Droid Eris is now Free?
I stumbled across this beauty of a deal while price checking the Droid Eris. This deal by Wirefly offers the phone for free to verizon customers. Normally the Droid Eris runs $99.00 through verizon - not quite sure how Wirefly is pulling this deal off. As far as I know Wirefly.com is a very reputable company - And the Droid Eris is a can’t miss cellphone which surely will not dissapoint. Click on the image below to be taken to the deal.
like I said before, Im not sure how Wirefly pulled this one off. I dont think you’ll be disappointed with a phone made by HTC and running with a Google operating system. If you havent seen the phone here is a good video review:
Checking Out the Messaging, Web Browsing and UI features of the HTC Droid Eris
The HTC Droid Eris is a slightly smaller version of a smartphone that will likely compete well for people that are on the fence about buying something like a Motorola Droid or a slightly less expensive Android smartphone. There are many things that it does well and you will probably find that the Eris is actually a little bit more user friendly than something like the Motorola Droid.
On the home screen you get a number of useful applications including messages, mail, browser and camera. When you go into messaging you’ll see all of your conversations and you can tap in to view each one displaying a photo of your contact. It handles both SMS messaging and email well. You can sync all of your email accounts on the phone. Using Gmail on this operating system is a breeze as it is designed for that.
The Sense UI on Android 1.5 allows up to 7 home screens
Obviously, without a physical qwerty keyboard you are going to be using the virtual keyboard on the Eris. One of the first things that you’ll notice is that it doesn’t have the most satisfying clicking sound. The one on the iPhone definitely sounds better and the virtual keyboard on the Droid Eris can’t be compared to the iPhone.
It has a twitter application so if you are an avid user this is something that will really come in handy for you. It’s not necessarily the most intuitive thing, as there are functions like tap and hold to reply to a tweet that you wouldn’t figure out by just looking at the screen. Once you do get the hang of it though it is efficient to use and a nice addition.
Android Market has tens of thousands of apps with which to upgrade your phone.
One nice function is the pull down message screen. Whenever you get a message of any variety you can pull this screen down and then go directly into it. It’s also nice to be able to access your contacts and perform a number of functions related to any contact you choose. You can pick one of the phone numbers that you want to call, text them or email them. It will import all of the information from facebook including the photos and also pulls from the email address books.
Google search bar will search as you speak.
Look for a few other nice apps like ringdroid which lets you take a song that same your library and attach it to a particular contact. You can also get an app that also takes a picture of a document and then subsequently create a PDS file so that you can send this as an attachment in an email. Pinch to zoom is a very nice feature when you are browsing and looking at pictures.
Google Maps comes pre-installed.
Something that most people will find very valuable is being able to switch from weekend mode to work mode. You can have all of your work contacts, and a completely different set up for information feeds. Many of the widgets are usable right from your home screen and you can run all kinds of them that the same time and it doesn’t seem to affect the performance.
Many people have complained about the battery life in this phone and to be completely honest it’s not great. There are a few things that you can do to make it last a little longer than one thing you might want to try is to disable background data. You can do this in your settings quite easily. There are certain applications like market that you cannot use when you have disabled the background data but you can always switch it on and off if you need to prolong your battery life. You can also set your email accounts to update less often. If the phone is going out to check email every 5 minutes then you can assume that the batteries going to be dead in short order.
Taking a Look at the HTC Droid Eris
The HTC Droid Eris is what you might consider to be an entry level Android phone. It is the most inexpensive of all of phones that run this operating system and as such you would expect it to be a good value. That is definitely true and the fact that has now been made available for an upgrade from android 1.5 to Android to 2.0 means that you will get some additional functionality and speed.
In terms of appearance, the Eris is actually pretty subdued. If you were a fan of the Hero, then you are pretty sure to like the look of this phone; it is pretty much exactly the same thing. It is done in a black matte finish which is not as flashy or noticeable as some other smartphones. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it is a little bit more resistant to the fingerprints that you usually find on these kinds of devices. Owners of shiny black Iphones will know what this is all about.
Compared to the Motorola Droid - The Eris feels more comfortable and natural in the hand.
It has a few extra buttons that you don’t often see on smartphones these days and those are the call send and end buttons. This is actually an advantage and it makes one wonder why these things have gone away from smartphones. Chances are that it is to improve the looks of things but this is certainly not a bad looking phone. You’ll learn to live with them because of the functionality of the buttons.
