HTC Touch Diamond headed to Telus on August 14th
by Donald Melanson 
posted Aug 6th 2008 at 4:42PM
While Sprint and Verizon still haven't officially nailed down an exact release date for their incarnations of HTC's desirable Touch Diamond, Telus isn't keeping its customers (or potential ones) in the dark any longer, with it now announcing that the handset will be available on August 14th. Prices will start at just $150 on a three-year contract, and jump to $350 on a two-year one, $400 on a one-year deal, and a full $450 if you don't want any strings attached at all. You can also expect to pay $15 a month for a basic email and IM plan, or $30 for email, web browsing and IM -- on top of your usual voice plan, of course.
Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Telus Mobility
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ShogunMaster @ Aug 6th 2008 4:52PM
No Pro.. No Go.
MIKE @ Aug 6th 2008 4:54PM
Telus has been landing some pretty nice handsets lately. Maybe I'll have to check them out again, that is if they ever launch a GSM network.
AlanStrangis @ Aug 7th 2008 1:37PM
Actually, Telus (and Bell), will be doing a GSM switch over the next 3 years or so, probably using the licenses they won during the spectrum auction. Part of Telus' reasoning is the 2010 Olympics and the influx of GSM users.
They'll probably be dual networked for a couple of years after that. That's why I took the dive and went with the $7 Bell data plan with the HTC Touch, as my contract will be up by the time they get the ball rolling on GSM and they'll be more REAL competition in the wireless space (not to mention all the newcomers to the Canadian wireless space).
Mills @ Aug 6th 2008 5:10PM
anybody know what telus' EDF is? That 150 is really tempting specially if the EDF is only 200... 350 for that phone sounds awwwright
Cactus @ Aug 6th 2008 5:41PM
Last I checked, Telus' ETF was $20 per month. Might as well get the 3-year... either $200 extra for the phone for a two year contract, or $240 ETF.
Besides, you can normally get a new phone after 2 years -- the 3rd year is just a screwjob so you don't jump carriers, while you're stuck with an old phone...
beej @ Aug 6th 2008 5:29PM
Make an announcement on the Pro already!
Al @ Aug 6th 2008 5:23PM
Is this the 4gb model or the one with the SD card slot?
David Phillipps @ Aug 6th 2008 5:30PM
4gb
Drew @ Aug 6th 2008 5:45PM
Wow, $450 w/o any contract. That isn't too bad. Hopefully Sprint will follow that price for ones w/o a contract. While they are at it, hopefully the Touch Pro will only be $50 more!
scott @ Aug 6th 2008 6:18PM
it will be featured with the 15$ unlimited package for all web use..
Will Static @ Aug 6th 2008 6:59PM
Yes it will launch with a promotional $15 unlimited data plan... gives you web, telus mail and unlimited IM... basically anything web... extra for txt and telus own flavour gps software.
http://about.telus.com/cgi-bin/media_news_viewer.cgi?news_id=943&mode=2
Razor1973 @ Aug 6th 2008 6:16PM
3 year commitment?!!?! What's this world coming to? I can't even be made to sign for 1!
Catdogburger @ Aug 6th 2008 8:16PM
Welcome to Canada
SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Aug 6th 2008 7:15PM
dont buy it.
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Reviews/Phones/S5X7P5X9
beej @ Aug 6th 2008 7:49PM
Yeah...because I'll definitely follow instructions from a reviewer who cannot even manage to spell the word "unfortunately".
NEXT....
mphayvanh @ Aug 6th 2008 7:57PM
For real...I smell a fanboy. Leave little boy. This phone is for men.
The iPhone is for 16 yr old girls who likes to text and listen to their music all day long.
SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Aug 6th 2008 8:04PM
yes.. lets buy a crappy phone because i spelled a word wrong... your logic so undeniable.
next...
Will Static @ Aug 6th 2008 8:32PM
But I don't like apples dumbed down interface... lack of flexibility... and especially the large device size!
Reviews are really about what appeals to the reviewer... I have used the GSM Diamond... Still own it... and I have used the 3G iPhone...
My review = Diamond **** 1/2 iPhone ***
why because it`s my opinion.
next....
blitzkrieg999 @ Aug 6th 2008 8:59PM
Yes, lets choose not to buy a phone based on one (rather biased) review...
SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Aug 7th 2008 2:50AM
on what grounds is it biased? lol... who are you to decide that?
mafiaboy @ Aug 7th 2008 7:59AM
The phone you reviewed is a different phone then this one, this has Telus' ROM in it and no one knows how it will preform until it releases. The GSM version of the phone is totally irrelevant in comparison to this.
