Want an iPhone? Get a HTC Touch HD.

I have an irrational and unfounded dislike Apple products. For this reason I will never own an iPhone. However, I like the concept. Imagine my joy, then, when HTC released the Touch HD.

It's almost as good looking as an iPhone. It has more features than the iPhone (either 2G or 3G) and, with the TouchFlo interface, even Windows Mobile becomes relatively easy to use. The GPS is strong, it has level / orientation sensors, the built in FM receiver is usable and the built in external speaker is OK in a quiet(ish) location.

The laaaaaarge, high resolution, bright touch screen is a joy to use and, for the first time, I've found mobile internet access genuinely useful with the pre-installed Opera browser.

HTC's usual let down, the camera, is much improved on this model (although still not a patch on my previous phone, the N95) and the processing power is adequate for moderate usage.

If I wanted to make this phone perfect, I would simply add a slide out keyboard. The on-screen keyboard is just a little to fiddly for easy use without the stylus.

And the "there's an app for that" tagline that Apple loves? The 'net is full of sites offering freeware or commercial programs that run on Windows mobile. MS has missed a trick not publicising more. However, as the market is completely unregulated quality is patchy, discovery is not as easy and security is an issue.

Have I sold it enough yet?

I will post later about the Windows Mobile programs that I am using.

(For this post I used the "Zemanta" Wordpress plug in which allows easy inclusion of related tags, photos and blog articles. I thought it was excellent and will blog about it soon.)

Update: Actually. You don't want a HTC Touch HD. You want a HTC Desire.