At 3.2 inches it has a slightly smaller screen than the Motorola Droid. Still, it is a decent size and it is definitely clear and bright. In terms of the looks, it measures up with anything else in the market. You wouldn’t want the screen to be much smaller because there is no qwerty keyboard on this machine and you’re going to have to make your way around with a virtual keyboard. One nice thing about the screen is that it has a proximity to tech shun feature that turns it off when it realizes that it is next to your face and when making a call. This is something that all smartphones will do one day.
Compare the screen and dimensions of the Eris to the Motorola Droid, HTC Imagio, and HTC Hero
Physically this phone is not particularly light or heavy. You won’t find that it is pulling one side of your shirt down if you put it in a pocket. It’s not offensively large like some smartphones seem to be. It’s actually the perfect size for most people and if you are not looking for the most powerful phone on the market then this might actually be the best option available.
It has a 3.5 MM headphone jack which is something that makes sense. It carries a 5.0 megapixel camera which is pretty standard for smartphones now and it will do a very respectable job. Something that might stand out for some people on this phone is the placement of the volume button. It sits in the middle of the phone which is a little awkward; most phones place something like this at the top. It’s odd, but it’s not a deal breaker.
External features of the Eris include: a trackball, send and end buttons, 3.5mm headphone jack, and mini usb port.
The Eris is actually a beautifully simple looking machine. It seems to have just the right softness in its lines and you are more likely to notice the screen than anything else. This is actually something good because that is the focal point of this kind of device. The build quality is excellent for its price point. It might not feel the same as a Motorola Droid or an iPhone in your hand but given the price it might actually do a better job. It seems to be the perfect look and size for somebody who wants to have an Android phone without breaking the bank.
The HTC Touch Diamond: Almost Perfect
If ever there is any doubt in your mind as to whether or not you should switch that old mobile phone of yours with a tactile Keypad for a Touch screen phone, you should try the HTC Touch Diamond. Owning an HTC Touch Diamond and getting to use it will dispel all of those doubts in your mind and make you enjoy the experience. The HTC Touch Diamond is almost perfect for anyone.
Understated Elegance
Physical aesthetics is something HTC must have given careful consideration for in designing the HTC Touch Diamond. It is a beautiful mobile handset that is a lot smaller when compared to other touch screen phones, possessing a length of 4.01 inches, a width of 2.00 inches, and a thickness of 0.45 inch.
The casing is a lovely piano black with a silvery stainless steel trim. The phone even has an added quirk of a diamond-shaped groove in the backing to make it true to its name. But despite that quirk, it feels comfortable in the hand. It only weighs 110 grams.
The face of the HTC Touch Diamond is dominated by its 2.8-inch touch screen display. The screen has a high resolution of 480 x 640 pixels that greatly makes up for the fact that it can only recognize 65K colors. The backlight adjusts automatically depending on the amount of ambient light in your surroundings.
Below the touch screen of the HTC Touch Diamond are four tactile keys: Home, Back, Send and End. In the midst of these keys is a D-pad that also serves as some kind of scroll wheel. The phone only has two other buttons on its sides, namely the power button and the volume rocker.
Standard Connectivity
The HTC Touch Diamond has everything that you can expect when it comes to connectivity, even though many other mobile phones offer more. It is a GSM tri-band phone with global roaming and can handle EDGE and HSDPA. The phone can also connect using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and miniUSB, and it also has a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack.
If you are a business user, you will definitely like this phone. The HTC Touch Diamond is installed with the Opera 9.5 mobile browser and it handles WAP 2.0, XHTML and full HTML protocols very beautifully. It also has the Pocket Internet Explorer, in case you prefer that browser. Should you need to get some work done while you are mobile, the HTC Touch Diamond has Pocket Office that will allow you to create and edit Microsoft Office documents as well as read PDF files.
Great Multimedia
When it comes to multimedia features, the HTC Touch Diamond is also good. It has a 3.15-megapixel camera with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels and a host of setup features like Autofocus. The resulting pictures are crisp and have good color detail. You can even take pictures in grayscale, negative mode or sepia color.
Video recording is also possible with the HTC Touch Diamond. Video is captured at 30 frames per second and can be recorded in mpeg4 or H.263 format. It is observed that recorded videos can be pixelated or choppy at times. The phone also has a dedicated Youtube player.
