HTC one touch access

with its touch screen capability, some are bound to wonder if the HTC Touch will rival the Apple iPhone. But what about text messages or IMs? First, using the touch screen was a frustrating experience. Personally speaking, I have my doubts about the smart phone. First impressions: Fellow Craver Nicole Lee and I actually got some brief hands-on time with the HTC Touch, as the company paid us a visit last week. HTC says the Touch is targeted more toward consumers who want to make the leap from a regular cell phone to a smart phone. It actually also kind of reminded me of a Tamagotchi toy--is that bad? Aside from the advanced touch screen, the HTC Touch looks different than any other smart phone we've seen from the company. In addition, the screen knows the difference between the touch of a stylus and your finger and will act accordingly, and there's a new HTC-designed home screen where you can get one-touch access to your messages, calendar, contacts, and weather conditions.

For example, swiping your thumb in an upward motion launches a page where you can access contacts, media, or applications; sweeping left to right rotates through the various functions; while you can close out of apps by swiping downward. The motions are preprogrammed to perform certain actions. Yet the HTC Touch makes its mark by offering TouchFLO, a brand-new user interface that allows you to operate the smart phone just by swiping your finger on the device's 2.8-inch, 65,536-color touch screen. HTC, the company behind many of today's most popular Windows Mobile smart phones, is known for offering a broad range of devices. And despite the beautiful hardware, the Windows Mobile smart phone lags in performance and needs a bit more tweaking before we're ready to snatch one up. The bottom lineThe bottom line: The HTC Touch boasts an innovative touch screen and sleek interface, but the lack of a sizable keyboard really limits the usability of this device. Also, speakerphone quality was poor, and the device can be sluggish at times. The Windows Mobile 6 smart phone also has an updated interface, integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and a 2-megapixel camera. The good: The compact HTC Touch features an advanced touch screen that lets you operate the smart phone with your fingertips.