HWM was one of the few publications invited to attend the exclusive unveiling of HTC’s new HTC Touch Dual at the Tower Club in Makati. Seemingly an update to the current HTC Touch, The Dual looks thinner and has a smaller screen, plus sports a front-facing camera for video conferencing, but otherwise everything looks the same.

                                             The Tower Club at the thirty-third floor of Philamlife Tower.

Until you slide up the top portion of the device that is. The keypad that is revealed gives the device its name, and it is at this point where, in spite of myself; I suddenly thought “why didn’t anyone think of that?” Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it seems like HTC simply combined two input methodologies into one device, yet in fact, HTC arrived with this solution from a combination of factors – one of the main things being the fact that the device’s predecessor, the Touch did not posses a proper keyboard – making it a poor choice for producing “written” text of the email or “texting” variety.

                                             The Dual in this year's most popular color scheme.

When slid up, the device looks like a typical slider; you have to remind yourself that the large 2.6” screen is also a touchscreen. In fact, the keypad can be considered supplementary to the touchscreen, what with the excellent HTC – developed TouchFLO gesture recognition technology doing all the grunt work of accessing multiple types of content and navigating between all kinds of windows. Intuitive operation seems to be the operative two words during the development of this technology; it concentrates on giving the user the easiest and most logical way to move around the phone and use its features.

                                             Back-to-basics keypad makes a fine addition.

The TouchFLO technology is backed up by Windows Mobile 6.0, which in itself is already a big leg-up to usability and logical use with its easy compatibility with its desktop counterparts. The previously mentioned front mounted camera and the keypad is joined by the Dual’s 3G / HSDPA connectivity, again a feature oft looked for in the previous HTC Touch.

                                             
Even without all the changes made to the basic design of the Touch, the Dual is a very capable device that’s backed by a 400MHz processor, a 2MP camera, a total of 384MB of memory expandable through micro-SD, and a form factor that weighs in at 120g and is quite svelte. In addition to these listed specs, rumors abound on a disabled WiFi function that may be enabled in a future firmware update – no confirmation yet exists for our local release, but WiFi makes a lot of sense. The HTC Touch Dual is slated for release this coming December at an SRP of P36,000.00.

                                              A "Touch" of the button officially unveils the new Touch Dual.

HTC’s company motto is “Smart Mobility”. It’s no wonder then that nobody else thought of this first, HTC’s whole philosophy hinges on thinking smart and producing solutions that are simply smart in implementation and execution. The products that come out from their research labs are designed for those who want to do things intelligently and efficiently while on the go. In other words, they "thunk" for those people who think.

Look out for the official magazine review soon on HWM. More pictures to follow.

                                             Note that the models are twins - underlining the "Dual" name of the product. 

                                             The Dual in use.