HTC have bought out design firm One & Co, which helped the handset maker design both the Touch Diamond smartphone and the TouchFLO 3D interface which has graced the company’s Windows Mobile devices since. While the acquisition obviously spells closer interaction with One & Co designers and future HTC devices, the design firm will also continue as a standalone consultancy.
Under the terms of the agreement, One & Co’s designers will work more closely with the HTC product team, and hopefully assist in creating devices with beauty more than just skin-deep; conversely, HTC designers will be working with One & Co’s team on non-smartphone products. Current and previous clients include Adidas, K2, Kensington, The North Face, Salomon and Sony.
Exact details on the terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, and it’s unclear how much HTC paid for the privately-held design firm.
Press Release:
HTC Bolsters Design Credibility With Addition of One & Co
Leader in lifestyle design will be cornerstone of HTC’s design capability and philosophy while continuing as an innovative design consultancy
Taoyuan, Taiwan and SAN FRANCISCO, December 3, 2008 – Furthering its reputation as a global leader in mobile innovation and design, HTC Corporation today announced the continuation of its design focus with the acquisition of San Francisco-based lifestyle design firm One & Company Design, Inc. (One & Co). Recognized for its award-winning work with some of the world’s best known and most design-savvy lifestyle brands, One & Co will maintain its name and client base while it joins forces with HTC to create an unparalleled force in global mobile design.
“Design is key, it is why you love or hate something,” said Horace Luke, Chief Innovation Officer, HTC Corporation. “Integrating iconic design into HTC products is an inspiring and dynamic challenge that requires a unique combination of consumer insight, creativity, innovation and an appetite to take risks; attributes that embody One & Co.”
HTC and One & Co first began collaborating in 2006 on the initial incubation and creation of the HTC Touch Diamond, a highly touted phone with iconic design that blended unprecedented use of material and industrial design.
“One & Co is excited to bring our lifestyle, user focused approach to HTC and we look forward to creating iconic, compelling products together,” said Scott Croyle, partner of One & Co. “Knowing about HTC’s cutting edge technology and proven track record of innovation, we are excited to collaborate with HTC as a global lifestyle brand.”
In addition to its work with HTC, One & Co has broad design experience in a variety of industries that range from footwear, snowboarding and skiing, furniture, packaging, houseware, timepieces and more. One & Co has been recognized by the design and business communities by winning numerous BusinessWeek/IDSA IDEA Awards, the Good Design Awards, CES Innovation Awards, and ID Magazine awards.
About One & Co
Privately held, One & Co is an internationally recognized design leader that delivers design and engineering services to some of the world’s best known and most admired companies. With expertise in areas ranging from ethnographic research and design forecasting and manufacturing technologies, One & Co is committed to bring the highest level of creative talent to every endeavor and provide an unmatched attention to detail.
About HTC
Founded in 1997, HTC Corporation (HTC) designs innovative, feature rich smartphones. Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations and launched state-of-the-art PDA Phones and smartphones for mobile operators and distributors in Europe, the US, and Asia. These machines are available as HTC devices and as products individually customized for operator and device partners.
HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.
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Written by Chris Davies on December 3rd, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Having announced it last week at CTIA Wireless, and seen it hands-on later that day, all that’s left is to unbox and properly review Sprint’s CDMA version of the HTC Touch Diamond. The Touch Diamond has a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen, EV-DO Rev.A, WiFi b/g and GPS, and includes HTC’s TouchFLO 3D GUI for hiding dull old Windows Mobile 6.1
Check out the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond video unboxing after the cut
In the box, Sprint provide the handset itself, a US AC adapter, USB charge/sync cable, wired stereo handsfree headset, belt case, spare stylus and an adaptor to use 3.5mm or 2.5mm headsets. They also include a screen protector and both printed quick-start and full manuals; ActiveSync is supplied on CD
Compared to the original GSM Touch Diamond, the Sprint version is fatter and loses the unusual faceted rear-panel. Both have 4GB of internal storage, but only the GSM Touch Diamond has a front-mounted camera for video calls.
We’ll have the full review of the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond very soon, so until then enjoy the unboxing video!
Click here to view the embedded video.
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Written by Chris Davies on September 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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We met with HTC at CTIA Wireless this morning for a hands-on with their latest Windows Mobile smartphones. Sprint’s Touch Pro and Touch Diamond were on show, while the non-touchscreen S740 made an appearance as well. The Diamond is basically the same device that we reviewed back in June, and we’re still not fans of the rear-panel. The texture and the slightly-protruding center strip don’t add anything to either the aesthetics or how it feels in your hand, and the dark red color Sprint have chosen is equally uninspiring. Where it succeeds, however, is in the data potential: with Sprint’s EvDO Rev.A network browsing on the Diamond really came into its own.
Check out hands-on feedback on the Touch Pro and S740 after the cut
The Touch Pro, also fresh to Sprint, has the same super-speedy EvDO Rev.A data connection, together with a keyboard that is one of the better hardware QWERTY’s on the market today. In fact, having more time with the smartphone than we did with our initial hands-on, we take back the few criticisms we initially made - the Touch Pro is solid, this latest iteration of TouchFLO 3D does the best job yet of masking Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro, and there’s little lag or stalling in use.
As for the S740, this was perhaps HTC’s surprise device - surprising in that, while you might assume a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard smartphone would pale a little compared to its touchscreen brethren, the S740 is actually a very nice handset. The design and feel is reminiscent of a B&O device, being sturdy and feeling high-quality; the keyboard slide is firm and precise, with no evidence of looseness in the mechanism, and the front panel buttons are tactile and responsive. Unfortunately HTC still don’t believe the market in the US is looking for a device like the S740, and so they have no plans to distribute it outside of Europe.
We’ll be taking a closer look at Sprint’s new handsets over the next few days, so keep reading SlashGear for the full reviews.
(Left: Eric Lin, Middle: Keith Nowak (formerly with Nokia, now with HTC Americas) and me.
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Written by Vincent Nguyen on September 10th, 2008 with no comments.
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Sprint has finally announced availability and pricing details for its two latest HTC smartphones, the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro. The two handsets are similar, the Touch Pro having a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and flash, while both have 2.8-inch VGA touchscreens, 3.2-megapixel cameras with autofocus, and WiFi.
The Sprint version of the HTC Touch Diamond was recently reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, who criticised Windows Mobile 6.1 but generally had good things to say about the HTC hardware. As with other recent handsets from the company, both smartphones use the HTC TouchFLO 3D GUI, a more finger-friendly overlay that attempts to hide most of Windows Mobile’s native UI.
The HTC Touch Diamond will be available in September and will cost $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The HTC Touch Pro will be available in all Sprint retail channels beginning October 19, for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.
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Written by Chris Davies on September 10th, 2008 with no comments.
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The Wall Street Journal’s review of the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond came out today and it’s more of a knock of Windows Mobile than the phone itself. And as HTC attempted to cover up the OS’s lesser liked features, it succeeds in some regard, but mostly falls short.
The biggest complaint was the device’s inability to disguise Windows Mobile’s flaws as well as some other company’s software. The TouchFLO 3D software and touch screen are nice and rather attractive, it’s simply not enough. Windows Mobile menus constantly interrupt the sleek interface. For instance, the mail program opens with a preview function that incorporates clever animation. But if you wish to open the mail client, it’s the standard Windows Mobile email program.
The touch capabilities were also a bit “sticky.” However, the device itself is nice to look at and is smaller than the BlackBerry and the iPhone. The Diamond’s browser is based on Opera and opens websites in such a way so that they reformat specifically for the phone. It also has an accelerometer called a G-Sensor, which had a tendency to get stuck when flipping from horizontal to vertical, delay for about 3 seconds or not flip at all.
All in all, the WSJ feels the HTC Touch Diamond makes a valiant effort, but it falls short of covering up all that Windows Mobile lacks.
[via The Mossberg Solution at All Things Digital]
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Written by Brenda Stokes on September 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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There’s been a lot of news regarding HTC phones this weekend and now we can add another tidbit to the list. The new HTC Touch Diamond is coming from Sprint in September and it is packed with features.
Dubbed as the “hottest Windows Mobile device,” the HTC Touch Diamond from Sprint sports a 2.8-inch touch screen, TouchFLO 3D user interface and a 3D graphics processor. This phone makes it easy to move through websites, media and more with simple finger gestures.
The Diamond also has EVDO Rev A, a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, 4GB of internal storage, and GPS. This phone will really put all of your information in the palm of your hand, plus it will run on Sprint’s CDMA network. All in all, we’re looking forward to this one.
[via Bluefish Wireless]
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Written by Brenda Stokes on August 31st, 2008 with no comments.
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HTC Touch Diamond, or HTC P3700 as it is officially called, is the top communicator phone of the company.
It is first and foremost a fashion phone; HTC Diamond is not for techies or gadget fans, but for those users who want the coolest looking, most feature-packed device.
It’s probably safe to say then that HTC’s flagship phone for 2008 will be competing not with other Windows Mobile handhelds, but with devices like iPhone and iPhone 3G.
HTC Diamond design
The smartphone comes in keyboard-less candybar form factor case made from glossy black plastic. The front is mostly taken up by the 2.8” touchscreen, while the back has faceted, diamond-like surface - a little similar to Nokia Prism.
The phone really looks quite stylish; all those glossy surfaces, however, are also extremely prone to getting smudges and prints on them. You will literally have to put up with cleaning it all the time if you want your gadget to look as shiny as new.
Although we have heard that the commercial version of HTC Diamond might have regular soft touch plastic used for its back panel (making it less prone to smudges and easier to grip) the image of the phone would suffer slightly as a result.
HTC Touch Diamond controls
The phone has a power button on the top edge and volume control buttons on the left side. Stylus is hidden on the right edge. At the bottom edge the phone is equipped with HTC’s universal port which looks a lot like miniUSB, and more, is compatible with it. Regrettably, there’s no standard 3.5 mm audio jack.
