.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Hands-on with the HTC Touch — is it an iPhone killer?
.AUTHOR James Booth
.SUMMARY Like Germany’s aerial assault on England in World War II, Apple’s media campaign for the iPhone was a blitzkrieg. A revolution, it was to be the first mobile phone/handheld computer that operated solely by touch-interface; only it wasn’t the first. Weeks before the iPhone’s release, HTC quietly launched their Touch mobile phone.
.OTHER
Much like Germany’s aerial assault on England in World War II, Apple’s media campaign for the iPhone was a blitzkrieg. It was to be a revolution; the first mobile phone/handheld computer that operated solely by touch-interface. Not to be confused with the current and past crop of PDAs and smartphones that utilize touchscreens, the iPhone would operate on touch alone. No buttons, no stylus. Only it wasn’t the first.
Weeks before the iPhone’s release, HTC quietly launched their Touch mobile phone. Via the provider-branded devices released through service providers, and their own brand, HTC is the largest manufacturer of Windows Mobile PDAs and smartphones in the world. The Touch, shown in Figure A, is their most recent release, and a potential challenger to the iPhone.
.FIGPAIR A The HTC Touch. Is it an iPhone challenger or iPhone pretender?
.BREAK_EMAIL Touch your mouse here to learn more about HTC’s Touch.
.H1 The stats
The Touch features a 201 Mhz Texas Instruments processor running Windows Mobile 6, 128MB of flash ROM, 64MB of RAM, and a 2.8-inch, 65,000 color, 240×320 (QVGA) LCD screen.
It is a GSM/GPRS/EDGE tri-band cell phone, with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. On the back is a 2.0MP digital camera, while a microSD expansion slot rides on the side. A stylus is included, but the intended method of control is the 5-way navigator and HTC’s unique TouchFlo software. Powering it all is an 1100mAh lithium-ion battery with a purported talk time of five hours and 200 hours of standby.
.H1 The features
I won’t delve too much into Windows Mobile 6 here, that’s not really the focus of this article, but suffice it to say that it does carry some important improvements over its predecessor. Chief among them is its network setup capabilities. No longer must you manually configure your network setups for the Touch to connect to your cellular, wireless Internet, etc. It detects all available connections and automatically configures them for you. This is a major boon for those unfamiliar with network setup routines.
The Touch is one of the smallest, slimmest Windows Mobile devices on the market. Figure B shows the Touch in comparison with a Palm LifeDrive and an AT&T 8525 (HTC TyTN).
.FIGPAIR B Here are slim, slimmer, slimmest.
I didn’t immediately notice the size difference between my 8525 and the Touch. Not until I had been handling the Touch for some time, and then picked up the 8525; it felt "fat" as compared to the Touch. I did, however, immediately notice its rubber-like, nonslip casing. More and more, this kind of device has a polished alloy casing, which makes them rather slippery. So I quite enjoyed the Touch’s nonslip coating.
Like all other Windows Mobile devices, the Touch has Outlook connectivity, with Pocket versions of Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Included also is a PDF reader and full multimedia suite for viewing pictures, watching video, and jamming some tunes.
.H1 The Web
Along with the entertainment and productivity offerings, the Touch has complete Internet connectivity (depending on your service provider and subscription plan). Included for browsing is the Pocket version of Internet Explorer, of course. But it is also push-email capable, IM (instant messaging) capable with Live Messenger, and has a mobile version of Windows Live.
.H1 TouchFlo and HTC Today
The highlight of HTC’s Touch is the TouchFlo interface; the means by which you can finger-navigate the device. In truth, it’s a bit of a launcher-type application. By sweeping a finger from the bottom of the screen (at the HTC logo) to the top, the TouchFlo app, in Figure C, is opened.
.FIGPAIR C A touch brings up the TouchFlo interface.
As you can see, with the TouchFlo launcher, you can easily access many of your most-used functions and applications with the press of a finger. It’s much more though. The finger-sweep opens the Touch Cube, and through it, you can launch any of the multimedia applications as well.
Sweep your finger across the screen horizontally, and the Touch Cube rotates to the communication center. Here, you can add photo shortcuts to the nine people you contact most, place calls, send SMS, MMS, and email.
