14 DAY TRIAL // The latest high-end Pocket PCs unveiled by HTC, namely Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, will be available on the US market not only from Sprint, as known until now, but also from Verizon Wireless.
Obviously, since both Sprint and Verizon are CDMA carriers, the new HTC handsets will be modified a bit, so as to change their "native" GSM/HSDPA connectivity into a CDMA one with EV-DO capabilities.
Already available in Europe, the Touch Diamond is HTC's first flagship handset from its 2008 line-up. The Pocket PC was first unveiled back in May and it will probably be a hit all over the world. The device is elegant and slim, runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and includes the following features: a VGA touchscreen display, HTC's new TouchFlo 3D UI, a 3.15 Megapixel camera with auto focus and video recording, GPS, Wi-Fi, advanced Web and email capabilities, Music and Video players, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and a 4GB internal memory.
HTC Touch Pro (Also known as HTC Raphael) is similar to the Touch Diamond, the main difference being that the latter packs a full QWERTY keyboard that slides horizontally. Also, the Touch Pro brings more RAM and more ROM, as well as a more powerful battery, but it doesn't have Diamond's 4GB built-in memory.
According to Phone Arena, besides the two high-end HTC Pocket PCs, Verizon will also be offering the following handsets: Motorola Blaze (also known as Motorola ZN4), available from September; Motorola VU30, available in August; Nokia 2605 and 7205, two clamshells that will apparently be dubbed Nokia Mirage and Nokia Intrigue; Palm Treo 800w; and two Samsungs: SCH-U430 and SCH-U440, both scheduled for an August release.
No word yet on the release date of the new Touch Pocket PCs or about their Verizon prices. Anyway, it seems that the second largest US carrier will have a pretty solid new line-up of handsets that, added to the already released devices (like LG Dare), will make 2008 a good year for its subscribers. Who needs an iPhone 3G anyway?
