HTC Touch Pro breaks free on Verizon

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 24th 2008 at 6:23AM

If it's just gotta be Windows Mobile then the HTC Touch Pro is about as good as it gets. After HTC jumped the gun yesterday, the Touch Pro is up and dancing the QWERTY slide on Verizon's website exactly as rumored. $419.99 minus that $70 mail-rebate makes it yours for $350 with two-year contract. Right, $50 more than with AT&T.

[Thanks, Leindurstit]

Filed under: Handsets, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

Tags: htc, slider, touch pro, TouchPro, verizon, vzw, windows mobile, windows mobile 6.1, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.1, winmo, winmo6.1

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Neutral

Tim @ Nov 24th 2008 8:03AM

I just ordered it online and it was $219 after $70 mail in rebate. 2 year contract, existing VZW customer, no NE2.

Neutral

A. @ Nov 24th 2008 9:17AM

How and where?

Neutral

Absolutely Fubar @ Nov 24th 2008 10:29AM

$279.99 no rebate. I've had my phone for 3 years; didn't get a new one when I resigned last year.

Where the fork is the omnia? Aren't they already in stores?! And that device too, was on samsung's website for a hot minute on Friday.... what gives Verizon?!? Oh... let me guess... Xmas marketing ploy in December.....

Bastages

Neutral

striggity @ Nov 24th 2008 2:30PM

what a friggin' liar.

Neutral

Dan McNeill @ Nov 24th 2008 8:10AM

No TouchFlo Interface?

Neutral

PhilR8 @ Nov 24th 2008 11:52AM

Since there's only 128MB of RAM on the Verizon version, I don't expect anyone to be using TF3D for long. I hope you like the standard WinMo Today screen.

Neutral

Esquire0399 @ Nov 24th 2008 7:02PM

There is TouchFlo, it just isn't shown in the product pic.

Neutral

Tim @ Nov 24th 2008 8:31AM

There is; just not in that picture.

Neutral

DaveIsOnIt! @ Nov 24th 2008 8:34AM

I dont like how they have it squared off though. Doesnt give it that sleek look.

Neutral

Jake @ Nov 25th 2008 12:45AM

Really? I'm kinda glad they did go back to the square look, but to each his own I guess. Lord knows there's enough versions of this phone in the US to please anyone.

Neutral

mikesay98 @ Nov 24th 2008 10:01AM

I can confirm a price when I log in a price of $289.99. However, it's not explicitly clear if that includes my NE2, nor does it mention the rebate.

Neutral

Tim @ Nov 24th 2008 10:24AM

That does NOT include NE2 (I'm not eligible yet), and my final reciept says:

1 HTC Touch Pro $289.99
before $70.00 rebate

Neutral

Q @ Nov 24th 2008 10:41AM

Straight up.....that looks HORRIBLE

Neutral

Grant @ Nov 24th 2008 12:35PM

it looks like someone rushed to get this up and took a picture of it sans interface with a camera phone.
I wouldn't be surprised if over the next week they have it looking good and having an interactive page like all the other phones.
Then again they may just be completely ignoring it and just focusing on the storm.

Neutral

Louis @ Nov 24th 2008 11:10AM

So Verizon turned an amazing phone into a harsh-angled, TouchFLO-less abortion. Why, VZW, why?

Highly Ranked

pete @ Nov 24th 2008 11:18AM

Well at least they didn't make it blue like the XV6800... and c'mon any software issue will be resolved in a few weeks once the custom ROM's come out from xda-developers... The only thing we can really hate on is the lower RAM (still has 192MB) and the funky keyboard layout (I'm sure I'll get used to it)... and yes you can buy it online now for $289.99 - BEFORE $70 MIR and free overnight shipping.

Neutral

Absolutely Fubar @ Nov 24th 2008 11:22AM

read the detailed features on the page under the phone. Touch FLO 3D Navigation is a bullet. It's only a matter of time before they get a decent pic with 360 degree view and size comparison up. Don't judge a book by its cover -- read the friggin thing before you post blindly

Neutral

Louis @ Nov 24th 2008 12:00PM

It lists TouchFLO 3d Navigation, which may or may not be the same thing as full TouchFLO 3d. It may only refer to the navigation features, such as swipe scrolling. It seems to me that if the phone had TouchFLO 3D, it would be pictured.

Regardless, it's still boxy.

