A few more tidbits from the HTC Press conference that didn't make it into our post on the device earlier. Tidbit the first: the Touch Pro 2 is certainly more than just an minor update to the original Touch Pro. The changes come in both hardware and software and they're significant and significantly cool.
HTC is introducing a few software features along with a few innovative new hardware features, all of which make the Touch Pro 2 one Mean Business Machine. The Touch Diamond 2 is also getting a few neat software features. You know what time it is, it's time to join us after the break.
People-Centric Communication
HTC's emphasis for 2009 appears to be attempting to make "applications" invisible in favor of actually helping you get stuff done from where you are. The first step in that is their new integrated contact information screen in TouchFlo 3D. It's actually very slick -- on any contact screen you have tabs on the bottom which give you immediate access to all the texts, email, and voicemail from that contact, without having to go hunting in one of those other apps for the relevant info.
Even better -- these tabs also appear on the in-call screen so you can go grab relevant information immediately while you're on a call.
Straight Talk
HTC also has a feature they're calling "Straight Talk" and they're limiting it to the Touch Pro 2 (for some odd reason). Basically it takes the ideas above and distributes them thoughout the OS. Have an email with a bunch of people on it, you can hit the phone button to bring up a list of them. You can then go through that list of people and check off a hand full of them to immediately start a conference call. Slick.
The same sort of things happens if you have a calendar appointment with conference call information. The Touch Pro 2 will give you a big "Call" button in your calendar alert and then when you're in the call the notes for the call (i.e. the passcode to get in) will display on the in-call screen.
More Hardware Improvements
The Touch Pro gets additional hardware improvements on top of the huge screen and the return of the tilt. To wit: it has two speakers for speakerphones and 2 microphones for advanced noise cancellation. HTC has also radically improved the speakerphone (a problem on some versions of the current Touch Pro). When you're in a call, you can set the phone face down to automatically turn it into a speakerphone that utilizes both mics and speakers and even has a convenient mute button so you can mutter to your in-room colleagues about your on-call colleagues.
