True to their word, the folks at Sprint came through and put the HTC Touch Diamond up for sale today at Sprint.com, just as we said they would. Nothing’s changed since we confirmed the September 14 release date 10 days ago, and that includes the US$250 price tag, with a two-year contract, and US$100 mail-in rebate. The US$200 price point we yearned for earlier did not make a surprise appearance today. Bummer. [Sprint]
We’ve already seen phones like the HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, but according to some legit-looking internal documentation, the HTC Opal is the official sequel to the original HTC Touch. Word has it that the Opal will ship with the 3D TouchFLO interface we’ve seen in the latest HTC products (which makes sense), but unfortunately, the spec sheet dated from July shows that the Opal still lacks 3G and features the same 200MHz processor as its predecessor.
Now that the WSJ has had their run with it, Sprint has confirmed that the HTC Touch Diamond will be out on Sept. 14 for US$250 with a two-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate. Cheaper than we’d heard, but it would’ve been nice to hit the US$199 mark. [PC Mag]
We’ve been keeping you up to date on the CDMA version of HTC’s Touch Diamond, coming soon to Sprint, but the lucky buggers over at the Wall St Journal got their mitts on one ahead of its launch. It’s fatness turns out to be 15mm in size, partly due to that 1,350 mAh battery good for 4.2 hours of talk time. It comes with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition with a Sprint-customised TouchFLO interface plus a bunch of extras like Dataviz’s Documents to Go Suite, Opera browser, a YouTube app and it works with Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store. There’s also 4GB of internal memory, a 3.2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth A2DP. The price is now set at US$250, apparently, with 2-year contract, and it’s now due mid-September. [WSJ via CNET]
Obviously, if you love iTunes but do not own an iPhone, syncing your music can be frustrating. Salling Software has developed a solution to this problem with Media Sync—an app that transfers playlists, music and podcasts to a wide array of Nokia, Sony, and Sony Ericsson phones (also works in a limited fashion with the HTC Touch Diamond). The basic Windows / Mac software is free, but you will have to shell out US$22 for the fast sync version. And, naturally, it does not transfer DRM protected tunes. [Salling via Cult of Mac]
We suggested the CDMA version of the Touch Diamond had eaten all the pies last week: Now word is out on its release and Sprint and HTC have chosen not to disguise it. Oh no… they’ve dolled that large rear-end up in a striking red colour. Bizarre, though I guess its in the “if you can’t hide it, make a feature of it” school of thinking. We can at least partly forgive its 13.9mm depth, though, which is due to a 1350mAh battery. It’s due out August 28th on Sprint, costing US$549 for the bare phone, and US$299 on a two-year contract. [Unwiredview via NewLaunches]
Most of us can size up the functionality of a phone from its spec sheet, but a phone’s practicality, usability and enjoyability falls to a whole other series of factors. Form factor is a biggie. In this clip, you’ll see the Treo Pro literally sized up against the smartphone competition (including the Palm Centro, Motorola Q9H, the BlackBerry Bold, the iPhone 3G, the HTC Touch Diamond and more. If you’re at work and can’t play the audio track, just turn it off and you’ll still get most of the effect. [CrackBerry] UPDATE: Video after jump:
Over at BoyGeniusReports is this leaked shot of what’s allegedly the CDMA version of HTC’s fabby Touch Diamond mobile phone. And oh boy, oh boy… that’s one phone that’s not been on a diet: compared to the GSM version sitting on top of it it’s one big ugly fat fellow. Apparently it’s actually “more comfortable to hold,” but you’ve got to wonder about the weight of the gizmo, and the tightness of your pockets. [Howardforums via BGR]
If you’re reading the back of the HTC Diamond’s box, it doesn’t show some little child laughing with glee as he pinches in and out of webpages or draws with two fingers at once, in fact, it doesn’t even list multitouch as a feature at all. But just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there. When using the program NavDbgTool, HTC’s secret weapon is uncovered–the entire front case supports tandem touching:
Phone Arena got some leaked documents on the HTC Touch Diamond and HTC Touch Pro for Sprint and Verizon, and it looks like Verizon’s going to be slightly gimping their version of the Diamond. The general gist is the same with both having a 2.8-inch screen, EV-DO Rev. A, 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera, 802.11b/g, 1340mAh battery, internal GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0. What’s different is in the processor and RAM.
