Direct-TV commercial where the cable board member says 90% of all statistics can be made to say anything 50% of the time. LOL

  • 39 Posted by gretsch57blue on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:13PM EDT Report Abuse

    i have to agree with timfrentz.No one cares about Itunes accept those who use the Iphone and Ipod.Simple Systems for simple people.Thats whatit sounds like you are saying.No aptitude for learning you just want to yer hands on something and starting using it right away as opposed to learning whatit can do and discovering its potential.Pre Fab.

  • 40 Posted by clm762 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    I am so sick of iTunes - I paid for iTune songs and I wanted to place them on my work computer (It's a stand alone MAC G5 - no internet connection). I cannot play the songs (even though iTunes is preinstalled on the G5) because iTunes now password protects songs using the same log on code I bought them with - you have to enter the password and the computer will play the songs - BUT the computer is stand alone - no internet connection - so I STILL can't play the songs!!

  • 41 Posted by howesr1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    iTunes is the creation of a way to control media. People prefer to have control for themselves, not be told how and how much to pay for having someone else provide the service. iPods were created to try to stamp out mp3 players - mp3 players allow you to play music for free - even music you downloaded for free. It is all about money and control. DVD encryption was broken because people want to make backups of movies and play them on their PCs. HDDVD and Bluray were created to stop DVD copying. Every company that gives people freedom tends to be successful and every company that trying to control people tends to lose. Free is still better than iPod - but no one does market research on "free" - there is no money in it.

  • 42 Posted by rod_j_clifton on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    Is this phone 69.99? I didn't think so you boneheads. Until one of these phones is 69.99, none of you will have anything signficant to say. Also, at the same time that it's 69.99, gas should be 1.20 a gallon.

  • 43 Posted by wstndyl on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just exactly what does it cost ?

  • 44 Posted by rasove_21 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'm thinking about buying an iPhone, but I'm not sure about what's the deal with iTunes. Do I *have* to use iTunes to move video and audio to the iPhone? If I buy a music CD and make MP3 files out of it, can I move these files to the iPhone, or do I have to buy the songs from iTunes? What about video files, for instance if I take AVIs from my kids, can I move them to the iPhone? Another question: can I read .TXT, .DOC or .RTF files in an iPhone? How do I move them from my PC to the iPhone? I currently own a relatively simple phone, and an iPaq PDA, which I use for music, video, and eBook reading. I was looking forward to replacing both with the iPhone, but I'm not sure if it's worth the effort. Thanks!

  • 45 Posted by mdoddinkc on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    estiny89...you said, and I quote, "complaining about dont know how to use the features should be countryside people who deosnt know anything about tech..and by someone who do think of futuer." You're dogging "country folk?" You friggin retard...go back to school and learn ENGLISH, then bag on other people regarding their tech capabilities. Wants and needs differ from person to person...get a phone that works for YOU and don't worry if it's the latest and (supposedly) greatest.

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