The Windows Mobile-powered Touch "ushers in an innovative new concept in intuitive touch-screen navigation," according to HTC, a leading maker of portable devices powered by Microsoft 's smartphone operating system .

In announcing the Touch, HTC said that mobile-phone makers have done a great job of cramming ever-more exciting features into ever-smaller phones, but pointed out that interface technology has not kept pace. "That ends today with the HTC Touch."

First To Use TouchFLO

The Touch is the first device to use HTC's TouchFLO, the interface technology that powers the finger and stylus interactivity on the Touch. Sweeping a finger up the surface launches an animated, 3D interface with Contacts, Media, and Applications on each of three virtual panes. Swiping a finger left or right spins the interface to bring each of the three main areas into focus.

Unlike the iPhone, the front of which is all screen, the Touch is mostly screen but with a navigational pad and button under the display, like many of the smartphones HTC has manufactured in the past. A slide-out stylus allows users to input text and click on virtual buttons. According to HTC, the screen can tell the difference between stylus and finger.

Finger control can be used for navigating Web pages, opening documents, scrolling through messages, and locating contacts. As a Windows Mobile 6 device with Direct Push e-mail support, the Touch includes Outlook Mobile, Office Mobile, Windows Live, and mobile versions of Internet Explorer and Messenger.

Finger Differentiation

HTC officials deny that the Touch was inspired by Apple's iPhone, claiming instead that the new interface technology has taken years to develop. But IDC analyst Sean Ryan noted that, given that the device's key differentiation from other smartphones is its finger-based interface, the Touch is inevitably going to be positioned against the iPhone.

"It's the same thing as when all those devices came out with Qwerty keypads," he said. "There's no way they could have avoided being positioned against the BlackBerry." He pointed out that HTC, which has designed and manufactured several smartphones branded under other company names, is now, with the Touch, beginning to strengthen its position by building its own brand.

The Touch has a 2.8-inch LCD offering a resolution of 240 x 320. It also features a 2.0-megapixel camera; GSM, GPRS, and EDGE connectivity ; and triband (900, 1,800, 1,900) capabilities, plus Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0. The handset measures 4 x 2.3 x 0.5 inches and comes with a 1-GB microSD card and 64 MB of built-in RAM.

HTC won't go head-to-head with the iPhone in the U.S. until the second half of this year, when it comes out in North American and Latin American versions. The Touch is now available in the UK, and, later this month, will be available in the rest of Europe and Asia.