The Touch Diamond/Pro Tips and Tricks Guide
October 15, 2008
Article by: pocketnow.com

A very bold project from HTC, the HTC Touch Diamond, has shipped it's 1 millionth piece in August 2008, just three months shy from it's release, all this without even launching it in the USA. Same company predicts, in the same bold way, to cross the 2 million barrier by the end of 2008. This makes it the most popular of the HTC devices ...and Diamond for everyone!

Then came the HTC Touch Pro (Raphael), more or less the same product, larger battery, a bit faster, microSD card slot, the bigger brother for the Diamond, launched the same month Diamond hit 1 million sells.

These two smartphones are considered the most important products from HTC for the year 2008.  They're very powerful, but the manuals only scratch the surface as to how much potential these devices actually have. We've put together the most comprehensive, complete and organized list of Tips and Tricks for the two forementioned devices, that will help you get the most out of them. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did putting it together, and feel free to respond in the discussion thread and suggest additions!

  • Reference Terms
    • Accelerometer - aka G-Sensor or Motion Sensor: hardware that translates device movement in order to make the device aware of it's position on a 3D axis of inclination.
    • CID lock: (aka vendor lock): put on your device by the manufacturer to prevent installation of a ROM not released by them.
    • Flashing: the procedure of upgrading the firmware which is done mainly by connecting to the PC and running the RUU.
    • HardSPL:  A modified bootloader that allows a much safer flashing process to take place since it reduces the chance of permanently bricking your device. It also removes the need to CID Unlock the device since it ALWAYS reports SuperCID when flashing. See the official thread for more info.
    • Radio: The radio stack is responsible for the phone functionality of the device. This includes GPRS, GSM, UMTS, and GPS operations as well as camera functionality. The version you use depends on who your carrier is as users have reported versions working better on one carrier than the other. The wiki pages contain the latest versions available to download and install.
    • ROM - aka Read Only Memory: The ROM holds the Operating system and other components such as the bluetooth and wifi stacks. The ROM is accompanied by the Radio, Ext_ROM, SPL and IPL. Carriers such as T-mobile or Vodaphone taylor the ROM to their specifications and version numbers do not carry the same meaning across different carriers. IF the carrier you use supports the device well they will usually release regular ROM updates.
    • RUU: ROM Upgrade Utility. It's the software used on your PC to do a ROM upgrade for your PPC.
    • Smart touch wheel: the circular area around the D-Pad (see the arrows on it) that is touch sensitive and it behaves like a scroll wheel.
    • TouchFLO 3D - aka TF3D or Manila: HTC's user friendly Today plugin, running on top of the operating system, taking advantage of the accelerated 3D graphics of Diamond/Raphael
  • Basics: Out of the Box tips
    • Performance/Speed
      • Switching between panels:
        In TouchFLO 3D, touch the selected icon at the bottom and drag left/right to quickly switch between panels.

        In addition, you can flick your finger from the center to left/right to switch the Manila panels.

      • Disable Quick Menu on Today Screen - The Quick Menu is HTC Task Manager's today icon for quick access to running programs. To disable it, go to Start, Settings, System, Task Manager. Then on the Button tab, uncheck "Enable Quick Menu on the Today Screen"

    • Usability
      • Ke yboard shortcuts on the Touch Pro: The Touch Pro includes a Ctrl key that let's you use familiar Windows keyboard shortcut key combinations.
      • Messaging Application keyboard shortcuts: On the Touch Pro, you can use these keyboard shortcuts in the Messaging application. 
        Press and hold Action 
        H  List shortcuts
        A  Reply All
        R  Reply
        K  Mark Read/Unread
        F  Flag
        M  Move
        O  Forward
        D  Delete
        L  Download Message
        S  Send/Receive
      • Phone vibrates on connect: Whenever you dial a number, it vibrates when the connection has been established. In order to disable this functionality, go to Start, Settings, Personal, Phone, Advanced and tick/clear the "Vibrate device when connection is established" 
      • Magnetic stylus:

        These devices not only feature a neat magnetic stylus, but they also have a sensor telling the device the exact status of the stylus, whether it is pulled out or in place.

        A basic application for this is, when during a call, you remove the stylus and the device automatically opens the notes application. In order to disable this, you need to go to Start, Settings, Phone, Advanced and tick/clear the „when a call is connected, open the...”  box.

        Another tip is that you don't have to always press the power button in order to make your device resume from sleep/standby, just remove the stylus and it will turn on from suspend.

