Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Now that Uncle Walt has gone and opened the floodgates, details are starting to pour in on Sprint’s imminent release of the Touch Diamond, a device that should actually manage to get the carrier damn close to the top of the Windows Mobile pile (for a short while, anyway). PC Magazine is now reporting that it’ll be available on September 14 for $249.99 on a two-year contract after $100 rebate, a sum that would put it squarely in the “average” category for on-contract smartphone pricing in these parts. Of course, with the Touch Pro allegedly just around the corner, it remains to be seen just how much love this thing is going to get; nothing like a good, old-fashioned QWERTY-versus-touchscreen fight, is there?

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Filed under: Cellphones

It was only a matter of time before ole Walty got his hands around Sprint’s still-not-official Touch Diamond, and we can’t say that the conclusion he drew is at all shocking. As Mossberg has done so often, he mentions Apple’s darling just as much as the topic of the review itself, and while he seemed impressed with the hardware, it was the software that suffered the brunt of his attacks. He proclaimed that “despite its handsome TouchFLO 3D software and animated icons, the device failed to disguise the frustrating interface of Windows Mobile often enough for [his] taste.” Beyond that, he also found room to gripe about the “cramped” keyboard, which he felt was “next to impossible” to use with just his fingertips. On the plus side, he did give the browser a decent amount of praise, but if you were looking for support from this critic before picking up the forthcoming handset, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

[Via phonescoop]

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Filed under: Cellphones

It was only a matter of time before the WSJ (Katherine Boehret, in this case) got their hands around Sprint’s still-not-official Touch Diamond, and we can’t say that the conclusion she drew is at all shocking. As Mossberg and his partners so often do, Katherine mentions Apple’s darling just as much as the topic of the review itself, and while she seemed impressed with the hardware, it was the software that suffered the brunt of her attacks. She proclaimed that “despite its handsome TouchFLO 3D software and animated icons, the device failed to disguise the frustrating interface of Windows Mobile often enough for [her] taste.” Beyond that, she also found room to gripe about the “cramped” keyboard, which she felt was “next to impossible” to use with just her fingertips. On the plus side, she did give the browser a decent amount of praise, but if you were looking for support from this critic before picking up the forthcoming handset, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

[Via phonescoop]

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Filed under: Cellphones

From the looks of it, Sprint has gone and gotten a decent chunk of its playbook leaked all over the interblogs, and it’s chock-full of titillating information. Thanks to slippery fingers and loose lips, we already knew that the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro were headed to the carrier, but now we have some solid dates (mid-September for the Diamond, October 19th for the Pro), and pricing ($549.99 and $579.99, respectively). Of course, this is all according to the above document, which admittedly could be the work of an extremely bored Photoshopper — but this jibes pretty tightly with a lot of other chatter we’ve been hearing.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Tablet PCs

Trying to divine what Apple’s up to from patent applications is never easy, but every now and again the diagrams actually make it obvious — and it looks like Steve and his elves are hard at work on large-format touch interfaces, possibly for a tablet Mac of some kind. The latest touch-related filing is some 52 pages long and details everything from working with multiple finger inputs to onscreen keyboards how window controls would work, but we’re mostly transfixed by the claw-like demon-hands that seem to be operating all this kit — apparently Apple engineers have the same nightmares as the rest of us. If we had to bet, we’d say that a tablet Mac is still a long ways off, but we’ve been wrong before — and there’s always a chance Steve’s got something wild in store for next month.

[Via AppleInsider]

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Filed under: Tablet PCs

Trying to divine what Apple’s up to from patent applications is never easy, but every now and again the diagrams actually make it obvious — and it looks like Steve and his elves are hard at work on large-format touch interfaces, possibly for a tablet Mac of some kind. The latest touch-related filing is some 52 pages long and details everything from working with multiple finger inputs to onscreen keyboards how window controls would work, but we’re mostly transfixed by the claw-like demon-hands that seem to be operating all this kit — apparently Apple engineers have the same nightmares as the rest of us. If we had to bet, we’d say that a tablet Mac is still a long ways off, but we’ve been wrong before — and there’s always a chance Steve’s got something wild in store for next month.

