TOUCH FLO:

The heart of the device centers on the innovative Touch Flo interface. The interface is revolutionary in the fact that it allows you to operate the device with finger taps and swipes. This compliments the main OS which happens to be Windows Mobile 6. The Touch Flo operates by giving you easy access to main applications such as contacts, music, messages, email and such.

The features of the phone include GPS, and support for Sprint’s EV-DO network (the nation’s fastest mobile network). Unfortunately it does not support WI-FI access which means you are left with the Sprint network or none at all. On the bright side it’s not as expensive as Blackberry’s media package plan.

The onscreen QWERTY is a little small and it was quite hard for me to enter information by hand. The good thing is you have the option of a 20 button QWERTY keyboard that is bigger but of course loses some of the not so used keys. The phone dialing keyboard is big and specious, about the size of the iPhone and very responsive.

To be expected the phone carries a media player and comes with a 512MD microSD card, protective pouch and USB cable. Since its Windows Mobile operated it supports play-for-sure which means you can download all your Napster or Rhapsody tunes from your computer to your device. Other features include speakerphone, voice commands, dialing, text and multimedia messaging, smart dialing, and contact memory is only limited by the available memory installed and can support up to 12 numbers per contact (as if you’ll ever need that). Photo caller ID is also available as well as 15 polyphonic ringtones. You are also allowed to dial by photo, meaning you can access your address book by pictures of your contacts instead of scrolling through boring text names.

The Touch also supports Bluetooth wireless options such as wireless headsets, object exchange, file sharing, hands-free-kits, dial-up networking and stereo Bluetooth. Also included is a 2.0 megapixel camera with 5x zoom. While the 2.0 megapixel camera is impressive in name I have seen better picture quality from 1.3 and 1.2 megapixel phones. The same thing goes for the camcorder which is also present on the phone. The phone includes a 400MHz processor which has 128MP of ROM and 256 of RAM. According to HTC the Touch has 3.5 hours of talk time and up to 10 days of standby time.

To sum it up the HTC Touch is a revolution in the touch sensitive device world….unfortunately it lacks the matching revolution in the OS world.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The QWERTY keyboard is also redesigned and although a little stiff on touch it looks a lot more classic than the older model. Although the keys are closer than the older model it still provides the same ability to enter tech into the phone a lot faster than the newer generation of touch sensitive devices which are still in my opinion development stage.

On the side of the phone is a miniSD slot which supports up to 4GB of additional memory for games, apps, music and of course pictures taken with the 1.3 megapixel camera and camcorder. The phone also features GPS and access to Sprint’s EV-DO network. Also on the list of features is Bluetooth 2.0 along with Sprint power vision for such things as music downloads and wireless TV. Unfortunately Wi-Fi is not supported and a miniSD Wi-Fi card will need to be added to pick up wireless networks.

Motorola says they can the extended battery will last for 7.3 hours of continuous talk time on a single charge. To decrease size you can always purchase a regular battery at any Sprint store although it will set you back 30 dollars.

The only main problems I find with this phone is its need of more memory (a problem that plagues almost all Windows powered phones), built in Wi-Fi support and better clarity in terms of calls and music although it is pretty good for a smart phone.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars