HTC Touch Pro announced
HTC Corp., a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today unveiled its advanced next generation business phone, the HTC Touch Pro. Bringing a beautiful new angle to mobile business productivity, the HTC Touch Pro utilizes similar styling and functionality of the highly anticipated Touch Diamond and introduces a variety of business-focused enhancements that make getting work done on the go quick and easy.”The HTC Touch Pro and Touch Diamond have created a new generation of HTC touch devices that make the promise of the one-hand, one-touch mobile Internet a reality,” said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. “HTC Touch Pro is for those customers that demand the ease of use and enjoyment of TouchFLO 3D and want the styling of the Touch Diamond but also need the powerful mobile business experience that HTC delivers.”
A New Dimension To Touch - One hand, one touch
HTC has taken a great leap forward in touch screen innovation with its 3D touch interface called TouchFLO 3D. TouchFLO 3D provides a stunningly intuitive way to zip through common tasks like messaging, calendar appointments or making calls with just one touch. Delve a little deeper to find that your music, photos, contacts and surfing the web are also responsive to the touch. In addition, the Touch Pro includes a new innovative touch-sensitive control for device interaction.
Making The Mobile Internet Useful and Fun
With the introduction of Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, HTC delivers an entirely new mobile Internet experience that utilizes broadband-like speeds with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and wireless connectivity. Committed to improving Web browsing, HTC provides a new customized mobile Web browser that enables easy viewing and effortless navigation of Websites in the way they are designed to be viewed on a PC. As part of this browsing experience users can zoom and pan Websites with one-hand and automatically view optimized content that has been specially created to fit the display. Turning the device sideways automatically rotates the web page view from a portrait to landscape view.
In addition to Web browsing, the Touch Pro includes an HTC-developed, YouTube application for watching a variety of user generated video content as well as including Google Maps for mobile for mapping and traffic data.
Unmatched Style With Complete Productivity
Like the Touch Diamond, Touch Pro is crafted with precision to fit comfortably in a user’s hand and brings together elegant touch screen response with the direct precision of HTC’s trademark sliding keyboard design. Introducing a new five-row QWERTY keyboard layout that makes typing-intensive tasks like composing email or working on Microsoft Office documents quick and easy. Built-in TV-out functionality means users can deliver the perfect PowerPoint presentation from the Touch Pro.
Bursting with Innovation
The Touch Pro delivers an unrivalled combination of features and functionality. The 2.8 inch display provides near-print quality viewing that enables beautiful Web browsing and viewing of photographs. The built-in camera includes an optical auto-focus lens that ensures the photos you take will be clear and consistent. Advanced wireless and auto sensor screen pivoting are just a few of the features that make the Touch Pro experience a stand out.
Availability
The HTC Touch Pro will be available to customers across all major European, Asian and the Middle East markets in late summer. The North American and Latin American versions of Touch Pro will be available later in 2008.
Key HTC Touch Pro Specifications
* Size: 102 x 51 x 18.05mm
* Weight: 165 g
* Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
* Operating system: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
* Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
* Camera: 3.2MP, with the second VGA camera for video calling
* Internal memory: 512 MB flash, 288 MB RAM
* Expansion Slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
* Keyboard: Slide-out 5 row QWERTY keyboard
* Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
* Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
* GPS: GPS/AGPS
* Interface: HTC ExtUSB (11-pin mini-USB 2.0, audio jack, and TV out in one)
* Battery: 1340 mAh
* Talk time: GSM: up to 8 hours
* Standby time: GSM: up to two-weeks
* Chipset: Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528MHz
HTC Introduces New Accessories
Also today, HTC announced multiple accessories will be available for the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro including a similarly designed desktop cradle and travel charger accessory pack as well as an extended battery and slim collapsible case for the Touch Diamond.
Posted on 6th June 2008
Under: GPS, HTC, WiFi | No Comments »

In the wake of personal navigation devices’ success, cellular carriers have started to offer on-board and off-board navigation solutions, as well as a range of LBS (Location Based Services) such as friend finder and local search on GPS handsets. Community and social-networking-related functionality, such as the sharing of POIs (Points of Interest) and geo-tagged pictures, is also becoming popular and is expected to boost GPS-enabled handset uptake as carriers, handsets manufacturers, and service providers look to capitalize on the LBS trend.”While most CDMA handsets are already GPS-enabled and GPS is set to become a standard feature in GSM smartphones, GSM feature phones are next on the agenda to be equipped with GPS technology,” says ABI Research principal analyst Dominique Bonte. “GPS chipset vendors increasingly target handsets, looking for new markets and spurred on by the recent dramatic growth of personal navigation devices.”
Nokia and ARC Transistance, the European network of automobile clubs, announced today that they are working together to provide Real Time Traffic Information to users of Nokia mobile devices. Nokia will offer the service as a premium offering in Nokia Maps 2.0 and in future versions of Nokia Maps.By adding RTTI, Nokia can save precious time for drivers by alerting them of traffic, construction or other road hazards that could affect their journey. When Nokia Maps receives the road updates from ARC Transistance, the application can dynamicly re-route during navigation and provide a faster route. This is a significant milestone for Nokia Maps, which makes navigation an even more compelling experience for Nokia device owners.
