A couple of weeks ago I posted about my latest device, the HTC Touch, in which I covered the unboxing and the general form factor of the device. Since then I have been using the device in place of my ever trustworthy K-Jam. Whilst I’m still not convinced that I can get away with not having a keyboard I have for the most part learnt to adapt. This is made easier with the swag of neat features the HTC Touch has to offer.
The “HTC Home” Today screen item is one of the nicest features. The large clock display is clearly readable at a distance and the icons for unread email, sms and missed calls are a useful addition.
Clicking the sun icon in the middle brings up the current weather for the city you have chosen. Unfortunately Perth isn’t in that list but this feature will be useful when I move to Sydney at the beginning of September. The across arrow toggles between single day and multiple day weather mode.
The third tab is the Launcher which provides quick access to 9 frequently used programs or settings pages. The last icon, the circle with a cross in it, toggles the launcher into delete mode where you can remove programs from the launcher by clicking on the icon you want to remove. Then when you toggle out of delete mode you can simply click on the + icon to select a new program to fill the vacancy.
One of the coolest features of the HTC Touch is the iPhone-like navigation system. Wherever you are on the device if you drag you finger from the bottom of the screen (starting in the soft-key area where the menus are) up the length of the screen (you need to apply a reasonable amount of pressure), the navigation screen rolls into view. Depending on which screen you used last you will see one of three screens as shown above.
The first screen is another launcher with 6 of the most commonly used applications. On the second screen you can nominate 9 of your most frequent contacts – I like the integration with the Contact’s photos on this screen. Lastly the media screen provides quick access to the media on your device.
In the case of audio the Music option has support for controlling the current playback with integrated controls. Clicking on Music takes you to the Audio Manager that allows you to configure playlists and manage your audio files. It also has a player that can be used in place of Windows Media player.
The last couple of features I want to mention are the HTC Task Manager and the Fitaly keyboard. Integrated into the title bar the HTC Task Manager give you the ability to switch to and terminate running applications. This is particularly useful on this device as it is severely constrained by the amount of memory for program execution. For anyone working with a keyboardless device the Fitaly virtual keyboard is a life saver. Organised based on the frequency of letter usage, rather than the legacy qwerty layout, this keyboard enables the mobile warrior to get the most out of their device.