Sprint's HTC Touch Pro
Sprint's HTC Touch Pro impresses visually and functionally.
Nov. 28, 2008— -- This holiday season is turning out to be a taste of heaven for mobile phonatics.
All the major carriers are boasting new, highly anticipated models, like Google and TMobile's new G1 (and its use of a new operating system called Android), the all touch screen CrackBerry Storm from Verizon and its cousin, the Bold, on ATT. Options abound, even for the most e-mail-addicted, YouTube-watching, human interaction-avoiding techie.
Not to be upstaged, Sprint recently unveiled the Touch Pro by HTC -- the Chinese manufacturer also responsible for the G1. In the last year, HTC has flooded the market with handhelds aimed squarely at the iPhone and its place as the most cache-laden gadget since the iSlicedBread. (ATT has also just recently launched the Touch Pro under the moniker the Fuze, for those who prefer "more bars in more places.")
The Touch Pro aims to impress both visually and functionally.
Upon startup, you are welcomed by a screen that is nothing short of spectacular -- colors and text are clear and a pleasure to read. Utilizing HTC's TouchFlo 3D, the phone features a visually amazing skin for the Windows Mobile platform upon which it operates. It's designed to make the phone as finger-friendly as the Windows Mobile operating system will allow.
Sliding your thumb across the bottom of the touchscreen lets you cycle through the various features of the phone, like e-mail, text messaging and the Internet browser Opera (more on that to come.)
Once you pick a program, you can use your thumb or finger to flick through new messages and watch old ones literally fly off the screen. It makes checking mundane tasks pleasurable, like sorting through spam about Black Friday sales or searching for a long-lost cousin's e-mail address.
On to Opera. The browser is a vast improvement over the altogether appalling Internet Explorer housed on most Windows Mobile phones. Opera is specially designed for finger navigation, like Safari on the iPhone, allowing you to double-click to zoom and to flick to scroll through a Web page.
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