CTIA Wireless 2008: HTC Touch Dual Available Soon in the US

HTC Touch Dual will hit the US market this Spring, coming with Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile 6.1 OS and many other cool features.

Already available in other markets (Europe, Japan and Australia for example), HTC Touch Dual now brings US-specific network connectivity: 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 Mhz GSM/GPRS/EDGE, as well as 850 and 1900 Mhz HSDPA, for high data transfer speeds. The handset follows the line of the popular HTC Touch, but offers several extra features, including a numeric sliding keypad.

Measuring 4.21 x 2.16 x 0.62 inches (107 x 55 x 15.8 mm) and weighing 4.23 ounces (120 grams), HTC Touch Dual packs a 2.6 inches TFT touchscreen (240 x 320 pixels and 65K colors), TouchFLO user interface, a 20-key keyboard for easy dialing and typing, a 2 Megapixel camera, secondary video-call camera, Live HTC Home (which includes quick launcher, weather and time display and one-touch ringtone settings). Leveraging on Windows Mobile 6.1, the Touch Dual comes with Microsoft Office Mobile and the new Internet Explorer Mobile.

Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America, said about the touchscreen handset: "The Touch Dual will be among the first devices in the United States to run Windows Mobile 6.1 and will be followed by a range of 6.1 updates for several other HTC products."

HTC Touch Dual will first be available from Best Buy, the well-known retailer, for a price that has not been revealed yet.

In Europe, HTC Touch Dual is available for retail prices between 400 and 500 Euros, which means between $620 and $780. However, coming with a contract agreement, the handset will be far more affordable, so American users who have been waiting for Touch Dual should pray their favorite carrier will get it too. T-Mobile, for example, will probably bring the handset to its subscribers, since T-Mobile UK has it, under the name of MDA Touch Plus.