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I'm sure I'm just setting myself up for disappointment one of these days, but I've come to expect big things from HTC at trade shows, whether it be CTIA or Mobile World Congress. The company has consistently delivered some of the hottest product announcements at these events, so can you blame a girl for thinking such thoughts?

Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 (well, maybe a little, but I'll get to that in a bit) as HTC debuted several new handsets. The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer kicked off the show by debuting the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC Touch Pro2, which replace the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro.

HTC Magic

(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET Networks)

I stopped by HTC's booth on Wednesday to have a look at both smartphones, and I was impressed with the design improvements and enhanced technologies. The Touch Diamond2 probably wowed me more than the Pro2 because of its extremely thin and solid design. The device doesn't feel as plasticky with its brushed metal face and sides. Also, I can't tell if it's the sleeker design, but the screen pops out that much more and grabs your attention.

HTC has also worked on the user interface, providing a new Start screen where you can easily access your applications. It's also customizable and features more user-friendly icons. The touch-sensitive toolbar is a cool little feature. I didn't think it'd make that much of a difference but it definitely makes it easier to zoom in and out on Web pages and e-mails.

The Touch Pro2 is a monster, and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. It's bigger than the Touch Pro (4.5 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick versus 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.7 inch thick) but again solidly built. The navigation buttons along the bottom are smaller than I like, but that's a relatively minor complaint.

HTC Touch Pro 2

(Credit: HTC)

It's pretty safe to say that GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 isn't lacking in action or excitement. Already, a number of handset manufacturers have revealed details of upcoming product launches, including Sony Ericsson and Garmin-Asus, and now you can add HTC to the mix.

With the show officially underway, HTC added two new models to its Touch series of smartphones: the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC Touch Pro2. While the names lack imagination, the handsets get some spiffy makeovers and incorporate new features that bring a "people-centric approach to mobile communication."

The two smartphones share some features between them, including the new single-view contact integration. This brings your complete conversation history, whether it be text, voice, or e-mail, onto a single contact card and can also be viewed on the in-call screen. In addition, the Touch Diamond2 and Touch Pro2 are the first devices to employ HTC's new Push Internet Technology to help speed up downloads and rendering of Web pages on your smartphone. Finally, both devices use HTC's latest TouchFlo 3D interface, which brings more relevant information to the forefront and includes enlarged touch focus areas to make them more touch-finger friendly.

HTC Touch Diamond 2

(Credit: HTC)

Now, the differences. Obviously, form factor is one thing. The Touch Diamond2 is the next evolution of the HTC Touch Diamond, sporting a thinner design (4.25 inches high by 2.09 inches wide by 0.54 inch thick) and larger 3.2-inch, VGA touch screen with a gravity sensor. There's a new touch-sensitive zoom bar that makes it easier and faster to zoom in on Web pages, e-mails, text messages, photos, and documents.

The Windows Mobile 6.1 device claims to have 50 percent better battery life and also includes a 5-megapixel camera, 512 MB ROM/288 MB RAM with expandable memory, and a 528MHz processor.

Moving onto the HTC Touch Pro2, the HTC Touch Pro is still very much a business-centric smartphone and adds HTC's Straight Talk technology, which claims to improve the speakerphone quality using asymmetric speakers and advanced noise suppression with full duplex acoustics. The speakerphone will also automatically activate when you turn the phone over and place it facedown on a flat service.

Like the Diamond2, the Touch Pro2 gets a boost in screen size. The smartphone is equipped with a 3.6-inch WVGA (480x800) touch screen with a proximity sensor and the aforementioned zoom bar. It also boasts a sleeker design and keeps the slide-out full QWERTY keyboard for all the messaging nuts.

As far as availability, the HTC Touch Diamond2 is expected to ship in Europe and Asia during Q2 of 2009, while it will reach the rest of the world (read: the United States) later this year. The HTC Touch Pro2 is slated to ship worldwide this summer, but pricing for both phones was not revealed at this time.

(Credit: Diamond)

If you've ever been interested in the DisplayLink technology--which allows you to daisy-chain up to six monitors to one system via USB--but you don't actually own a Displaylink monitor, you're in luck.

This week Diamond Multimedia introduced its first DisplayLink-enabled USB graphics adapter, the BVU160. The adapter supports VGA, DVI, and resolutions up to 1600x1200 and 1680x1050.

Once connected, your monitor will behave as if it is DisplayLink-enabled and you'll be able to add an additional monitor simply via USB. It's unclear as of now if you'll need additional adapters to add additional monitors.

The adapter will be available at the end of February on Diamond's Web site at a price TBD.

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

Who knew gonorrhea could be so darn cute?

(Credit: Giant Microbes)

1. Guitar Hero World Tour/Rock Band 2 (full band set). This is fairly self-explanatory. Sometimes sitting around playing a video game is just too sedentary. These games will have me rocking out with my stocking out not just on the fake guitar, but on fake drums, too.

The pretty extensive track list will keep me going for a while, and then there's all the downloadable content after I've finished. While I doubt they'll ever offer certain songs in my personal music collection ("The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" as performed by Leonard Nimoy), there are enough songs I like to make it worthwhile. Plus, everyone looks cool playing it, right?

2. Plush gonorrhea. Enough people get The Clapper for Christmas; why not get The Clap instead? The plush version. There are actually a menagerie of plush microbes you can get, but how often can you tell people you were happy to get gonorrhea for Christmas? Sober, anyway.

3. Digital Diamond game by Tomy. My uncle had this handheld electronic game back in the day, and I played it as often as I could sneak it away from him. It's primitive, loud, and kinda cheesy, but I've already written about my weakness for old-school electronic toys.

