Alltel, the fifth largest mobile operator in the US, now offers a new version of HTC Touch to its customers: a Burgundy red one. This is surely a nice change of look from the initial gray Touch and it comes to offer users an alternative in case they have something against gray.

At the end of April, HTC updated the firmware of Alltel's Touch to the 3.04.671.2 version, bringing several improvements to the handset, like support for Alltel's EVDO Rev. A network (hence faster data transfer speeds and Web browsing), the ability to receive video messages and improved Bluetooth capabilities. Therefore, Alltel's HTC Touch is not only newly-colored but also better in performances.

Also available in the US via Verizon and Sprint, HTC Touch is a sleek handset that measures only 3.93 x 2.28 x 0.55 inches (99.9 x 58 x 13.9 mm) and weighs 3.95 ounces (112 grams). Among its features we have a 2.8 inch TFT touchscreen display with 240 x 320 pixels and 65K colors, HTC's well-known TouchFlo interface, Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, Wi-Fi connectivity, Pocket Office, Pocket Internet Explorer, email, Instant Messaging, a 2 Megapixel camera with video recording, Bluetooth 2.0, Music player, miniUSB and microSD card support for up to 8 GB (a 1GB card is pre-installed). The device comes with an 1100 mAh battery that should last up to 5 hours in talk-time mode and up to 200 hours in stand-by mode.

The new burgundy HTC Touch can be bought from Alltel's website (found at this address), for $129.99 with a smartphone plan signed for two years. As you can see, the price is the same as on the handset's original gray version (still available, of course), which is obviously a good thing.