TamsPPC - the PocketPC Blog

TamsPPC readers who need to have a HTC Touch Diamond NOW can now purchase one at Expansys - all international outlets of this well-known handheld retailer now have the machine in stock. Here are a few links with price and availability information(current as of 1500 local time):

Expansys Germany
32 in stock, 539,95 Euro per piece

Expansys UK
188 in stock, 494.95 GBP per piece

Expansys USA
114 in stock, 795.95 USD per piece

IMHO, the current prices will not stay at this high level for long. Expansys has them first - and IMHO makes users pay extra for the privilege of getting their devices early. I expect a significant price drop soon…

Martyn Williams from IDG managed to get his hands on a HTC Touch Pro(Raphael) and wrote the first-ever hands-on report about the device. Even though he didn’t manage to take any pictures, it nevertheless contains a few interesting tidbits of information.

The analyst praised the quality of the keyboard, which he described as:

But despite its small size, the well-contoured keyboard and predictive text-input system meant that the first sentence I typed on the Touch Pro came out perfectly — something that can’t be said for every smartphone I’ve ever tried.

He also praised the device’s screen quality - apparently, HTC now starts to deploy high-contrast VGA screens on its upcoming devices.

The full scoop is available here.