Neutral

Grant @ Nov 24th 2008 12:37PM

"full TouchFLO 3d"

no such thing. after using the diamond/pro you will realize the interface is only an overlay for like half the features.
The rest of the time it kicks you out to the winmo interface.

Neutral

Kenshinffx @ Nov 24th 2008 4:43PM

@Louis,

You are just stupid, blind dumb comment there...

@Grant

That "full TouchFLO 3-d" was directed at the Partial TouchFLO that released on the 6900.. besides, you never really have to leave the Home screen anyways..

Neutral

Louis @ Nov 24th 2008 6:04PM

Hey Kenshinffx, why don't you try to control yourself? We're having a friendly discussion about a phone. I made a hypothesis based on the facts presented. It's speculation. I also made a comment addressing the styling, which I perceive to be unnecessarily squared-off. I don't insult anyone, I simply lamented the fact that Verizon has once again neutered a great phone. Calm yourself down, put on your big-boy pants, and try to have a civilized discussion.

Neutral

Louis @ Nov 24th 2008 6:14PM

I believe the PocketNow article below echos my concerns.
http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=6288

Low Ranked

Kenshinffx @ Nov 24th 2008 7:00PM

@Louis

very well, You want civilized discussion based on actual facts? That's fine.. You once again say that Verizon neutered a phone when VZW has no say in Hardware.. HTC decided to change the Hardware

You go and bash VZW for removing TouchFLo without actually checking to see if it has it or even reading the Article, Bravo! BTW, It has it.

And yes you state that the phone has rough edges and sides, I have nothing to say to that..

The point that irritates me is that people are so quick to hand out judgement and blame without actually checking to see if they are ignorant of the truth...

I take it back, you aren't stupid. You just didn't know any better and I should respect the fact that you are trying to seek the truth. I'll apologize for that...

You deserve more appropriate treatment than the rest of "some" people that don't bother learning the truth. Sorry I got hot headed...

The difference between a N00b and a Newb is that the Newb seeks to become more knowlegable while the n00b insists they can't learn anything new, thanks for now being one of the n00bs.

Highly Ranked

Louis @ Nov 24th 2008 7:14PM

Verizon made the decision to cut back the features on the phone. The Touch Pros on Alltel and Sprint would run just fine on Verizon's network (same technology and frequencies), but Verizon elected to go a different route. Manufacturers do not dictate hardware terms to networks. Verizon tightly controls what runs on their network. I presume they went the route they chose in order to save money, but I'm not in a position to make a definitive statement to that effect.

As far as the TouchFLO issue is concerned, I did not make a blind statement. I looked on the site at the pictures and descriptions, found nothing that indicated that the TouchFLO homescreen plugin was included, and made a statement to that effect. The information page states that "TouchFLO 3D Navigation" is included, which is a somewhat ambiguous statement.

As far as your "n00b" comment is concerned, I have three years' experience in the wireless industry, including managing two stores and working B2B sales. I have also owned six HTC-manufactured devices, including my current handset, the HTC Fuze (AT&T's variant of the Touch Pro). I know what I am talking about.

Neutral

Juggernaut @ Nov 24th 2008 11:12AM

They don't show that wacky keyboard layout that was posted yesterday, either. And microSD limit dropped from 32G to 16G. I think AT&T will get my money for this.

Neutral

pete @ Nov 24th 2008 11:20AM

custom ROM should take care of that...

Highly Ranked

PhilR8 @ Nov 24th 2008 11:53AM

A custom rom can fix the stupid keyboard and add 150MB of RAM?

Neutral

verizon.... @ Nov 24th 2008 11:39AM

Where do you see the phone for 289.99 before Mail in rebate? I see it for $419 before mail in rebate.

Neutral

Ryan Grobbel @ Nov 24th 2008 11:50AM

Shows $269.99 for me. No NE2.

Neutral

verizon.... @ Nov 24th 2008 11:52AM

That sucks for me... I have NE2 also, and after adding it to my cart, its $319 before MIR because of NE2.

Neutral

pete @ Nov 24th 2008 12:36PM

It was $289.99 before $70 MIR for me too... I was logged in to My Verizon... otherwise it will say $419

Neutral

verizon.... @ Nov 24th 2008 12:38PM

I called them also, and they said $419.. If I could get it for $290 before MIR, I would jump on it right now. That would make it like $120 after NE2 and MIR.