As for listening to music with the HTC Touch Diamond, the experience is as good as any, although you may wish that the music player recognizes cover art. The music player can read mp3, AAC, AAC+, WMA and wav formats. It also has a built-in FM radio.
TouchFLO3D Makes the Difference
The operating system that the HTC Touch Diamond runs on is the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. Everyone knows that it is a clunky OS, but what makes up for the awkwardness that Windows Mobile is famous for is the HTC TouchFlo3D system. It makes using the HTC Touch Diamond fun with its simple and intuitive interface and its great animation. The only flaw here is that you will have to double-tap the screen to activate the TouchFlo3D.
The HTC Touch Diamond is resistive; it means that you can input commands on the touch screen with a stylus or with gloved fingertips. The phone has a proximity sensor that automatically turns it off, as well as an accelerometer sensor to rotate the display depending on the orientation of the phone.
You can select the means by which to input your commands on the HTC Touch Diamond. Among the means available are handwriting recognition, T9 mobile keypad layout, compact QWERTY layout and full QWERTY layout. Despite the size of the onscreen keys, you will find that typing on the HTC Touch Diamond is speedy and error-free.
Strong Showing
The HTC Touch Diamond is as powerful as Smartphones go. The processor is a Qualcomm MSM7201A with 528 MHz and a memory of 192 MB DDR SDRAM and 256 MB ROM. The built-in memory for users is 4 GB, but you may find it unsatisfactory that the HTC Touch Diamond does not have a card slot for expandable memory. Standby time is 285 hours while talk time is five hours and 30 minutes.
The HTC Touch is available for $428.00 at ElephantCellular
tagged: 5-megapixel, Youtube, HSDPA, QWERTY, Windows Mobile 6, Touch, HTC Touch, TouchFLO, Keypad, Windows Mobile, Wi-Fi, Smartphone, Autofocus, Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Diamond
Is the HTC Touch HD an All-Purpose Phone?
Initial reports of the HTC Touch HD described it as a phone that will satisfy everybody regardless of what expectations they may have from a mobile phone - a business Smartphone or a multimedia phone. The HTC Touch HD is even said to be the best phone out there that runs on the Windows Mobile platform. However, one would naturally wonder if this is all true or if it is mere advertising hype.
The Best Screen Ever
Whatever you may have heard of the HTC Touch HD, you cannot fault it for being ugly. It may be bigger than most smartphones of its kind, with its length of 4.53 inches, a width of 2.47 inches and a thickness of 0.47 inches, but when you look at it, the HTC Touch HD still feels snug inside your hand. Also, it is actually small for all the features packed into it. The black plastic casing is shiny and elegant enough to please the eye.
The touch screen of the HTC Touch HD is probably its most winning feature, and it was a deliberate move on the part of the phone manufacturer. The HD on the HTC Touch HD’s name, after all, means high-definition. The 3.8-inch display has a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, four times larger than that of the IPhone or the Samsung OMNIA. Even if the display only recognizes only 65K colors, the resolution still makes a huge difference.
Good Connectivity
The HTC Touch HD also does well when it comes to connectivity. It is a GSM quad-band phone with support for HSDPA and EDGE networking. Global roaming is also possible with the HTC Touch HD. You can also connect using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, miniUSB and a 3.5-millimeter jack.
Browsing the Internet using the HTC Touch HD is done using the Opera 9.5 mobile browser. As such, it can render HTML, XHTML and WAP 2.0 protocols correctly. Business users will be happy to know that the HTC Touch HD has Pocket Office, which will allow them to read and edit Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel files without a problem. The same goes for PDF format files.
Multimedia Falls Flat
The HTC Touch HD is touted to have one of the best cameras in a phone in the market today. You can expect that indeed, given that the HTC Touch HD camera is five megapixels with a resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. Unfortunately, it only has Autofocus and the quality of the pictures taken is rather bad.
Video recording is possible at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. However, the resolution of the videos when played back is not too good; it is noisy and it can be choppy. The video player can also recognize only two formats – mp4 and H.264. The HTC Touch HD has a passable Youtube client.
The music player installed in the HTC Touch HD is also passable. The player itself is easy to operate, but there is nothing worth noting about the quality of the sound. The formats recognized by the music player include mp3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, wav and AMR.
