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Jason Dunn
06-07-2007, 11:34 PM
Courtesy of HTC, I received an HTC Touch yesterday afternoon - being in Canada I was a bit behind schedule from most other sites - but I'm happy to bring to you a video of the HTC Touch being unboxed, along with a running commentary from yours truly, shot on a <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=177&modelid=14869">Canon HV20</a> (man, what a camera!). My commentary was so...comment-heavy, I blasted right through the 10 minute limit on standard YouTube accounts, and even though I thought I had a Director account without that limit, after uploading the 99 MB file (which took a while), and waiting for YouTube to process it (which also took a while), they rejected the video for being too long. So I went back and edited it into two pieces, re-uploaded, waited for processing (two hours for both parts), and finally, here we are with part one:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yTxVk0zVxbU"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yTxVk0zVxbU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br />[somehow it's missing the intro text, I'm not sure what happened there]<br /><br />Here's part two:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3xo3GzhtiIc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3xo3GzhtiIc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />YouTube quality is just horrific, isn't it? Remember how I shot it on the Canon HV20? It worked quite well with Vista, minus some driver issues - look for a review on Digital Media Thoughts. The YouTube videos have the black bars on top and bottom because I shot it in 16:9 format. I was initially hoping to upload a nice wide-screen high-definition video, but even after converting it to 1280 x 720 at 6 mbps WMV, it was still huge (567 MB). <br /><br />I experimented with a few formats, and ended up picking a wide-format 720 x 480 video at 3 mbps as the compromise format. The file in question is still 297 MB in size, but the quality is quite good [go full screen when watching it]. If you have the patience to wait for the download (our server should be up to the task), <a href="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/ppct/2007/HTC-Touch-Unboxing.wmv">go ahead and download it</a>.<br /><br />As a side note, I'm curious to hear what you think of me using video to review a device rather than writing about it. On the plus side, these one-take videos can be cranked out faster than a 3000 word review. On the negative side, they can be a bit tedious of the reviewer in question (me) starts to ramble or says "Uh" too many times. I'll definitely be doing another video to show how the HTC Touch actually functions (it's quite impressive), but moving forward I want to know what you think about video as a method of presentation. Yes? No? Suggestions for improvement?

palur
06-08-2007, 01:17 AM
Good Job Jason :D
Very nice flow of thoughts on unboxing of Touch. I have HV20 and it is marvellous. What is the screen size of Touch? It looked it is more than 2.8".
Waiting to see Touch in action.
Thank you.

mattbugz
06-08-2007, 01:34 AM
Very cool. Can't wait for the video review of the OS. I'm curious to know how it performs with the processor.

Video reviews are definitely more entertaining, but it's kind of nice to see things in print (err...text).

rolajos
06-08-2007, 01:49 AM
Good video!
You did mention that this device can't listen through headphones and charge at the same time. On the other hand you could have mentioned that there are accessories that let you do exactly that.
Of course too bad HTC did not included it in the box like they did with the tytn/8525.

Good job with the whole process though.

Rod3
06-08-2007, 02:01 AM
I enjoyed the video a lot. Looking forward to seeing the next one. This device is beginning to intrigue me a lot, thanks to that video. Until I saw it in your hand, I didn't think I would be interested. I like the size, and love the thin-ness. Wouldn't have gotten such a good idea of it just from a text.

extravagant
06-08-2007, 02:25 AM
what a bad handset....no qwerty, no gps, the audio port is horrible.....how is this thing suppose to compete with the iPhone....it can't.

volwrath
06-08-2007, 03:09 AM
what a bad handset....no qwerty, no gps, the audio port is horrible.....how is this thing suppose to compete with the iPhone....it can't.

I could say the same thing about the iphone as compared to my treo 700wx. no hardware keyboard, no 3g data, only available on at&amp;t, locked, rumours of a buried sim card, lack of 3rd party software.... how is the iphone supposed to compete... it cant...

see that was easy :twisted:

In all fairness, the iphone does look interesting, but no way I or many others will switch to cingular for it. Ill keep my $5 evdo high speed network :P


Also the HTC looks pretty interesting as well. I want to see more of it. As far as the video goes, I like it, especially if you offer higher quality downloads. Of course dont forget about the screen shots

JesterMania
06-08-2007, 04:35 AM
what a bad handset....no qwerty, no gps, the audio port is horrible.....how is this thing suppose to compete with the iPhone....it can't.

