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HTC Launches Latest iPhone Competitor

For me it's all about the ecosystem. Apple is moving in the right direction with all of its products. Microsoft isn't innovative. They acquire, copy, and kluge. Have you ever looked at the source when you save a simple word document as HTML, tried to figure out how to find or remove some residual junk in the registry, used VISTA?

Keep it coming Apple. You're asking the right questions, not what kind of junk you can force on us but what fits into our lifestyles.

So no thanks to a phone running a mini version of more klugey junk.
 
This phone has tons of Applesque touches, some of which people have been waiting for Apple to implement e.g.


The d-pad glows, and when you have a missed call it pulsates. Many people have said the home button would be a good spot for a notification led on the iPhone.

The d-pad is capacitive, and works as a zoom wheel in the photos and browser apps.

In the browser app the text automatically re-flows to fit the width of the screen, thereby avoiding the need for horizontally scrolling.

When you turn the phone over it automatically ignores an incoming call. We saw this demoed in that Nokia Tube video, but HTC has it first in the wild. (I think they should implement shake to answer too).

The phone has a stylus (which I know you will say is a bummer, but its very handy for Asian scripts. Apple's solution is far from ideal). The stylus is held in by magnets, and when you remove it the phone gets unlocked, and when you remove it in call it automatically opens the notes app so you can make a quick handwritten note about the call.

It does have glass screen, but HTC decided to stick with a resistive vs capacitive screen as resistive screens work better with styluses, which work better with the Chinese alphabet.

The phone has USB mass mode, and media added in this way gets automatically indexed and added to the library.

HTC has taken more control of the presentation of their phones. While they will still allow carriers to brand them, they now work with them to make sure the branding integrates well with the existing UI.

In short, HTC has added numerous "nice touches" which show they did not rush this phone into the market, but wanted to create a premium device.
 
harrier said:
...

So no thanks to a phone running a mini version of more klugey junk.
Click to expand...


Agreed. At the end, this thing uses M$ software, which to some is junk software.

I see a home button in this device. I wonder if Apple could have patented the home button? In any case, there are five buttons as if other companies could simply not be able to conceive a single home button in a phone.
 
Archie- said:
...
In short, HTC has added numerous "nice touches" which show they did not rush this phone into the market, but wanted to create a premium device.
Click to expand...

Yes, premium, but it is not an iPhone.

This feels as trying to buy a hybrid SUV (any brand) for more money than a Lexus hybrid. (have you test driven one of those?).

Incidentally, when I drive in a Prius, it feels like the inside of an iDevice of sorts, you know, designed in Cupertino, CA.
 
good spec. good design. good work, HTC.

I like the original iPhone, but if the 3G iPhone still stick to its original screen resolution and not to support HSDPA, I would not consider to buy.

Well, i am not a screen resolution mania, but once you have used a phone with WVGA screen and HSDPA, it would be difficult to turn back....
 
zap2 said:
I'm interested...what did Apple promise on the iPhone? No much...the showed it, and shipped it as it was(with software fixes of course)

I've been for that time, and I recall the iPhone was everything Apple said it would be...perhaps not everything everyone wants, buts its what Apple said they were offering
Click to expand...

I can accept that. Apple didn't promise the features that weren't there, but many people were very surprised to have what was touted as revolutionary technology with missing circa 1999 phone features.

As for the HTC and their other phones, I still think they will be the company that pushes Apple toward either innovation, or a sense of "We don't care what the market wants, they will buy it as long as it has an Apple logo on it," which is just about where we are with the iPhone as it stands.

stephenli said:
good spec. good design. good work, HTC.

I like the original iPhone, but if the 3G iPhone still stick to its original screen resolution and not to support HSDPA, I would not consider to buy.

Well, i am not a screen resolution mania, but once you have used a phone with WVGA screen and HSDPA, it would be difficult to turn back....
Click to expand...

I agree with that one. I would also say that using a phone that allows you to work on the move is hard to let go as well.
 
What?.....a competitor to the vaunted Iphone?

The HTC looks like a nice phone. Some people prefer WM6. Tested one for a while and there were some really nice features in WM6. Good Luck to HTC with this one. As far as anyone out there clamoring for 3G....one of my phones had it and the battery life is much worse than the IPhone. (try having a battery go out by 3 in the afternoon) I hope Apple's done their homework on this. I just gave my IPhone to my 13 year old. He is still in the honeymoon phase and can't thank me enough, especially since i protected it with a case and a screen protector from day one last September. It looks brand new. There were so many things I loved about the IPhone, but not one of them helped me during my day. HTML email is beautiful but frustrating. Battery life is terrible. Form and function is beyond compare except when it stalls, freezes, or you have to do a soft or hard reset during the day. Safari surfing is great except when it quits for no reason. I am a techie and love gadgets. My company uses Macs and I have owned one since 1988. In my household we currently have a MacBook, G4 IMac, Powerbook, an Intel IMac, an Ipod 2G, 3G, Nano, Mini, Shuffle, and a Mac Classic that still runs.....The IPhone is a good first effort but it could and can be so much more..... I can't wait to see what the next generation brings. Meanwhile...it's back to my Blackberry Curve (which is a really cool phone too) Oh and Apple, Let me use some of that 8GB of storage for something other than songs and video, let me save an attachment, and let me MMS!!!
 
