HTC Touch Diamond Smartphone Officially Announced [Sleek, Sexy & Coming Soon]

HTC has at last taken the wraps of its much anticipated new flagship
handset, the Touch Diamond smartphone, which, apart sporting deliciously
sleek, glossy aesthetics, comes with HTC's revised touchscreen TouchFlo
3D animated interface and which, according to Peter Chou, president and
CEO of HTC, serves to 'mark a new era in mobile phone evolution, an era
where beauty and size integrate with uncompromising innovation at
broadband speeds'.

Due to become available in Europe next month (June o8), HTC's Touch
Diamond Smartphone boasts a plethora of features that undoubtedly serve
to kick Apple's much (over) hyped handset squarely into touch - not
least being HSUPA wireless connectivity paired with HSDPA offering a
truly broadband comparable browsing experience with internet connection
speeds of up to a 7.2 Mbps experienced courtesy of HTC's customised web
browser sporting pan and zoom, automatic landscape/portrait screen
orientation and customised YouTube and Google Map applications.

Agreed, pan and zoom and smart screen orientation are nothing new (a
certain other handset boasts such features) but paired with high-speed
internet access we don't doubt that browsing the net on HTC's Touch
Diamond is sure to prove a somewhat liberating experience for those used
to lumbering through full web pages on a certain other handset (well at
least until it’s 3G incarnation).

Below you'll find HTC's press release concerning their Touch Diamond
but, firstly, for those that prefer to cut straight to the chase so to
speak, here's at 'at a glance' list of the Touch Diamond's key
specifications:

Size: 102 x 51 x 11.33mm
Weight: 110 g
Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA
Operating system: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
Camera: 3.2MP, with video calling
Internal memory: 4 GB Internal Storage, 256 MB flash, 192 MB RAM,
Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
GPS: GPS/AGPS
Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
Battery: 900 mAh
Talk time: GSM: up to 4 hours
Standby time: GSM: up to 300 hours/100 hours with push email
Chipset: Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528MHz

HTC Touch Diamond Official Press Release

Born from a unique heritage of innovation and a deep desire to blend
design with simplicity, HTC Corp., a global leader in mobile phone
innovation and design, today unveiled its new flagship phone, the HTC
Touch Diamond๏ . Delivering unmistakable style and meticulous
craftsmanship the HTC Touch Diamond is defined by its compact size,
game-changing Internet and its new captivating 3D touch interface called
TouchFLO 3D. The result is an uncompromising mobile phone that sets a
new benchmark for phone sophistication and shapes consumer expectations
for how a phone can be used.

“Today we mark a new era in mobile phone evolution, an era where
beauty and size integrate with uncompromising innovation at broadband
speeds,” said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. “The
HTC Touch Diamond will make browsing the Web and using Web-enabled
applications just as practical and easy to use as making calls.”

A New Dimension To Touch

HTC has taken a great leap forward in touch screen innovation with the
introduction of its new 3D touch interface called TouchFLO 3D. TouchFLO
3D provides animated access to people, messaging, email, photos, music,
weather and more. In addition, HTC is introducing a new innovative
touch-sensitive control for interacting with Touch Diamond.

Making The Mobile Internet Fun

With the introduction of the Touch Diamond, HTC delivers an entirely new
mobile Internet experience that utilizes broadband-like speeds with
HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA wireless connectivity. Committed to improving
Web browsing, HTC provides a new customized mobile Web browser that
enables easy viewing and effortless navigation of Websites in the way
they were designed. As part of this browsing experience users can zoom
and pan Websites with one-hand and automatically view optimized content
that has been specially created to fit the display. Turning the device
sideways automatically rotates the web page view from a portrait to
landscape view.

In addition to Web browsing, the Touch Diamond includes a customized
new, HTC-developed, YouTube application for watching a variety of user
generated video content as well as utilizing Google Maps for mobile for
mapping and traffic data.

Unmatched Style and Size

The Touch Diamond is crafted with precision to fit comfortably in a
user’s hand without compromising on features or functionality.
Blending contrasting design elements of metal and unique geometric
facets, the Touch Diamond complements a user’s personal style.

Bursting with Innovation

The Touch Diamond delivers an unrivalled combination of features and
functionality that set a new standard for integrating mobile phone
innovation into a small package. The 2.8 inch display provides
near-print quality viewing that enables beautiful Web browsing and
viewing of photographs. The built-in camera includes an optical
auto-focus lens that ensures the photos you take will be clear and
consistent. Advanced wireless and auto sensor screen pivoting are just a
few of the features that make the Touch Diamond experience a stand out.

Availability

The HTC Touch Diamond will be available to customers across all major
European carriers in June. It will be available later this quarter in
Asia and the Middle East. The North American and Latin American versions
of the Touch Diamond will be available in the second half of 2008.

UPDATE: Prefer a white HTC Touch Diamond? See: New White HTC Touch
Diamond Set for Release [HTC Takes Apple's Lead].