Getting a Feel for the Touch (1/3)
HTC Touch with WM6 Professional
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INTRODUCTION
Almost a month before
the Apple iPhone will be released, the first
touch-sensitive finger-oriented-user-interface
mobile phone was released by HTC. It's called the
HTC Touch and builds upon Windows Mobile 6
Professional with some new touch screen technology
and finger gesture recognition software. While the
Touch will not compete in the same market as the
Apple iPhone and HTC has said that it was in
development long before the iPhone announcement,
it's impossible to ignore the similarities and make
comparisons.
Will the Touch earn the hearts of the European and Asian markets longing for the flashy Apple iPhone? Or will the one-finger-touch-screen interface prove to be less user-friendly than built-in hardware keyboards? In a time where the entire smart-phone industry has been moving towards hardware keyboards for one-handed tactile-based interaction, it's anybody's guess. Read on for our thorough review!
WHAT'S HOT
The most innovative feature about the
Touch is its touch screen and animated software.
The screen actually recognizes when you're pressing
with a finger versus a stylus. This is very
important for features such as scrolling through a
web page with your thumb, or selecting text in a web
page with your stylus. Now, once you look at the
screen shots or animated video of this new TouchFLO
interface you might think it's pretty limited and
only applies to the customized programs with big
buttons. Once you get to the regular Windows Mobile
programs, you have to take out the stylus to press
those small buttons, right? Au contraire mon
frère! This new TouchFLO screen actually understands
what your finger is trying to press and seems to average the
large surface area around the center of your finger
in order to activate the smaller buttons. Furthermore,
push-scrolling has been implemented across the
board. As soon as you come to a screen that requires
scrolling, just push in the middle with your thumb
and drag it around. You can even flick it to scroll
quickly.
The push scrolling is a lot of fun, but when it comes down to actually finding a contact, typing in their name is much faster and easier. The T9 PhonePad shown here was installed separately and is NOT INCLUDED.
The other coolest thing about the Touch may not be as apparent in its marketing materials. The Touch is VERY SMALL. This is the smallest Pocket PC Phone I've ever seen. Normally, if I want to travel light, I'll slip my SIM card into the HTC StarTrek (the smallest Windows Mobile Smartphone around). However, the Touch is even thinner than the StarTrek, and only a bit wider, thus making it extremely pocket friendly. As for it's specifications, it's got Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi b/g, 201Mhz TI 850 OMAP CPU, 128Mb ROM, 64Mb RAM, Windows Mobile 6 Professional, 2.8" 240x320px 64K color screen, Triband GSM/EDGE and a 2Mp camera.
Device |
Size (inches) |
Weight (grams | ounces) |
4.44" x 2.47" x 0.52"
|
132 | 4.65 |
|
4.44" x 2.27" x 0.63"
|
156 | 5.61 |
|
4.74" x 2.63" x 0.43"
|
157 | 5.53 |
|
4.33" x 2.09" x 0.59"
|
117 | 4.12 |
|
4.66" x 2.48" x 0.47"
|
130 | 4.58 |
|
4.56" x 2.33" x 0.67"
|
188 | 6.63 |
|
4.64" x 2.36" x 0.48"
|
129 | 4.55 |
|
3.96" x 2.34" x 0.67"
|
133 | 4.76 |
|
4.68" x 2.44" x 0.67"
|
188 | 6.63 |
|
4.58" x 2.42" x 0.47"
|
120 | 4.20 |
|
4.56" x 2.33" x 0.65"
|
178 | 6.28 |
|
3.92" x 2.41" x 0.60"
|
137 | 4.83 |
|
4.24" x 2.09" x 0.53"
|
117 | 4.12 |
|
4.17" x 2.00" x 0.85"
|
151 | 5.34 |
|
4.41" x 2.24" x 0.49"
|
122 | 4.30 |
|
4.57" x 1.70" x 0.64"
|
140 | 4.94 |
|
4.88" x 2.44" x 0.53"
|
130 | 4.56 |
|
4.21" x 2.20" x 0.55"
|
120 | 4.20 |