      • Smart touch wheel: The default actions for this are: zooming in and out in Opera Browser and Photo Album and resizing text in the default messaging application.
        see also: to give your SmartTouch wheel new abilities, make sure you install Advanced Configuration Tool  and later, see 2.a.i.
      • Accelerometer works by default in the following scenarios: in Opera and Photo Album it will rotate the screen in order to match the device orientation. When an incoming call is received, you can flip over the device face down in order to mute ring.
      • Capacitive touch sensitive buttons: the center of the D-Pad is touch sensitive and it has the following default behaviors: when taking pictures, just touch it to autofocus and press it to take the picture; when backlight is off, touch it to shine button and backlighting.
      • Switching between mass storage and ActiveSync USB modes: Diamonds allow you to select the way you connect your device to a PC or notebook. You have the options to either connect as ActiveSync, Mass Storage or Internet sharing. The mode selector pops up when you plug in the USB cable but you can select modes at Start, Settings, Connections, USB to PC and choose your defaults.
      • Touch Scrolling defaults: swipe your finger up/down in any list (may it be File explorer or Contacts) to scroll up or down without the need to press the scroll bar buttons (Extra tip: you can enable or disable ticking scrolling sounds by going to Start, Settings, System, TouchFLO and tick the"Enable sound” checkbox).
      • Easier messaging scroll: Just swipe your finger left/right to scroll through messaging accounts or emails in the Messaging application.
      • Automatic carrier settings: You bought a Diamond at BestBuy? Don't worry, it will configure the settings for you when you put your SIM card in. It is called HTC Connection Setup and has lots of operators from many countries. It will popup by itself but you can launch it manually from Start, Settings, Connections.
      • Quick GPS: download ephemeral data over your phone's internet connection in order to speed up GPS fix acquisition. 
    • Aspect
      • Change Windows Mobile themes: There's more to the device's aspect than the original black theme. Go to Start, Settings, Today, Appearance and choose from existing themes. You can also download some more to your phone and give it a little color.
      • Turn off TouchFLO 3D: You can turn off Manila for several reasons: you prefer a third party shell (like SPB Mobile Shell or ThrottleLauncher) or you want to have a classic look and gain a bit of speed. Either way, you do it at Start, Settings, Personal, Today, Items and untick TouchFLO 3D.
    • Fun
      • Play Teeter: One of the most addictive mobile games around where you need to get the metal ball in the right hole, by physically tilting your device. It takes full advantage of the accelerator. Start it from Start, Programs, Games.
    • Battery
      • Extra batteries: some can be found for as little as $10 at various online retailers.
      • Extended batteries: will increase the thickness of the device by including a larger battery and battery cover.
      • External USB chargers: these will charge your device using a wire and external battery.
  • Intermediate
    • Performance/Speed
      • Advanced Configuration Tool: an all in one tweaking utility to unleash the power of your device by adjusting some hidden system settings. Read our review for more info.  
    • Usability
      • TouchPal 3.5: If you're looking for an upgrade to the software input methods (on-screen keyboards) included with the Touch Diamond/Pro, TouchPal 3.5 includes a TouchFLO theme. Also, it's the best touch screen keyboard on any mobile device.

      • Microsoft Voice Command: Add voice recognition for phone status, dialing, launching programs, playing music, etc. Also, make your phone read emails, text messages, appointments, and caller ID names to you. - The Definitive Guide To Microsoft Voice Command  
      • TomTom GPS Navigation - Some Touch Diamond/Pro devices include the TomTom GPS navigation software. You can also install it on your own for voice guiding navigation. Other GPS Navigation programs are also available: CoPilot, iGuidance, OnCourse Navigator, etc.

      • Calculator Theme: Make your calculator look like it belongs
      • Remote Desktop: Some Diamond and Touch Pro models include a Windows Remote Desktop client that lets you log into a remote computer and use a full Windows Desktop. Options also include mapping your device's memory to the remote computer for transferring files.
      • Diamond Stopwatch:

    • Aspect
      • TF3D Config: This program lets you change the order of or remove tabs in your TouchFLO 3D interface. It also lets you change TouchFLO 3D Themes.
      • TouchFLO 3D Theme Packages: Download different TouchFLO color schemes for use with TF3D Config.
      • How to get Album Art to appear in TouchFlo 3D
      • Restore the Windows Mobile 6.1 Task Manager - Using File Explorer, browse to the Windows directory. Then find Taskmgr.exe. Tap & Hold on the file and choose Copy. Then navigate to Windows/Start Menu/Programs and choose Menu>Edit>Paste Shortcut.  Then choose Menu>Rename while the shortcut is still selected, and change the name to "Task Manager". Now the program will be available in your programs menu and you can add it to the programs tab of TouchFLO 3D
      • Customize the TouchFLO home screen clock: There is a comprehensive collection of custom clocks for the Manila interface at XDA Developers. What you need to do to have a custom clock is to find the one of your liking, download it and install it. There are two ways of installing, both need you to disable TouchFLO 3D from Start, Settings, Personal, Today, Items, and then you have to options: if the file you downloaded is a cab, just install it to DEVICE; if the file is a zip or other archive containing manila files, just copy them to \Windows folder overwriting any other files. Either way you go, soft reset when done and re-enable TouchFLO 3D today plugin.
    • Fun
  • Advanced
  • Kamikaze (WARNING: items in this category will void your warranty. We do not advise you to follow them but if you do, make it on your own risk!)
    • Performance, Speed, Balance, Usability, Aspect
      • Upgrade to HardSPL (Will void warranty): Tutorial for the Diamond.
      • Custom Radio (Will void warranty): Tutorial for the Diamond.
      • Custom ROMs (Will void warranty): Tutorial for the Diamond.
    • Physical aspect
      • Painting battery cover: since the entire back and sides of both the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro comes off as the battery cover, it's very easy to create custom paint jobs.

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