Satisfactory Interface
Many mobile phone users shy away from any phone packed with the Windows Mobile operating system, but the OS in the HTC Touch HD, which is Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, feels fine. It does not hiccup, at the very least.
The HTC Touch HD touch screen is resistive, meaning it responds more to pressure rather than mere touch. It has an accelerometer sensor that allows screen rotation depending on the orientation of the phone. The HTC Touch HD also has a proximity sensor that automatically turns the phone off.
There are three input modes with the HTC Touch HD: the traditional T9 mobile Keypad layout, the full QWERTY Keyboard layout, and handwriting recognition with stylus. The huge screen of the HTC Touch HD makes it a joy to use the full QWERTY keyboard, but it is still not the best in the market.
Strong Performance
You can expect the HTC Touch HD to deliver when it comes to processing power. Its CPU is the Qualcomm MSM7201A with a frequency of 528 MHz, with a built-in 288 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM. Standby time is 450 hours while talk time is six hours and 30 minutes.
The HTC Touch is available for $428.00 at ElephantCellular
tagged: Youtube, HSDPA, Keyboard, QWERTY, Windows Mobile 6, Touch, HTC Touch, Keypad, Windows Mobile, IPhone, Wi-Fi, Samsung, Smartphone, Autofocus, Touch HD
The HTC Max 4G: The Phone that Russia Will Have to Itself
The HTC Max 4G is probably one of the coolest gadgets that people outside Russia will never get to use. It happens to be the first WiMax phone ever to be made in this world, and it is available only to subscribers of Yota, one of the leading telecoms companies in Russia.
Reading about the HTC Max 4G can somehow make one sad that all those talks about having WiMax in the United States a few years ago did not follow through. Nonetheless, is the HTC Max 4G as good as a WiMax phone is imagined to be? Or are we really missing out on anything?
A Bulk of a Phone
One cannot say that the HTC Max 4G is a clunky phone, but it certainly looks big. Measuring 4.47 inches long, 2.48 inches wide and 0.55 inches thick, it does appear more substantial than your average Smartphone. It is also a lot heavier at 151 grams.
The HTC Max 4G comes in black, and it has a big 3.8-inch Touch screen display. The display can recognize 65,356 colors and has a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. Overall, the phone is easy to grip, with a strong plastic backing, but sadly, the touch screen would probably susceptible to smudges from fingerprints.
Basic Multimedia
As a multimedia phone, one can say that the HTC Max 4G did not try too hard. It only got packed with the barest basic essentials that anyone may want from a smartphone.
The media player is basically Windows Media Player, and it can play both music and videos. Formats supported for music are: mp3, wav, WMV, midi, AMR, AAC, AAC+, eAAC and eAAC+. As for video formats, the HTC Max 4G can read files with the following extensions: WMV, ASF, 3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4V and AVI. You can also listen to your favorite FM stations in Russia using the HTC Max 4G.
The camera that the HTC Max 4G have with is also pretty basic. It is a 3.2-megapixel camera that is capable of Autofocus and nothing much else. The phone is also fitted with a separate VGA camera that is used for video calling.
All-Around Connectivity
Perhaps the most exciting features of the HTC Max 4G are its connectivity features. A lot should be expected from the first ever WiMax phone in the world, and in this respect, the HTC Max 4G does not disappoint. But other than the fact that it can be used on WiMax networks, this phone model is nothing truly spectacular.
What the HTC Max 4G has outside of its WiMax capability are all the usual connectivity trappings that you may expect from an ordinary smartphone. It is a GSM tri-band phone bound to Europe and Asia, supporting the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies, and can be used for roaming in the United States. It works with GPRS and EDGE networks as well.
As for mobile Internet, the HTC Max 4G has support for WAP 2.0, XHTML and full HTML. Outside of WiMax, it can also connect using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and it has a miniUSB plug.
Finger-Swiping Beauty
The HTC Max 4G runs on the power it is given by the Windows Mobile Professional operating system installed in it. The central processor is a Qualcomm ESM7206A with a frequency of 528 MHz. The built-in RAM is 288 MB and the ROM is 256 MB. Talk time lasts seven hours, while standby time can go for 350 hours. The memory can be expanded to 8GB using microSD and microSDHC cards.
As a touch screen phone, the HTC Max 4G is fitted with the TouchFLO 3D technology. Navigation controls are sensitive to touch and commands can be done through swiping the fingers. This feature can be turned off automatically through the phone’s proximity sensor. A stylus also comes with the HTC Max 4G, and it is installed with handwriting recognition software. The texting input is predictive.
