For the modern smartphone, the OS it runs on has become one of the most important factors in how good it is. Let’s check out three of the biggest OSes in the mobile world, and the phones that show them off.
HTC Touch Diamond2 - the pretty one
The HTC Touch Diamond2 actually does a very good job of making it so you don’t have to go into standard Windows menus that often, as on top of the operating system, the interface is HTC’s patented TouchFLO 3D setup, where everything is achieved through various finger swipes and sweeping gestures. It is truly intuitive, and it’s the reason why the HTC Touch Diamond2 is such an unmitigated joy to use. Of course, it’s not all about being pretty, a phone needs to have decent features and the HTC Touch Diamond2 has them in spades, from the 5 megapixel camera, through GPS, to incredibly fast HSDPA internet access (not to mention the superb Opera Mobile web browser). To many, the HTC Touch Diamond2 is the ultimate Windows Mobile phone.
HTC Hero
Android is trying to take over the world, and its new home is the beautiful HTC Hero. It has all the good stuff that made the first Android phone (the G1) good, but puts it all in a touchscreen-only body, which is both sleek and sexy. Since the keyboard has been removed, the HTC Hero also has a full, onscreen keyboard, and a sumptuous new interface called Sense. You also get the Android Marketplace, which lets you download and install third party apps to your HTC Hero, and it ends up creating a smartphone that really can morph into whatever you want it to be. It really is a kind of Hero; it’s the HTC Hero.
Palm Pre
So, there’s the HTC Touch Diamond2, which takes Windows Mobile to new heights. And then, there’s the HTC Hero, which gives Android a new interface. What does the Palm Pre offer that’s different? Well, one could talk about the WebOS interface it uses, as it’s unique in the annals of phone history. And indeed, there’s one feature of WebOS, directly related to the keyboard, that makes the Palm Pre so cool. Universal search. Now, many phones do that, but the Palm Pre does it so much more cleverly. Just start typing what you want to know about, from the front screen, and the Palm Pre will search your contacts, apps, music, pictures, and even the internet, to interpret and find what you’re looking for. That really is a cool feature, and it may well make the Palm Pre the coolest QWERTY phone out there. If you value the interface above all else, the Palm Pre is the phone for you.
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