Conclusion
Overall I like the Touch a lot. The small form factor does not compromise any features still offers everything that other Pocket PC’s offer. The lack of keyboard is due the phone’s overall size and if a keyboard was included the width would have definitely been compromised.
The Touch is currently offered SIM unlocked and not yet available for a service provider in the US. The phone is available through countless retailers across the internet for around $500 without a service agreement.
Currently there are rumors that the TouchFLO technology will be released with the HTC Kaiser but since it has not yet been released there is no way of confirming this. HTC did a good job in making the TouchFLO incompatible with other HTC phones but programmers have found a way. You can now have this TouchFLO technology in other HTC phones such as the Prophet, wizard, artemis, hearld and trinity. These ROMs are not official and are all custom can be made by anyone. Installing these ROM’s may void your warranty and if not done correctly could also damage your device.
Compared to the iPhone and LG Prada the Touch wins hands down for styling. Although the iPhone has a better user friendly touch-based OS, it still has many bugs. Compared to the LG Prada the Touch is smaller and still packs more features. I am not here to debate weather one is superior over the other, all I am saying is that I personally like the Touch better. Everyone has a different opinion; someone who wants designer labels might go with the Prada and doesn’t care about push email; while another might want the iPhone because it’s the latest gadget. For me personally, the deciding factor between the iPhone and HTC Touch was the fact that I can actually use the phone with any service provider instead of upgrading/renewing a contract and be limited to only AT&T.
Overall the Touch has some real important features that the iPhone currently does not offer;
- Microsoft Office: The ability to edit Office files while on the go is very important to many. Although the keyboard might be an issue, installing a third party application solves it.
- Push Email is a big concern especially for business users because the iPhone does not support Microsoft Exchange Server.
- The Touch is SIM unlocked so you can use it for any GSM service provider in the world as opposed to only AT&T.
Presently there is only a GSM version available; there’s a CDMA version with EVDO which is going to be released soon but there is no word on release date. There are already talks about the Touch 2 which will have the same design but offer a slide-up numeric keypad; hopefully it will be the same size and have a faster processor. The device is codenamed HTC Nike:
The Touch comes with the following:
- Box and manuals
- Charger
- USB cable
- ActiveSync software
- Extra stylus
- Stereo headphones
- Battery
- Carrying case
- Screen protector
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4.3
