Photos: Hands-on with the HTC Touch Diamond
Tags: htc, navigate, youtube, iphone
Is it a Google Phone? Is it the 3G iPhone? Is it something MacGyver put together using a matchbox and his pants? Nope, it's none of those, it's HTC's latest smart phone, the Touch Diamond, which aims to take a bite out of Apple's iPhone cake.
We headed down to its launch today to give it a quick once over and see if this Windows Mobile phone can keep up with the competition. We even took some photos so you can have a proper gander at it -- how thoughtful we are.
It's due out in June on all the major networks, so if by the end of this article you're burning to buy one, you're going to have to wait, but it won't be long and it will be available on your current network. Pricing has yet to be announced.
Click on the next page to see more photos of the Diamond and HTC's new interface -- TouchFLO 3D -- which aims to make using Windows Mobile a little more thumb-friendly.
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AnonymousTue 6 May, 2008 10:34pm
And you know this because ...
Regardless , I think this looks great running on Windows platform.
AnonymousTue 6 May, 2008 10:42pm
HTC Has been doing touch screen phones for years and 100 times bigger the apple on the phone industery
AnonymousTue 6 May, 2008 11:46pm
Awesome! Two great IPHONE killers by mid 2008- the HTC Diamond and Sony's Xperia! Which device to choose? I am now leaning on purchasing the HTC because they have tweaked WM 6.1 to give the user an AWESOME experience. Sony is still having problems with their interface. But definitely it is GOODBYE to my old Atom PDA.
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 2:02am
Good luck with your inferior "iPhone Killers." When you're frustrated with this one and you want a real phone, Apple won't rub in your face when beg them to take your money. The HTC Diamond looks like it'll make a good paperweight.
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 2:32am
price pleaseeeee???
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 3:10am
Why do people tout everything as an iPhone knock off? HTC has been making touchscreen phones for years. Does it utilize some features the iPhone does, of course. It would be stupid for them not too. However HTC is using Windows Mobile, and that means a lot to some people. Many want a true Smart-Phone (HTC) and not just the most recent fashion trend (iPhone). I'm not saying iPhone is not praise worthy, but just remember other companies have been working in the mobile phone business for years and their products reflect it.
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 3:15am
HTC phones usually premier around $500 w/ no contract or around $300-$350 with a 2yr contract. Just look at the price of the Verizon XV6900 ie (HTC Touch) for a price example; its been out for about a year now.
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 8:40am
NO WAY THE REAL COPPIER IS THE IPHONE HTC IS LIKE ONE OF THE BEST TOUCH PHONE BRANDS....LOL IPHONE IS JUST A NEWBIE 2MP CAM AND NOT EVEN 3G BUT IPHONES INTERFACE IS NOT BAD I DUN UNDERSTAND WHY EVERYONE THINKS ANY TOUCH PHONE IS A IPHONE KILLER......LAME
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 8:43am
YEA I ARGREE AND BESIDES I DONT UNDERSTAND HOW SOME PEOPLE CAN COMPARE N95 TO IPHONE N95 IS WAY AHEAD OF IPHONE!!!! 5MP CAM GREAT GAMES AND MUSIC GPS WIFI DOES IPHONE HAVE ANY OF THESE OTHER THAN WIFI AND GREAT SOUND QUAILITY?
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 10:08am
For a long time HTC have been making Smartphones and everytime they get better, this is another natural big step for them as a company.
For thouse praising the Apple IPhone I will point out that-
It costs more than its worth...You pay a price to accualy buy the Phone (£329 18Gb) then another £35 every month for a contract that is below par on other O2 Contracts.
For my O2 XDA Stellar I paied £89 one off and then £35 every month for a contact that gives me 1000txts 600mins and UNLIMITED 3.5G Internet!
Its clear that Apple just cant make them cheap enough!
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 10:51am
why are people complaining this is an iphone knock off?
HTC has been making devices with touchscreen interfaces long before apple, in fact: the iphone is a cheap knock off of HTC's products.
EXCEPT it's not cheap.
This is a product with practicality in mind, apple products are just fasion statements for those with big wallets and small brains
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 2:05pm
I think this is far better than the iPhone, it's much more compact for a start and your not tied in to a silly contract either. As for the N95!! Please, it's a cheap plastic house brick with good but complicated features that falls to pieces in six months.