Alan Strangis @ Aug 7th 2008 2:08PM
@ SSErik: That review was the ultimate in weak sauce bias.
If the reviewer actually HAD used a number of WM phones in the past, he would have known that there's a great repository for just about every free WM app out there, and even has a mobile site. Same goes for paid software. And there's certainly a lot more of it out there for WM than there is for Palm. The idea of having an RSS reader is so verboten on the iPhone platform that each news site and podcast has to create its own app just to get at their feeds.
And exclaiming the virtures of the iPhone start screen is akin to oohing and ahhing over Palm OS's start screen from the past 10 years, albeit much prettier than the old greyscale days.
And to combine the two: the very best app ever made is Microsoft's Voice Command, which lets you tell your phone to play your favourite artist or album, launch a program, make calls etc without any training, totally eliminating the need for any program icons on the interface.
Carrier-specific restrictions don't count much in reviews for me, because every carrier has their own deals (even on the iPhone).
Alan Strangis @ Aug 7th 2008 2:20PM
Biased? Nah. In a 5 page article titled "Flaws In Touch Diamond Exposed", other than mentioning the battery life under heavy use, they don't mention any other flaws, still call it the best WM device ever and only give it 3 1/2 stars.
furiousyellow @ Aug 8th 2008 5:34PM
The review posted by SSErik is four months old. The Diamond had problems on it's release like most new smartphones, but unlike SSErik's claim in the HTC Touch Pro thread, HTC has been putting out fixes. The xda-developers site keeps track of what's been fixed and what the outstanding issues still are.
From what I've been reading in the comments from actual users it's been generally positive.
DiamondUser @ Aug 11th 2008 11:43AM
Just spoke to a Telus store in Mississauga, ON and the rep there said that the launch has been pushed to August 27th so that all stores can have stock. Anyone able to confirm this?
beej @ Aug 17th 2008 1:55PM
Well, it has been possible to order it online through the Telus website since the 14th, so unless they're just taking orders and not shipping them, I don't think it's been pushed back?
Mandy @ Aug 20th 2008 9:24PM
I've spoken to numerous Telus staff in Ottawa since the 14th, no one has been able to give me a straight answer. I've heard from them that there were a few devices available on Friday, but they sold out quickly. And it's no longer available to purchase from the Telus site, it just says "Coming Soon".
A manager at Best Buy told me that his Telus rep told him that they would be receiving some in the first week of September. I'm going to assume that this is true, since every Telus person I've spoken to has given me a different answer since the supposed launch on the 14th.
blue1k @ Aug 19th 2008 10:00PM
I have been reviewing the telus diamond
with ongoing video reviews at
http:/www.thetouchblog.com
Micheal Laird @ Aug 23rd 2008 3:10PM
The Telus Diamond is STILL riddled with issues. Both my friend and I have one and we've had the same issues.
The phone freezes when using the touch flo3D too fast. The power button doesnt always let the phone resume from standby, you have to remove the cover and pull the battery. A couple times on the boot up you get a multicolored screen that says 'SECURITY UNLOCKED' and it hangs there.
Not to mention Telus took out the GPS and filled it with their Telus navigator that doesn't work properly with the HTC Touch Flo, it hangs.
I like the original diamond before telus changed it. Telus Diamond is missing the front camera, no FM radio, No GPS, they changed the back cover. This phone badly needs a ROM update, 6 times it has asked to send a microsoft error report for different issues.
Fake Diamond @ Aug 23rd 2008 3:20PM
I agree with above, Telus changed this phone too much, it should no longer be called a diamond.
It is full of Telus Email, Telus Portal, Telus Navigator, and they all freeze the phone up when you use them.
The media player doesn't sync album art even if you manually transfer it to the file which is a pain.
The phone freezes and drops calls depending on what app you are using when you answer it.
If your listening to music when you answer the phone it drops the call.
The phone shows a green, blue, red screen that says "Unlocked" or something and then it freezes there until you pull the battery out.
It keeps asking to 'send an error report' to microsoft....very annoying and each time its something different.
And its missing things the HTC diamond has, like FM radio, GPS, Video Camera on front...
It works so much better if you disable the HTC touchflo 3D and then reboot it.
Opera Mobile really really slows the phone down with poor recovery but it is nice and easy to use, when its working.
Why TELUS, why did you do this to us?
