| HTC Touch jilts U.S. |
Oct. 07, 2008
 There's good news and bad news for fans of HTC's high-end Windows Mobile phone. The Touch HD was hailed as the "first 'iPhone killer' worthy of the name" in its first European review -- but the phone won't be coming to the U.S., HTC reveals.
(Click here for a larger view of HTC's Touch HD)
The Touch HD features Windows Mobile 6.1, a 3.8-inch touchscreen with 800 x 480 resolution, a five megapixel camera, WiFi, an FM receiver, and the signature "TouchFLO 3D" user interface, says HTC. The device offers the "ultimate visual experience," including "full-width web browsing," the company claims. For more details, see our earlier coverage, here.
Other Windows Mobile phones with high-resolution displays and finger-friendly user interface (UI) addons have been dubbed "iPhone killers" in the past, including Samsung's Omnia and Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1. (You'll find early reviews of both devices by clicking on the links provided above.) But the Touch HD comes closest to the mark, claims Markus Goebel, who just reviewed it for the German website AreaMobile.
"The spell is broken," Goebel writes. "Finally, a smartphone has been released that puts the iPhone in the shade, and still works with Windows Mobile."
Contrasting HTC's Touch HD to the Omnia, Goebel calls the latter phone's "TouchWiz" user interface illogical and labor-intensive. In contrast, HTC's TouchFlo 3D "hides the adversities of Windows Mobile" and works so well with fingers that users may leave the phone's stylus in its storage slot permanently, he adds.
According to Goebel, the Touch HD scores over the iPhone primarily because of its 800 x 480 screen. This provides two and a half times the information as the iPhone's 480 x 320 screen, he adds. "Other phones will now be measured by the Touch HD, which brings surfing without scrolling," he writes.
Not for the U.S.
Unfortunately, users in the U.S. won't be getting to try a Touch HD for themselves. Yesterday, HTC posted the following message via its Twitter feed: "Sad news, U.S. We looked into it -- by the time we could bring Touch HD to the States, it would be old news."
This "tweet" has memorably been called "the corporate equivalent of breaking up with your girlfriend with a text message" by the Gizmodo website. It followed earlier posts by the company, stating that it would take too long to rework the Touch HD for the U.S. frequencies used by GSM carriers AT&T and T-Mobile USA. Since the device has reportedly been approved by the FCC, it can still be unofficially imported into the U.S., but would not deliver high-speed Internet access.
Also this week, HTC reported a net profit of approximately $220 million for the third quarter of 2008. This is a 4.9 percent drop from the same period last year, but was partly due to "typhoon weather" that caused shipping delays in September, the company claims. Additionally, HTC said its revenue was up more than 30 percent compared to the third quarter of 2007.
 To the apparent detriment of Windows Mobile fans, HTC's current U.S. focus is on the T-Mobile G1 (right), a device powered by the Linux variant known as Android. Featured front and center on the company's U.S. website, the device goes on sale in just over two weeks. HTC and T-Mobile have said they expect to sell from 500,000 to 700,000 of the $179 devices by year's end, according to eWEEK.com.
Further information
For more about the T-Mobile G1, see the coverage on our sister websites LinuxDevices.com, here, and eWEEK.com, here.
To read AreaMobile's review of the HTC Touch HD in English via a Google translation, go here, or see here for the original German. Meanwhile, HTC's Twitter feed, referenced above, is here.
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