but has HTC yet sorted out the dropping of Bluetooth conversations when answering phone calls?!? I used to think my Touch was the only one, but too many people with other HTC devices (including the recent Polaris) report the same problems. And god only knows when HTC will get around to licensing the video chipset drivers from Qualcomm to actually enable accellerated graphics on the displays.

HINT TO HTC: Don't give us yet more features, fix the basics - talking on a headset, accellerated video for watching video or gaming, etc. I do want HTC to succeed (CT-ART chess tutorial is ONLY available for Windows Mobile, and it's my favorite mobile app these days!), but please try harder!

For god sakes, change the record will you? This is getting like the Vista bashing. Hardly anyone cares about video acceleration on these things and HTC never said it would be included so get over it! And if you really think hardware-accelerated-video is a "basic" need in a smartphone then you really do need to get out more.

No idea about the bluetooth thing. Not happening with mine and not heard of it happening to others. Plenty of people can't connect to bluetooth systems in cars at all but not heard of dropped connections once established.

Incidentally, from the original article, after the keyboard the main change from the diamond is external storage. Many, myself included, felt 4GB of storage with no expansion was a bit weak for a "multimedia" device like the diamond. Good to see HTC sorting out the basics!

Apart from the form factor, what's the difference between this and the Tytn II?

Read the forums of HTC products on the Expansys website. Not an uncommon problem - you press the "Call Begin" button on the headset or the phone to answer the call, and the headset is immediately dropped from Bluetooth. This is a repeatable problem with my current Motorola headset and the Touch, and others have had it with the Polaris and other headsets. Could be a Windows Mobile issue, might not be. At any rate, it happens so consistently that it is not a one off.

As for video accelleration, if you are happy having the cost of the video capabilities included with your phone (in the price of the chipset), and having the transistors dedicated to it sapping your battery (quite a few), and not getting any benefit from it - well then great for you. I am NOT, especially as the resolution of the screens continue to rise. This is not a technology problem - this is a cost cutting measure from HTC, and hardheadedness from Qualcomm. They jointly need to strike a deal with on the license fees and get it done. Rather than $100,000 per device that Qualcomm is demanding, say pay $500,000 to cover the entire line plus an annual annuity of $100,000. Or some such. But to say that you are happy with the current situation smacks of meekness or fanboi-ism. Only if customers continue to demand it loudly and consistently will HTC and Qualcomm recognize the negative brand image this is generating for BOTH of them.

It's a full touch screen device... think HTC's take on the iPhone, much slicker than a TyTN II, latest version of the OS, built in storage of 4Gb (or more in this case)

Have a look on their website there is a full demo of of the Diamond....

Cheers I shall have a gander.

It's smaller in all dimensions and weight than the TYTN II, with twice the ROM and RAM, and VGA screen instead of QVGA.

I think HTC is taking on the upcoming Sony X-1, rather than the Jesus Phone.

I went with the HTC Touch rather than the Apple offering despite the "cool factor" and the UI, because I want to be able to add a few apps and sync data, documents and PIM decently with my phone. WinMob is fiddly and clunky, this Touch Pro is as slick as it gets today. And WinMob is available and works today.

We'll see what happens tomorrow..