HTC Touch Diamond : Mobius Day 2, Hands on with the HTC Touch Diamond

Sorry everyone, I'm a little late with my Mobius 2008 report. I'm back in Japan and this jetlag is killing me!

Finally I had the chance to play with the all new, shiny HTC Touch Diamond that Eric Lin (Ex Mobius member), who now works for HTC, was kind enough to loan us.

Design wise the HTC Diamond, along with Sony's Experia X1, is by far the most attractive Windows Mobile device ever created. The feeling under your finger tips is almost sensual, and every aspect of this device is stunning. User interface is as gorgeous as the design. Thanks to its VGA screen, all features ensure that whatever happens in your PDA phone life you'll never get a regular WM device again. EVER!

HTC worked hard polishing their Diamond, and we have yet to discover all the nifty features that Eric and his team developed. One thing we were very impressed with was how easy it is to hang-up on a call. Let’s say you're sitting at your desk and your Diamond is screen side up in front of you… You receive a call on it and for whatever reason, it's your wife or pissed off girlfriend, whatever, you don't want to pick it up. Instead of pushing the hang-up button, you can simply turn it over (screen side down) and your call will automatically be forwarded to your voicemail… Pretty convenient when you're attending a meeting!

Now a question... Will I by this new HTC? The answer is, sorry Eric, no… I won't and for several reasons. First of all, you only have 4GB of internal memory, which is great but even Apple with its iPhone gave up on devices with less than 8GB.

It's not possible to use the VGA screen to watch VGA WMV videos, and this phone can't be used as a PMP, unlike the iPhone...

Nice VGA screen but… too small. I wish HTC would have gotten rid of the button on the front and fully implemented touch technology on this Diamond.

Yes I'm pleased to see that HTC is working hard to compete with Apple and their iPHONE, but they still have to a big of job ahead them.