Neutral

Grant @ Nov 24th 2008 12:38PM

I have NE2 and got mine for $269.99 + $70 MIR.

Neutral

Kenshinffx @ Nov 24th 2008 1:19PM

Man I'm sick of most of your guy's blind comments.

It's a well known fact that VZW DOES NOT choose to take features or vamp a design on a phone. THE MANUFACTURER DOES. Yes the Ram was cut on the Pro because it doesn't need to use TV like Altell, ATT&T and Sprints do..

The Rough and sharp edges are on ATT&T's phone too.. This phone is awesome cause of the ability to use Custom roms and Apps moade and converted from WinMo 5 and Up..

Touch FLO IS on the Touch Pro for Verizon.

The price is 50 dollars more cause ATT&T doesn't offer NE2.. NE2 takes it far less than ATT&Ts version.

And the Omnia will release before December...

You guys should really stop and think about your brainless, witless comments before you decide to start hurling blame everywhere. I used to hate Verizon cause of the so called "clippling" but if you see it from the inside, you get to see the real reasons and methods that it's done to phones.. And it's usually just to make things easier for the "average" person..

That is all.

Highest Ranked

PhilR8 @ Nov 24th 2008 1:26PM

This comment does not address the crux of this issue here, which is: Why did Verizon choose to launch this version of the Touch Pro and not the version launched by Sprint/Alltel/Telus/Bell? The version that VZW chose to launch IS crippled when compared to the other CDMA Touch Pro used by every other North American CDMA provider. There is no advantage to Verizon's variant; in fact, it is inferior in almost every way. The Sprint Touch Pro can support custom ROMs and apps etc, and will most likely perform much better because it has over DOUBLE the RAM when compared to VZW's Touch Pro.

VZW is last to the party and is launching an inferior product. It's that simple.

Highly Ranked

Dave @ Nov 24th 2008 1:47PM

Seeing as a good portion of us can't possibly see Verizon from the inside, we'll just have to judge them based on what the present to the public.

Regarding "The price is 50 dollars more cause ATT&T doesn't offer NE2.. NEW takes it far less than ATT&Ts version.":
The new customer price is $50 more than AT&T *and* $50 more than Sprint. Sprint does offer an equivalent of NE2, and I'm too lazy to research AT&T. On top of that, according to the specs on Verizon's website compared to Sprint's (and what I've heard of AT&T's) specs, Verizon has equipped the phone with less memory. For those of us who are fortunate to live in an area where Verizon's network doesn't carry a significantly better signal than at least one competitor, this could be considered to add up to more than a $50 difference.

My opinion? Verizon is smug. Their propaganda has apparently worked well for them.

Neutral

Mile @ Nov 24th 2008 1:58PM

Well, just going by that picture, the corners are much more square than the one from AT&T I'm holding in my hand.

But the pic may be goofy - it appears to have too much space to the top and bottom of the ear speaker slot.

I'll withhold until I see some side by side comparison shots.

Highest Ranked

Jim @ Nov 24th 2008 2:25PM

I've worked in the telecom industry for 8 years on both the carrier and device sides and to suggest carriers don't influence the specs of a device shows absolute ignorance of how the business works. The carrier determines exactly what features go into a device because device features directly impacts device price...the greater the device price the more a carrier must subsidize a device. Carriers will absolutely pinpoint specific features for addition/removal to get the device spec'ed out and priced they way they want. RIM and Apple are the two exceptions to this.

Neutral

Kenshinffx @ Nov 24th 2008 2:27PM

To PhilR8,

Great comment! But again. this is Hardware. VZW cannot change Hardware. Would you blame Onstar for the Service not working if the chip was slow? No you'd blame GM for installing it wrong. HTC changes the Keyboard, Ram, And software. VZW had nothign to do with it.

To dave: Thanks for Replying! I'm gonna start posting here alot more.. Sorry if my first post was kind of a flame.. This is again hardware. VZW didn't change the RAM. HTC did. But the added RAM to my knowledge is so that TV output is available (which can be added with a Cab or Rom file) on the software Out of the Box, It isn't needed on VZW. So the RAM was ct, again by HTC.

To Mile: Again thanks for the comment! I think something is a bit different but it's close to the ATT&T Touch Pro.. It is a bit rougher. but yeah, I have no idea why HTC decided to make this one sharper.. I guess it happens.

