You might remember that when I attended the Seattle Mobius in May, I was given the European version of the HTC Touch Diamond, which for network reasons I opted to have sent to Mitchell in Australia. The Diamond version he received and reviewed was at first glance nearly identical to the Sprint version I’ll be covering today, with the exception of their back sides.

During his testing period, Mitchell found that he liked the small size of the device, the multitude of radios packed in that small package (HSDPA, WiFi, BT, GPS and FM), the sharpness of the 2.8″ VGA screen, and the 3.2 megapixel camera. Qualities which he found disappointing were the radio strength, the device’s sluggish response time when using the TouchFlo 3D interface, the battery life, the auto-screen rotation, and the faceted back which didn’t allow the device to lay flat.

Mitchell’s verdict was a reluctant Fail, and as he summarized, “I had very high hopes for the Diamond; I wanted it to wipe the smile off Apple’s face, and be a proper competitor to the unstoppable iPhone. But alas it isn’t. It has too many flaws to be a competitor, and to be honest it has too many flaws full stop.”

Can you blame me for not being too excited when it was later announced that Sprint would carry the US version?

However, with memories of the faster processor and updated ROM introduced by HTC when they released the US version of their Touch (versus its European cousin), I thought it might be worthwhile to revisit this particular device, to see if Mitchell’s complaints were still warranted.

Let’s see how the US version fared…

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Image via Gizmodo

For the sake of full disclosure let me point out that I drank deeply from the well last year and have become an avid Mac/iPhone-Fanboy. That noted…

I usually get pretty excited when brand new devices finally get released. This is true whether I am looking to actually get the device or not. For some reason though…this upcoming Android phone… not so much.

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As Wayne posted earlier, HTC announced three new “Touch” devices today: The Touch HD, The Touch 3G and Touch Viva.

If you are looking for high resolution images of those, head over to Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! where you can download them, print them and have drool material.

Just a quick post to show you what arrived at my door today.

My impressions will follow soon, as well as a different type of review than I usually do. It’s charging now…

Look at Sprint getting all the cool devices now that I am no longer a customer! What’s up with that?!

Fresh on the heels of their Palm Treo 800w release comes two new HTC creations, the Touch Diamond and the Touch Pro. I have a Sprint branded Touch Diamond review unit coming, and it will be interesting to see if I have better luck with the US version than Mitchell had with his Euro one. I’ve also been told that there is a Pro review unit with my name on it; that’s the one I have been dying to try. In the meantime, here are some drool-worthy photos to whet your appetite. The full press release is at the bottom of this post…

HTC Touch Pro

The HTC Touch Diamond will be available in September and will cost $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The HTC Touch Pro will be available in all Sprint retail channels beginning Oct. 19 for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

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Those of us not completely absorbed by the iPhone 3G (uh-hem…), will be excited to know that HTC and AT&T have FINALLY released the WM 6.1 Pro Upgrade for the AT&T Tilt!  The file can be downloaded from HTC Club.

Details and the download link, can be found after the break…

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Smartphone users in Europe can look forward to this smokin’ hot little number being revealed today: meet the HTC S740, a marriage of the HTC Diamond and a Windows Mobile Standard device.

You like?

The S740 is a “smartphone with Diamond styling, including a sleek front and faceted back and a similar feature set. However instead of a touch screen, the S740 runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard and features both a numeric and slide out QWERTY keypad”

Highlights include:

· Size: 116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm
· Weight: 140g with battery
· Networks: WCDMA/HSDPA: 900/2100 MHz for EU and Asia
· GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
· Display: 2.4-inch QVGA screen
· Camera: 3.2 megapixel with fixed focus
· Internal memory: 256 MB flash; 256 MB RAM
· Memory card: microSD™
· WLAN: 802.11b/g
· Bluetooth®: 2.0 with EDR
· GPS: GPS/AGPS
· Interface: HTC ExtUSB™ (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
· Battery: 1000 mAh
· FM Radio

The S740 will become available across Europe in September. I’m a bit worried about its 1000mAh battery, but otherwise I’m quite intrigued!

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The Diamond has been with me now for about two weeks and I have reached a verdict: Fail.

I had very high hopes for the Diamond; I wanted it to wipe the smile off Apple’s face, and be a proper competitor to the unstoppable iPhone. But alas it isn’t. It has too many flaws to be a competitor, and to be honest it has too many flaws full stop.

