With the slew of new HTC Touch devices, it looks like HTC is going back to where it started from with a revised version of the original HTC Touch. Codenamed the HTC Opal, this new Touch device will sport the exact same look as the original and even have the exact same specs as the original HTC Touch. What’s the difference? The only difference between this and the original is the TouchFLO 3D running on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and the brown band going around the phone’s exterior. It’ll be interesting to see how exactly TouchFLO 3D performs on the aging TI OMAP 850 200MHz processor when even the Diamond and Pro struggle at times with a Qualcomm 528MHz processor. The HTC Opal is rumored to come out in multiple colors, much like the original.

Via Engadget

A very surprising bit news came up today when HTC released yet another Touch family device. Meet the HTC Touch HD, which sports the biggeset screen for a Windows-Mobile based touch screen phone, which is speculated to be between 3.7″ to 4″. The phone comes with TouchFLO 3D and shares the Touch Diamond and Pro’s 528MHz Qualcomm processor, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM, HSDPA, GPS, and a whopping 5 MP camera while managing to pack all of that into 12mm of sweetness (same as first-gen iPhone thickness, by the way). The screen on the phone is actually a WVGA (480×800) screen which looks nice even compared to the Touch Diamond/Pro’s VGA (480×640) screen and the iPhone’s (480×320).

The phone looks really nice and sleek, which is a big understatement in itself. It is said to be “in stores for Santa”.

MoDaCo via Engadget

The Touch Diamond newest variant for Sprint just got its first review. Surprisingly, this wan’t done by all the big tech sites like Engadget, CNET, BoyGeniusReport, or us! The new Touch Diamond got its first review by Wall Street Journal, who like the rest of the world, made the comparison to the iPhone. Not much new information from before, but here are it is: Wireless options are WiFi, Bluetooth, and EVDO Revision A. GPS is optimized for use with Sprint Navigation, but there is no word about how it will be with other GPS Software. Sprint TV and Music has been added to TouchFLO 3D with a spruced up theme. Also, the Microsoft Office Mobile Suite seems to be dusted off with DataViz’s DocumentsToGo suite for Office Applications. That’s not a bad thing, considering DataViz seemed to take a lot more time than Microsoft did with these mobile productivity apps. Also, the Touch Diaomond is confirmed to come in with the burgundy/red back for the phone.

With a 1340 mAh battery, things seem to be looking nice for this CDMA sibling of the Touch Diamond…In fact, very nice.

Via CNET

There’s a new competitor in the smartphone field, looking to take some of those high-end smartphone users away from the regular devices. Meet the S740, which looks strikingly like the Touch Pro, except a lot thinner and has a keypad on the front. But here’s the big difference: the HTC S740 is the a Windows Mobile Smartphone, meaning it does not have a touch screen for input. Oh no! No TouchFLO 3D! Don’t worry, the HTC S740 borrows a lot of elements from the Touch Diamond and Pro, if you couldn’t already tell by the exterior. One of these is the nice stylized sliding panels. (T-Mobile Shadow/HTC Juno users: look for my S740 based ROM soon!). Looks like this is the new way all HTC devices will look, though I can see this to become kind of boring and repetitive soon.

No features known of as of now, but keep looking on AllTouchSite for updates.

Via Engadget

Rog over from MobileSyrup has posted a review of the CDMA variant of the Touch Diamond for Telus Canada. Seems like the same old, same old with this variant and doesn’t lose or gain any features from the original HTC Touch Diamond. One good thing is that it comes equipped with Telus Navigator for the GPS unit, so you don’t have to buy your own. The Telus variant comes at different prices: $149.99 for a 3-year contract, $349.99 for a 2-year contract, $399.99 for a 1-year contract, and $449.99 for no contract.

Looks very sleek in the HTC Victor variant. Check out the video below:

Via MobileSyrup

I thought I’d just post some interesting news from AllTouchSite’s parent site, pocketnow.com. One of the Senior Editors over there, Adam Z Lein, has done something very interesting to his Diamond. By baking in purple and green into the backing of the Touch Diamond and given it “color-shifting technology” with the help of a local auto shop. Additionally, fingerprints and smudge marks are said to be less visible. Can I has? Continue for some pics of this amazing Touch Diamond!

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What? There’s no feature of the day? Well, yes, the Touch Diamond Feature of the Day will be taking a small break while we get back to the world with some updates. I thought that as I’ve covered most of the hardware, I’d take a break from that, even though I promised to deliver about the HTC Album app today. I think I’ll make you wait :D.

Anyway, today’s topic is about the rumored red Touch Diamond supposedly going to Sprint, as found by an AllTouchSite regular reader, Shelley Bevacqua. r0fl from SprintUsers.com found three promotional images for the Touch Diamond, all showing the red-backed Touch Diamond, which incidentally, is set for a September 2nd release.. It looks very cool, but you have to be a little skeptical. WindowsMobile Cool posted earlier today that it was probably Photoshopped for some “fast and easy quick internet fame.” If it is a fake, it’s a pretty good fake with the image tilted in a Sprint-styled way, the Sprint logo, and the accented TouchFLO 3D tabs. Who knows?

What do you think? Post your ideas here.

Why suddenly am I talking about the hardware panel when I’ve been writing about software? Well, today I’ve got some breaking news over from XDA-Developers. I’ll explain more about that below. First off, the hardware panel on the Touch Diamond includes a D-Pad, scroll wheel, center button and four hard buttons: Home, Back, Answer/Start call key, and End Call Key. Read on to find out about the multitouch features on the Diamond!

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A keen user over at XDA-Developers has gotten his hands on a HTC Touch Pro sporting a ROM with AT&T branding. Further proof of it being a real US-variant of the Touch Pro: it has no front-facing camera, and the keys are changed so that there is no longer a dedicated row of numbers at the top. More as it comes!

The saying “the grass is greener on the other side” is probably the most true with this new information leak about the releases on the Touch Diamond and Pro. As these two phones make their way state side, they lose a lot of the luster they had, at least in the case of Verizon. Furthermore, the releases for Sprint have been pushed back to early September, while Verizon will make their releases in early October.

For Sprint:
The Touch Diamond will stay the same as the original HTC specs and will be branded as the HTC Victor.

The Touch Pro will lose the 4GB internal storage, but will have an increase to 512MB of ROM storage space. It will be branded as the HTC Herman. Weird names, aren’t they?

For Verizon:
The Touch Diamond loses its 4GB internal storage will come with a microSD slot instead, sporting 512MB of ROM. The processor for it has been underclocked to 400MHz instead of the 528MHz of the regular Touch Diamond. Not only that, it also loses the accelerometer! The one thing it does gain is a stainless steel frame instead of the aluminum, but this will drive the price up. It will be branded as the HTC Victor.

The Touch Pro also loses the 4GB internal storage for the 512MB ROM space and similar features to the Touch Diamond are lost (g-sensor, processor, etc.). It will be branded as the HTC Raphael.

On a last note, both phones on both carriers come equipped with a decent 1340mAh battery. However, that’s a small comfort for the features lost.

You can look at the side-by-side comparison of the Sprint and Verizon Touch Diamond features here and the Touch Pro here.

Via IntoMobile