Are we really missing out on the first WiMax mobile phone being available only in Russia? The answer is: Probably not. Outside of its WiMax capabilities, the HTC Max 4G is just a standard touch screen smartphone.
Get Unlocked HTC Phones at ElephantCellular
tagged: 3G, Touch, Windows Mobile Professional, TouchFLO, Windows Mobile, Wi-Fi, 8GB, Smartphone, Autofocus, Max 4G
HTC Touch Dual; Samsung F700: Comparison
Both the HTC Touch Dual and the Samsung F700 have characteristics of the regular Touchscreen phones these days. While the Samsung F700 is strikingly similar to the iPhone from Apple, the HTC Touch Dual relies on new and improved touchscreen sensibility as compared to the Touch (which was its predecessor incidentally).
Touchscreen aspects
The Samsung F700 seems to have captured the imagination of most people as it promises a host of functional features within its tiny and limited space. Inspite of the screen being a puny 2.78 inches it offers both a virtual touch screen Keyboard and a single hardware key that opens up a plethora of shortcut menus. If you do not like using the hardware key you could make use of a blinking square at the middle that also allows access to regular shortcut options like your browser, music player, main menu, messaging and the like. The TouchFLO relies on its sensitive and superior TouchFLO screen which promises more of an intuitive and responsive behavior compared to the HTC Touch.
Ergonomics and design
Both the F700 from Samsung as well as the Touch Dual from HTC are ergonomically designed. Both are extremely lightweight while easily fitting into the palm of one’s hand. The hardware keyboard of the Touch Dual can prove to be a tad small thus hampering on the usability aspect. However the Samsung F700 seems to excel in this department as well! The sliding QWERTY keyboard is a neat trick. It is hidden right under the hood and when slid to the left shows itself up for use! The spring-loaded functionality helps sliding to be a fluid function. However unlike the Touch Dual which only relies on touch screen as its highlight, the F700 from Samsung has cleverly enabled alternatives to help transition non-touch screen users too!
Thus although the F700 lacks a regular alphanumeric keyboard, it makes up for this via an onscreen version of the same. Plus the onscreen keyboard also has a haptic feedback mechanism that allows you to feel a vibratory pulse each time you press on a character. The absence of a stylus in the F700 can work against or for it depending on user preferences. While most people prefer a handy stylus as an alternative to just finger touch sensibility, the absence of one can mean having one less accessory to lose!
Aesthetic sensibility
The F700 probably lacks significantly in one aspect – the glossy finish it sports. While it certainly looks great, on the maintenance front this can pose to be an issue. The relatively matte finish on the Touch Dual makes it a more robust design in comparison. The F700 can be very prone to scratches and damage on its surface.
Wi Fi connectivity
Both the Samsung’s F700 as well as the Touch Dual are devoid of Wi Fi connectivity. This can go against both phones as users these days look for Wi Fi as an essential feature in their phones.
Pros: The F700 has superior touchscreen sensitivity just like the Touch Dual but tends to edge out the Touch Dual in terms of its alternatives to a regular hardware keyboard. The smart QWERTY sliding keyboard is another definite plus point of the F700 as compared to the Touch Dual which doesn’t have QWERTY functionality in its keyboard.
Cons: Glossy finish – makes maintenance difficult. Prone to scratches. Lack of Wi Fi in F700 another disadvantage.
The Apple iPhone is available for $689.89 at ElephantCellular
The HTC Touch is available for $428.00 at ElephantCellular
The HTC Touch Dual is available for $579.89 at ElephantCellular
The Samsung F700 is available for $559.89 at ElephantCellular
tagged: Touchscreen, Keyboard, QWERTY, Touch, HTC Touch, TouchFLO, Touch Dual, F700, iPhone, Wi-Fi, Samsung, Apple
HTC X7510 Advantage: First Take
Adding yet another feather to its cap, the latest model of the HTC Advantage series – the X7510 is set to conquer our hearts. For those of us who love extra flash memory, the X7510 comes with a distinct advantage. Instead of the earlier version which had a microdrive of 8 GB capacity, the X7510 comes with a flash memory of 16 GB capacity.
