HTC Leading the Way with Touch HD2; Daylight Savings Time Patch

I’ve already covered the HD2 quite a bit, even though it isn’t out yet. The news is that it’s going to be officially announced November 4. Plus, coinciding with this is a new push from HTC to become a consumer brand. Which is good, because the company is leading the way in hardware and in developing a touch interface for Windows Mobile devices. This week we’ll cover HTC’s higher profile and new device, as well as note the release of a free Daylight Savings Time patch.

Daylight Savings Time Patch

If your appointments got a bit missed up over the weekend (and there are reports online of this happening), you’ll want to download the free Daylight Savings Time patch from Microsoft. It’s for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices and higher.

Your phone automatically changed to the new time, but the problem comes because different countries make the switch at different times. (And Arizona doesn’t switch at all.) This can confuse things on your device if you visit one of these areas or exchange a meeting request with someone there. The patch coordinates everything.

Be sure to read the associated text. It’s important that you uninstall an earlier patch first.

HTC HD2 To Be Announced November 4

I feel it’s important to follow this development because it’s sort of an iPhone-like game changer. HTC has for some time manufactured many of the major Windows Mobile devices, but they’ve always been sort of in the background. Now they’re intent on becoming a consumer brand. They’ve recently started a global advertising campaign, including TV commercials such as this and this. And their HD Touch Pro2, with a slideout QWERTY keyboard is likely the most popular Windows Mobile phone, with all the major carriers in the U.S. offering a version.

The new HD2 is more in the vein of the iPhone, but has a lot of innovations that put it ahead of other Windows Mobile devices. It has a 4.3-inch capacitive display and HTC’s new TouchFLO 3D2 interface, now called Sense. Until now, all Windows Mobile devices that use touch have a pressure-sensitive display, but the capacitive display (which the iPhone uses) senses your finger’s electrostatic charge. The HD2 is the first Windows Mobile device to have a capacitive display. It’s thought to be more responsive and capable of multitouch, and more viewable in daylight.

According to PocketNow, the HD2 will be announced November 4. Many videos of the HTC HD2 are surfacing, mostly in other languages. Here’s an unboxing video from Solopalmari, a hands-on video from a Greek Windows Mobile website that demonstrates the multitouch capability, a video that demos the GPS app (including multitouch), and a demo from Coolblue.

HTC Sense Interface

HTC is also leading the way with its Sense interface. PocketNow has a pre-production version of the new Sense interface running on an already-released device and has demoed many of its features. This video gives you a tour. And these videos and screenshots show you the new interface’s SMS threading, SMS management, album view, Internet tab, people tab, and selecting text.