HTC Touch HD – A Review of Sorts.

Ahhh! My second blog. This is the difficult second album. Football fans will recognize this as the second season syndrome. And for those who think I’m speaking Greek, I’ll break it down. You see there is a general belief that the second attempt at anything is always more difficult. It doesn’t matter what it is. Music, sports, surgery, marriage, sex...hell even criminals claim it’s harder to plan a second operation.

Therefore I’ve bravely decided to take the coward’s way out by doing something simple for my second blog. Practically everything released these days has several reviews done on it. I figured that I could get in on the act. I mean how hard can it be? (Famous last words).

First of all a confession. I hate following the crowd. I can’t stand the idea that I am just another faceless person in the world. I like to be different. I want to stand out. So as a result of this, I tend to go for the less popular option or alternative as long as the same result can be achieved. Now with a mindset like this, I couldn’t possibly have an iPhone or a Blackberry. So I trawled through the phone market looking for a phone that was as cool as the iPhone, as functional as a Blackberry, and yet without the fanfare of either of them.

This brings me nicely to the object of today’s review, the HTC Touch HD. This is my new phone and having spent a significant amount of time playing with - sorry, I mean checking out - its features, I have come up with three words that perfectly encapsulate my feelings for it. I. Love. It. The phone just has so much going for it that I barely know where to begin.

The picture of the phone above doesn’t do it justice. My God it’s pretty. I like the look so much that I refuse to buy those hideous screen and body protectors that all touchscreen phones seem to have these days. Then you switch it on and the phone boots up computer style with a bit of technical information bottom right of the screen. Then you have to go through some setting up and a few other mandatory things new phones require.

Anyway, once the initial setup is out of the way, you’re taken to the home screen of the TouchFlo 3D (TF3D for short). This is the custom-built user interface HTC have placed on top of the Windows Mobile Operating System. This is a very good idea as all the main features that you use can be accessed very quickly. Appointments, weather info., emails, SMS can all be viewed via TF3D including a section for your favourite programs. Now the windows mobile operating system isn’t the best but the HTC makes the most of what it offers so there are precious few things to bother you.

Some of them include switching the orientation of your screen; the screen is like a CSI-fingerprint-lifting pad meaning you have to wipe it after a few hours of use (sidenote: could be useful if you are a spy or some law enforcement person); I am sure there are other things but that’s all I’ve got. Besides there are a lot of applications out there to rectify software concerns and screen protectors and covers to remedy the screen issues.

Bottomline: This is a very good phone for those looking to be different and not just trying to jump on the Apple Blackberry bandwagon. If you cherish exclusivity, this is the way to go.

Fawaz Hamodu.