HTC HD2 brings capacitive touchscreen to Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile 6.5 may have received a somewhat lacklustre reception on its launch yesterday, but that has not stopped plenty of hardware manufacturers choosing to announce devices running it.

HTC has two imminent Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, its Touch 2 and the somewhat more exciting HD2. What is particularly interesting about the HD2 is that it will have a capacitive touch screen – and a large one at that measuring 4.3 inches and offering a 400 x 800 pixel display.

Capacitive screens are important for finger friendly smartphones as they are more responsive than resistive ones. And this is the first Windows Mobile device to go capacitive.

The HTC HD2 will also sport multi-touch and have the HTC Sense user interface loaded on top of Windows Mobile. This is the user interface we first saw in it Android based offering the HTC Hero.

The HD2 has GPS, Wi-Fi with router capability, 7.2Mbps/2Mbps HSDPA/HSUPA a 5 megapixel camera and 512MB of storage with microSD card support. There is a 3.5mm headset connector, G-sensor for automatic screen rotation, and a 1230mAh battery offering 380 minutes of talk time, 490 hours on standby. It runs on Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

There is an argument that HTC holds the fate of Windows Mobile in its hands. The company is a stalwart of Windows Mobile handset production, and has enhanced the look and feel of Windows Mobile first with its TouchFLO user interface and now with HTC Sense. But HTC is also very interested in Android. Whether its loyalties tend towards one camp or the other could be very important for the fate of Windows Mobile over the next year.

Sandra Vogel