|
4.53" x 2.47" x 0.47"
|
146 | 5.15 |
|
4.63" x 2.19" x 0.67"
|
158 | 5.57 |
|
4.35" x 2.07" x 0.67"
|
158 | 5.57 |
|
4.56" x 2.41" x 0.51"
|
125 | 4.41 |
|
4.44" x 2.36" x 0.55"
|
133 | 4.69 |
|
4.01" x 1.98" x 0.55"
|
124 | 4.37 |
|
8.28" x 4.67" x 1.08"
|
640 | 22.5 |
|
4.48" x 2.52" x 0.59"
|
154 | 5.43 |
|
4.17" x 2.38" x 0.68"
|
147 | 5.18 |
|
4.01" x 2.00" x 0.71"
|
165 | 5.82 |
|
4.41" x 2.24" x 0.49"
|
122 | 4.30 |
|
4.41" x 2.28" x 0.73"
|
140 | 4.94 |
|
4.01" x 2.00" x 0.45"
|
110 | 3.88 |
|
4.56" x 2.36" x 0.70" |
200 | 7.05 |
|
4.30" x 2.40" x 0.60" |
120 | 4.23 |
|
4.20" x 2.30" x 0.60" |
136 | 4.79 |
|
3.70" x 2.30" x 0.60" |
126 | 4.44 |
|
4.48" x 2.39" x 0.51" |
116 | 4.09 |
|
4.60" x 2.60" x 0.50"
|
134 | 4.70
|
|
4.10" x 2.10" x 0.60" |
150 | 5.30 |
|
4.40" x 2.32" x 0.75" |
190 | 6.70 |
(all images link to higher resolution)
Yes, it's that small.
WHAT'S IN
THE BOX
The HTC Touch comes with a USB sync cable, AC
adapter, stereo headphones with talk button/mic/volume
control, leather pouch,
screen protector, software CD including ActiveSync
and a trial version of Microsoft Outlook 2007,
extensive full color
manual, Getting Started guide, CD containing 3rd
party software, an extra stylus, and a 1Gb MicroSD
card. The adhesive
screen protector is key since you're going to be
doing alot of rubbing and touching on the screen,
and the inclusion of a 1Gb MicroSD card was an
excellent addition. 1Gb MicroSD cards retail for
about $8 these days, so I'm sure it was no big deal
to include one. Me, I'll just drop my 2Gb MicroSD card into it instead.
The packaging for the HTC Touch is very nicely designed.
The Touch comes with an illustration stuck to it's screen showing you how to activate the 3D TouchFLO launcher with your finger.
THE DEVICE
The HTC Touch continues HTC's
implementation of a soft-touch rubbery covering
which was originally
introduced with the HTC Prophet (i-mate
JAMin). The Touch's body isn't quite as soft as
the T-Mobile Wing, but it is softer than the
Prophet. I have been a fan of this soft-touch body
covering since the beginning and the Touch is no
exception.
Using the Touch as an MP3 player on the train works great.
In terms of hardware buttons on the front, all you've got are two tiny black Answer/End buttons and a directional navigation button with a big action button in the middle.
On the left side, there's a volume slider and a lanyard hole.
At the bottom, you'll see a soft reset hole, the ExtUSB connector, and a microphone hole. The ExtUSB connector is used for everything including Audio, Charging, and Syncing.
The right side includes a camera button and the stylus silo at the top. The silver area in the middle here is also a flap that opens to reveal the SIM card slot and MicroSD Memory card slot.
The top end of the HTC Touch only has a power button.
On the back is the 2 Megapixel camera, along with the reflection mirror and speaker grill.
The MicroSD card and SIM card slots are underneath a flap on the side. You have to take the battery cover off in order to open the flap.
The LED indicators are actually within the speaker grill.
Here you'll see from left to right, the Qtek 8500, HTC P3300, T-Mobile Wing, and HTC Touch.
Here you can see a comparison of the thickness. On top is the Qtek 8500, then the HTC Touch, the HTC P3300, and the T-Mobile Wing on the bottom. You can see the HTC Touch is significantly smaller than the other Pocket PC type devices here.
The screen looks great when you're indoors, but if you take this outside, the screen becomes very difficult if not impossible to see even on its highest brightness setting. If you look closely you can see that the weather report on my Today screen does in fact indicate that it is sunny outside.