[Via AppleInsider]

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Man, Apple’s lockdown on product leaks just isn’t as tight as it used to be — remember when having new iPod designs leaked by case manufacturers seemed totally unthinkable? Yeah, those times are over — check out these silicone cases for a fourth-gen iPod nano and second-gen iPod touch that just appeared on Alibaba. We’re not totally sold on the touch cases, but the nanos look way more legit, especially since we’ve seen some others matching this general look before; while nano KIRFs in this form factor aren’t uncommon, we’d say it’s pretty unlikely that anyone’s making several different types of silicone cases for them. We’re not calling this anywhere near 100 percent yet, but let’s just say we’re hoping Apple’s press photographers can make the new nano look a whole lot better than our pal Mr. Blurrycam by the time September 9th rolls around. More case photos after the break.

[Thanks, Samm]

Read - iPod nano case
Read - iPod nano case
Read - iPod touch case
Read - iPod touch case

Continue reading New iPod nano and touch revealed by case manufacturers?

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Filed under: Cellphones

A few new details have leaked in from corroborating tipsters about Sprint’s Verizon-slaying version of the HTC Touch Diamond, and we’re pretty sure you’ll be interested in hearing ‘em. The biggest news is the release date — instead of having to wait until after Labor Day, Sprint users interested in nabbing the handset will reportedly be able to do so this Thursday. Also of note, it sounds as if Sprint will indeed be referring to the Diamond as, well, the Diamond (and not the Victor). Oh, and the extra bulk over the GSM counterpart will net it a more capacious 1,350mAh battery. For those that skipped straight to the closer (it’s cool, really): August 28th, $299 on a 2-year contract, or $549 straight out.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Cellphones

While Sprint and Verizon consider final monikers for the HTC Touch Diamond, some North Americans are already enjoying the thing up in the Great North. The ecstatic folks over at Mobile Syrup were able to snap up Telus’ version of the WinMo 6.1-packin’ handset, and of course, they put together a video review for us Americans to drool over. The 7:15 clip includes a few comparison angles with other mobiles and a full walk-through of the user interface. Reviewers found the web browsing on Opera Mobile to be a real treat, and of course, they couldn’t deny the awesomeness of the 640 x 480 resolution display. You can check the review in full just after the jump, but if you’re easily made envious, we’d suggest you not.

Continue reading Telus’ HTC Touch Diamond gets video review

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Filed under: Cellphones

We won’t even front with you — we have some serious doubts about this one, but with all those other red handsets that have emerged on Sprint over the years, we suppose that image above has a sliver of credence. We’ve no details whatever outside of two more shots of the red HTC Touch Diamond (or Victor, to be proper) in the read link, but these could very well be someone’s best shot at using Photoshop to gain 15 minutes of internet fame. What say you, dear readers? Real or fake?

[Via Brighthand]

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Filed under: Cellphones

With all the Touch Diamond / Touch Pro news surfacing for these US CDMA carriers, quite a few AT&T subscribers are beginning to get restless. Calm down, folks — it seems the AT&T Touch Pro is a reality waiting to happen after all. Based on some admittedly dodgy claims and even dodgier photographs, one particular soul has apparently paid $900 for a pre-release Touch Pro with North American 3G. Only time will tell if he got duped, but we’re going to believe that AT&T wouldn’t let this gem pass it by for too much longer until proven wrong.

[Via wmpoweruser]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Apple’s experimented with allowing iTunes to stream over the internet as well as your LAN in the past and quickly removed the feature (probably due to RIAA pressure), so we’re not placing too much stock in this, but AppleInsider’s unearthed a patent that seems to describe a way to stream music over the ‘net to your iPhone / iPod touch. The goal is to prevent you from having to selectively sync content to your device — instead, you’d sync just the metadata and stream whatever you wanted direct from your machine as though it was all stored locally. There are some obvious problems here — it wouldn’t work if you didn’t have service (or over EDGE, really), most home upstream connections aren’t that fast, etc., etc., — but it’s certainly interesting, and a welcome addition to local storage if it ever makes the scene. In the meantime, how about working in some of those new UI elements from the Remote app into the iPod app?

[Via Macrumors, thanks Mark]

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Filed under: Cellphones

We know how much those suits love to hit wild targets they set without any real understanding of the future, so we’re pretty sure at least one or two are getting the kudos of their life with this one. Earlier this year, HTC boldly predicted that it would move a staggering two million Touch Diamond handsets before 2009 dawned, and according to a new report, it’ll ship the one millionth unit sometime next week. With Sony Ericsson having all sorts of difficulties moving its mid- to high-end mobiles, one may wonder if HTC really can sell another million before December 31st. But we have all ideas the looming Sprint / Verizon launches will be all the help it needs to call itself a proven prophet.

