HTC confirms HTC Touch Opal

HTC has a full-fledged product page ready for the HTC Touch Opal or Touch 3G as they are calling it. And it is promising to be a full-featured phone with touchscreen, quad-band GSM, tri-band CDMA, 3G support. The phone has the latest TouchFLO user interface on Windows Mobile 6.1 and 3.2Mpxl camera, GPS, and comes in 4 colors black, blue, chocolate and gold. No word on release dates and prices.

HTC working on Touch HD

HTC is apparently working on another version of its popular Touch series, called the Touch HD, according to Modaco. This device has almost the same dimensions as the iPhone running a Qualcomm 7201A processor with 512MB ROM and 256MB RAM. It has a 5Mpxl camera without flash, WVGA touchscreen running on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. It also comes with HSPDA support and GPS, though it is unclear whether it supports GSM or CDMA or both. Apparently it will be out in time for Christmas this year. Here’s hoping that it does if the pictures are to be believed.

Sony Ericsson’s G705 officially launched

Today Sony Ericsson announced the launch of its G705 phone, its first UMA phone. It has been talked about for a while now, however, today we got the official confirmation and specs. Speaking of specs, here they are:

• Quad-band GSM with HSPDA
• Large 2.4” screen
• 128MB RAM with Memory Stick
• Wi-Fi & DLNA
• aGPS
• 3.2Mpxl Camera
• Windows Mobile 6.1
• Google shortcut key
• YouTube integration

This slider phone will come in two versions G705 and G705u. The G705u will be exclusive to the Orange network whereas the G705 will be available around the world. Both the phones will be available in Silky Gold and Majestic Black (G705u also comes in Luminous Black) and will launch in select markets in Q4 2008 and will be available in US in Q1 of 2009.

HTC Touch Pro gets FCC nod to debut as AT&T Fuze

It appears the HTC Touch Pro, aka, Raphael, aka AT&T Fuze has got FCC approval, according to Engadget Mobile. Now, it remains to be seen how soon AT&T launches it. Just a quick recap of the features, the Fuze has the TouchFLO 3D software that got rave reviews recently. In addition, it also has the tri-band HSPDA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS navigation, and Push to Talk, Blackberry Connect, XM Satellite radio and runs on Windows Mobile 6.1

Microsoft working on a Windows Mobile Marketplace

It appears Microsoft was laboring hard over the Labor Day weekend in the US. It had two major annoucements, one of which is related to this blog the other is not. The first announcement which is not related to this blog, is that Microsoft is taking the fight to Google in the search engine space. MS acquired  Greenfield Online, owner of Europe’s largest shopping price comparison website ciao.com. This deal is for a cool $486 million and is hoping to attach Google’s weakness: product search and price comparison.

The other announcement which is big is that Microsoft will have a Windows Mobile marketplace called Microsoft Skymarket similar to the Apple App Store and Android Marketplace. However, unlike the iPhone marketplace or the Android Marketplace where they had to wait for developers to develop the software, Microsoft already has 20,000+ applications for its Windows Mobile platform. So, the interesting thing to look out for is how many will be available through Skymarket and how easy will it be for developers to add more. The Skymarket will be available on Windows Mobile 7 platform as an on-device marketplace with OTA download and purchase.

Get ready for Red Diamond

Looks like HTC Touch Diamond is heading for Sprint and will be decked out in red according to this post on WMExperts. I blogged the review for this handset here. Also, I did a comparison of the Touch Diamond with other touchscreen phones which you can read here. Given that is has already been approved for the US market, I expect Sprint to launch it sometime in September or October. Here is a quick reminder of the specs.

• 2.8-inch TFT-LCD with VGA resolution

• ROM: 256 MB RAM: 192 MB DDR SDRAM Internal storage: 4 GB

• Tri-band GSM and WCDMA support with HSPDA and Wi-Fi

• 3.2 Mpxl camera

• Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional

• Weighs 110 grams.

Motorola’s second wind: Atila

Looks like with the announcement of new co-CEO, Sanjay Jha, and profitable 2nd quarter, Motorola has got the proverbial second wind in its sail. It has managed to grow 2nd quarter shipment by 5.3% and retain its lead in the US with 25.8% market share, according to a report released today by Strategy Analytics.

Also, today, BoyGenius Report has released leaked photos and specsfor another phone called Atila. Briefly, this is the first phone from Motorola which has tri-band UMTS/HSPDAas well as quad-band GSM and Wi-Fi support. It comes with 2.8 inches QVGAscreen running Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1. Beyond that, not much in known including when it will be released and at what price.

Motorola’s last stand: Alexander?

As we know, Motorola has been struggling for a while now. Just yesterday they announced the hiring of ex-Qualcomm COO, Sanjay Jha, as co-CEO of Motorala. Mr. Jha will focus on the mobile handset business. Based on the photo out today at BoyGenius Report, looks like Mr. Jha will have something to start his tenure with and hopefully buy enough time to turn around the division. The phone we are talking about is the Alexander. It is rumored to be a Windows Mobile device (version 6.1 or 7, yet to be determined) and will have 5-8Mpxl camera, aGPS and NVIDIA chip to handle graphics. It is tentatively slated to be released in Q4 2008.

HTC Touch Diamond approved for US market

Finally, after a long time, HTC yesterday got approval from FCC for their Touch Diamond phone with HSDPA. This is the phone, HTC is pitching against iPhone and has been available worldwide for some time now. It took FCC some time to approve, however, it was approved with full 3G support. I compared it against other touchscreen devices here, and as you can see in that post, the HTC certainly is lighter than the iPhone and comes with more powerful camera. Though, on the down side, the screen is smaller but with VGA support (480X640). No word on which operator it launches, when or at what price.

Samsung launches i740

Samsung officially lauched the i740, Unwired View is reporting. This is Windows Mobile 6.1 based, 2.5G smartphone with GPS capabilities. It also has 3.2Mpxl camera, FM radio, 2.8″ QVGA screen However, for now, it is available only in Ukraine.