It’s taken them over 500 pages of hacking, but earnest tweakers over at xda-developers have managed to get Android 1.6 Donut running on the hitherto Windows Mobile 6.1 HTC Diamond. The first-gen Diamond has a compact 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen running at VGA resolution, and the hacked Android ROM is reportedly responsive together with offering support for both WiFi and GPS.
Video demo after the cut
HTC have bought out design firm One & Co, which helped the handset maker design both the Touch Diamond smartphone and the TouchFLO 3D interface which has graced the company’s Windows Mobile devices since. While the acquisition obviously spells closer interaction with One & Co designers and future HTC devices, the design firm will also continue as a standalone consultancy.
Having announced it last week at CTIA Wireless, and seen it hands-on later that day, all that’s left is to unbox and properly review Sprint’s CDMA version of the HTC Touch Diamond. The Touch Diamond has a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen, EV-DO Rev.A, WiFi b/g and GPS, and includes HTC’s TouchFLO 3D GUI for hiding dull old Windows Mobile 6.1
Check out the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond video unboxing after the cut
We met with HTC at CTIA Wireless this morning for a hands-on with their latest Windows Mobile smartphones. Sprint’s Touch Pro and Touch Diamond were on show, while the non-touchscreen S740 made an appearance as well. The Diamond is basically the same device that we reviewed back in June, and we’re still not fans of the rear-panel. The texture and the slightly-protruding center strip don’t add anything to either the aesthetics or how it feels in your hand, and the dark red color Sprint have chosen is equally uninspiring. Where it succeeds, however, is in the data potential: with Sprint’s EvDO Rev.A network browsing on the Diamond really came into its own.
Check out hands-on feedback on the Touch Pro and S740 after the cut
Sprint has finally announced availability and pricing details for its two latest HTC smartphones, the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro. The two handsets are similar, the Touch Pro having a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and flash, while both have 2.8-inch VGA touchscreens, 3.2-megapixel cameras with autofocus, and WiFi.
The Wall Street Journal’s review of the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond came out today and it’s more of a knock of Windows Mobile than the phone itself. And as HTC attempted to cover up the OS’s lesser liked features, it succeeds in some regard, but mostly falls short.
There’s been a lot of news regarding HTC phones this weekend and now we can add another tidbit to the list. The new HTC Touch Diamond is coming from Sprint in September and it is packed with features.
The S740 smartphone is a distant cousin of the HTC Diamond, featuring a similar sleek front and faceted back along with a similar feature set. Unlike the Diamond, the S740 does not sport a touchscreen and powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard.
We hope you enjoyed the pilot episode of SlashGear TV week-in-review. This week, we are back with episode number 1. While we’re happy with the 25-minute clip, there’s still a lot of room for improvements. That being said, please submit your feed backs as to what you liked, didn’t like or want to see more of (within reasons of course). We’re striving to do our best to make each week entertaining as well as informative.
Over at our mobile-obsessed sister site PHONE Magazine its been a touchscreen review frenzy, with two of the year’s most eagerly anticipated cellphones turning up in the same weekend. First off, Samsung’s Instinct for Sprint landed on the step and was promptly unboxed and reviewed. Then the HTC Touch Diamond arrived, just in time for an unboxing and some first impressions. Both handsets have slick touchscreens, GPS and high-speed data connections; both may not say it out loud, but they’ve got the iPhone in their sights.
JP