Performance for me is the big one. As I said in my Part 2 instalment, the Diamond is sluggish and unresponsive doing pretty much anything, be it using TouchFLO 3D or just opening the Start Menu. Yep, it lags doing that too. I have been repeatedly visiting the HTC e-Club website in hopes of finding a new ROM release, a patch, something, ANYTHING, to speed this thing up, but nada.

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HTC calls it the Touch Pro, it has made the internet rumor rounds as a device called the “Raphael”, and I call it possible perfection. What will you call it? Yours?

Just wait until you see the specifications of this dream phone…

Incorporating the style and functionality of the recently launched HTC Touch Diamond, the HTC Touch Pro features a handful of enriched business-focused enhancements creating a device enabled for a powerful mobile experience. Designed with a slide-out five row QWERTY keyboard, the phone makes communicating on the go quick and easy.

Utilizing HTC’s innovative TouchFLO 3D capabilities, the HTC Touch Pro includes a new touch-sensitive control for device interaction. In addition, the device also boasts broadband-like speeds with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA wireless connectivity, a 1350 mAh battery with up to 8 hours of talk time, 512 MB flash, 288 MB RAM with micro SD memory card expansion, GPS capabilities, 2.8-inch VGA touch screen and 3.2MP camera equipped with video calling.

The HTC Touch Pro will be available to customers across all major European, Asian and the Middle East markets in late summer. The North American and Latin American versions of device will be available later in 2008.

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When I first began my adventure into mobile technology, it started with Handheld PCs. H/PCs, as they are known, were made from the late 90s to 2003 by a variety of manufacturers, most notably NEC and Hewlett Packard. The devices were more-often-than-not a clamshell form factor, with a built-in keyboard and VGA or HVGA screens. They were powerful and business friendly, especially in light of the fact that at that time, Pocket PCs (as they were known) did not have built in keyboards. Through a variety of market changes and marketing blunders, the H/PC soon became a non-factor in the mainstream mobile arena. I say mainstream because Handheld PCs are still widely used today, despite having not been made for several years. In fact, I co-own HPC:Factor, a site which is considered by many to be the hub of the H/PC user community. There you can find anything from drivers, to software and how-to’s, to reviews for Handheld PCs which allow the owners of these great devices to keep on keeping on.

Still, with the advent of Bluetooth, built-in WiFi, GPRS and other technologies - most of which were not available during the years H/PCs were produced - the longing for a H/PC-like device with the power and flexibility of a contemporary Windows Mobile device has been and is strong. While some have tried and come close, none have ever fully satisfied that longing until now. HTC has done it with the Advantage X7510, a  device which hearkens back to the glory days of H/PCs, yet provides users with outstanding performance and flexibility. It is truly a business class device, one that would have made the visionaries of the Handheld PC proud, and one that makes this H/PC die-hard jump for joy! The Advantage X7510 is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional device that sports an impressive VGA display, built in Bluetooth and WiFi, a detachable keyboard and a fantastically powerful processor. It is easy to see this device as the natural evolution of the H/PC, given its satisfaction of both consumer and commercial needs combined in a single device.

This review will be the first of two installments covering the X7510. In this review I will be covering the device’s physical hardware, while the second will cover the software including the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS which the device runs. The reason for this separation is both practicality and timing. Given the extensive detail of the device and its specifications, making a single full review of the device and its software would prove to be one heck of a read for you! Secondly, at the time of this writing, the X7510s ROM is not in its final shipping version. Instead of risking discussing something that may not make the final ROM, I’ve decided to have a separate discussion on the ROM and software when it is available in June.

To begin, let’s take a look at the physical aspects of the X7510. As I mentioned before, this device is bigger than most Windows Mobile devices on the market today, measuring 98mm x 133.5mm x 16mm (or 3.9″ x 5.3″ x .6″) in width, height and depth. Those dimensions make the X7510 roughly 2″ wider than the TyTN II, one of the most popular Windows Mobile Professional devices today. Like its physical size, this device also is heavier than most at a weight of 375g (or 13.2 ounces). That puts the X7510 at about twice the weight of the TyTN II. Still, even at this size, the X7510 can easily fit into a back jeans pocket, a jacket pocket, or handbag without giving you a weighed-down feeling. Having used it now as my primary device for a couple of weeks, I have found the size to be a non-issue. The detachable keyboard measures roughly the same size as the device from a width and height perspective, but is only 3mm (or 1/10th”) thick, adding virtually no depth or weight to the device.

Figure 1: Advantage X7510 - Compared to AT&T Tilt and MWg Atom Life

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