I could say the same thing about the iphone as compared to my treo 700wx. no hardware keyboard, no 3g data, only available on at&amp;t, locked, rumours of a buried sim card, lack of 3rd party software.... how is the iphone supposed to compete... it cant...

see that was easy :twisted:

I totally agree, sometimes looking at the pure specs isn't enough to judge a device. The Palm Treo 7xx series is very popular/successful and it is by no means the most powerful Pocket PC you can get - with 32mb RAM and 300MHz processor in earlier units. We also have to keep in mind that different devices are aimed at different types of buyers. Pocket PCs - as with anything else practically, have lower-end models for more budget-oriented users and higher-end models for those of us wanting more power, a simple concept not very hard to master :wink: . Not every new Pocket PC released will contain cutting-edge power. This is called price discrimination where a firm attempts to capture more of the market by catering to different needs/price ranges. A prime example is why Microsoft markets like 3-4 different versions of Windows XP.

And, the video was fantastic, I thoroughly enjoyed the unboxing. I think video reviews and written reviews each have their pros. The pro of doing a video review is that you can see everything hands-on while the pro of doing a written review is that the numbers/graphs and data are right in front of you and it's easier to scan through quickly. 8)

midtoad
06-08-2007, 04:51 AM
Actually I'm in favour of the quick 'n' dirty YouTube videos. The big advantage of the video is to see the device in action, even if it's just turning it over, turning it on, and doing a few things with it. As a previous reader said, it wasn't until he saw the live video that he became interested in it. This is especially true of a device like the Touch which has the gesture recognition.

Even though I have a broadband connection, I'm not really interested in a half-GB download just to look at a phone. And of course, you've just excluded anyone on dial-up or Shaw Lite from being to see the phone.

If you want high-quality images, why not save those for a few high-res photos of specific details?

Your time, which is valuable, which you took to create the high-res video might have been more productively spent in setting down some thoughts and specs in print to accompany the quick look video (though undoubtedly this was a bit of an experiment for you and had some value for that alone).

cheers
S

T-Will
06-08-2007, 06:21 AM
Video reviews are the way to go, the viewer can get a much better idea of the size and feel of a device with someone actually showing and explaining the device rather than just showing pictures and writing about it.

bmurphy
06-08-2007, 08:13 AM
Thanks for the great video- I downloaded and watched the excellent unboxing video... and thoroughly enjoyed watching it- now I'll have to keep a watch out for the next video review! Is this a smart phone that Telus will allow using? I have a longing for the HTC Advantage (combining the Ppc with a bigger screen), for I want to go larger, rather than smaller... but it isn't supported by my carrier. Since it's purpose is to replace- (eventually), my Axim... I suppose that isn't as important, but you do loose the phone capability!
I found that seeing the video review, I was more interested in the unit. it is really nice to actually see it rather than just read the specs on it. Bring on the Usability video next!

wocket
06-08-2007, 08:50 AM
Nice unboxing Jason.

I'm currently waiting for a decient phone to come out so I can't wait to see the review. My how the times are a changin seeing reviews on the web rather than reading them.

I'm still using My Orange M500 (HTC Magician) and still happy with it even though it's a bit long in the tooth.

DaveSadler
06-08-2007, 03:22 PM
Jason, excellent job on the video review. If you want to post it on a higher quality streaming site, check out divX's www.Stage6.com from what I understand, you can post right away with their free divX download.

Muntasser
06-08-2007, 05:55 PM
comments

1. great unboxing, videos mosdef way2go.

2. Stage6 is the mix you want, use that in future.

3. DO NOT BUY THIS DEVICE. the 200 mhz processor will make you cry... like the baby jesus.

Paragon
06-08-2007, 06:07 PM
how is this thing suppose to compete with the iPhone....it can't.