Fez1324 @ Aug 26th 2008 8:57AM
I just bought the diamond on htx website they have a rom update for 31-July-08, however when I put in my S/N number it gives an error saying something like my device can download it, any answers?
Phone shopper @ Oct 21st 2008 7:21PM
Looking for a replacement for my dying razr so this phone looked interesting to me.
I tried it out in the Telus store in Downtown Vancouver today.
Within 10 minutes of use poking around with the stylus, the phone crashed - completely nonresponsive. I pressed the power button momentarily, and for a 10 second press - nothing. A few minutes later, a dialog popped up and said I might lose data if I shutdown, am I sure? I clicked yes. The did nothing for many minutes and finally shut off.
I also noticed the missing front camera and the smooth rear cover rather than diamond shaped back cover.
Even before the crash, the interface seemed rather clunky to me although it was my first time using Windows Mobile. For example, browsing through the photo album by a swiping gesture was quite slow. Nowhere near as slick as the iPhone. I spent almost five minutes trying to figure out how to zoom a picture. It turns out that some kind of circular gesture with the stylus puts it into a zoom mode.
This Telus phone was very disappointing, especially if they've bastardized it with their own clunky software like someone else mentioned above. So many reviews of the "Real Diamond" sound so promising. This "Cubic Zirconia" is no comparison.
I'm a long time Telus subscriber and thought I'd give them a chance but the Rogers iPhone is sooo much slicker albeit bigger and heavier. ( I wanted a wi-fi equipped smartphone - not even the soon-to-be-released Blackberry Storm has it, another disappointment.)
Happy shopping all.
Jonno @ Mar 10th 2009 11:57PM
I've had this phone for quite a while now... since September-October. I had to get it replaced once (yes, I said replaced... that is how Telus deals with their warranty on data devices) due to constant freezing, to the point of it not even accepting phone calls. That would be back in early January. Since then, and after performing a firmware update, I've had no significant issues. Yes, the phone locks up when I do ~way~ too much (sorry people, but so far not many phones can really and truly multitask... I have overloaded this thing since the firmware update... overload as in the memory is at 90% full), but then again, so will any computer.
This is my 2nd experience with Windows Mobile, and I actually really like it. It beats WinMo 2003 for certain. I will note this, for everyone who says Telus has loaded on ~all~ their own software to replace other applications previously on there... do your homework before you open your mouth.
GPS - last I checked, GPS was a radio device, not a program. Telus put their program in. Yes, the quick-GPS application is not there, but then again, that required you to update it manually. There was no turn-by-turn software available for the Touch Diamond before, now there is. You can still use Google Maps if you prefer -_- That said, the GPS on mine actually works pretty quickly, it takes me all of 30 seconds to get signals in places where signals usually can't be found. In my opinion, this one did the phone a favour.
FM Radio and front-video camera - both these features will not be found on the vast majority of CDMA devices. FM Radio is few and far between on CDMA phones to begin with. The front-video camera is primarily to support video calling, something not yet offered by Telus or Bell (hence why the Rogers version has a front camera).
Telus Poral by Pocket Express - well, the iPhone has an application store, no one bashes it... what's wrong with an application store that not only gives you applications, but also gives you news, stocks, weather, entertainment news, a 411 for both the White and Yellow pages, travel numbers, a currency converter... all in one application? I've actually used this a fair bit. Not clunky, not a pain. I don't see people complaining about the Apple Application Store... oh and hey it even gives you one-button access to customer service.
Absolutely none of the above has ever frozen my phone. The only times I have seen my phone's RAM nearly completely full, I have been listening to music on Windows Media Player and browsing the net.
I will agree on a couple things. I wish they'd kept the FM radio. That said, hopefully Telus will start to offer their XM-radio on the device. I have also experienced a delay flipping through photos. This is, however, only when flipping through 3-7 MB photos from my D80 DSLR. Phone photos, there's not nearly as much lag. The Media Player does have issues getting album art. That said, I also use a mac, and so transfering media is a bit tough to do. The only time album art has transfered properly is when I have either manually sent it over, or it has been embedded in the file I have sent over. That can be a pain in the rear, I agree.
Beyond lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack, the couple things mentioned above, and maybe a quicker browser (yes, I agree Opera is slow-ish, but it beats IE mobile, and there's bound to be better and quicker mobile browsers available in the near future), I really don't see what some of you are griping about.
By the way, any of you wondering why I went with this instead of the iPhone... who here has tried to create or edit a document on an iPhone? And who has tried to record a video on the iPhone? And last but not least... who's got an iPhone on a carrier other than Rogers or Fido?