At Barcelona's recent Mobile World Congress, Verizon has just announced the upcoming release of the second generation of its version of the HTC Touch Diamond, to be better known as the HTC Touch Diamond 2.
The HTC Touch Diamond 2 now has a 3.2" widescreen VGA display screen with 480×800 pixel resolution and a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus. The new device will also be sporting the latest version of the HTC TouchFLO 3D interface, customized for ultimate compatibility with the Windows Mobile 6.1 OS (not to mention large and clumsy fingers and thumbs).
The HTC Touch Diamond2 will be released sometime in the second quarter of this year (that's sometime between now and the end of June). The new Verizon version of the HTC Touch Diamond will cost around $299, about $50 more than the Sprint version cost when it was originally released last September 2008, and about $100 more than the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond2 costs today.
With smartphones rapidly overtaking cell phones in the mobile market, it's only logical that smartphone makers are looking ahead to what will keep consumers coming back for more. As such, Information Week recently published a stellar article on the subject, peeking into the innovations popular manufacturers of the devices already glued to our collective, cultural ears are planning for making their products even "stickier".
Technology advances fast, and that's why today's experts see many amazing advances in smartphone technology in store for us in just two years from now. A chief Motorola executive summarizes it this way, by pointing out the three key trends that will alter the very "role and nature" of mobile devices to come:
content digitization
ubiquitous, global broadband
PC miniaturization
This combination of elements will define what's to come in smartphone innovation in just a matter of 24 months or less, namely in the way of:
hardware
operating systems
the internet "ecosystem"
Already, in the way of global broadband, companies like Verizon and Sprint have spread their 3G networks across the whole of the United States, with T-Mobile and AT&T not far behind.
In terms of sheer processing power and the placing of the computing power of the PC into your pants pocket, industry leader Intel is readying the new Moorestown chip, promising smartphone users even greater access to the power these increasingly faster networks offer.
And as for the world of the worldwide web, already corporate giants in other areas of technology are seeing the value of getting into the smartphone game. Consider web search giant Google, whose upcoming mobile platform Andriod is poised to revolutionize the smartphone market, engendering the creation of whole new smartphone devices by all the major manufacturers.
There's much more ahead for smartphone users, and not very far ahead at that. Stay tuned, because it's all coming soon to a smartphone near you.
Recently, Gear Diary posted an in-depth article comparing and contrasting the HTC Touch and the HTC Touch Dial.
Among the common traits both smartphones share are:
TouchFLO touchscreen technology
flush-mounted screens
an ergonomic body with a rubber grip for comfort
a minimalist design with just a D-pad and two-buttons below the screen
From there, the two smartphones start to diverge. For starters, the HTC Touch Dual has a longer and narrower face while the HTC Touch has a shorter and wider face. Which is thinner? Surprisingly, the HTC Touch, despite that the HTC Touch Dual looks thinner.
Beyond look and feel, quite likely the greatest difference between the two devices is the slide-out numeric keypad that comes only as part of the HTC Touch Dual.
Currently, however, the HTC Touch is the only one of the two available for U.S. users, with both smartphones out in European GSM models. Service on the CDMA US model of the HTC Touch is with Sprint.
Check out the entire comparison and view extensive full-color photos of both HTC smartphones, at Gear Diary.
We're all used to the typical promotion where you get a free cell phone in exchange for signing up for a set period of service. So it should come as no surprise that the same phenomenon has begun with the product representing the evolution of the cell phone - the smartphone.
CNET reported today on the Samsung BlackJack II being offered for free on Buy.com for anyone signing up for a two-year AT&T contract. While not the fastest or easiest phone to use, the Samsung BlackJack II nonetheless has some impressive qualities, including:
a GPS
a 2- megapixel camera
and AT&T HSPDA network support
Researching this phenomenon further, I found that Buy.com actually offers several smart phones for free with activation, including:
From here, I checked into how commonly this phenomenon occurred at competing cell phone and smart phone vendors and found that everybody's doing it. In addition to more of the aforementioned brand names, I also found all sorts of other smartphones (such as Sony Ericsson, Nextel, and Nokia) offered for free by all the major carriers:
AT&T (and the former Cingular)
Verizon
T-Mobile
and Sprint
Now there's a way that people on a limited budget can still afford to get a smartphone of their own (though maybe not the latest and greatest model), just by signing up for the wireless service they're going to need to get anyway.
To boot, most of the participating smartphone vendors will even throw in free shipping with the deal.
With such great deals flooding the net, and every phone manufacturer and wireless carrier competing for your hard-earned dollar, we may soon see the day when you never have to pay to obtain a smartphone again.
