HTC's massive 2009 device roadmap leak was heavy on the thumbnail images but light on the details. These details are being filled in now by sina.com [via wmpoweruser]. From the Firestone to the Twin to the Thoth to the Maple, we've got some early specs and release date targets to dish on. So let's get it going, after the break!
Whitestone and Firestone
First up, the Whitestone and Firestone, which are apparently to be thought up as evolutions of the Blackstone -- aka the Touch HD. What we're looking at is the same 480x800 touchscreen at 3.6". The Whitestone will sport the now-common 256mb RAM / 512 ROM on a Qualcomm 7600 proc clocked at 528MHz. A 5 megapixel camera, AGPS, and GSM/CDMA worldphone capabilities round the puppy out. It's expected to hit Verizon sometime in September.
The Firestone will come similarly specced on RAM/ROM, but it will have the Qualcomm 8250 proc clocked at 600MHz. Unlike the Whitestone, this bad boy is more likely to be upgradable to Windows Mobile 6.5. We also may be looking at an 8 megapixel camera. It's GSM / 3G and appears to be the true successor to the Touch HD -- launching in August. Sina anticipates it will see a North American Release.
Topaz and Rhodium
Being an AT&T user, the Topaz is definitely the device I've been most looking forward to. Taking another look at the above leak should make it pretty damn clear that the Topaz is the Touch Diamond2. The Rhodium, similarly, is the spittin' image of the Touch Pro2.
Maple, Cedar, Willow
Being a Q9h fan, the Maple has me all sorts of excited (just look at that keyboard!). We still, as you can probably guess, have the 2.4" 320x240 screen, but we're adding in a trackball instead of a five-way and that mysterious "Inner Circle" feature. The camera's still 2 megapixels, the proc is the Qualcomm 7225, the RAM is the ho-hum 256ROM / 128 RAM. We're looking at a May release(!).
The Cedar and the Willow (we trust by now you've caught the tree theme) looks to be straightfoward messengers like the Maple, though perhaps a little lower-end than the Maple. The Cedar should hit Verizon in June -- assuming Verizon is actually still interested in it, which they may not be.
Thoth
The Thoth is the successor to the Athena and sports, we think, a more appropriately foreboding codename for such a hefty device. (Seriously, check out the wikipedia on the god). We should have a 4.8" 480x800 touchscreen, a 5 mp camera, Windows Mobile 6.1, a 1GHz Qualcomm 8250 processor, and 512mb ROM / 256 RAM. Due in September.
Wrapping up
One last bit from the article : China Telecom will apparently get the Victor (think Touch Pro clone) and the Twin (think Touch Dual, although we're not positive on that one) in the coming months.
In other words -- HTC's announcement of the Touch Diamond2, the Touch Pro2, and the Touch Cruise(2) at Mobile World Congress 2009 (and slightly earlier with the Cruise) doesn't mean that they're abandoning their earlier lines. In fact, they're keeping up with the Athena, the Touch HD, and -- glory be -- they're jumping back into the front-facing QWERTY Standard-Edition space with their tree-themed lineup.
HTC already sells the lion-share of Windows Mobile devices. With a lineup like this for 2009, they look to continue that dominance.
What say you? Are you looking forward to anything in particular here?