New and improved features
The new X7510 also comes with a unique TouchFLO interface that promises more intuitive and responsive behavior from the phone. It has also been said that the soon to be launched phone is also going to have the 6.1 version of the Windows Mobile operating system. The Keyboard promises plenty of functionality inspite of being small and sleek. Although it may not be very suitable for lengthy typing periods, it can certainly serve its purpose for short durations of time. The screen as such is wide measuring around 5 inches across with Touchscreen sensibility inbuilt. The new version of the X7510 promises to do away with all the shortcomings of the UMPCs as found earlier. The keyboard is touch sensitive and comes inbuilt with finger gesture sensitivity. The device is compatible with email, Microsoft Office as well as the internet. The QWERTY keyboard is magnetic and can be detached easily.
The phone comes inbuilt with a GPS enabled receiver as well as HSDPA tri-band connectivity. It also supports quad-band networks which include UMTS/HSPDA as well as 3G features. It also comes with GSM/EDGE support. The browser is Opera 9 which supports holistic browsing experiences replete with touch screen sensibility as well. The phone also has Bluetooth 2.0 functionality and works with a Marvell PXA270 processor of 624 Mhz. It also has a W2284 ATi Graphic chip and comes with connectivity aspects like the external USB port from HTC as well as TV-Out replete with a audio microphone of 3.5 mm. There are also two modules of cameras included with the phone set where the first one is auto focus with a 3.1 megapixel capacity and the second is a video-call unit VGA camera.
Sleek and stylish design
The black and sleek X7510 is great for making a confident fashion statement while on the go. While the phone maybe a little on the bulkier side, it certainly is a very functional equipment which can also turn heads! The compact design makes for easy portability with a tailored HTC Home screen that offers a single touch access to textual messages, emails, calendar events as well as missed calls – all in one! You can even check out local and current weather forecasts owing to the coverage of over a hundred cities from across the globe! The phone comes with a new and improved VueFLO version that promises to customized the orientation of the screen with the help of a unique G-sensor. This offers optimal user friendliness on the whole.
Outlook and future predictions
The compact and stylish design of the X7510 offers tremendous functionality. This can be great for those of us who like utility and aesthetics in one holistic package. On the whole the HTC X7510 Advantage is definitely here to stay a long time!
Get Unlocked HTC Phones at ElephantCellular
tagged: Touchscreen, 3G, HSDPA, GPS, Keyboard, QWERTY, Advantage X7510, Laptop Phone, 16 GB, Windows Mobile
HTC Touch Dual – User friendly and smart!
Once again proving the point that smartphones can indeed be consumer friendly, the HTC Touch Dual has the same sleek features like its predecessor. With a sleek rubberised finish that feels as good as it looks, the HTC Touch Dual is a pleasure to have.
Novel TouchFLO design
The unique TouchFLO interface seems to be the most notable improvement in the HTC Touch Dual phone. Unlike the HTC Touch which had all the touch-friendly mechanisms and features but lacked in responsiveness to a certain degree, the HTC Touch Dual is extremely responsive. In spite of having the slide out hardware Keyboard present on it, it is surprisingly the touch functionality that seems to work the best on the phone. The shortcut keys such as the one to the browser etc. are usable and aesthetically pleasing. The sliding keypad doesn’t contribute to the overall weight much and packs in a good ergonomic design as well.
User-centric performance
The speed dial screen in the HTC Touch Dual allows you to tap on a favourite contact’s picture and dial him or her. In addition the call quality is definitely remarkably good. Messaging can pose to be a bit of a problem with the keyboard being rather small and less responsive. However, the plus point is that the phone tends to remember words typed in earlier and autofills them so that you don’t need to repeat typing the word the next time. The fact that the touch screen in the HTC Touch Dual is far more responsive than its predecessor makes web browsing even more pleasant and convenient. With the hardware keys typing in web addresses is that much easier to accomplish. The zoom functionality in the camera is a definite plus point. If you circle in clockwise direction on an image taken via the camera, the zoom features closes in around the place marked. A counterclockwise circle would zoom out. The music player is much better than the HTC Touch as in the Dual model the buttons are much larger. If you were to use the HTC Touch Dual as a tethered modem you are in for a pleasant surprise. Download speeds are more than even 2 Mbps!
