HTC intros Touch DUAL, S730, P6500

HTC on Monday morning let out details of its new smartphone line for the rest of 2007, beginning with the Touch DUAL. The handset includes the same controversial TouchFLO interface as the original Touch but adds a slide-out keypad, allowing users to make a call or perform SureType-style typing without having to use the on-screen interface. It drops Wi-Fi but gains 3G over HSDPA and UMTS on Europe's 2,100MHz frequency and offers a more responsive 400MHz main processor. The device should come with 128MB of RAM, 256MB of permanent storage, and the earlier microSD slot. It should be available first in Europe through Orange as of this month and may spread to other regions in coming months.

Also announced, the S730 is an upgrade to the successful Vox and its lateral slide-out keyboard formula. The new model similarly adds 3G over HSDPA and brings the same CPU of the Touch DUAL. The cosmetically redesigned phone also has 256MB of storage and should be available at the same time as the upgraded Touch, though the presence of a quad-band GSM radio indicates a North American launch in the future.

A third phone, the P6500, is targeted at business users and is the most likely to arrive in the US. Its quad-band GSM radio with tri-band HSDPA allows it to reach 3G Internet speeds both in Europe and North America. In a rare addition, the phone also sports dual SD card slots for either extra storage or peripherals that fit into the small spaces, such as Wi-Fi adapters. True GPS is built-in and easily legible with a 3.5-inch screen. A 3-megapixel camera on the back provides both photos and the resolution needed to scan barcodes or business cards, HTC says. Europeans receive the P6500 in November.