Live at HTC’s London Event - May 6th, 2008
We are live at the HTC Touch Diamond launch event in London.
12:03pm - HTC’s head, Peter Chou, is making his introduction, introducing a few guests from Orange and Microsoft.
12;05pm - Touch Diamond video - very flashy. Mr. Chou has the device in his hand - it is quite small looking.
12:08pm - Introduction of TouchFLO 3D user interface. Diamond has HSDPA 7.2Mbps and HSUPA support. 4GB internal storage, 3.2MP auto-focus camera with f2.8 lens (that’s pretty good for a phone).
“We don’t need too many hands, or too many fingers. Just one hand, one finger” (to use the new TouchFLO 3D UI).
12:11pm - Horace Luke, Chief Innovation Officer, talking about the new device. “HTC TOuch Diamond is exactly as we envisioned it”, “not too big, not too small - a perfect balance between its form factor and its large display, which delivers a great user experience.” “…the world’s most advanced phone in one of the smallest form factors.” Design was meant to be worthy of the Museum of Modern Art, based on a challenge from Mr. Chou.
12:15pm - showing “the design on the inside.” TouchFLO 3D - touch bottom icon and jump straight to the app of your choice. One touch. Scroll the icons on the bottom with a left or right swipe. Move clock with finger to see more appointments. Coverflow like contact photo viewing. Messaging “like a conversation. Beautiful words dancing across the air.”
The UI is really, really slick looking. Rivals iPhone in gloss and polish - we will have to see how well it actually works, though.
Horace is controlling the big screen demo with his own Diamond, which means the demo is running live. So far, it appears to work very smoothly and quickly.
12:19pm - Weather app was supposedly one of the favorite parts of TouchFLO according to users. The new weather app is simply amazing looking. Very cool animations for the various weather conditions, such as windshield wipers for rainy days.
12:21pm - Browser demo looks very good. iPhone like in the auto-zooming. The “navi” d-pad controller can be scrolled to zoom in and out easily, as well. No mention if the browser is the new version of IE or not.
12:27pm - Horace sits down, Florian talking. Diamond available in June for some markets like Asia.
12:30pm - Olaf Swantee EVP of Orange talking about Orange’s plans for Diamond. Integrating Orange services like Music Store into Diamond. Orange TV and videos will be available, too. Orange plans to sell Diamond in all of its key markets, starting with the UK.
12:35pm - Peter Chou back on the stage. Talking about partnership with Orange stemming back to 1999. 10 generations of HTC products with Orange - “we screwed up sometimes” gets a chuckle from the crowd.
12:37pm - Now talking about working with Microsoft. Says that if not for Microsoft, there probably would be no HTC. Diamond will be the first device to ship with Windows Mobile 6.1 running on it.
12:40pm - Andy Lees, SVP Microsoft on the stage. “HTC is the leading OEM for Windows Mobile devices.” 5 platinum devices - Touch sold 3 million units. 140 WM devices from 50 OEMs. 11 million WM devices sold last year. On track for 20 million for this year. “One of the most innovative devices of 2008.”
12:43pm - Mr. Chou back on the stage. “HTC Touch DIamond will change how people see phones.” Thanks the audience, promises us each a Diamond when they ship.
12:46pm - A few questions from the audience. Orange asked if it plans to update data charges when the Touch Diamond comes out - Oranges says it recently changed them already. It appears that the browser used is Opera, not the new IE. Timing didn’t work for the new IE6 to get in the Diamond.
12:50pm - The Diamond uses the regular HTC miniUSB jack for headphones (ie. adapter needed). Peter Chou says that the jack is a problem for the size of the device, hence they have stayed with the HTC jack. Paul from MoDaCo asked about battery life - Peter Chou says that you could talk for hours and still have the phone last the day - fairly vague. Andy Lees comments that WM6.1 is more battery efficient than the prior versions.
12:52pm - Question asked about projected sales and who in Spain will sell the phone. Peter Chou says they won’t make a hard prediction, but that HTC expects Diamond to outsell the original Touch (> 3mil). Another question about the battery - questioner says that he heard it was a 900mAh battery. Peter Chou says that users will not see significant degradation thanks to increased power management efficiency. New, larger battery will be available eventually.
12:57pm - Prices will vary from region to region, operator to operator. Peter Chou won’t narrow it down. Jokes that perhaps Orange will provide it for free, Orange retorts that if they are a good enough customer. Question asked about colors (pink in specific), Horace dodges the specifics, says that colors are being considered.
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