Neutral

Jon @ Nov 24th 2008 12:58PM

With my government discount it shows $309.99 due today then a $70 rebate bringing it to $239.99... Thinking about waiting till January to add in my NE2 and maybe get it a little cheaper.

Highly Ranked

Steve @ Nov 24th 2008 12:52PM

Ugh. For the love of God. Let's put these to rest again:

* It has an accelerometer.
* It has TouchFLO 3D just like Sprint, Alltel, AT&T, etc.
* It DOES support 32GB MicroSD cards.
* The keyboard is directly from the GSM Touch Pro, so blame HTC if you don't like it.

Neutral

D @ Nov 24th 2008 8:19PM

However, it also has 1/3 less memory than competitors' versions. And I'm still betting on a slower CPU clock speed too, but no confirmation yet.

Neutral

PhilR8 @ Nov 24th 2008 1:04PM

Just a few things:

* It may have a accelerometer, but if it does, it is not advertised on the Verizon product page.
* It does have TF3D, as indicated on the product page. However, with only 128MB of RAM, the utility of TF3D will be severely hampered; TF3D hiccups a bit on the Sprint Touch Pro / AT&T Fuze, both of which have 288MB of Ram, or 150MB more than the VZW Touch Pro.
* The product page on the VZW website (linked in this article) indicates this device only supports up to 16GB microSD cards.
* They keyboard is NOT the same as the GSM Touch Pro. See this article at WM Experts that compares the VZW Touch Pro keyboard to the Sprint Touch Pro keyboard:

http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/verizon_touch_pro_different_an.html

The Sprint Touch Pro has a keyboard that very closely mirrors the GSM Touch Pro (seen here: http://www.mobileburn.com/media/htc/touch_pro/htc_raphael_touch_pro-img_8665.jpg). So in this aspect, you are clearly mistaken.

If the product page is wrong and you are correct, why don't you substantiate your claims? It is possible that the product page has some mistakes, but I won't believe you without eidence.

Neutral

Steve @ Nov 24th 2008 1:42PM

Ok, my apologies on the keyboard.

As for everything else, I stand by my claims. I have one in my hand as we speak.

The phone ships with a game called "Teeter", which obviously uses the Accelerometer. Unless VZW has created their own acceleromter-like device that does everything an accelerometer does, it's equipped with one. This is not up for debate.

TouchFLO 3D is in no way, shape, or form slower on this device than it is the Sprint model (which I have also used extensively). TouchFLO 3D lags due to the GPU and CPU. It has nothing to do with the RAM. Performance is dead-on similar.

I have spoken first-hand to the HTC rep who originally showed us these devices, and did advise us all that it DOES support a 32GB card, but VZW is not advertising it as such since VZW does not actually have any 32GB cards to sell (same as the Storm).

Neutral

PhilR8 @ Nov 24th 2008 2:06PM

Okay, cool. I've not yet handled the Verizon version, but the inclusion of Teeter would definitely suggest that an accelerometer is included. Does it work on other programs as well?

And your explanation of why VZW is not advertising the 32GB microSD card is also very believable. Maybe a "software update" will officially upgrade the device to support 32GB cards... right after VZW has some to sell.

Neutral

Steve @ Nov 24th 2008 3:16PM

Yep, it works in other apps as well, including the calibration application in Control Panel (the one that looks and works like a leveling tool).

And you're probably dead on about the storage capacity. Sounds like a very VZW thing to do (like Rev. A on the XV6800.. hopefully we won't have to wait THAT long, though :P.. )

Neutral

Joe @ Nov 24th 2008 3:37PM

@Steve,

Thanks for the insight, much appreciated. Does the GPS work in Google Maps or is it locked to VZ Navigator?

Neutral

Mooex @ Nov 25th 2008 9:55AM

everything u said sounds about right, but on the verizon site it says it only goes to 16gb flash. im getting mine today!! :) fedex conforms it

Neutral

Steve @ Nov 24th 2008 1:32PM

I don't know how you guys are getting such a low price. I'm months past my 2-year contract expiring and when I login, I'm seeing the phone for $419 before $50 NE2 and $70 MIR for $300 total AFTER MIR. How the hell are you guys getting $289 or less off the bat? I'm most definitely switching our 2 lines over to AT&T. Verizon doesn't care about it's existing customers.

Neutral