HTC Touch Diamond
Encyclopedia
The HTC Touch Diamond, also known as the HTC P3700 or its codename the HTC Diamond, is a Windows Mobile 6.1-powered Pocket PC
designed and manufactured by HTC. It is the first device to feature TouchFLO 3D
- a new version of the TouchFLO
interface, unique to the Touch family. The HTC Touch Diamond was first available in Hong Kong
in late May 2008. It was available across all major European carriers in June 2008, and later in the year in other parts of the world. The American
Touch Diamond was launched on September 14, 2008 on the Sprint
network, and April 10, 2009 on the Verizon Wireless
network. The Europe
an release date was slightly delayed by a last-minute ROM update. The carrier bound names for this phone include T-Mobile MDA Compact IV, O2 XDA Diamond and O2 XDA Ignito. It is the official successor of the HTC Touch
. The successor to the Touch Diamond - the HTC Touch Diamond2
- was announced in February 2009 for Q2 2009 release outside the US and Q4 release estimated for North America.
HTC opted for resistive technology for the touchscreen. The reason cited by Horace Luke, HTC's Chief Innovation Officer, was that the resistive touch screen is better for Asian character recognition
. However, the buttons beneath the screen, as well as being pressable buttons, have capacitive touch sensitivity. This feature is used by the camera application to auto-focus the camera as a finger approaches to press the button that will take a picture.
Luke also noted that this is the thinnest device that HTC has designed to date.
Some people find that the Touch Diamond's battery life is too short. Consequently, batteries offering double the capacity of the included battery are being sold by third parties and HTC itself sells an extended battery with 50% extra capacity.
The screen turns itself off when a person is on a call. This is to prevent the screen accepting unwanted inputs from the user's face when they are making a call, but it also requires the user to turn the screen back on if they want to use the screen. Removing the stylus when in a phone call both turns on the screen and starts up the notes application (if so selected as an option by the user).
, the following additional software is included on the Diamond:
The Touch Diamond uses HTC's unique TouchFLO 3D
user interface. This interface makes it easier for users to accomplish common tasks using their fingers rather than a stylus. TouchFLO 3D consists of tabs, and the user switches between tabs by sliding his or her finger along the row of tabs at the bottom of the screen. The 10 tabs are:
Each tab has two soft key
s which provide access to functions associated with a tab or tab customisation (the 'More' softkey usually takes the user to the applicable Windows Mobile
-menu). The background of the Home tab can be customised via the Settings tab.
as its default Web browser
, though Internet Explorer, a standard part of Windows Mobile, is also included. It offers features such as tabbed browsing, improved zoom features, and text reflow. The browser can change the orientation of the page between portrait and landscape modes depending on the way the accelerometer senses the device is being held (not in Internet Explorer). Opera is also capable of downloading any file directly to the device, as long as the device's internal storage has enough free space.
of the Touch Diamond in which the player guides a ball to a target by tilting the device, avoiding obstacles such as walls and holes. The device vibrates when the ball hits a wall, giving the illusion that a real ball is inside the device.
, which took 5 months to reach the same milestone. HTC consequently raised its sales projection for 2008 from two to three million units.
Pocket PC
A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
designed and manufactured by HTC. It is the first device to feature TouchFLO 3D
TouchFLO 3D
TouchFLO 3D is a graphical user interface designed by HTC. It is used in the HTC Touch Family of Pocket PCs and was preceded by TouchFLO. TouchFLO 3D has been ported to Windows Mobile and Android, and is used in the HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch HD, HTC MAX 4G, HTC Touch Diamond2 and...
