HTC To Ship Touch2 Smartphone With Windows Mobile 6.5
To say HTC's original 'Touch' was a smash hit would be understating
things greatly, so it makes perfect sense to see the smartphone maker
coming out with a second edition to tempt the masses. Slated to launch
on October 6th as one of the world's first "Windows phones," the Touch2
will be among only a handful of cellphones to be introduced on or
before early October with Windows Mobile 6.5 onboard.
The operating system is obviously the bragging point here, with Microsoft hoping to save some face from the many issues that have troubled users of WinMo 6.1. HTC isn't dishing out too many details on the device just yet, but we do know that it will be a touchscreen-based phone with "a familiar touch experience that millions of people have come to expect and rely on from HTC." As with its prior Windows Mobile phones, the Touch2 will also see a healthy dose of HTC tweaks. For starters, the TouchFLO interface will make navigation easier and will likely make the homescreen look nothing like a typical Windows phone homescreen. Moreover, users can expect built-in widgets and apps that provide instant weather updates and quick access to a variety of your favorite apps. On top of all that, the Touch2 will include Google Maps for Mobile as well as a direct link to YouTube.
Naturally, the phone will fully support Microsoft Exchange, and it will also ship with a re-tooled version of Internet Explorer Mobile. The HTC Touch2 includes a zoom bar for reflowing text to an optimum size, and given that IE Mobile supports Adobe Flash, you should theoretically be able to view a whole host of websites that can't be seen on other smartphones. Finally, the new My Phone feature enables you to automatically back up and synch photos, music, contacts and text messages for free from the Touch2 to the web.
HTC is making the Touch2 available in the US (or at least that's what we're led to believe) on October 6th, with broad availability in a variety of European and Asian markets in early Q4 2009.
The operating system is obviously the bragging point here, with Microsoft hoping to save some face from the many issues that have troubled users of WinMo 6.1. HTC isn't dishing out too many details on the device just yet, but we do know that it will be a touchscreen-based phone with "a familiar touch experience that millions of people have come to expect and rely on from HTC." As with its prior Windows Mobile phones, the Touch2 will also see a healthy dose of HTC tweaks. For starters, the TouchFLO interface will make navigation easier and will likely make the homescreen look nothing like a typical Windows phone homescreen. Moreover, users can expect built-in widgets and apps that provide instant weather updates and quick access to a variety of your favorite apps. On top of all that, the Touch2 will include Google Maps for Mobile as well as a direct link to YouTube.
Naturally, the phone will fully support Microsoft Exchange, and it will also ship with a re-tooled version of Internet Explorer Mobile. The HTC Touch2 includes a zoom bar for reflowing text to an optimum size, and given that IE Mobile supports Adobe Flash, you should theoretically be able to view a whole host of websites that can't be seen on other smartphones. Finally, the new My Phone feature enables you to automatically back up and synch photos, music, contacts and text messages for free from the Touch2 to the web.
HTC is making the Touch2 available in the US (or at least that's what we're led to believe) on October 6th, with broad availability in a variety of European and Asian markets in early Q4 2009.
