HTC Touch Diamond

After spending several months researching smartphones, I purchased the HTC Touch Diamond last May. I really love it. The Diamond has all the things I want in a smartphone: a touch screen, the Windows Mobile OS, Microsoft Office Mobile, an unlocked quad-band GSM phone with 3G support (useful when I travel overseas), GPS, an MP3 player, several GBs of storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability, a high-resolution camera, and the ability to browse the Internet, and send text messages. Other phones have these features, but the Diamond stands above them because of its design and software capabilities.
 

Small, lightweight, and easy to carry


When I first opened the box, I was surprised to see how small the device was, since I was used to more bulky cell phones. The more I use it, the more pleased I am with the size and how light and easy it is to carry.


The Diamond comes with an HTC proprietary USB cable and a charger as well as a stereo earpiece that is also used as an antenna for the FM radio. I really love the stylus, which provides more accuracy than my fingers when typing e-mails or text messages, searching the Web, using programs, etc. The 2.8-inch touch screen has a smooth and pleasant feel. The 640 x 480 VGA resolution is spectacular, displaying Web site pictures almost as crisply as on a desktop computer. 


Centered below the display is the D-pad used for navigation and selecting options within applications. Flanking the D-pad are the Home, Back, Call, and End Call buttons. On the left edge of the Diamond is the volume control; the power on/off button is on the top edge. The aperture for the 3.2 megapixel camera is located on the back of the device near the top. Below it is the cover to the removable/replaceable lithium-ion battery.
 

The TouchFLO 3D interface


The HTC Touch Diamond comes with the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional software preinstalled. This includes the Windows Mobile OS, Microsoft Office Mobile (Word, Excel, OneNote, Outlook), Microsoft Direct Push for Outlook, Messenger, Media Player Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile, and more. In addition, HTC includes its own TouchFLO 3D interface, Opera 9.5 Mobile, Adobe Lite PDF Reader, a Weather station, and other apps. Finally, I have installed a number of third-party software apps, including Skype, Fringe, Windows Live Search, Google Maps, and Yahoo! Mobile.


HTC and the makers of Opera teamed up to customize the browser to take advantage of the Diamond's features. You can zoom in and out by double-tapping with your finger or stylus. Also, you can scroll up, down, and sideways by pressing with your finger or stylus and holding it down, making it very easy to navigate. 


The TouchFLO 3D interface is pretty cool and makes navigating the phone very easy. It comes with preset icons that you can swipe sideways to choose the application you want: Phone, Contacts, E-mail, Music, Camera, etc. TouchFLO also comes with an onscreen soft keyboard which you can switch from full QWERTY (best for stylus typing) to compact QWERTY (easiest for finger typing) to phone keypad. 


I really love the Microsoft Direct Push for Outlook with Exchange Server feature. I can read my company e-mail and keep my Contacts, Calendar appointments, and Tasks synchronized with the server using either ActiveSync 4.5 or a wireless data service. So the next time I open up Outlook on my computer, all those additions are already there. 


Microsoft Direct Push allows me to receive company voicemail while I'm not in the office. Our voicemail system sends an e-mail message with the caller's phone number and an attached recording of their voice message. I can both listen to the message and return the call by tapping the phone number in the message that shows up and pressing the Call button.