I think it is now becoming a habit for HTC to call for a press meet one month before the launch of iPhone and its revisions. It is a pity that they are still relying on Windows Mobile to deliver their goods. While what we saw with the diamond is no doubt impressive, under the hood HTC still has the grand old Windows Mobile running in all its glory. HTC did a clever thing this time around by making the TouchFlO UI feature rich instead of dropping back the user to Windows Mobile UI for doing even basic things. The new Opera browser is a welcome change from the Pocket Internet Explorer we are used to.
But the whole reason why people use Windows Mobile is because of its powerful PIM capabilities and wide variety of third party application availability. Unfortunately, all these applications will still be using the classic Windows Mobile interface which is generations behind that of current favorites like the iPhone or the upcoming Android. This is where the user will be spending most of the time (rather than the weather applet or the today screen).
Unless the new Windows Mobile version (7 or whatever) starts shipping, there is little to rejoice from these kind of shell enhancements which desperate mobile device vendors are making on top of Windows Mobile. Sony Ericsson’s Xperia is another one that is on the pipeline.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
“But the whole reason why people use Windows Mobile is because of its powerful PIM capabilities and wide variety of third party application availability. Unfortunately, all these applications will still be using the classic Windows Mobile interface which is generations behind that of current favorites like the iPhone or the upcoming Android. This is where the user will be spending most of the time (rather than the weather applet or the today screen).”
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Surely where the user spends most of their time depends on the user? The user may spends most of their time in Opera Mobile? Or maybe playing music and videos? Has it occurred to you that this phone may not be going after the traditional Windows Mobile market?
When this phone goes head to head with the iPhone 3G, it would be rather stupid to say that for most elements they are the same,except that the extra stuff WM has doesn’t look as nice. If some-one is choosing between this phone and the iPhone they probably already do not care about the extra stuff WM brings to the table.
In summary, this is not a business phone, and the people who this is aimed at may live most of the time pretty well in Touchflo 3D.
@Surur,
I agree with some of your point but the number of applications available within the TouchFlo environment are very small. The browser, photo, contacts and music. The Touch Diamond is a pretty expensive option if one wants to use only these handful of applications. There are many cheaper and better integrated phones than what is provided by touch flo.
I dont want to get into a iPhone vs WM argument herem but I cant help. I have used WM phones for half a decade before switching to iPhone and IMHO, the iPhone trounces WM phone in terms of usability. I will be surprised if someone chooses the Diamond over the iPhone 3G. Also it is high time we stop saying that WM offers many “extra stuff” over iPhone. With the App store about to open in a few weeks time, there wont be a dearth of third party applications. I am sure there will be lot of useful third party applications than the task managers, today plugins, application closers and shell enhancement applications we get for Windows Mobile.
The interest for iPhone 3rd party apps is unprecedented when compared to what we have seen for any mobile phone. Look at the number of iPhone optimized websites out there. And show me one Windows Mobile optimized web site.
for sure it is the best phone ever made the only thing is lake of memory
HTC Diamond Vs. Apple iPhone – the ultimate specs comparison
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1368238
detail spec
http://sntradersonline.com/phone_details.php?product_id=snp857