Rotate the Touch Cube again for shortcuts to six of the most-used applications: email, IE, Tasks, Calendar, SMS, and the Comm Manager. The Comm Manager is a centralized location from which to control the phone functions, push email, and all wireless connections: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPRS/EDGE.
There’s still more to TouchFlo though. You can navigate and scroll through menus, documents, and Web pages just by sliding your finger around the screen.
And finally, HTC Today. A Today plug-in, HTC Today gives you an alarm clock/notification center, local weather forecast, and a customizable quick-launcher for your favorite and most-used applications. You can find an example of HTC Today in Figure D.
.FIGPAIR D Here’s HTC’s Today plug-in.
.H1 The review
When I first took the Touch out of the box, I was instantly impressed. It’s quite light, fits in the hand just right, and I love the rubbery, nonslip coating. Another plus is the manual. As you can see in Figure E, the Touch comes with a real, live, printed and bound Owner’s Manual.
.FIGPAIR E I love a printed manual.
The HTC Today plug-in is a very nice addition. It incorporates the functions of several of the most popular third-party Today plug-ins; those featuring weather, a shortcut launcher, or a clock/alarm/reminder function. It’s such a wonderful, useful application that I would like it very much if HTC made it available as an update to all current and future device owners.
As a Windows Mobile device, the Touch functions pretty much as any other Windows Mobile device. Likewise, as a GSM phone, it functions pretty much the same as any other GSM phone. The Touch comes as an unlocked device, so your SIM card from any GSM provider in Europe, Asia, or the Americas should work. I tested it with two different providers here in the States and it worked perfectly, without any glitches at all.
The standout of the Touch is the TouchFlo system and the Touch Cube. When coupled with the 5-way navigator and the HTC Today plug-in, they truly make the Touch a stylus-free device. The built-in ability to easily finger-navigate to any of your most-used applications and contacts make the Touch a revolution in the PDA/mobile phone market; and all before the iPhone.
If you’ve been hesitant to dive into the PDA market because you’re not familiar with Windows Mobile, the Touch may be a good introduction for you. The Touch interface allows you to utilize all of the essential functions while learning Windows Mobile.
I’ve saved one of the best aspects of HTC’s Touch for last; the microSD card. HTC has actually been kind enough to include a 1GB microSD card with the Touch. This was a first for me; I’ve never before encountered a manufacturer that included the expansion media with the device.
.H1 The benchmarks
In this section, I will detail the benchmark tests I performed on the Touch, as compared to similar devices currently on the market. All benchmark testing was done using Spb Benchmark.
In the battery test, the Touch ran at maximum backlight brightness and continuous normal usage for five hours and thirty-eight minutes; right in the timeframe projected by HTC.
My single biggest disappointment, well, my only disappointment really, was how slow it performed. It was like I was back using a Palm device again. You can see what I mean in Figure F, which details the overall benchmark speed, CPU speed, File system speed, and IE page-load speed.
.FIGPAIR F The Touch didn’t perform well in these tests.
Figure G shows the Graphics and Storage Card benchmarks, the two tests the Touch performed well in.
.FIGPAIR G The Touch did well in these tests.
Although the Touch performed well in the graphics test, probably due to its strong focus on a graphical interface, I found the overall performance a bit slow for my tastes.
My initial thought on the Touch, and its Apple cousin the iPhone, was that it would appeal primarily to the techie set, and not the general public. Having actually used the Touch though, my feelings are now quite the opposite.
I don’t think the techies would be happy with how slow it runs, but I do think it would be a good introduction for those looking to move up to a PDA phone/smartphone from their regular mobile phone. The Touch retails for $600.00 US, and can be purchased from Amazon.com, among other retailers. Check the HTC site for retailers in your particular country and location. Overall, I rate the HTC Touch at 3 out of 5.
.RATING 3
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Learn more about [[http://www.htc.com/product/03-product_htctouch.htm|the HTC Touch]].
Learn more about the [[http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?device=AT%26T+8525&q_sku=sku970003|AT&T 8525]].
Learn more about [[http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/specials/iPhoneCenter.html|the Apple iPhone]].
Learn more about [[http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/benchmark/?en|Spb Benchmark]].
.END_SIDEBAR
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.BIO
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