14 DAY TRIAL // Rumors about HTC Touch Diamond's arrival at Sprint have been around for some time now, but no one had a clear idea about the handset's release date. It was said that the fashionable device might reach Sprint's shores on August 28, but unfortunately this did not happen.
Apparently, now we have both a release date and a price for the Diamond. According to PC Mag, Sprint will offer the handset starting September 14, for a price that, with a $100 mail-in rebate and a 2-year contract agreement, goes as low as $250. That's a bit more than the price of Sprint's other new full-touch handset (Samsung Instinct), but it's no wonder, since the Diamond packs more features and it can even be cataloged as a Pocket PC.
As previously reported, Sprint's Touch Diamond will have a red back case. Some might not like this, but Sprint probably wants its new HTC to be like no other and it's very unlikely for the carrier to change its mind regarding the red color.
Coming as the CDMA version of the original Touch Diamond (launched by HTC across Europe and Asia several months ago), Sprint's upcoming handset will not have the fancy back pattern that the Euro-Asian cousin has. Moreover, it will be a bit thicker, like the CDMA Diamond that Telus has launched in Canada.
Together with the Windows Mobile 6.1 and the TouchFLO 3D interface, the Diamond that comes from the No. 3 US mobile carrier will also bring Sprint-specific stuff, like Sprint Navigation (to work with the built-in GPS), Sprint TV and Sprint Radio. Plus, of course, all the goodies that the handset's GSM version has: a 2.8 inch TFT touchscreen display with 480 x 640 pixels, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, a 3.15 Megapixel camera, YouTube access, Video and Music players, Stereo FM Radio with RDS, 4GB of internal memory and so on.
Users interested in reading a review of the GSM Touch Diamond can do it here.