HTC Touch Cruise

The HTC Touch Cruise is a GPS-enabled, Touch Cruise that features the revolutionary HTC Footprints innovation that records every adventure in precise and vivid detail down and even down to the exact coordinate. The application allows users to take a picture while it automatically saves the location, with the option to embellish the instance further by adding the thoughts that surround that special moment as well as grab the sound of your friend’s laughter to go along with that memory. Not only that, HTF Footprints also allows you to find your way back to the exact locations you were before. In addition to that, the HTC Touch Cruise also features a navigation software that also comes with a car kit that automatically changes it to NaviPanel mode. This feature has a convenient one-touch interface to all the travel tools you need like GPS navigation shortcuts as well as a Go Home that efficiently guides you to your destination when you tap it. Not only that, the application can also help locate services and even avoid traffic jams on the way.

Specifications
The HTC Touch Cruise measures 102 mm x 53.5 mm x 14.5 mm (H x W x D) in dimension and weighs approximately 103 grams including the battery that is provided with the phone. It runs on a Qualcomm MSM 7225 528 MHz processor and a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard operating system. As for its internal memory, it has a capacity of 512 MB ROM and 256 MB RAM. There is also a TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution. The display measures 2.8 inches when measured diagonally. The HTC Touch Cruise supports networks including HSDPA/ WCDMA 900/ 2100 (Europe/ Asia) 900/ 2100 MHz of up to 384 kbps up-link speed and 7.2 Mbps down-link speed, as well as quad band GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900 MHz (Europe/ Asia). Device control comes in the form of HTC TouchFLO, a 4-way navigation wheel with an Enter button in the middle, and an HTC Footprints button. Not only that, the HTC Touch Cruise also has a built-in internal GPS antenna and is A-GPS capable with the service provided by Google. In terms of connectivity, the HTC Touch Cruise features Bluetooth 2.0 with enhanced data rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets, Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g and HTC Ext USB (11-pin mini USB 2.0 and audio jack in one), as well as a full-speed USB 2.0. In addition to that, the HTC Touch Cruise also has a 3.2 mega pixel colour camera with fixed focus function. It can also perform audio and video playbacks via its pre-loaded Windows Media Player 10. Supported audio formats include AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, AWB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV and MIDI while supported video formats include WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V and AVI. The HTC Touch Cruise runs on a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that has a capacity of 1100 mAh. The battery is capable of providing a battery life that measures up to 375 minutes of talk time on WCDMA networks, or up to 400 minutes of talk time on GSM networks. Alternatively, the HTC Touch Cruise can last up to 400 hours when put on standby mode on WCDMA networks and up to 330 hours on standby for GSM networks. For expansion options, the HTC Touch Cruise comes with an expansion slot for microSD memory cards that are SD 2.0 compatible. Not only that, the HTC Touch Cruise comes with an AC adapter that has a voltage range/ frequency of 100 ~ 240 V AC, 50/ 60 Hz and DC output of 5V and 1A. Other special features include a proprietary in-car holder as well as photo geotagging capabilities.

Reviews

“HTC Touch Cruise smartphone represents a top class navigational device for exacting and well-to-do P3300 fans falling short of the opportunities available, particularly a camera and which wouldn’t mind to TouchFLO support to come in handy.
+ TouchFLO support + Wi-Fi and a FM-tuner + Good camera + High-capacity memory + Good ergonomics + Excellent performance – Considerable price – Controversial design – Average battery life time – No VGA-screen (for the fancy)” (Mobile88, 2009)

“HTC Touch Cruise will find quite a number of fans, offering a load of features matched by compact size and stand-out styling. Besides, the touchscreen experience is only second to Apple iPhone, which is a good enough premise for some serious market success. The well performing GPS receiver and the good battery life will also attract users who like to travel a lot. The display issues and the photo imaging shortfalls are of course to be reckoned with, but they don’t seem make-or-break in the Pocket PC niche.” (GSMArena, 2009)

“The HTC Touch Cruise is packed with features, HSDPA, GPS, WiFi, improved CPU and memory over its predecessor and HTC’s TouchFLO interface. From this perspective its a real winner, its easy to use and you’ll want to use it as it’ll do everything you want it to (and more!). The only real drawback in my opinion is that its not as appealing aesthetically as the other HTC Touch devices, its clearly an evolution of the HTC P3300 (Artemis) design which is simply not as nice to hold as the original Touch, its also larger although I guess this is a trade off with the clearly improved specification.” (MSMobileNews, 2009)