- a new version of the TouchFLO
TouchFLO
TouchFLO refers to the user interface before the existence of HTC Sense. TouchFLO and TouchFLO 3D have been retired in favor of HTC Sense....
interface, unique to the Touch family. The HTC Touch Diamond was first available in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
in late May 2008. It was available across all major European carriers in June 2008, and later in the year in other parts of the world. The American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Touch Diamond was launched on September 14, 2008 on the Sprint
Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...
network, and April 10, 2009 on the Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
network. The Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an release date was slightly delayed by a last-minute ROM update. The carrier bound names for this phone include T-Mobile MDA Compact IV, O2 XDA Diamond and O2 XDA Ignito. It is the official successor of the HTC Touch
HTC Touch
The HTC Touch, also known as the HTC P3450 or its codename the HTC Elf, is a Windows Mobile 6-powered Pocket PC designed and manufactured by HTC. Its main, unique feature is a user interface named TouchFLO that detects a sweeping motion and can distinguish between a finger and a stylus...
. The successor to the Touch Diamond - the HTC Touch Diamond2
HTC Touch Diamond2
The HTC Touch Diamond2, a mobile phone designed by the HTC Corporation, is the successor to the popular HTC Touch Diamond. It is also known by its codename, the HTC Topaz. It is released with Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1, but can be upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.5...
- was announced in February 2009 for Q2 2009 release outside the US and Q4 release estimated for North America.
Hardware
Chinese input methods for computers
Hundreds of Chinese input methods are available for entry of Chinese characters into computers, but most keyboard-based methods rely on either pinyin phonetic readings or root shapes in Chinese characters...
. However, the buttons beneath the screen, as well as being pressable buttons, have capacitive touch sensitivity. This feature is used by the camera application to auto-focus the camera as a finger approaches to press the button that will take a picture.
Luke also noted that this is the thinnest device that HTC has designed to date.
Some people find that the Touch Diamond's battery life is too short. Consequently, batteries offering double the capacity of the included battery are being sold by third parties and HTC itself sells an extended battery with 50% extra capacity.
The screen turns itself off when a person is on a call. This is to prevent the screen accepting unwanted inputs from the user's face when they are making a call, but it also requires the user to turn the screen back on if they want to use the screen. Removing the stylus when in a phone call both turns on the screen and starts up the notes application (if so selected as an option by the user).
Software
In addition to the standard features of Windows MobileWindows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
, the following additional software is included on the Diamond:
TouchFLO 3D
TouchFLO 3D
TouchFLO 3D is a graphical user interface designed by HTC. It is used in the HTC Touch Family of Pocket PCs and was preceded by TouchFLO. TouchFLO 3D has been ported to Windows Mobile and Android, and is used in the HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch HD, HTC MAX 4G, HTC Touch Diamond2 and...
user interface. This interface makes it easier for users to accomplish common tasks using their fingers rather than a stylus. TouchFLO 3D consists of tabs, and the user switches between tabs by sliding his or her finger along the row of tabs at the bottom of the screen. The 10 tabs are:
- Home - Displays the date and time, the time the alarm is set for, any missed calls, and upcoming calendar appointments. Flicking the clock upwards reveals more appointments.
- People - Shows pictures of contacts in a rolodex style which can be flipped through. An alternate slider bar of contacts is also included on the right side of the tab for faster browsing.
- Messages - Displays the 25 last received text messages that fly on and off screen.
- Mail - Displays received email messages, from up to 4 different email accounts, in an envelope. Individual emails may be flipped through.
- Internet - Displays a link to open the Opera web browser, bookmarks to favorite websites, and a built-in YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
application. - Photos and Videos - Shows photos and videos that can be flipped through, and buttons to launch the camera to take pictures and record video.
- Music - Displays cover art of music that flips through in a linear format. Music can be played directly from the tab, and can be forwarded/rewound by touching the progress slider. The library, which can be accessed pressing the Left Softkey, also uses the TouchFLO 3D interface to allow users to sort music by:
- Now Playing
- Artists
- Albums
- Playlists
- All Songs
- Genres
- Composers
- Purchased
- Weather - Displays weather for up to 10 cities, including a 5-day forecastWeather forecastingWeather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
. - Settings - Provides access to the following system settings:
- Sync Data - to start ActiveSync
- Sound - to change the ringtone and profile settings
- Wallpaper - to set the background image of the Home tab
- Communications - to turn Airplane Mode, Phone, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi on or off
- Data - to change weather download settings
- About - displays TouchFLO 3D version information
- Programs - Displays a grid of 18 programsComputer programA computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
that the user can choose to allow them to launch programs quickly. A list of every program installed on the device is also available.