Intuitive and attractive features
The HTC Touch Dual comes with a HSPDA 3G connectivity and its major feature seems to be the TouchFLO interface. The home screen has been modified to make it much more user friendly and intuitive in nature. The design is attractive and the numeric keypad makes it possible to type in text easily using just one hand. The phone is devoid of WiFi or GPS which can be a downer for many mobile phone addicts. The screen display size is around 2.6 inches which is great for viewing pictures or videos. The operating system in use is the Windows Mobile Professional version 6 and the processor used is the Qualcomm MSM 7200. The phone also comes with a microSD card and has Bluetooth 2.0 functionality.
Forecast and future outlook
Overall if WiFi isn’t a very big concern for you then the HTC Touch Dual can be a perfect choice for those who love touch screen phones. The improved TouchFLO screen mechanism as well as the sleek design and finish all make for a head turning gadget to walk around with!
The HTC Touch is available for $428.00 at ElephantCellular
The HTC Touch Dual is available for $579.89 at ElephantCellular
tagged: 3G, GPS, Keyboard, Touch Dual, Touchscreen, Keypad, TouchFLO, Windows Mobile Professional
HTC Touch Cruise – Cruise along tasks better!
With more enhanced interface features that facilitate better task management in Windows Mobile, the HTC Touch Cruise promises to be the best of the trio – the original Touch, Touch Dual and the Touch Cruise. As far as connectivity issues go the Touch Cruise makes up for the lack of features in its predecessors.
Classy and fashionable design
The exterior casing of the HTC Touch Cruise is smooth and chic with a classy design. If you had gotten used to the curvy edges of the Dual and the Touch, then the Cruise promises a surprise. The Cruise has more sharp edges and also comes with a glossy finish near the LCD region. The durability of the exterior is quite high and the coating is entirely wear resistant. The extremely small dimension of this phone coupled with its neatly designed ergonomics makes it excellent to hold. The interesting feature is that the external USB port is now placed on the bottom of the phone unlike the Dual where it was placed on the left side. This way even when the headset is plugged in, there is no interference with operability. Without the OK as well as Start buttons, there are only about 4 keys in the phone.
However if you have been overly used to these buttons, you have the option of reassigning keys. The scroll wheel comes in handy when viewing large web pages. It also allows the zoom in and out feature while viewing picture galleries in the phone. The memory expansion card slot is a great new feature that allows for swapping support in the phone. As a great alternative to the regular hardware Keyboard, the Touch Cruise also comes with a virtual keyboard. You can use the stylus to enter textual messages and also use the keypad without having to open the device. The icons in the Cruise are overall much larger which allows for better finger touch movement instead of using the stylus all the time.
Responsive optimal performance
Overall the Touch Cruise promises a good level of performance as well as responsiveness. This, inspite of having several applications opened up while navigating the device. While the Touch Cruise uses the same Qualcomm MSM 7200 processor as in the Dual, it has been rumoured to contribute to its slow performance in image-heavy pages. The battery shelf life is remarkable as with just one single charge you can normally use the phone for upto 3 days.
Improved connectivity features
While the Dual version did not come with WiFi and the Touch did not have GPS the Cruise promises both ruling out any connectivity issues. The phone has HSPDA 3G wireless connectivity. The HTC Touch Cruise comes with a QuickGPS application that automatically downloads current satellite information to facilitate easier GPS locks. The FM Tuner is another notable feature in the Touch Cruise as it does not require you to plug in a wired headset in order to listen to music. Even with available regular headphones you can listen to average quality music reception.
The modified interface called TouchFLO facilitates much better navigability and the new and improved home screen is great for finger tapping functionality. The Cruise comes with new virtual cube functionality along with the option of sorting out most common icons in every menu used. As opposed to the raised surface that you would expect out of a swiping action button, the Cruise comes with a flat screen button. You can also use the WorldCard Mobile facility in order to sort through namecards, use the CE-Star facility if you wish to input Chinese text and get accelerated access to background programs with the customized Task Manager functionality.
Predictions and outlook
If you are willing to forego a QWERTY keypad but still want all the features of a great touch screen interface, then the Touch Cruise is for you. Video playback can be a little sluggish as has been reportedly found with the Qualcomm MSM 7200 processor in it. However, on the whole it is stylish, elegant and compact with intuitive touch screen abilities.
The HTC Touch is available for $428.00 at ElephantCellular
tagged: 3G, GPS, Keyboard, QWERTY, Touch Cruise, Touchscreen, TouchFLO, HSDPA