The front panel has four standard buttons that you will know from other Windows Mobile devices; they’re Home, Back, and Accept/Deny as well as the navigation wheel.
Interface of Touch Diamond
The interface is easily the most important part of the phone, and HTC has put in a lot of work here. While some Windows Mobile devices are infamous for being inconvenient to use (without a stylus, especially) that can’t be said about HTC Diamond, thanks to its TouchFLO 3D interface (an evolution of TouchFLO used in earlier Touch devices).
There are several tabs at the bottom of the desktop, such as Home, People, Messages, E-Mail, Internet, Photos & Videos, Music, Weather, Settings, and Programs. You can move between these by selecting a specific one or simply dragging your finger along the screen to switch between them one-by-one.
The Home tab contains some standard information like a stylish-looking clock, date, carrier logo and a link to recent call list. People tab contains your contact list; if available, photos are shown with a cool 3D effect for each person. The Messages are implemented in a way similar to iPhone: messages from the same sender are grouped into “conversations”. The text content of e-mails can be previewed in a 3D perspective, and double clicked for a more traditional view. 3D effects are also used when listing through photos or video clips.
Opening the Internet tab gives you a scrollable list of bookmarks and, of course, a shortcut to the browser. It is very user-friendly and functional Since HTC adapted Opera Mini for the Touch Diamond. You can view pages either in mobile or full view; when using the latter, the navigational wheel might be used for zooming in and out by moving your finger in a circular motion.
The music player interface is also very interesting and what’s more, easy to use. HTC Diamond has 4 GB of built-in memory, so using it as a music player is completely feasible. It comes with a stylish headset; the sound quality, while nothing incredible, is more than satisfactory.
The Weather tab will give you a scrollable list of cities and display weather forecasts for each, as well as an indication of last update.The Settings tab has all the basic settings and options of the phone that you might want to play with. Finally, the Programs tab is essentially a big list of shortcuts to various applications.
The TouchFLO 3D interface allows the user to access almost all functions of the phone without having to interact with Windows Mobile operating system directly. Everything from making phone calls to reading your text messages looks simply amazing on Diamond’s VGA display. While some people might say that HTC ripped the concept off iPhone, even they won’t be able to deny that the graphical interface of this phone is awesome.
The downside is that the device sometimes becomes unresponsive for a short time and there are occasional delays when moving between tabs or items. Simply put, the interface is sluggish, which ruins the overall impression a little. Hopefully HTC will fix this problem in their future products.
Conclusions
HTC Touch Diamond is a communicator phone with an astonishing design and a graphical interface that both looks gorgeous and is very user-friendly.
At the beginning of the review, we already mentioned that the phone is not targeted at people who normally buy communicators, but for those who want the best feature-packed phone available.
HTC Diamond might lose to Apple’s iPhone in usability department – mainly due to its often sluggish interface, and inferior implementation of finger-based control – but it’s still well worth the price if you’re looking for a device like this, and fills its niche perfectly. HTC Diamond has more features and technological capabilities than the iPhone, and you can safely say there’s no equal to it among Windows Mobile or Symbian devices.
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Written by Alex and Andrius on August 30th, 2008 with no comments.
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The S740 smartphone is a distant cousin of the HTC Diamond, featuring a similar sleek front and faceted back along with a similar feature set. Unlike the Diamond, the S740 does not sport a touchscreen and powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard.
In place of the touchscreen, the company gave the S740 a traditional 12-key numeric keypad. Underneath the hood is HTC’s signature sliding QWERTY keyboard those who prefer a two handed messaging experience.
The HTC S740 will be available in Europe from September 2008, and may possibly have its first appearance at IFA in Berlin early next month. The lucky folks in Europe will enjoy Internet speeds up to 7.2 Mbps, that’s up to 18 times faster than our 3G networks! The price was not revealed at the time of writing this article.
Other features include a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, GPS/aGPS, 3.2 megapixel camera with fixed focus, 256 MB flash; 256 MB RAM, microSD slot for memory expansion, GPS, Bluetooth, FM radio, all powered by Qualcomm MSM7225, 528 MHz.
Key HTC S740 product specifications:
- Size: 116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm
- Weight: 140g with battery
- Networks: WCDMA/HSDPA: 900/2100 MHz for EU and Asia
- GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
- Maximum speed: UL = 384 kbps; DL = 3.6/7.2 Mbps**
- Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard
- Display: 2.4-inch QVGA screen
- Camera: 3.2 megapixel with fixed focus
- Internal memory: 256 MB flash; 256 MB RAM
- Memory card: microSD™
- WLAN: 802.11b/g
- Bluetooth®: 2.0 with EDR
- GPS: GPS/AGPS
- Interface: HTC ExtUSB™ (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
- Battery: 1000 mAh
- Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 320 minutes*** / GSM: Up to 380 minutes***
- Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 400 hours*** / GSM: Up to 280 hours***
- Special features: Sliding QWERTY keyboard, FM radio, Google Maps, RSS Hub
- Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225, 528 MHz
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Written by Vincent Nguyen on August 26th, 2008 with no comments.
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