Photos: Hands-on with the HTC Touch Diamond

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

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.

AnonymousSun 18 May, 2008 4:24am

IPhone is a beautiful and concept product but it has a lot of technical limitations: no GPS, no SMS, no videos, bad camera, battery not removable, etc. HTC Diamond is much better. No comparison.

AnonymousSun 18 May, 2008 5:21am

The Diamond looks great! All you apple fanboys should just shut up and admit that the Diamond is better than the Iphone.

AnonymousSun 18 May, 2008 5:22am

I hope the new version of the Diamond comes out on September!

AnonymousSat 24 May, 2008 9:43am

WTH! why it doesn't have a sdhc card reader?!?! they said it's 'couse of thin dimensions they wanted to give to the phone, but 4GB it's not enough to fit all my music library! a 32GB sdhc card would help.... that would have been a must have device!

AnonymousSat 24 May, 2008 3:35pm

F*** the Iphone users. Windows mobile is great. Iphone makers are just copying everything from the Windows Mobile.

AnonymousSun 25 May, 2008 3:14am

Only thing cool on an iphone is its interface, nothing more.

AnonymousThu 29 May, 2008 7:42am

The HTC Touch Diamond had better be an improvement in quality over the last two HTC made products I've onwed (O2 Atom and HTC Touch - now deceased). I MAY give them a third go at convincing me they can make a product that will last more than six months but common sense tells me I should give them the flick.

AnonymousWed 4 June, 2008 1:47am

This is a great phone and the main diference with an iPhone is that this is a PHONE!

iPhone is great gadget BUT:
you can't make a 3g call you don't have gps (and even if the iPhone will it want be that good because it is the 1st version including it)
Also in iPhone you cannot put an mp3 song as a ringtone but you have to cut it (this reminds me the phones back in 2001 when mp3 rigntones was locked!!!)
Also if your friend have a nice pic or game you can't receive it cause iPhone is not axcepting anything via bluetooth. And if you want to send a file u have to do it over the slow internet that iPhone conecting due to luck of HSDPA! It has more disadvantages that I don't have the time to state them. I had an iPhone but it was not a phone so i bought an ipod touch instead!!!

I am a very demanding user so my ideal phone is not out in the market yet!!
Until then I will buy (allready ordered and will have it in 2 days) the HTC Touch Diamond.

My ideal phone is one that will have everything that a good business mobile phone has in terms of funcionality + PDA + Ipod (mp3 player) with at least 16Gb of memory and GPS!

The HTC is very close to what I want BUT 4GB is not enough and there is not an expansion slot.

Well done HTC if you keep everyting you got to this model and add in your next touch series phone:

1) Better battery (at least 1300mAh)
2) 8GB built in flash memory
3) a microSD Slot

You will have the greatest phone ever!! (if it functions smoothly)
You are almost there!!!

On the other hand if apple understand what phone means and create something as I mentioned above I WILL buy it.
Just think the advantages in performance and security of a unix based OS compare to windows and you can understand me!

So HTC is closer to make the supreme phone BUT if apple manages to make it in 2-3 years time they will dominate the mobilephone world for sure!!!

AnonymousWed 4 June, 2008 8:41am

I'm waiting upon the release of the new iphone... while waiting i thouht I'd check out the other touch phones on the market... This phone looks really fine... but is waaaay too pricy for a 4GB touch phone. Sitting at almost a grand for basic features like music messaging email and what not, when you get the same things in an iphone for half the price and twice the memory? If the diamond was priced lower I would def go for the HTC touch diamond... But if the price stays THAT steep, I'm going for the $399 3G iphone. But this diamond looks sweeeeeet!

AnonymousWed 4 June, 2008 12:04pm

I don't know if you find it expensive wait to see the price of the iPhone 2 first!
I got mine here in UK with the same O2 18 months contract that iPhone has with just £78 including postage! Which is more than half price compare to iPhone 8Gb on the same contruct+ HTC is unlocked!!!
On top of that HTC produces phones with GPS and 3G, 2 years now so they defenately know how to do it and defenately have improve them in this phone!

AnonymousWed 4 June, 2008 5:28pm

I'm very tempted by the Touch Diamond. The iPhone is no use to me - I use Excel and Word, as well as the GPS in my "old" HTC/O2 XDA Orbit.

The 4GB limit is a bit of a worry, and I had to download extra software to stop the Orbit touch screen doing all sorts of silly things when I held it to my ear. If they've fixed that (I don't know yet), I'll be looking to buy one in the next week or so.

