http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/ Engadget Mobile Comments for HTC Touch Diamond hands-on, up close and personal this time http://www.engadgetmobile.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgetmobile.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 2:19AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 12:50AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 12:54AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 1:04AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Their current flagship, the Tytn II has quad GSM and tri 3.5G. So why don't the Diamond and Diamond Pro?

In comparison, the Sony Xperia X1 will have quad GSM and quad 3.5G (along with everything else), and still manages to come in thinner (albeit very slightly) than the Diamond phones.

HTC made a huge mistake. It's unfortunate they'd partially cripple such beautiful phones like that. They're going to lose a lot of sales simply because of that.
]]>Jun 8th 2008 1:06AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
I believe our first tastes of these devices will be of the EVDO variety.]]>Jun 8th 2008 1:21AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Rubbish. Just show me what you can do more with the X1. And I don't mean what's on the features list, I mean actual use, today.]]>Jun 8th 2008 2:17AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 2:00PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
@ OziD: I'm afraid you're mistaken. The Diamond series are GSM based, not CDMA based. Perhaps you failed to read the specs that Engadget has listed numerous times for these phones, which are also listed above. Or perhaps you're unaware that EVDO is a CDMA technology and has nothing to do with GSM. And what exactly do you think I said that made you incorrectly assume I didn't live in the States?

@Steven: Maybe you don't have much experience with mobile phones and the understanding of the necessity for multiple band coverage in an expanding cellular landscape. Or maybe you're so interested in these phones that you're defensive when someone criticizes anything about them because it doesn't make you "feel good". What can you do with the X1, you ask? You'll have more cellular bands. More cellular bands = better reception for both the States and overseas. Didn't you pick up on that in my initial post? And why are you mentioning "actual use, today"? Neither the X1 nor the Diamond series have been released to the masses, so what else do we have to go by, besides the spec list?

iofthestorm: Yes, I'm aware that the X1 was built by HTC. What's your point?

----------------------------------

The whole point of a "world phone" is to have all the bands available in a phone so it will function on all the bands that are in the States and in other countries overseas.

The Diamond series will only be a tri-band GSM and dual-band 3.5G phone. The X1 will be a quad-band GSM and quad-band 3.5G phone. Therefore, the X1 will be superior to the Diamond series of phones, at least in terms of cellular reception.]]>Jun 9th 2008 6:21AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
But OziD obviously did.]]>Jun 9th 2008 6:24AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Play nice! Bye!]]>Jun 9th 2008 7:20PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 1:12AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 10:46AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 1:16AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
its going to be a sweet phone, but they have to draw the line, somewhere.

and personally i like hearing about phones that i know will be available to me soon. (as in, i'm a sprint customer.)]]>Jun 8th 2008 1:22AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Yeah, they should make posts about old stuff, afterall who on Earth would like to read about new products instead of old ones?]]>Jun 8th 2008 10:26AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 10:34AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
So does this thing that a front facing camera as well?]]>Jun 8th 2008 1:35AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Yep. VGA. The main camera is 3.2 megapixels. The only thing I'm missing here is a flash.]]>Jun 8th 2008 2:18AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 3:30AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
http://www.9031.com/downloads/screensavers.html

And yes, i'm well aware this screensaver isn't the first instance of a flip clock in history, but it's relative popularity in the past year or so is probably the inspiration for the clock on the HTC.]]>Jun 8th 2008 1:35AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 2:03AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 2:31AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Low Ranked, here I come :).]]>Jun 8th 2008 1:41AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Well, at least you tried.]]>Jun 8th 2008 2:19AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 8:19AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 11:48AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 2:13AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 2:17AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 2:28AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
I'm thinking the diamond/pro with all the extra horsepower minus the thouchflo equals blazing.]]>Jun 8th 2008 2:33AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 2:40AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 3:05AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
If you change your phone every 4-5 months, get this one. If you don't, and you need a phone to last more than a year, wait for the Xperia X1 (If you're desperate for a WM phone). Xperia has a hi-res widescreen display, a slide-out keyboard, and a UI of its own (not nearly as flashy as TouchFLO 3D)

Or if your current phone is acceptable, and WM isn't a priority (and it shouldn't), wait a couple of months for the HTC Dream. It has a large widescreen hi-res display, a slideout keyboard, an iphonish finger friendly UI, and a OS just as fast "Android". The phone has been specifically designed with mobile web-browsing in mind.]]>Jun 8th 2008 3:20AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/9205/androidwallpaperbrightvp1.jpg]]>Jun 8th 2008 3:42AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 3:27AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 3:29AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
I'm thinking the new iPhone coverage would swamp the main Engadget page, compared to a small link to another Engadget site. ]]>Jun 8th 2008 3:42AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 3:36AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 3:43AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 4:21AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/I'm looking to buy a phone (that is easy to use), it needs to have a really good WiFi system. It needs to be able to play YouTube videos clearly and efficiently. I've seen the Nokia N95, but that doesn't play youtube videos fast enough, and it's quite old now. Would the HTC Touch Diamond be any good for me? What other phones should I consider that are new or upcoming?]]>Jun 8th 2008 4:17AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
The other phone is the Touch Pro: this with extra RAM and ROM, a MicroSD slot and a QWERTY keyboard, and a camera light, but without the 4GB flash storage.]]>Jun 8th 2008 9:06AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 5:41AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEy6qM93mjw&eurl=http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/

He says he feels the vibration at exactly where the ball hit the side of the screen. Incredible.]]>Jun 8th 2008 5:44AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
The reason it may look/feel localised is because your mind sort of makes it up, your eyes see the point at which the ball hits the edge, the motor vibrates and your brain just makes the rest up give you the impression the vibration originated at the point of contact.

These devices do NOT have localised haptic feedback.]]>Jun 8th 2008 7:22AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
But also, what makes the "trick" more convincing is the fact the vibrations aren't equal in magnitude. He says the further the ball travels before hitting the edge, the stronger the vibration. That's good programming there.]]>Jun 8th 2008 7:55AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Immersion has a lot of IP around how you control the motor and the freqs used.

It's cool stuff and nice to see it making out into the wild.]]>Jun 25th 2008 7:45PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/Jun 8th 2008 5:47AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/06/08/htc-touch-diamond-hands-on-up-close-and-personal-this-time/
Just reading the mini-review and basically it confirms what just about every other site out there is saying. Great device, great UI....but kinda slow.

One thing you mention is hte feeling that the screen is kind of "sticky". Just a theory, but perhaps the flim that they put on the front of the device ot protect it during shipping/transit has left a bit of a residue on the screen? When I first received my HTC TyTN II i remember the stylus feeling a little tacky across the surface, after a quick wipe of the screen it was perfect. Just a thought.

Personally, I'm waiting for the Touch Pro.]]>Jun 8th 2008 7:19AM