Plus the HTC is a true smart phone which certainly the iPhone is not!
Anyway I hate people comparing phones to the iPhone just because it has a touch screen!! Different phones are aimed at different markets. When was the last time anybody compared a phone that came out to the last phone because it had keys!!!
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 2:19pm
Stop shouting!
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 3:54pm
wtf is up w/ this: "Unlike the iPhone, you can watch YouTube videos almost everywhere you go, because the Diamond comes with Wi-Fi and HSDPA (3.5G)." the iPhone has a youtube app that works quite well with Edge, let alone Wifi. the iPhone rules.
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 9:04pm
6 months ago I bought the "new" HTC touch with the faster processor, then found out they didn't bother including the graphics drivers so it's still has that annoying 2-3 second pause before reacting. Then I realized that it was randomly deleting my office docs on the expansion card... so onto the on-board memory and it only deletes things randomly once per month. And then there is the occasional system crash of the sound drivers... and then I end up missing calls until I soft reset the phone. HTC sucks with the driver scam and Microsoft 6 sucks with it's buggy behavior.
Without palm, the smart phone field is just waiting for a new innovator and I'm sad to say that currently the leader is the iPhone. 6 months of windows convinced me of that!
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 9:16pm
I vow to never buy an i-phone. Exclusive to one network. Locked to that network, with no 'official' way to unlock. Overpriced with no 3G. A loyal following of blind customers concerned more about being trendy then having a well built device.
Yes, it looks pretty, but it's inherently evil. I can't support their business practices and line the pockets of O2 & Apple executives.
AnonymousWed 7 May, 2008 11:25pm
Clearly this is better than the iphony.
Microsoft products are usually better than Apple products.
AnonymousThu 8 May, 2008 2:13pm
iPhone is a year old, HTC Touch Diamond rushed the phone so that it's not compared to the new iPhone. Good marketing. It's easy to guess when Apple would release the new iPhone. It's a clever but obvious move. Makes me thing that they are watching and (maybe copy too) strategising around iPhone.
AnonymousThu 8 May, 2008 5:46pm
After using the HTC Touch on Verizon (VX6900), I'm done w/WinMo devices. It's awesome having a lot of software to choose from, but most of it is poorly coded. It leaves crap behind every time you uninstall and it usually doesn't interface with all the features of the software/phone. Buggy as hell still....I had a Compaq PDA back in the day and made it a paper weight. Thought the OS would be better now for some reason. Should have known better.
I wouldn't buy the first iPhone because of the lack of 3G, GPS, MMS and a few other things, but using a friends, I found the OS to be rock stable, quick and easy to navigate. It always works and works the same way every time.
I'm sold if the new iPhone has the missing features. If not, I'll keep searching, but WinMo sucks b***s!
AnonymousFri 9 May, 2008 9:22am
Looks great, but you can be sure that operators like Orange will strip off all the cool features and castrate it with their wretched "home screen".
AnonymousFri 9 May, 2008 11:20am
God I wish people would stop going on about the iPhone like it's the holy grail of phones.
The iPhone is an *averagely* reviewed phone which looks nice, but lacks basic modern features like 3G and a decent camera. What use is phone with a web browser and email client when it doesn't have 3G? None whatsoever. If and when it does get 3G, it still has a long way to go before it becomes a good phone. It's not even a proper smartphone as you can't install custom applications - they all have to be signed or purchased from Apple themselves.
AnonymousFri 9 May, 2008 4:54pm
I have an iPhone and yes it is very nice, very slick interface but it does lack bits and pieces, no MMS and most important no cut and paste functionality it is a very nice nice of kit for what it is a combination of iPod and phone the whole point I bought mine, why take 2 bottles into the shower :-)
Previous posters are right the Win Mobile is open and their are loads of apps but with ALL windows the more you install the buggier and slower it gets.
You pay your money you take your choice and stop moaning about everyone else.