Who ever said this was supposed to compete with the iPhone? If HTC actually wanted to compete with the iPhone with this device don't you think they would release it into the same market area, at the very least? The iPhone is being launched in the USA only for at least the next few months. The Touch is NOT being released into the USA, at least for the next few months. If they wanted to compete with the iPhone would they intentionally handicap the Touch by releasing it without the 850 band?
When HTC releases an iPhone killer we'll know it. There will be no doubt. ;)

As to the question of video reviews. I think they are a great idea. For you I think they are an exceptional idea. You speak well. You have a digital media background, and you are very knowledgeable , plus you have a good grasp of what the end user wants. My only suggestion would be don't waste all that explaining what the box feels like. Go right to the meat of it. Spend optimal time with the device. Box contents are good in the proper context, in the way you focused on the small stylus. That type of info is good. It's helpful to know what is in the box, but WE WANT TO KNOW THE MOST ABOUT THE DEVICE. ;) All that aside, well done!
Dave

cgavula
06-08-2007, 09:38 PM
I agree that this device isn't intended to be an iPhone killer (why is ANYBODY still releasing tri-band phones?). I think people are making that association due to some similar touch-screen usage being implemented in both devices - nothing more.

About video reviews: I'm seeing more and more sites using video, but I, for one, do NOT want to see video reviews REPLACING text/picture based reviews. Here's why:

Lack of corporate access: In many corporate environments, where many of us read our news, outside video is blocked, so we cannot even watch the video review - a text review is all we can view. If there's no text/picture review - we don't get the news. By the way - when a video clip is on a site, why can't site show a default image file (a JPG or GIF, etc.) as a placeholder for the video? Without it, the we only see annoying blank spaces - very ugly!

Lack of foreign-language access: We often see the use web-based translation tools to share information that appeared originally on a site in a different language. If you replace text-based reviews with video-based ones, how are you going to share information? I don't know of any web-based audio translation tools yet.

Video should be an enhancement for the review process - not a replacement for the existing process, otherwise you end up with supposedly "better" service but available to fewer and fewer people.

Just my opinion....

--Chris

Jason Dunn
06-08-2007, 10:58 PM
Glad you liked the video!

What is the screen size of Touch? It looked it is more than 2.8".

It's 2.8". All the specs are:

• 201 mhz CPU
• Dimensions: 99.9mm (L) x 58mm (W) x 13.9mm (T)
• Weight: 112g with battery
• 1GB microSD storage card included / 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM
• 2.8’’ LCD touch screen with backlight, 240 x 320 dots resolution with 65,536 colours
• Battery Life: Rechargeable Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 1100 mAh
• Standby time: Up to 200 / Talk time: Up to 5 hours
• Camera: 2.0 mega-pixel CMOS colour camera
• Windows Mobile 6 Professional with Direct Push Email and HTML email support
• Wireless Connectivity: GSM/GPRS/EDGE Tri-band: 900, 1800,1900, Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth® 2.0
• Choice of two colors at launch - elegant soft black or alluring wasabi green

Jason Dunn
06-08-2007, 11:00 PM
You did mention that this device can't listen through headphones and charge at the same time. On the other hand you could have mentioned that there are accessories that let you do exactly that.

The accessory you're talking about (got an URL?)...does it split off and give you a 3.5 mm headphone jack and keep a miniUSB port for charging? Or does it just allow you to use the included headphones? I have headphones that I think are great and I don't want to use anything else.

Paragon
06-08-2007, 11:10 PM
The accessory you're talking about (got an URL?)...does it split off and give you a 3.5 mm headphone jack and keep a miniUSB port for charging? Or does it just allow you to use the included headphones? I have headphones that I think are great and I don't want to use anything else.

HTC makes these adapters for other devices in their stable that use the mini USB connector for sound. I believe they have both, an adapter that allows you to use standard headphones, and a y cable that allows you to use headphones and charge.

Here is a link to Telus' accessories for the P4000 which also uses the mini USB connector for sound.

http://www.telusmobility.com/on/pcs/acc_htc_p4000.shtml#batteries

Question: How deep is the TouchFlo functionality? Does it work system wide? Does it work on third party apps? Or does it only scroll in contacts and PIE?

