New HTC Phones Get Smart

HTC has rolled out three new Windows-based smartphones in an effort simplify the way business users communicate.

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HTC Touch Diamond 2

Earlier today, HTC showed three new mobile phones that come with features such as a People-Centric Communication function that displays the individual conversation history of contacts (voice, text, and e-mail), “Push Internet” that pre-delivers online content to the mobile, conference call function for up to five contacts, and even a dedicated button that displays e-mail from a pre-selected group of people.

HTC’s Sales and Marketing Director for ANZ, Anthony Petts said, “The three unique HTC devices focus around simplifying how we communicate, and will challenge and exceed your expectations around what a typical “business” phone is capable of achieving.”

The new smartphones are: the HTC Touch Diamond 2, Touch Pro 2, and HTC Snap.

The Touch Diamond 2 sports a 3.2-inch widescreen WVGA display, is 13.7mm thick, and includes a touch-sensitive zoom bar. It also comes with a 5-megapixel camera, card slot for memory expansion, has the Push Internet and People-Centric Communication feature, and can also be used as a modem (Tethering). It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 but HTC has promised that it will be upgradeable to the new OS (version 6.5) as soon as it is available later this year.

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HTC Touch Pro 2

The HTC Touch Pro 2 comes with a 3.6-inch widescreen WVGA display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for easy text input. In addition to the Push Internet feature and People-Centric Communication function, this handset also comes with a conference calling function that can accommodate up to 5 parties at once.

Petts has demonstrated this feature and showed us how you can call contacts on an e-mail, put anyone on mute, and even swap in and out of calls. The number of people you can call is dependent on your carrier, so users must check with their provider for more details. The phone also comes with a loudspeaker and dedicated noise-cancelling microphone that claims to deliver good-quality conference calls.

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HTC Snap

The last phone to be revealed was the HTC Snap, a slim smartphone that sports a QWERTY keyboard with large keys. This Windows Mobile 6.1 phone comes with the Inner Circle function that allow users to press a dedicated Inner Circle key to bring e-mails from a pre-selected group of people to the top of their inbox. Other features include HSDPA connectivity, e-mail , calendar and contact synchronisation with Microsoft Exchange server.

The HTC Snap and Touch Pro2 will initially be available exclusively for Telstra users, while the HTC Diamond 2 will be available through Optus. Pricing and plans will be released at a later date by carriers.