AT&T Inc. and Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the launch of the BlackBerry Pearl(TM) 8110 smartphone, which includes built-in global positioning system (GPS) support for location-based applications and services. Combined with navigation and mapping applications such as AT&T Navigator, the handset provides turn-by-turn voice and on-screen directions with colorful 3-D moving maps that can be used in vehicles or while walking. AT&T Navigator also alerts users through voice and on-screen prompts to traffic slowdowns and incidents along their programmed travel route, and it provides customers with the option to choose an alternative route.”The BlackBerry Pearl 8110’s stylish design and consumer features blend well with the productivity features for managing your day while away from home or the office,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Business Voice/Data and Wireless Products, for AT&T’s wireless unit. “Beyond the BlackBerry Pearl 8110’s powerful e-mail and messaging capabilities, which keep users on track with important information while mobile, its new built-in GPS capabilities — coupled with AT&T Navigator — will keep customers literally on track when they are getting from Point A to Point B.”
According to a new report from the telecom research firm Berg Insight, more than 100 million mobile subscribers in Europe will use location-based services by 2012. Mapping, navigation and search are believed to become the top applications, followed by social networking and tracking. “All the pieces needed for successful LBS are more or less in place now,” said Andre Malm, telecom analyst, Berg Insight.”GPS is about to become a standard feature in mass-market handsets which are highly advanced and support third party applications. Many will try and a few players will most likely succeed in creating location-enabled mobile applications that will have the same impact on the mobile industry as MySpace and Facebook had on the Internet.” High adoption rates will however not immediately translate into high revenues. LBS providers are going to have to depend on advertising sales in the same way as other online players. The mobile advertising eco-system is still undeveloped and needs many more years to become mature. “First there must be a critical mass of active users to work with, then someone must create a successful model for reaching out to these individuals via their handsets and after that the mobile media must be embraced by the top spenders in the advertising industry,” said Andre.
The Nokia N95 8GB has arrived on American shores. Packed with portable entertainment features and high-speed HSDPA connectivity on 850/1900 MHz networks in the Americas, the Nokia N95 8GB is now shipping to select locations across the United States — and with six months of free navigation service included with Nokia Maps.The new Nokia N95 8GB brings the worlds of mobility and entertainment together with its stunning 2.8 inch QVGA screen with support for up to 16 million colors, eight gigabytes of built-in memory, Assisted GPS (A-GPS) for improved location access, and enhanced battery power. Nokia N95 8GB owners in the US can also enjoy the benefits of free turn-by-turn directions and voice guidance in Nokia Maps for six months.
AAA, today announced that AAA Mobile is now available for download on the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition and BlackBerry Pearl 8130 smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM) — the first smartphones compatible with the award-winning navigation and local search application from AAA.AAA Mobile subscribers, whether they are AAA members or non-members, can now use a BlackBerry smartphone to receive visual and audible directions to any travel destination in the U.S.; locate AAA Approved points of interest (POIs), including Diamond Rated hotels and restaurants; and search more than 100,000 locations that offer AAA Show Your Card & Save member savings. AAA Mobile subscribers can review detailed AAA descriptions for POIs on their smartphone, receive a map showing a destination on the mobile phone screen, receive audible turn-by-turn navigation to the destination, and bookmark locations as favorites for quick recall in future.
Today, at CeBIT 2008, T-Mobile and Nokia announced the Nokia 6650, a stylish and easy to use device optimized for use with T-Mobile services. Available exclusively for T-Mobile International customers, the Nokia 6650 is equipped with the latest wireless features, such as an integrated GPS and multimedia player, allowing T-Mobile customers easy access to a wide range of services such as web’n'walk, MyFaves, Mobile Jukebox and NaviGate.The Nokia 6650 will be available from T-Mobile during the third quarter at T-Mobile sales points across Europe at a very attractive price. In Germany for example, the Nokia 6650 will retail for just 1 euro together with the Relax 100 rate.
Sprint announced it will launch a domestic unlimited pricing plan that gives customers unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, Web-surfing, Sprint TVSM, Sprint Music, GPS Navigation, Direct Connect and Group Connect for $99.99 a month. The new pricing plan is available to existing and new customers beginning Friday, February 29.”This is a bold, unprecedented move,” said Dan Hesse, president and CEO, Sprint Nextel. “Wireless today is about much more than just voice. It is about data services — texting, email, video, pictures, music, navigation, surfing the Web and more. Customers want these applications, but without complexity and without having to worry about their bill. The $99.99 Simply Everything plan delivers it all right to the palm of their hand now.
Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users surpassed 1.15 billion units in 2007, a 16 per cent increase from 2006 sales of 990.9 million, according to Gartner, Inc. Mobile phone sales at the end of the year were consistent with the yearly trend, as fourth quarter sales reached 330 million units.”Emerging markets, especially China and India, provided much of the growth as many people bought their first phone,” said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, based in Egham, UK. “In mature markets, such as Japan and Western Europe, consumers’ appetite for feature-laden phones was met with new models packed with TV tuners, global positioning satellite (GPS) functions, touch screens and high-resolution cameras.”
In an answer to the growing demand for crossover devices, AT&T Inc. and Palm Inc. announced the availability of the Palm Centro(TM) from AT&T. Centro is designed for the expanding base of customers who want a better way to manage their busy lives. The device is available for just $99.99.(1)Centro offers customers more choices to stay in touch with friends, family and co-workers by using voice, text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail or the Web.(2) Featuring a color touch-screen and full QWERTY keyboard, Centro is the first Palm OS product to launch with AT&T services, such as XM Radio Mobile, Push to Talk and MusicID.(3)