Not an iPhone

This is soo not an iPhone killer! It looks hard to use with a very mesy menu. At least, that's my take on it.
 
Well, the HTC is an interesting product, but who here really wants to run a Microsoft OS-based phone? I mean, c'mon...

Besides, the future isn't with closed-source proprietary platforms. Linux itself and the FOSS community are proof of that.

No, the future is with community-accessible, community-driven technology. And that's the reason my eye is not on the HTC nor the iPhone, but rather the Linux-based OpenMoko phone. It's true this product is not presently "ready for prime time", but once it gets into real motion and develops some momentum, it could become a significant competitor in the smart phone space, and admittedly would be the only one with the objective of total user freedom. And considering the ad-nauseam with which I've heard people complain on this board alone about the iPhone's various shortcomings, it's locked status, and so forth, well... folks, you want something powerful and open, here's your chance.

But anyhow... getting back to the HTC and the point of this thread, while Apple should by no means remain heedless of this product, it's nothing more than another candy-coated attempt at a consumer-electronics gizmo, and will likely gather little traction with the general public.

Or, as some here are fond of saying time and again...

"Nothing to see here. Move along."
 
Wow... for a Microsoft Windows Mobile device, that thing looks pretty frickin' sweet. I especially like the weather application... it kinda blows the iPhone's outta the water. However, unless Windows Mobile has gotten significantly more stable since WM5, I don't see myself ever getting one of these.

I have to say, though, that I absolutely love the fact that the iPhone has raised the bar SO far up for its competitors that we've seen nothing but vast improvements in (most) cell companies' products. If nothing else, nobody can argue with the fact that the iPhone was a blessing for the consumer :)
 
gloss said:
The UI looks absolutely beautiful, but from the videos I've seen, the touch-screen seems to be single-point only. It's more gesture-based than 'interactive', so the phone doesn't commit an action until it recognizes a gesture. It seems to be in this respect that the iPhone is so far ahead of everyone else.
Click to expand...

That's correct, and important. If you showed the same functions on the HTC phone and the iPhone side by side, I don't think you'd see any positive comments here about the HTC because of the UI differences.
 
nikogio said:
Battery life is terrible. Form and function is beyond compare except when it stalls, freezes, or you have to do a soft or hard reset during the day. Safari surfing is great except when it quits for no reason.
Click to expand...

You should bring it back to Apple as it sounds like you have a lemon. Apple replaced my first iPhone because it had a defective screen. Safari hasn't crashed on me since the first software update last year. I've also never had to reset my iPhone and the battery lasts all day.
 
I had a tmobile dash made by Htc, and I was pretty happy with it. Windows mobile has so much incredible ability and potential, but the interface is terrible. the iPHone is half as capable (as of today), but is so much more simple to use. What good are all the features if you can't find 'em?
 
I tip my hat to HTC for taking the monstrosity that is Windows Mobile and hacking the daylights out of it to make it more usable than stock. (Translation: make it more like an iPhone)

I'm seriously curious to see what their Andriod user interface is going to look like. I presume that, like the Diamond, it will be as close of a clone of the iPhone UI as possible.

When it comes to software, HTC is not an innovator, but a follower. When it comes to hardware, their philosophy is to constantly add in more numbers and acronyms to make it better: GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, WinMo 6.1, HSDPA...meaningless jargon to most people. Apple gets the genius hat for realizing people care about how easy it is to use, not how many acronyms and numbers it has (however notice that these two are not necessarily mutually exclusive..)
 
nostaws said:
I had a tmobile dash made by Htc, and I was pretty happy with it. Windows mobile has so much incredible ability and potential, but the interface is terrible. the iPHone is half as capable (as of today), but is so much more simple to use. What good are all the features if you can't find 'em?
Click to expand...

i ENTIRELY agree.

i just sold my HTC tytn (the original one) - WM6 is absolutely terrible. it DOES have a lot of ability, and a lot of potential but the interface is definitely absolutely shocking.

if this new touch gets hacked with mobile X (mobile leopard) then i would consider it..... but it wont happen... and im loving my iphone too much :)
 
Ok that seems like a pretty nice GUI, not as good as the iPhone, but nice. The thing is... If it weren't for the iPhone, nobody would be getting much cooler phones like this now. So even non-Apple fans out there have Apple to thank for phones like this even coming out at all now!
 
no multi-touch? ahahhaha

I stopped reading, when I saw that It does not have a multi-touch display. ;)

PS: My friend has a single-touch display phone, and IT IS HORRIBLE.
 
nostaws said:
I rated this article as positive because this is one of the indirect fruits of the iPhone: better all around phones.

Everyone, even non iphone people, benefit from Apple taking it up a notch in the cell phone world.

I agree with a previous poster apple is ahead in some aspects and lagging in others with respect to the iPhone (which I love).
Click to expand...

yes, yes, and yes. couldn't agree more.

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? :cool:
 
Dunno, even though the new breed of phones may match the iPhone feature for feature technology-wise, there's still something to be said about cramming that much stuff into a 2.8 inch screen interface. Seems really cluttered to me...
 
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