I've not seen any details on what the iPhone 2 will do. I've played with several iPhone 1s and like the interface, but not the lack of key software. I don't need music - I have an iPod which I rarely use, and radio in the car. iPhone looks to be more a fashion statement than a serious business product.

AnonymousFri 6 June, 2008 4:12pm

this thing kicks the s*it out of the iPhone, the interface is beautiful + it has the advantage of being compatible with all those millions of WM6 apps unlike the iPhone.
And lets not 4get the specs sheet, apart from not having a flash on the camera the diamond has everything, and its just as slick as the current iPhone - and yes the interface on this model is very smooth. finally a windows phone that can realistically beat the iPhone in looks AND specs. I highly doubt the 3G will bring enough new tech to the table to beat the Diamond... (i wonder how many apple fanboys i have angered lol)

AnonymousSat 7 June, 2008 8:26am

u kno what i love the iPhone is like a regular phone with email nd wifi. I mean its got internet like a regular phone k so it has a music player but so does 75% of the phones they sell now. I dont get why people still rave about this phone if it is so old and out of date. The new thing now is and will be for a few months after the 3G iPhone is The HTC TOUCH DIAMOND

AnonymousThu 12 June, 2008 12:03am

What makes me laugh is that people always think they know whats best.

Its a matter of opinion - I for one will be getting the Diamond just because I think its better. The IPhone is better with some things the Diamond is better with others, at the end of the day who cares what other people think - Get what you think is best

AnonymousFri 13 June, 2008 7:01am

just got mine yesterday, and it's been terrible... suggest folks wait for a patch before getting one. the weather applet hung the phone twice with a 3G connection (but ok with wireless). the touchflo interface is expectedly heavy, despite supposed dedicated graphics, it still slows the phone down... turning it off gives you a very speedy 'normal' win mobile device though... threaded sms's are over-hyped... again, its very slow to bring up a 'conversation' as it tries to find all related messages... i am looking forward to the samsung i900 or iphone for sure.

AnonymousSun 15 June, 2008 5:08am

In comparison to any other mobile phone or PDA manufacturers the iphone is way behind, the Apple "per annum" upgrade to technology that is already far superseded by most brands certainly seems unappealing to me.
OK the interaction between PC or Mac and iphone may be a better UI, but the fact remains, the iphone is not diverse enough in terms of 3rd part application support and software.
In 6 months or 6 years when I have my 100GB HTC with 20 mega pixel camera, mind reading UI, coffee making bread toasting PDA, Apple will just release something with a built in camera I don't know why it is I just dislike Apple and their overpriced products.

AnonymousWed 25 June, 2008 10:16am

My new Touch Diamond arrives tomorrow and after reading various net reviews I can't wait. I agree with a lot of the comments here - that HTC have been making touch phones for ages. Of course, the i-Phone has come out and as a design-led device, you can't blame other manufacturers for giving it a nod and a wink. It would be foolish for anyone to really expect the Touch Diamond to compete with the iPhone as a musical device, but by the same contrast, it sounds as if the Windows Mobile interface coupled with the Opera Mini browser are far superior than anything the iPhone can muster up. As for looks, I think HTC have looked at the Apple, taken the best bits, and actually produced a better looking phone.

AnonymousMon 30 June, 2008 6:40pm

wait...how are u getting your diamond tommorrow? did i miss something...i thought there was no release date and what carrier was getting it.

AnonymousWed 9 July, 2008 1:00pm

diamond is far superior to iphone even iphone 2 at both speed ram resolution and features . Iphone should be used for cheap coasters now. If ya wanna mac buy one but leave these at home. Plus with a shortage of bricks they should be recalling iphone for building works

AnonymousSat 12 July, 2008 8:02am

Hey well I have a HTC Touch and its great - tell you what why don't you guys who got an Iphone 3G send me an mms message from it....OH NO you still cant....ok well send me a decent pic....oh no only 2MP.....hmmmmmmm
Think it should be called iHype...or iPhoney!!

AnonymousFri 25 July, 2008 1:08pm

I sent my iPhone back after 10 days and bought the Touch Diamond. iPhone is fine for anyone with no real need for a mobile office environment. It has poor support for outlook, word and excel. User config and control has been sacraficed to good looks and idiot proof interface in the iPhone. The Touch gives you all the control and functions you could want, and is smaller and lighter than the iPhone.