It's only electric in that it lights up; the main gameplay is mechanical, hence the noise. I was, believe it or not, not a great sportsman as a kid, but I had a lot of fun playing baseball with this toy.

HTC Touch Diamond

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)

On Monday, HTC, the manufacturer of many of today's popular smartphones, announced its acquisition of San Francisco-based design firm One & Company Design, Inc (One & Co). A design company? Weird, right? Actually, not really.

If you've followed HTC over the years, you may have noticed its smartphones taking on a new look recently. The company has gone from the traditional Pocket PC-phone form factor of the HTC Mogul and the smaller but still bulky HTC SMT5800 to the sleeker HTC Touch Diamond and sexier HTC Touch Pro, and this is in large part due to One & Co, whose client list includes Adidas, Sony, K2 Snowboards, Coca-Cola, Kodak, and the North Face. (One & Co will continue to serve its current clients in addition to the consultancy work for HTC.)

The two companies started working together in 2006 to develop the Touch Diamond, and have since collaborated on the HTC S740, Touch Pro, and Touch HD. Now, with the acquisition, One & Co's 17 employees will work with HTC's design teams in Taiwan and Seattle to create future devices, including the 2009 portfolio.

"One & Co is excited to bring our lifestyle, user focused approach to HTC and we look forward to creating iconic, compelling products together," said Scott Croyle, partner of One & Co. "Knowing about HTC's cutting edge technology and proven track record of innovation, we are excited to collaborate with HTC as a global lifestyle brand."

Was it wise of HTC to invest in a design firm? Well, it makes sense when you consider that a lot of smartphones these days offer a lot of the same features and functionality and in those cases, design becomes the differentiating factor. Plus, people want a cool-looking device with wow factor. I met with HTC and One & Co on Monday, and both parties said they are committed to developing smartphones to fit people's different lifestyles and are willing to take risks with design. Sounds dangerous, but we're looking forward to seeing what the team comes up with in the new year.

HTC Touch Diamond

(Credit: Alltel)

Alltel customers need no longer envy their Sprint brethren--the HTC Touch Diamond is now available for Alltel customers as well. It's the same as the Sprint version, of course--you get Windows Mobile 6.1, EV-DO Rev. A, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and a whole host of other goodies. The Touch Diamond for Alltel is available now for $249.99 after a two-year contract with Alltel.

Nokia E71

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Q: I've been looking into getting the Nokia E71, but can't justify the price. Have you heard anything on it becoming available with a U.S. carrier. Also, a whole other box of worms, if you purchase an unlocked E71, are you mandated to a contract? --James via e-mail

A: James, you are not alone. I get quite a few number e-mails about the Nokia E71 and it's really no surprise why. It's a great smartphone that's loaded with features for the mobile professional, and it's packaged in a sleek little frame. Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything official from Nokia or any of the U.S.-based carriers but the rumor is that the E71 will make its way to AT&T. And frankly, this wouldn't surprise me. AT&T offered the E71's predecessor, the Nokia E61i, for a while so the rumor isn't completely off base. Again, all just speculation at this point though.

If you do buy it unlocked, you won't be tied down to a contract, which is the beauty of unlocked phones. The E71 is a quad-band handset, which means you'll be able to use with either AT&T or T-Mobile. Just be aware that the E71 only supports the 850/1900 HSDPA bands, which operates on AT&T's 3G network and not T-Mobile's.

Q: In your opinion, do you think the HTC Touch HD will be carried by Sprint if and if ever it comes to the U.S.? The reason I ask is because Sprint already has two HTC Touch phones. --Emilio via e-mail

A: THAT is a really good question, Emilio and to be honest, I have no idea. Usually, there's some sort of speculation about which U.S. provider might pick it up, but nothing so far. As it is, the Touch HD is a quad-band GSM phone, so by those specs, it could go to AT&T or T-Mobile if they so decided. However, the original HTC Touch was also released as a GSM handset overseas, and then was eventually picked up by two CDMA carriers here in the States, Sprint and Verizon Wireless.

You make a good point, though. Sprint already offers three HTC Touch models--the HTC Touch, (which is nearing the end of its life cycle), the HTC Touch Diamond, and upcoming HTC Touch Pro--so I'm not sure how eager they would be pick up another at this point, even though the Touch HD looks pretty darn cool. I could see Verizon Wireless possibly adding it to its lineup replace the Verizon Wireless XV6900.

HTC Touch HD

(Credit: HTC )

The poor HTC Touch Diamond and HTC Touch Pro; the two smartphones just made their CTIA Fall 2008 debuts, and we've already moved onto the next big thing. But can you blame us? On Monday, HTC introduced its newest Touch model, the HTC Touch HD, and it's a stunner.

The Touch HD features a 3.8-inch (diagonal) VGA touch screen, which is the largest display on a smartphone that I can remember to date. Given the spacious screen, it's no surprise the company designed the Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone for heavy Web and multimedia usage, hoping to replicate what you might get on your desktop.

The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) handset does offer HSDPA speeds for a faster browsing experience, but currently only works on the European 900/2100MHz bands. We imagine U.S. support will be added when and if brought to the States. The smartphone also comes equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 5-megapixel camera.

Like the other Touch series models, the Touch HD will feature the TouchFlo 3D interface and has integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, and GPS. There's 512MB of flash memory and 288MB of RAM with a microSD card slot for expansion capabilities. According HTC, the Touch HD will be available through major European carriers in Q4, while other markets should follow shortly. No word yet on pricing.