14 DAY TRIAL // At the end of March, Verizon Wireless announced that it will offer its own branded version of HTC Touch, under the name of XV6900. The carrier said the handset is planned for an April launch, but no exact date was given. Now rumors say XV6900 will be available starting the 16th of April, which can only be a good thing for all those who are waiting for it.
HTC Touch is already offered by Sprint, since November 2007, but only in a grey color. Wanting to be different in more than just a changed logo, Verizon brings the device in white, so we could say that XV6900 is, somehow, a new device.
Sure, besides the white case, XV6900 is not really different from the original HTC Touch. Therefore, Verizon's subscribers will get the same 3.98 x 2.35 x 0.56 inches handset with the same 2.8 inch TFT touchscreen display. XV6900 runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, hence it brings the whole suit of Microsoft applications for mobile devices: Office Mobile, Outlook Mobile and Internet Explorer. Furthermore, the new Verizon branded HTC features the TouchFLO users interface, Wi-Fi connectivity, 2.0 Megapixel camera with video recording, Instant Messaging, Music player, stereo Bluetooth 2.0 and microSD card support for up to 8GB.
The only drawback that people might find at HTC Touch / XV6900 is the fact that it has no hardware keypad. For this, users might want to wait for HTC Touch Dual, which has a smaller display (with 0.2 inches) but brings a sliding keyboard that will surely prove to be useful for those not used with touchscreen-only devices yet.
XV6900 will be first available on-line, from Verizon's website, for $349.99, with a $50 mail-in rebate and a contract agreement for two years with the V carrier.