HTC on Tuesday used the kick-off for Windows Mobile 6.5 to launch its widely publicized new flagship smartphone. The HD2 is the first Windows Mobile phone ever to have a capacitive, multi-touch screen and can respond much more quickly and accurately to finger input than the resistive screens most Microsoft-based phones are forced to use. It additionally supports pinching, flicks and other gestures in many apps, making it the first Windows Mobile phone to support iPhone-like commands.

Appropriately, HTC has made this its first non-Android phone to use the Sense UI and lets users customize the home screen with frequently used apps or websites in addition to providing a much more visual interface for common tasks like e-mail and photos. Windows Mobile 6.5 itself is faster and has a more touch-friendly interface for apps and some minor elements.

It also has the largest touchscreen of any phone with a 4.3-inch, 800x480 LCD and an accelerometer that auto-tilts the display. Speed is just as important as the HD2 will have a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 448MB of RAM and full 7.2Mbps HSPA for 3G.

A 5-megapixel camera, GPS and Wi-Fi make their way into the smartphone, which uses microSDHC for the brunt of its storage and has a 3.5mm headphone jack for music.

HTC expects the HD2 to ship by the end of the month with multiple European carriers. O2 UK has been all but confirmed, but T-Mobile UK and carriers in mainland Europe should also get the phone on their networks. The present version doesn't support North American 3G bands, though most HTC phones are often adapted in the future for US and Canadian launches.