[Via MoDaCo]

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Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Laptops

In case you haven’t noticed, HP has a thing for attempting (emphasis on attempting) to stay one step ahead of the sector. Now, it’s being reported that touch technology is all the rage within Palo Alto, and HP is purportedly aiming to introduce “an array of products, including notebooks,” that utilize the finger-friendly tech within the next 18 months. Details on those very products are few and far between, but Phil McKinney (CTO of the Personal Systems Group) sees touch “as the almost preferred method for nontechnical users.” Funny thing, though — it seems most everyone else recognized touch as the new hotness a good while back. We’re betting HP has just been holding all of this mighty close to the chest… guess we’ll see in 18 months, huh?

[Image courtesy of Old-Computers]

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Filed under: Cellphones

There’s no doubt that both of HTC’s forthcoming handsets (yeah, the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro) are coming to Sprint and Verizon. What we’re still curious about, however, are the respective launch dates and the eventual names. phoneArena has it that the Touch Diamond will go by HTC Victor on Sprint and HTC Diamond on Verizon, with the former packing a slightly speedier CPU, an aluminum frame, accelerometer, 4GB of internal memory and EV-DO Rev. A support. As for Verizon’s, expect it to boast half the RAM (128MB), a wimpier CPU, microSD expansion slot and a stainless steel frame. Moving on, we’re told that the Touch Pro will be rechristined HTC Herman for Sprint and HTC Raphael (nice to re-meet you!) for The Network. Finally, we’re clued in on a September 2nd release date for Sprint’s Victor, while the Herman is expected a month later. As for Verizon? It’ll probably be 30 or so days behind in both instances thanks to a presumed exclusivity agreement with its nemesis. Get all that?

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Filed under: Cellphones

Don’t rule out the possibility that this is a complete and utterly disgusting fib, but a recent writeup in The China Post about HTC’s financial situation very clearly states when the hotly-anticipated Touch Diamond is coming to Sprint: this month. If you’re looking for the play-by-play, the article proclaims that the “company released its Diamond phone in Asia in June and will begin selling the handset through Sprint Nextel Corp. in August.” Look, we’ve seen a CDMA version of this thing donning Sprint garb, we’ve watched it fall into the capable hands of the FCC and we know it has to arrive sometime. If all of this doesn’t add up to Sprint getting the Touch Diamond in August, well, we’ll let you do the math.

[Thanks, Sumit]

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Who knows how much this is worth, but there’s a lot of chatter flying around today about some text strings in the beta release of iPhone OS 2.1 that make reference to an “iPod2,1.” Seeing as the current iPod touch is designated “iPod1,1,” that’s a pretty strong hint that a new model is coming — but hey, guess what? Of course a new model is eventually coming. What’s more, we’d bet it’s going to be almost exactly the same as the current iPod touch, with maybe the addition of GPS — it’s not like Apple is going to position this thing above the iPhone. Wake us up when tapping in Steve’s birthday backwards spits out a ship date, pricing, and specs, and maybe then we’ll be more excited.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Not that we’d view the actual Touch Diamond as IF or anything, but the Diamond J6 is more along the lines of I3. In all seriousness, this thing isn’t too far from being spot-on identical (maybe it’s an HTC thing?), with a 2.8-inch display, built-in camera, multimedia player, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot. And for $160, we’re almost inclined to fall in love here… almost.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Laptops

Imagine if you could attach a physical knob, slider, or switch to any application which called for some tactile interaction (say a music app like Live or Logic). That concept is exactly what led Lyndsay Williams to create the SenseSurface — a modular system that allows you to literally stick a controller onto a display when you need it. The devices use an X/Y matrix on the backside of a typical laptop display coupled with custom designed movement sensors. Lyndsay claims that the apparatus is multitouch and low friction, leaves no marks, is programmable, scaleable, and limited only by the size of the screen. The cost? Less than $100 in production. Take a look at a prototype of the system on video after the break, and hit the read link for more detail.

[Via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Continue reading SenseSurface sticks knobs onto screens, turns virtual controls physical

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

According to reports we’re getting from a slew of iPod touch users, the firmware 2.0 update everyone has been patiently waiting on has finally gotten its act together. Hit the read link and be magically transported to the iTunes Store, where you can fork over some cash for the upgrade to your devices. Let us know how it goes in comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in; Image courtesy of nickganga]

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