Verizon gets its own HTC Touch Pro
HTC Touch Pro
(Credit: Verizon Wireless)Without much fanfare, the HTC Touch Pro popped up on the Verizon Wireless Web site on Monday, complete with specs and pricing. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is available for purchase online and through telephone sales now and in stores on December 1 for a pricey $349.99 with a two-year contract and after a mail-in rebate.
Verizon's version of the Touch Pro costs about $50 more than the Sprint model and AT&T's HTC Fuze, but offers many of the same features including a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The Verizon HTC Touch Pro also works on the carrier's EV-DO Rev. A network and supports VZ Navigator and the VZAppZone. We'll be wrangling up a review unit as soon as possible, so stay tuned!
Bonnie Cha is a senior editor for CNET, covering smartphones and GPS. When she's not testing the latest gadgets, you can find her chasing after her crazy lab or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California. E-mail Bonnie. 
Instead, I have been waiting on VZW to release a rival to the HTC phones of Sprint and AT&T. I used to carry a "pocket pc" on one hip and my blackberry on the other. The TouchPro is the first device that, I believe, combines the best of both worlds as well as all the new bells and whistles included on other smartphones (Wi-Fi, Camera-n-flash, Removable Storage, Office integration, and navigation).
THANK YOU VERIZON! You saved a customer (actually 2 since my wife would have been changing carriers with me.)
Bonnie... I look forward to your review. Hopefully the Verizon software department didn't screw the phone up too much.
- by bkesselman November 29, 2008 5:35 PM PST
- I've been playing with my Verizon HTC Touch Pro (VX-6850) for two days now. I ordered it via the website before it hit the stores. There is some truth and some fiction being spread about the phone. Verizon did not lower the processor as was originally rumored. They did lower the RAM to 192k, and if you leave TouchFlo active it gets a little lag. The accellerometer has not been removed, it is alive and well.
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(7 Comments)I've added the SBP Shell and Today plugins which are both more responsive and more customizable than the TouchFlo, and can have a similar look and function, though not exact. They also improve the contact dialing function. There are numerous other tricks and tweaks available and so far I really like the phone (and don't need to switch networks).
Some frustrations: GPS requires VZNavigator which I am not willing to pay extra for. Headset/headphone usage is either bluetooth or via a dongle that plugs in to the non-USB port at the bottom, which means I need to bring their USB cable/adapter to charge the phone and I can't use a tip on my Kensington universal adapter. Battery life seems a little challenged, but I've been on it much more than usual including push email and playing with my new toy. No internet phone, which only T-Mobile leaves live on their phones to compensate for the small network.
All told, I'm very pleased with the phone. It runs circles around my Treo for email, media and browsing, and now I can use it better for remote desktop in addition to the typical VNC and other features that make it a work and play machine. Once I finish mastering the subtleties of the UI I expect it will be a phone I can live with for a long time, replacing my phone, my iPod Nano and my Broadband card. For now though, I'm keeping my Nuvi ;-)