AnonymousFri 9 May, 2008 7:50pm
Im seriously considering upgrading to one of these when it comes out this time next month, however i do agree with alot of comments. The thing about the iphone which appeals is its OS is designed for that particular handset, there is no other handset running the same thing - its completely built just for the iphone wheras i cant help but see this phone as basically a windows mobile vista. Its got lovely iphone 3D movement but once youve navigated to where you want to be your basically back to windows mobile basic applications. IF the new iphone has GPS and 3G, all being i can use my network 3 on it and TomTom software i will buy it hands down over this. If it doesnt have GPS then its not going to work. People want a device now that consolidates having an mp3 player, a mobile phone and a PDA on you at any one time to get maximum functionality if you want to corner the market with the BEST smart phone it has to be a product in itself (iphone) not a skin running on windows mobile and it needs to have GPS, 3G, WiFi, and do everything you want including be compatible with other stuff.
AnonymousSat 10 May, 2008 6:58am
actually, the verizon model just came out not a month ago. i think you are mistaking it for the i believe t-moblie version.
AnonymousSat 10 May, 2008 7:17pm
Thank you!!! HTC has been making touch screen phones forever!!! You can't honestly think that they are trying to copy Apple.
AnonymousSun 11 May, 2008 4:28am
I like the HTC TyTn II, but AT&T is too pricey for that device when you add all the functions. I like this device and, although it's not that pretty, it has all the features I like: wifi, gps, blue 2.0. I also will admit that I like the presumed specs on the next iphone coming out. They say it will have wifi, 3rd party apps, 3g speed and real texting ability. If it has GPS and MS Office edit ability, then I'm sold.
AnonymousMon 12 May, 2008 8:55pm
Orange stopped customising HTC phones last year, they leave them unbranded now, with the exception of the splash screen on boot
AnonymousTue 13 May, 2008 9:44am
I think Apple should stick to what they're good at and leave the mobile phone devices to Nokia, Motorola or Sony. HTC has the ability to beat the iPhone hands down but need to ensure call quality and signal strength has improved. HTC mobiles have a poor history with regards to dropping calls and short battery life. What should happen is that Nokia and HTC should team up along side Microsoft to blow Apple out of the water with a true mobile/PDA combo. Even with 3G, the iPhone will lack speed and grace.
AnonymousTue 13 May, 2008 10:25pm
The reason why the iPhone is so innovative and compared to is not just the touch screen. Yes HTC has made touch screens for longer but, like Palm phones, you needed a stylist. The screens were small and hard to read on, and windows mobile sucks. The iPhone is not perfect, but it is by far the best phone that has come out to date. This phone looks promising, but since it is using windows that means there is a huge chance that it is going to be buggy and frustrating. The touchscreen of the iPhone allows you to zoom in and be able to read web-pages, not having to go to some mobile version of them. It is the first phone that actually offered a substanial amount of memory so you can actually download stuff to it. And for everyone who complains that it is locked to a single carrier and can't download software, well all you have to do is download the Jailbreak program from the internet. Anyone who wants to use the full features of the iPhone would do this anyway.
Now for this new diamond, I personally view it as a knock-off, not because it has a touch screen, but because Apple has set a new standard for smart-phones, and every company is going to rush to try and out do it. It's called natural progression. The iPhone is the top selling phone in the world, in less than a year in the cell phone industry, Apple is the 3rd largest maker with only 1 phone in their inventory. No cell phone company can ignore that fact. Yes future phones will be better than the current iPhone, and this may be one of them, but that doesn't mean Apple isn't working on their new project. Love or hate Apple, you should be thanking them because look at what they caused cell phone companies to do. It's a win for the consumers. I will make my judgement on this phone when it actually hit the stores and I have a chance to play with it.
AnonymousFri 16 May, 2008 1:30am
Hey, this article is about Diamond and not about the flashy Iphone...
Please consider write in another article stating how good you feel walking
on the street with your iphone in your head, a dolce&garbanna shirt and
a calvin klein shoes...
iphones and imacs and ibooks are only fashion product. You pay much more
just for the brand...
Also makes no sense discuss Windows weaknesses here. Not HTC fault...
but after a hundred Windows patches I think it will get better.

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AnonymousTue 6 May, 2008 10:14pm
This is just a pathetic copy of the iPhone. No real creativity here. The 3g iPhone will blow this thing out of the sky