How to perform a hard reset of an HTC Touch Diamond2

Friday, April 24th, 2009

You may, like me about five minutes ago, find yourself wondering how to perform hard reset of an HTC Touch Diamond2. And you may, like me, look at the manual online. But it turns out the manual is wrong. The way to perform a hard reset of the Touch Diamond2 is:

(more…)

HTC’s Diamond2 touches down

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

When HTC launched the Touch Diamond (pictured on the right), just before the iPhone 3G, it was clear that the software was far from polished. The new TouchFlo 3D interface was intended to offer Windows Mobile fans (and Apple haters) the chance to benefit from touch-related delights similar to that of Apple’s iPhone, without having to go out and line Steve Jobs’ pockets.

But, as with so many Windows Mobile-based handsets, while the front end looked nice and the hardware impressed, it just didn’t come together as a coherent whole. The software was sluggish and frustrating to use and, more importantly, just didn’t mask Windows Mobile effectively enough.

It’s good to see, then, that with its latest phones – the Touch HD and now the second generation Touch Diamond2 (on the left in the photo above) – it’s started to focus more on the software than the hardware. So, while the core hardware and specifications remain the same (with just a few cosmetic and practical improvements) TouchFlo 3D has undergone a dramatic overhaul.

(more…)

Farewell you crazy Diamond

Friday, February 27th, 2009

I’ve been desperately trying to like the HTC Touch Diamond, forcing myself to use it for the past six months, but fate has intervened. Or, more specifically, the Diamond getting soaked in water intervened – though I did my best to let all its parts dry out, it developed a nasty habit of switching on and off randomly. Not great behaviour for a mobile phone.

Digging through my drawers, what did I unearth? None other than my old HTC Touch, and I have to admit to falling in love with it all over again. Because, unlike the Diamond, it’s not incredibly annoying! (more…)

A first look at the HTC Touch Pro

Friday, August 15th, 2008

If you keep close tabs on the smartphone scene – and PC Pro’s reviews section – you’ll know that we weren’t too impressed with HTC’s response the iPhone 3G, the Touch Diamond a couple of months ago.

We liked the fact that it buried most of Windows Mobile’s ugliness under an attractive, finger-friendly touchscreen interface, and we liked its fantastic VGA screen. We were also keen on its fantastic web browser – Opera Mobile 9.5.

But we hated its sluggish performance. The whole point of touchscreen interfaces is that they should be responsive, but this was anything but. Hit a control on screen and, like as not, you’d have to wait a second or so before anything actually happened. It was one of the most frustrating phones we’ve ever had the displeasure to use.

Would the same issues afflict its big brother – the Touch Pro, which arrived in the Labs today?

(more…)

Just in: HTC Touch Diamond

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

I’ve been using the HTC Touch as my regular phone for over a year, so I won’t deny it. I jumped up and down a bit, such was my excitement to hear about the new “improved” version – the HTC Touch Diamond. And I was almost buzzing with anticipation when it arrived in the office yesterday.

But I’ll be honest. My first few experiences with the phone have dampened my ardour. It looks quite nice, with its diamondesque back and glass-dominated front, but it’s so slow it makes a British tennis player look nippy around the court.

For example, the 3D animated menus don’t keep up with your commands – there’s a full half-second lag on occasion. When you try and use Windows Mobile rather than HTC’s TouchFLO interface it’s also slow. In fact, everything’s slow.

There are lots of nice touches that may yet win me round. The built-in gyroscopic accelerometer, which detects whether the screen should be in portrait or landscape mode (and the clever marbles-down-the-hole game that HTC has bundled to show it off).

The web browser, based on Opera Mobile, which makes viewing websites a pleasure. The already-mentioned TouchFLO interface, which means you hardly need to use Windows Mobile at all anymore (an improvement we desperately called for when originally reviewing the Touch). The rather nice on-screen keyboard.

Look out for the in-depth review later this week.