It's pretty easy to forget that when HTC first announced the Touch HD back in September, they also mentioned a couple of other handsets: The Touch 3G and the Touch Viva. Well, yesterday HTC officially launched the middle model for Australia - The Touch 3G - along with a refreshed version of the original Touch. Strangely, both models utilise the TouchFLO 2D software to try and hide Windows Mobile 6.1, not the TouchFLO 3D we saw in the Touch Diamond. And, obviously, the Touch 3G is HSDPA compliant, although not on NextG's 850Mhz frequency. The 3G has an RRP of $799, while the refreshed Touch is sitting at $599. And for those of you desperate for the Touch HD, HTC reckon they're working for a Q1 2009 launch, although nothing is confirmed at this stage...

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Good news for people looking for a smartphone that isn't made by Apple - the HTC Touch Diamond is now available through Telstra.

For a Windows Mobile device, this is one of the best available, thanks to the fact that TouchFlo 3D essentially hides WinMo deep within its interface.

Being a Telstra exclusive (at the moment), it's only available on an $80 plan over 24 months (or $999 outright), which as you'd expect from the big T, doesn't include any real data allowances ($10 on a business plan). Considering that HTC were pushing this as a real web browsing machine when they launched it in Australia, that's (another) missed opportunity from Telstra.

Hopefully the other networks will remedy the situation when the exclusive arrangement ends in a couple of months...

[Telstra]

I'm still working on the full review, but I wanted to give everyone an update on that performance fix that was released last week for the HTC Touch Diamond. I installed the new ROM (it was easy, just run the executable on your PC), and now TouchFLO is noticeably faster. It's still not instant, but it's definitely improved to the point where it's usable and you won't really mind it. Yeah, it's passed that bar. I'd even say that it's just as fast as the iPhone. Current owners will be able to upgrade to the newer official ROM soon.

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HTC's installing an updated ROM on all the Touch Diamonds they're shipping out in Europe now, which hopefully will fix the sluggish TouchFLO 3D issues we noticed in our preliminary hands on. We're trying to track down some kinda download link so current owners can get in on the slightly-less-slow action, and we'll update if we find one. If you've got a lead, let us know. [Unwired via Boy Genius]

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The Taipei times quotes HTC's own financial executive Cheng Hui-ming at an investor's conference as saying they will launch "the most important product for HTC this year" at an event on May 6. Cheng wasn't too forthcoming with details, but it seems like it's going to be a "Touch" phone—as in one of the HTC Touch models—and be called the "Diamond". He says that it's going to be so good, he's "confident of landing orders from most major carriers," but warned about possible delays because they haven't gotten certification for the phone yet. Sounds very interesting. Could it be this phone? [Taipei Times via Engadget]

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HTC's TouchFLO UI was great because it was one of the first "skin Windows Mobile to make it usable" applications—even if it isn't quite as good as PointUI. This supposed TouchFlo 2.0 upgrade looks much improved, even if it is still early in the development stage. If you're feeling brave you can actually try and install it on your own phone and give it a shot. We hope this new version covers up more of the Windows Mobile UI than the original, which was basically just a shortcut launcher system to get you into the ugly, bloody guts of the phone. [HTCInsider via The Unwired via PhoneMag]

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HTC's Touch, the touchscreen (TouchFLO) phone from Windows Mobile maker HTC will be launching in Taiwan first, and then making its US debut sometime before the end of the year. – Jason Chen Review [Gizmodo] Taiwan [Unwired View] US [Unwired View]

When's the last time you saw anyone make the slightest bit of innovation on the input scheme for Windows Mobile? Never? We thought so. But that's just what HTC's done with their TouchFLO app on the new Touch smartphone. TouchFLO actually lets you use the pads of your fingers—not just the tip like a stylus—to control things on the phone. First, let's get the question everyone's asking out of the way. No, this is not an iPhone killer. It's not even close to being an iPhone killer. The TouchFLO app—which is the majority of where your touching is going to take place—is just a fancy launcher app on top of the Today street. Once you get past there and into the meat of Windows Mobile 6, there's not much touching to be had. And if you hate Windows Mobile, you'll still hate Windows Mobile. That's not to say this isn't a step in the right direction.

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