Each tab has two soft key
Soft key
A soft key is a button flexibly programmable to invoke any of a number of functions rather than being associated with a single fixed function or a fixed set of functions. A soft key is often located alongside a display device of a portable device such as a cellular phone, where the button invokes a...
s which provide access to functions associated with a tab or tab customisation (the 'More' softkey usually takes the user to the applicable Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
-menu). The background of the Home tab can be customised via the Settings tab.
Opera
The Touch Diamond uses Opera MobileOpera Mobile
Opera Mobile is a web browser for smartphones and PDA's developed by the Opera Software company. The first version was released in 2000 for the Psion Series 7 and netBook. Today, it is available for a variety of devices that run on Android, S60, Windows Mobile, Maemo , and MeeGo...
as its default Web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
, though Internet Explorer, a standard part of Windows Mobile, is also included. It offers features such as tabbed browsing, improved zoom features, and text reflow. The browser can change the orientation of the page between portrait and landscape modes depending on the way the accelerometer senses the device is being held (not in Internet Explorer). Opera is also capable of downloading any file directly to the device, as long as the device's internal storage has enough free space.
YouTube
The Touch Diamond includes a YouTube program that allows users to search for videos, maintain a list of their favorite videos, and view featured videos.Teeter
Teeter is a videogame utilizing the accelerometerAccelerometer
An accelerometer is a device that measures proper acceleration, also called the four-acceleration. This is not necessarily the same as the coordinate acceleration , but is rather the type of acceleration associated with the phenomenon of weight experienced by a test mass that resides in the frame...
of the Touch Diamond in which the player guides a ball to a target by tilting the device, avoiding obstacles such as walls and holes. The device vibrates when the ball hits a wall, giving the illusion that a real ball is inside the device.
Android
The XDAndroid project makes it possible to run Android on HTC Windows Mobile phones, including the Touch Diamond.Sales
Over one million units were shipped in six weeks, compared to the HTC TouchHTC Touch
The HTC Touch, also known as the HTC P3450 or its codename the HTC Elf, is a Windows Mobile 6-powered Pocket PC designed and manufactured by HTC. Its main, unique feature is a user interface named TouchFLO that detects a sweeping motion and can distinguish between a finger and a stylus...
, which took 5 months to reach the same milestone. HTC consequently raised its sales projection for 2008 from two to three million units.
See also
- TouchFLOTouchFLOTouchFLO refers to the user interface before the existence of HTC Sense. TouchFLO and TouchFLO 3D have been retired in favor of HTC Sense....
- TouchFLO 3DTouchFLO 3DTouchFLO 3D is a graphical user interface designed by HTC. It is used in the HTC Touch Family of Pocket PCs and was preceded by TouchFLO. TouchFLO 3D has been ported to Windows Mobile and Android, and is used in the HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch HD, HTC MAX 4G, HTC Touch Diamond2 and...
- HTC Touch FamilyHTC Touch FamilyThe HTC Touch family is a family of Pocket PCs designed and manufactured by HTC Corporation. This family is in the process of being built up, and its slogan is Discover Touchnology.-List of models:The members of the family, in order of release, are:...
- Information applianceInformation applianceIn general terms, an information appliance or information device is any machine or device that is usable for the purposes of computing, telecommunicating, reproducing, and presenting encoded information in myriad forms and applications....
- Technological convergenceTechnological convergenceTechnological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks. Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice , data , and video that now share resources and interact with each other synergistically.The rise of...
- Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1The Xperia X1 is a high-end smartphone from Sony Ericsson, and is the first in the manufacturer's Xperia series. The X1 was first presented at the 2008 Mobile World Congress.- Basics :...