Dave

***long quote trimmed by mod JD***

Jason Dunn
06-08-2007, 11:28 PM
Even though I have a broadband connection, I'm not really interested in a half-GB download just to look at a phone. And of course, you've just excluded anyone on dial-up or Shaw Lite from being to see the phone.

Oh, I'm not suggesting that I'd ONLY offer the high-res video - you're right, that would exclude a huge number of people. I fully realize that only a small percentage of people would be keen enough to download a 300 MB video file. I'll always do a YouTube/Revver/something video with instant playback.

Your time, which is valuable, which you took to create the high-res video might have been more productively spent in setting down some thoughts and specs in print

Actually, no, since I was shooting in HD the only time taken was for the video to render, which took about 30 minutes. And I was of course working on other things while that was going on. So doing HD video isn't really much of a time issue - although uploading a 300 MB file *did* take some time. "Thankfully" (sense the sarcasm) YouTube took almost three hours to prepare my file so I wasn't the bottleneck. ;-)

Jason Dunn
06-08-2007, 11:30 PM
Is this a smart phone that Telus will allow using?

No, the HTC Touch is a GSM-based phone, and Telus is a CDMA-based network. HTC would have to make a CDMA version for Telus.

Bring on the Usability video next!

Coming up soon! Hopefully today &lt;crosses fingers>.

Jason Dunn
06-08-2007, 11:32 PM
If you want to post it on a higher quality streaming site, check out divX's www.Stage6.com

So here's my "rock and a hard place" problem: using a site like that requires the person to have the Divx Web player installed, which is a hassle, and currently not available for Vista. That's not a good thing - I need the low-res video to work for pretty much everyone. That means Flash, because almost everyone has Flash installed. I'm going to investigate some higher-quality Flash video sharing sites...

Jason Dunn
06-08-2007, 11:37 PM
Lack of corporate access: In many corporate environments, where many of us read our news, outside video is blocked...when a video clip is on a site, why can't site show a default image file (a JPG or GIF, etc.) as a placeholder for the video?...Lack of foreign-language access...Video should be an enhancement for the review process - not a replacement for the existing process, otherwise you end up with supposedly "better" service but available to fewer and fewer people.

Thanks for your thoughts Chris. That's good for me to think about people that can't use Flash video due to corporate workstation policies - I admit I have never heard of such a thing.

Regarding the GIF/JPEG placeholder, that would be a great idea, but so far no site I'm aware of offers that - and I believe it would have to be something that the video hosting site offers because when you see the YouTube video (or in your case, don't see it), it's us using a block of code they provided.

Lastly, regarding the video augmenting the review, not replacing it, I agree that's the ideal - I just wish I had more time to review the devices. It's very hard to get a device, use it for a couple of hours, then write a review - especially if a dozen other sites have already published their reviews. It's something I'll try to do better at! :D

T-Will
06-08-2007, 11:48 PM
Yeah anything *.youtube.com is blocked at my entire company (tens of thousands of people). I just star the article in Google Reader and check it out when I get home.

Jason Dunn
06-09-2007, 12:00 AM
HTC makes these adapters for other devices in their stable that use the mini USB connector for sound.

I see on the Telus page there's one that allows for charging + bundled headphone use, and one for charging + 2.5mm headphone use...there's gotta be one out there that allows for charging + 3.5mm. It doesn't really change my root criticism though: who wants to carry around an extra adaptor? The HTC Touch needs a 3.5mm headphone jack on it.

Question: How deep is the TouchFlo functionality? Does it work system wide? Does it work on third party apps? Or does it only scroll in contacts and PIE?

It's system wide insofar as you can do the rolling scroll thing in any application where there's a scroll bar. I can push and "roll scroll" in File Explorer for instance. I doubt it requires special programming, I think it's just a way of controlling the existing scroll bar.

Paragon
06-09-2007, 12:18 AM
Question: How deep is the TouchFlo functionality? Does it work system wide? Does it work on third party apps? Or does it only scroll in contacts and PIE?

