| HTC reaches out with more Touches |
Sep. 17, 2008
 HTC has added two more Windows Mobile phones to its burgeoning line of "Touch" devices. The Touch 3G and Touch Viva have 2.8-inch touchscreen displays with 320 x 240 resolution, four way navigation controls, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity, the company says.
(Click here for a larger view of HTC's Touch 3G)
HTC marketers, riding high on more than two million sales of the original Touch since its 2007 introduction, have obviously been attending classes in "brand extension" at the Eee PC school. That's to say, just as Asus did with its pioneering netbook, they've taken a popular brand and stretched it over so many devices that it's hard even for those in the tech industry to tell them apart.
Earlier this week, HTC took the Touch line to its greatest height so far, with the new Touch HD. This phone features signature ingredients such as HTC's TouchFLO user interface, but also includes a 3.8-inch touchscreen that ramps Windows Mobile 6.1 up to its top 800 x 480 resolution.
In addition to the original Touch and the new Touch HD, HTC's Touch products now include the following:- The Touch Dual, which first added a slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- The Touch Cruise, with GPS
- The Touch Diamond, with a restyled, faceted case, enhanced TouchFlo 3D interface, and 640 x 480 screen resolution
- The Touch Pro, like the Diamond, but with a pull-out QWERTY keyboard
It's hard to tell the players even with a program, so WindowsForDevices.com has revamped its online Guide to HTC's Windows Mobile smartphones, which we hope you'll find useful. Meanwhile, we'd size up today's two new Touch devices as follows:- The Touch Viva is an entry-level model, intended to replace the original Touch and likely sell for less
- The Touch 3G is likely to replace the Touch Cruise, since it adds that model's GPS and HSDPA/UMTS connectivity to the line, but has a higher-res camera and a somewhat faster processor
Touch Viva
 HTC's Touch Viva (right) has a 2.8-inch touchscreen display with 320 x 240 resolution, four way navigation controller, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity. It includes 128MB of RAM, 256MB of flash storage, and a microSD expansion slot.
Like the original Touch, which was criticized by some for its sluggishness at running TouchFLO, the Touch Viva makes do with a 201MHz TI OMAP850 processor. It also has a camera whose resolution is limited to two megapixels. These factors make it seem possible that carriers will offer the device for as little as $100, after the usual subsidies and rebates.
Features and specifications listed by HTC for the Touch Viva include:- Processor -- TI OMAP 850 clocked at 201MHz
- Memory -- 128MB of RAM and 256MB of flash storage
- Display -- 2.8-inch screen with QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels)
- Camera -- 2 megapixel
- Wireless:
- WAN -- quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE
- LAN -- 802.11b/g wireless
- PAN -- Bluetooth 2.0
- Other I/O:
- HTC ExtUSB (combined Mini-USB and audio jack)
- Expansion -- microSD slot
- Battery type/life:
- 1100 mAh lithium-ion battery
- Talk time -- Up to 480 minutes
- Standby time -- Up to 270 hours
- Dimensions -- 4.1 x 2.3 x 0.6 inches (104.5 x 59 x 15.7mm)
- Weight -- 3.88 ounces (110 grams) with battery
Touch 3G
Like the original Touch and the Touch Viva, the Touch 3G (pictured top of page) has a 2.8-inch touchscreen display with 320 x 240 resolution, a four way navigation controller, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity. However, it adds dual-band (900/2100MHz) HSDPA, said to provide users in Europe and Asia with downloads at up to 7.2Mbps, and uploads up to 384kbps.
The device is also touted as "GPS and assisted GPS ready," apparently signifying that these capabilities are built into the phone, but only activated by some carriers. The Touch 3G has a Qualcomm MSM7225 processor clocked at 528MHz, 192MB of RAM, and 256MB of flash storage. It comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera.
Features and specifications listed by HTC for the Touch 3G include:- Processor -- Qualcomm MSM7225 clocked at 528MHz
- Memory -- 192MB of RAM and 256MB of flash storage
- Display -- 2.8-inch screen with QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels)
- Camera -- 3.2 megapixel
- Wireless:
- WAN -- quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band (900/2100MHz) HSDPA, with up to 384kbps uplink and 7.2Mbps downlink speeds
- LAN -- 802.11b/g wireless
- PAN -- Bluetooth 2.0
- Other I/O:
- HTC ExtUSB (combined Mini-USB and audio jack)
- Expansion -- microSD slot
- Battery type/life:
- 1100 mAh lithium-ion battery
- Talk time -- Up to 360 minutes for WCDMA, 400 minutes for GSM
- Standby time -- Up to 450 hours for WCDMA, up to 365 hours for GSM
- Dimensions -- 4 x 2.1 x 0.6 inches (102 x 53.6 x 14.5mm
- Weight -- 3.4 ounces (96 grams) with battery
Further information
HTC says the Touch Viva and Touch 3G will be available in early October "in a variety of markets." Pricing was not released.
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