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HTC Touch Smartphone
Introduction
Timing is everything. The HTC Touch was introduced on June 5th of last year, 24 days before the first iPhone launched in the US. The device bears great similarity to its cousin from Cupertino, from the simple, largely button-free hardware to an overall focus on operation with the fingers. Although the two devices look like they share some blood, I think that the Touch is special in its own right. HTC has put a great deal of thought into the design of the Touch, inside and out. They've written an entire UI modification suite that actually works the way it should, which is more than can be said for most manufacturers' efforts in this area. At the end of the day, however, you may just have to look at what you need from a "smartphone," because the Touch is definitely a different kind of Windows Mobile phone than what you've come to expect. That may be a good thing, though. First Impressions Right off the bat you will notice that HTC has taken a queue from Sony and Apple by focusing heavily on presentation. Once inside the fairly standard Sprint box you are presented with a magnetically sealed black box with very little text or graphics. Inside the box is a small container that holds the phone, complete with very stylish line art, and two other containers that hold the plethora of accessories and documentation that come with the Touch. I know stuff like this may be lost on some folks, but unboxing is a sacred ritual to many a technophile, and HTC has nailed this part. Aside from the Touch hardware, HTC has included several great extras to complete the package. You get what seems like an entire library of literature from both Sprint and HTC describing the device and its features in short story and novel format, which is great for guys like me who fall asleep at night reading tech manuals. You'll also find an 1100 mAh battery (which we will discuss a little bit later), a 512 MB microSD card, a software installation CD, a nice faux leather carrying case, an extra stylus, mini USB headphones, charger, USB sync cable, a headphone adaptor (so you can use any headphones through the mini USB port), a USB splitter (for using the sync cable and headphones simultaneously), and a decent little screen protector. I've grown tired of device manufacturers slacking on included equipment because they think we won't notice -- we do. The original iPods came with inline remotes and docks in addition to the charger and headphones, but those extras were gone by about the third generation. The 3G iPhone is following this same trend by making the dock an extra purchase. HTC gives you everything that you would typically want to come with a phone, and I applaud them for keeping the faith.        
Page 1: Introduction & First Impressions
Page 2: User Experience - The Hardware Page 3: User Experience - The Software, Phone & Organizer, and Multimedia Page 4: Conclusion 
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