Paul from MoDaCo and Matt from Tracy And Matt's Blog (they really need a new domain name, something like "Daily Unboxings.com", but I digress...) have published a great hands-on video that shows the HTC Touch Diamond in action. My verdict after watching the video? Everything looks nicer in the marketing world. Although the Touch Diamond has some impressive specifications, as you can see in the video, Paul ran into a significant amount of trouble with the controls, getting TouchFlo to work, and even using the d-pad. Maybe this is pre-production hardware, or maybe there was something wrong with this particular device - but it did not look like the fast, fluid, seamless experience I was hoping to see.
Another issue with the Diamond, and frankly one that worries me the most because it sets a precedent, is the fact that while they've added 4 GB of storage (which is great!), it's one of the only Windows Mobile devices that I can think of that does not have a memory card. Sure, 4 GB of storage is a nice start, and might be enough for some people, but by breaking the tradition of Windows Mobile devices being expandable, HTC is limiting the potential audience for this device - and making me worry about what's going to be coming next from them.
Flash memory is cheap (8 GB of storage on a microSD is only $82 USD [Affiliate]), and it's only going to get cheaper. I expect to see 16 GB microSD cards being offered for around $100 USD by the end of this year, and by not offering a storage card slot HTC is restricting these devices to only being used by people who have a small amount of music/photos/videos or people who won't use the Diamond for media. Why would HTC limit their potential market like that? Was adding the storage card slot really going to alter the design by that much?
Just because Apple does something doesn't automatically make it the right decision - I don't want to see HTC go down the road of doing things just like Apple (although offering easy device updates would sure be nice). What do you think?
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When the first news about the device came out I was interested but 4GB are not enough for me; at this point I have only two candidates to replace my Touch Dual: Experia and iPhone2.
Btw Apple does not have the ability to use a SD card...for now; I heard interesting rumors about a "Flip iPhone" so who knows.
Not only it doesn't have Memory card slot, it looks there's no handwriting recognition, a.k.a. Transcriber, only bunch of keyboards. I am disappointed.
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If they want to copy Apple and have non-expandable storage (which sounds like a bad idea in the first place), they should at least match Apple's current specs and offer 8 GB of storage or preferably 16 GB (since this is supposed to be a premium phone after all). Apple discontinued 4 GB phones before last Christmas.
Some of the eye candy is quite nice (love the rain in the weather app), but even in their YouTube demo videos (which are of course best-case tightly-controlled scenarios) when they do stuff like finger swiping, the photo (or whatever) doesn't move until after the swipe is complete (and with a short but noticeable delay to boot). What makes iPhone finger swiping cool to me is that it's like dragging a window with your mouse on the desktop: the item begins to move almost immediately and tracks with your finger.
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I wish I could say I am surprised by the news of poor performance but unfortunately I am not. Their devices look good on paper and never deliver in reality. No expansion slot and 900 mah battery alone kills this for me. Also, many people may think VGA is great but how much more can you see on a 2.8 screen. Lastly, I really believe that Qualcomm chipsets are inferior to Intel and Samsung solutions. My Mogul is sluggish in all tasks not just video related. I guess it will be Iphone 2 for me after all.
The reason HTC didn't put an SD card is because it would have made the device 2mm thicker. Not a big change but they were trying to keep the device as thin as possible which is what a lot of people really wanted.
As they didn't add a capacitive touch screen because it would have limited the Asian Market as they require hand recongition which didn't couldn't do with a non stylus finger touch capacitive screen. So to the comment about there not being any Transcriber, I'm betting it's there, just needs to be enabled through registry.
I agree, it would have been nice to have an SD Card, I'd rather have had 8 gigs over 4 but for what it is, it's a great device. There will be other HTC devices with SD slots for those who can't live without it. Of course these will be thicker and people will be complaining why they can't be as slim as the Touch Diamond
I'm betting that Transcriber doesn't even need to be activated. That menu seems to be the configuration menu for that one particular SIP (it seems to be a pretty all-inclusive SIP). At the very bottom of the menu is an option "Other Input Methods" (or something like that). So, it still provides the ability to use Transcriber, etc. And, if they're that concerned about the Asian market, it has to be there.
"Another issue with the Diamond, and frankly one that worries me the most because it sets a precedent, is the fact that while they've added 4 GB of storage (which is great!), it's one of the only Windows Mobile devices that I can think of that does not have a memory card. Sure, 4 GB of storage is a nice start, and might be enough for some people, but by breaking the tradition of Windows Mobile devices being expandable, HTC is limiting the potential audience for this device - and making me worry about what's going to be coming next from them"
Agreed - this is a very worrying trend. The iPhoney has HTC marketing spooked.
So sad to see the iPhoney mentality win. WM devices have real strength in their flexibility and removing the ability to expand with a card destroys this. Limiting the device to tri-band GSM and duo-band UMTS also limits the device geographically ... altogether, too sad !!
But, nobody ever went broke underestimating public taste.
Hands-On With the HTC Touch Diamond
Linear Mode