It's system wide insofar as you can do the rolling scroll thing in any application where there's a scroll bar. I can push and "roll scroll" in File Explorer for instance. I doubt it requires special programming, I think it's just a way of controlling the existing scroll bar.

Thanks Jason.

I think this is an excellent feature. One that Windows Mobile has been lacking. I recently reviewed the Nokia N800 Portable Internet device which has this ability. Scrolling is a whole new adventure when all you need to do is plunk your finger down in the middle of a webpage and move it around at will. There is no scroll wheel, dpad or scroll bar that can match the ease of scrolling this way....Two thumbs up HTC. Some may say the device itself has lower end specs, but the usability seems to be head and shoulders above the rest because of TouchFlo.

Can't wait to hear, see, and read your thoughts on it Jason.

Dave

mikewchandler
06-09-2007, 09:57 PM
wonderful review. :) I'm very excited to here that touchflo seems to allow scrolling in any prog. Is there anything else to the touchflo....anything you've noticed since getting it? Just curious what ALL it can do. Thanks again. :)

steddyman
06-10-2007, 07:40 PM
I also bought a touch on Friday (UK) and I am pretty surprised by it.

I had seen a couple of reviews and expected it to suck a little. I only bought it because I am a dev and wanted a touch device for testing.

I'm now surprised to find it is my all time favourite device (i own loads) and I am now going to be retiring the TyTn.

I find because I have quite small hands I can use finger input in nearly all apps, even native WM6 ones. Keyboard entry is a little awkward, but there are alternative finger inputs like Blimkeys and the HTC Phonepad.

The lack of a 3.5mm jack is a pain, but a lot of HTC devices are like that now. My TyTn was the same and I ended up buying one of these:

http://www.expansys.com/p.aspx?i=138247

Its not such a big issue for me anyway, because I like my music encoded lossless. This means I have 30Gb of music so my iPod has to go everywhere with me.

I'll work on a couple of apps for the Touch to help it work better, then I think it very well could be an iPod killer. Its certainly a lot cheaper, but the build quality and presentation is second to none.

In answer to a previous post, you can use the finger scrolling and panning in ANY application, so long as there are scroll bars present on the screen. It works great.

davea0511
06-11-2007, 03:50 PM
Kudos, Jason, for jumping on the bleeding edge of video reviews. Of course, I would expect nothing less.

Low bandwidth video reviews is an art, but you're well on your way ... it was smart to mount the camera. For example, you can retain some acceptable quality resolutions even with low bitrates by setting any item on a table focus up on it and let the image resolve itself over 10 seconds while you discuss it.

I don't know if this is doable with YouTube - but if you can put keyframes in strategic locations then you will have get good resolutions at the right time even with a relatively low bitrate video.

If you make these into vodcasts like DL.TV then you will likely find a whole new audience. This is becoming hugely popular, and as of yet nobody in that space is focusing on handheld technology.

Steven Cedrone
06-11-2007, 07:31 PM
Great job! I am looking forward to the next installment!!!

MovableBeast
06-20-2007, 05:16 PM
Love the video, Jason! I agree with your comment about YouTube quality - it all looks like it's been captured with a smartphone.

Yeah, writing reviews can be a long process, and if you don't have the time to do them, a short video can provide much more impact with less work for the reviewer.

Steve Sande
MovableBeast
Technology in Motion!

http://www.movablebeast.com

T-Mobile MDA
Palm Treo 680
iPhone (soon)

hamishmacdonald
07-12-2007, 12:02 AM
That was a great review! That's quite a skill, being spontaneously articulate. And you gave me something to look at while I waited for my own Touch to arrive.

Yeah, I've finally taken the plunge and bought a converged device. I was really worried about the size of the Touch's screen, if that was going to throw me into shock after enjoying the Acer n311's huge, clear screen for the past year and a half. But, no, the Touch is laid out so beautifully, both in terms of the industrial design of the hardware (and even the packaging) down to really visually-rich and pleasing interface elements. This unit is a joy to use, and I think I'll be able to work on it just fine.

(P.S. "Pixies" -- that line was genius.)