Sprint has recruited the HTC Touch to its camp to compete with the iPhone's touchscreen. Sprint and HTC announced today the upcoming availability of Touch by HTC, a full touchscreen wireless smart phone that integrates Windows Mobile 6 with Sprint's entertainment features.
 
We were quite impressed with the unlocked version of the HTC Touch back in June, but now with Sprint's multimedia offerings, you get even more out of the phone. With a 2.8-inch display, the Touch features integrated TouchFLO technology, allowing for smooth navigation through a 3D cube-like menu structure with a finger swipe. We especially like the big onscreen buttons; you can touch them with the pad of your thumb instead of resorting to the edge of a fingernail, like we often have to do with Windows Mobile 6 phones. Even though the Sprint Touch was responsive to our thumb swipes in HTC's interface, we still reached for the stylus to hit those small Windows Mobile buttons, and we found ourselves wanting to pull out a nonexistent QWERTY keyboard for heavy text activities.
  
Swiping a thumb upward from the HTC logo on the bottom of the main menu to the top of the display reveals a screen that grants you access to the Sprint Software store, IM applications, Internet Explorer, SMS, the Communications Manager, and e-mail. A swipe from the left or right (which rotates the screen using a cool 3D effect) lets you quickly jump into your contacts and Sprint's multimedia offerings, which include the Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV, and Sprint On Demand content. The screen required a firm amount of pressure when executing the motion, which felt odd at first since we are accustomed to lightly touching the iPhone's screen.
 
The touch keyboard was a little frustrating. Instead of always offering a full QWERTY keyboard, the Touch tries to assume the kind you'd prefer, depending on the application. So for entering Web address, a 12-key keyboard (with three letters on each key) appears; for entering contact info, you get a 20-key keyboard (with two letters on each key), and for editing a calendar, you get a full keyboard (with one letter on each key). Not only does this not make a lot of sense, but we have yet to figure out how to set one as a default or switch it while we're in an application. (We'll keep trying and let you know in the full review).  On the plus side, the onscreen numbers made dialing easy.
 
As for phone basics, our limited time with Sprint's Touch fulfilled our needs. The voice quality on the phone sounded clear to us and to our callers. It kept up with our needs as we searched Google for a local restaurant while listening to Radiohead's In Rainbows album in Windows Media Player via stereo Bluetooth headphones; the screen did take a few seconds to switch between tasks and adjust to a horizontal view. The Internet browsing was speedy over the EV-DO Rev. 0 connection, taking only five seconds to load Gawker.com. You won't, however, get a full Web browser experience with Internet Explorer, but you can use your thumb to scroll down the page. 
 
Sprint's multimedia integration can compete with its Apple competitor. Access to the Sprint Music Store was convenient and let us browse and download full-length songs directly to the phone. The most compelling experience was watching Sprint TV, which automatically loads horizontally on the screen. CNN's live coverage came through clear and without lag. Those who want to sideload video or music, can do so via the Touch's microSD card slot (though it's hard to find and open) that supports up to 8GB (a 512MB card is included with the device). Additional features include a two-megapixel camera/camcorder with up to 5X zoom, advanced stereo Bluetooth, voice-activated dialing, and instant messaging with AIM, MSN, and Yahoo.
 
Sprint announced that the Touch will be priced at $249 with a two-year subscriber agreement and a $100 mail-in rebate. The Touch by HTC will be available November 4th in all Sprint channels, including www.sprint.com and 1-800-SPRINT1. Customers can register to be among the first to purchase Touch by HTC at www.sprint.com/touch. Check back soon for a full review.

 

Price: $249.99 with a two-year subscriber agreement and a $100 mail-in rebate
Info: www.sprint.com/touch