Written by Brandon on Tuesday, June 5, 2007

HTC Releases the "Touch" and beats Apple to the "punch"


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Well, to be honest the pictures aren’t going to be anything you haven’t seen plastered all over the Internet … heck they are even labeled “elf” in the press release, so these should look familiar.

Elf_front-Launcher_web Elf_front-celsius

The big news however is this:

The HTC Touch is the first device to feature TouchFLO, the new underlying touch screen technology developed by HTC. Consumers simply sweep their finger up the display to launch an animated, three-dimensional interface comprising three screens: Contacts, Media and Applications. The interface can be spun by swiping a finger right or left across the display, providing efficient access to the features consumers use most. TouchFLO also enhances finger touch scrolling and browsing of Web pages, documents, messages and contact lists.

So basically … this is the Windows Mobile 6 version of what the iPhone is touting as the end all be all coolest feature we’ve ever seen. Granted we won’t have a full version of Safari (PIE is still junk Microsoft) but you will have the cool little 1 finger swipe action.

The bad news? (Well depending on where you call home)

The HTC Touch will be available to customers across Europe and Asia this month, beginning today in the United Kingdom.

Not a hint of a US launch….

Update: — Want to know how it really looks? the::unwired has a video of the technology up now. Personally from what I can see from the short demo – not nearly as smooth as what the iPhone is shown as doing, nor does it look nearly as polished. My guess is this is a major rush job by Microsoft and HTC to try and stay on top of the competition, and it looks like crap. (IMHO)

Read the FULL RELEASE HERE

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melvynadam
Jun 5, 2007

I think the videos on unwired are very impressive and the interface looks superb to me. I’m no MS fanboy (in fact, I have an Ubuntu installation running on a separate PC whilst I type this!) but I would strongly disagree with your “major rush job” comment. I bought Spb Mobile Shell for an improved shell interface but this HTC Touch has it beat hands down. As long as it’s customizable (and “Music”, “Videos” etc lead to the apps I dictate) this is a great enhancement to the Windows Mobile stable of utilities.
The flash presentation on HTC’s own site (http://www.htctouch.com/) is also very impressive IMHO.


Brandon Steili
Jun 5, 2007

Don’t get me wrong … the interface (the software) looks really cool and I agree it looks like it blows Spb Shell out of the water – but it still to me looks like a rush to beat the iPhone to market and play the “we had it first” game.

This (from an early look) looks like a software add-on instead of a true complete way to navigate like the iPhone shows. The demo I saw makes it appear that the magic stops once you get down into the applications – unlike the iPhone which is integrated into everything…

I’m no fanboy either way – I swear by Windows and OSX – I won’t turn down the chance to use either company’s software/gear… and yes, I’ve got an Ubuntu box too – it’s in the front room :)


dgoldring
Jun 6, 2007

I think the discussion/debate between iPhone and TouchFlo and its progeny will continue to be an interesting one.

I do believe that the TouchFlo was rushed to market, which means there will likely be further refinements coming later.

For an excellent look at both the iPhone and the TouchFlo, check out JKontherun:

http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2007/06/htc_apple_say_t.html

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