Cool Gadget | PDA Phone

The HD2 boasts a 4.3-inch WVGA (480 x 800) capacitive touchscreen and is powered by Qualcomm’s new 1GHz Snapdragon mobile processor, all while measuring just 11mm in thickness. It also offers an HTC Sense user experience, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, a 5-megapixel camera, a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack–the works. 

With those kind of impressive specs and sexy looks, can you blame us for being disappointed when it was a no-show at last Wednesday night’s Mobile Focus event? Well, someone must have heard our nighttime prayers because HTC America’s vice president of sales and marketing, Jason Mackenzie, presented us with a surprise this morning: The HTC HD2. 

Though it wasn’t running final software, we were impressed with the phone’s responsiveness, the customizable user interface, and then there’s the screen, oh, the beautiful screen. Images and text absolutely pop and you can see so much more at a glance given the extra-large screen. Perhaps the best part? HTC has added multitouch capabilities so, like the iPhone and Palm Pre, you can pinch your fingers to zoom in and out of Web pages, photos, and emails. 

When can you get your hands on this thing? Well, as SlashGear reported Wednesday, HTC CEO Peter Chou said the company is working on a US-compatible version of the HD2 for release in 2010. HTC America would neither confirm nor deny this, but Mackenzie added that the intent for the device is global distribution. When asked about possible US carriers, Mackenzie didn’t get into specifics but did say that the good thing about the HD2 is that it wouldn’t be hard to pitch, and we certainly agree. 

So while we wait, you can check out some hands-on photos of the HTC HD2 below. We’ll add more commentary and first impressions soon, but feel free to get the discussion going on your thoughts of the HD2.

The HTC HD2 was announced as the fifth Windows Mobile 6.5 device for HTC. The smartphone will be available through select European operators later in October and will ship to other regions of the world in the coming months. As for US availability, HTC CEO Peter Chou has said the company is working on a US-compatible version of the HD2 for release in 2010.

Like the HTC Hero, the HD2 uses HTC Sense, but it’s not so much a user interface as it is an approach to a user’s experience with their smartphone. HTC says Sense has a three-prong approach: Make it mine (personalization), Stay Close (communication), and Discover the unexpected (oh, it can do that?). 

Feature wise, the HD2 offers pretty much everything you’d want: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, 3G, GPS. It’s also powered by Qualcomm’s new 1GHz Snapdragon mobile processor. With Windows Mobile 6.5, you get the addition of the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, My Phone backup service, and an improved Internet Explorer Mobile, though Opera is also available. Though the model we saw wasn’t running final software, we were impressed at its responsive.

However, the real attention grabber of the HTC HD2 is its 4.3-inch (WVGA) capacitive touchscreen. It’s amazingly sharp and vibrant; pictures simply don’t do it justice. Of course, with the extra-large display, you can also see more at a glance and fit in a more spacious onscreen keyboard. 

In addition, HTC has been able to add multitouch capabilities to the phone, even though we might not see this on other Windows phones till Windows Mobile 7. This means, like the iPhone and Palm Pre, you can zoom in and out of photos, Web pages, and emails by using a pinching motion on the screen. It worked quite well during our demo.

While you’ll use the touchscreen for most things, there are five quick-launch buttons below the display: Talk and End keys, a Home screen key, a Start menu shortcut, and a back button.

The HTC HD2 measures 120.5 x 67 x 11mm and weighs 157g. While the phone is pretty wide and won’t make for the most comfortable fit a pants pocket, it’s still remarkably thin, considering everything that’s packed into the smartphone. The construction of the phone also feels solid.

On the back of the smartphone, you’ll find a 5-megapixel camera and a dual LED flash. The HD2 can also record video, which you can share and post to YouTube. In addition, you can upload photos to Facebook and/or Twitter. There’s 512MB ROM and 448MB RAM with a microSD expansion slot.

As HTC promised, the company has started incorporating 3.5 millimeter headphone jacks into its devices.

[Bonnie Cha]