Thursday, January 22, 2009
HTC Unveils New Touch Cruise with Footprints
Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC Hardware" @ 09:55 AM
"HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today announced its latest personal navigation handset with inbuilt GPS. The new HTC Touch Cruise, an update to 2008's popular HTC GPS device of the same name, boasts a new, more compact design and a host of new capabilities to offer a richer and more intuitive experience in one powerful package."
HTC has taken the covers off the new Touch Cruise, which boasts a new design and new software. With HTC Footprints, the Touch Cruise takes geotagged pictures a step further by embedding notes and audio clips and packaging them into postcards. If you ever have the urge to look at a previously-created postcard, Footprints allows you to retrace your steps to the exact location the postcard was created.
On the hardware side, the Touch Cruise includes a Qualcomm MSM7225 528MHz processor, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM, a 2.8" QVGA touch screen, quad-band GSM/EDGE and dual-band HSDPA (900MHz/2100MHz) connectivity, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, aGPS, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and a microSD slot. And to top it off, there's an in-car cradle in the box, too.
The Touch Cruise will be available in all major global markets, but alas, not until the second quarter.
"Taipei, Taiwan - January 22, 2009 - HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today announced its latest personal navigation handset with inbuilt GPS. The new HTC Touch Cruise, an update to 2008's popular HTC GPS device of the same name, boasts a new, more compact design and a host of new capabilities to offer a richer and more intuitive experience in one powerful package.
Introducing HTC Footprints
The new HTC Touch Cruise is the first mobile phone to offer HTC Footprints, an application experience that enables people to permanently chronicle their special moments by capturing a digital postcard on their phone. Once captured, Footprints provides the ability to take notes and an audio clip of that favourite restaurant or special place while identifying its specific geographical location. In addition to identifying each postcard with its specific GPS co-ordinates, Footprints also auto-names each postcard with its general location or area.
Flipping back through their photos, HTC Touch Cruise users will be able to retrace their steps to that exact location in just a few touches. Unlike other devices with geo-tagging functionality, HTC Footprints works effectively outdoors and indoors, offering a more accurate record of location for future reference and navigation.
"Just as we have seen GPS technology transform how people navigate to new places, we are now seeing location-based applications like HTC Footprints changing how we interact and carry our memories," said Peter Chou, President and CEO, HTC Corporation.
HTC Touch Cruise Car Cradle
The HTC Touch Cruise is also an advanced in-car navigation system. When placed into its accompanying car cradle, the HTC Touch Cruise automatically transforms its user interface into an easy-to-use, one-touch interface that provides seamless turn-by-turn directions.
Boasting a compact and sleek design with a 2.8 inch QVGA display, the HTC Touch Cruise is a further demonstration of HTC's continued commitment to innovation, providing consumers with a variety of devices designed to meet their individual needs. Using HTC's TouchFLO technology, the HTC Touch Cruise provides fingertip access to phone, contacts, email, messaging, calendar and GPS applications, making it a strong all-around device.
The new HTC Touch Cruise will be available to customers across all major global markets in spring 2009.
Key HTC Touch Cruise Specifications
- Size: 102 x 53.5 x 14.5mm
- Weight: 103 grams
- Connectivity: WCDMA/HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
- Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
- Display: 2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution
- Control panel: HTC TouchFLO, 4-Way navigation wheel with Enter and HTC Footprints buttons
- Camera: 3.2 MP, with fixed focus
- Internal memory: 512 MB flash ROM, 256 MB RAM
- Expansion Slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
- Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
- GPS: GPS/A-GPS
- Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
- Battery: 1100 mAh
- Talk time: GSM: up to 400 minutes
- Standby time: GSM: up to two weeks
- Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225TM, 528 MHz
About HTC
Founded in 1997, HTC Corp. (HTC) designs, manufactures and markets innovative, feature rich smartphone and PDA Phone devices.
Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations and launched state-of-the-art PDA Phones and smartphones for mobile operators and distributors in Europe, the US, and Asia. These machines are available as HTC devices and as products individually customized for operator and device partners.
HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com."
