We brought you a sneaky peak at the HTC Iolite earlier this month. Now at the time, it was all unofficial and the Iolite was the handset's codename whist under development. A press release yesterday confirms the handset as the HTC Touch Cruise ('09). Not sure if you remember HTC's first Touch Cruise model? This one is significantly better looking!
We brought you the specs, which confirmed by the press release remain the same. However, we didn't really touch on its features.
The Touch Cruise ('09) is the first to feature HTC Footprints application. Footprints "helps capture and relive life's journeys" by allowing the user to take a 'digital postcard'. This comprises of the photo, audio clips, text and geo-tagging (interestingly, the geo-tagging works both indoors and outdoors). Another unique feature of Footprints is that it auto-names each postcard with the name of the location or area.
"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.
The Touch Cruise ('09) comes with its own car cradle, and when placed in this, becomes an advanced in-car navigation system providing seamless turn by turn directions, with an easy to use, one touch interface, the 'NaviPanel'.
The handset is due for release sometime this Spring. For more info or images, check the Cruise out at HTC.
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 TouchFLOâ„¢, 4-Way navigation wheel with Enter and HTC Footprintsâ„¢ buttons
"¢ Camera: 3.2 MP, with fixed focus
"¢ Internal memory: 512 MB flash ROM, 256 MB RAM
"¢ Expansion Slot: microSDâ„¢ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
"¢ Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
"¢ Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
"¢ GPS: GPS/A-GPS
"¢ (mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)?Interface: HTC ExtUSB
"¢ Battery: 1100 mAh
"¢ Talk time: GSM: up to 400 minutes
"¢ Standby time: GSM: up to two weeks
"¢ Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225â„¢, 528 MHz