We’re still waiting on the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond, but it looks like it should be available in the next few days.  According to a Sprint announcement yesterday, the GPS-enabled Touch Diamond will be available mid-month for $249.99 with a 2-year contract and a $100 mail-in rebate.

Also announced yesterday, HTC’s Touch Pro will be available October 19 for $299.99 with a 2-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Sprint is also debuting three new One Click devices that offer a user-friendly interface that allows you to access many features in one step.  The three devices-LG Lotus, Samsung Highnote, and Samsung Rant-all boast Sprint Navigation.

Finally, the wireless carrier will be debuting a bunch of new iDEN network devices this fall, all featuring Nextel Direct Connect, GPS and Bluetooth.  One of these handsets, the Motorola i576, is geared toward business users with push-to-talk and GPS and is attractively priced at $69.99 with a 2-year contract (for business accounts) when it hits stores October 19.

For all the specs and pricing details, check out the full release after the cut.

Update: The HTC Touch Diamond is now available on Sprint’s website.

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The elusive Sprint Touch Diamond has fooled us again with the rumored August 28 release date, on which it never appeared.  The latest news we’ve been able to find comes via PhoneArena.  The team says that even the September 2 release date rumor is suspect now, and though we may see the odd handset in the wild come that date, the phone won’t be officially available until September 14.  Come September 14 don’t rush to your nearest Sprint retail outlet either; apparently the first couple of weeks will consist of only telesales and direct orders.  We’ll see I guess, but we do know we will see the Sprint Touch Diamond sometime in September as Sprint’s own Bluefish Wireless has a pre-order page up for the handset that explicitly says…Coming In September.

As for official specs, here they are:

• 2.8-inch touch screen, with four times the pixels of most phones.
• Loaded with Windows Mobile™ 6.1
• Vibrant TouchFLO 3D user interface, responding perfectly to your finger gestures when scrolling through contacts, browsing the web, and launching media… all vividly displayed as photos and artwork powered by the 3D graphics processor.
• Surf and download at broadband speed with EVDO Rev A Internet Connectivity.
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera for quality stills and video.
• 4GB of internal storage to preserve more photos, music, files and exchanged data than ever before.
• Integrated GPS for use with maps software for a full turn-by-turn satellite navigation experience.

Promotional materials for the HTC Touch Diamond have started leaking out at Sprint stores, supporting the new September 2 release date rumor.  We thought you might like to take a look at the full user manual, courtesy of 6700Yuma at the PPCGeeks forum.  Check it out!

The rumored September 2 release date for the Sprint-carried HTC Touch Diamond is a rumored date no more. In fact, it turns out the rumor wasn’t true after all. The date has been changed to August 28 for Sprint’s CDMA Touch Diamond, priced at $249 after rebates or $549 without a contract.

via phonearena

Telus beat Sprint to the GPS-packin’ HTC Touch Diamond, but not by much. Rumored to be released on the Sprint network September 2, the Touch Diamond looks to be heading to Sprint in line with that rumor if you believe the data located at the bottom of the above slide. We don’t really have to say anything more-the slide has it all.

via engadget mobile

While we were expected Sprint to be the first North American wireless carrier to offer the GPS-enabled HTC Touch Diamond, it turns out Telus will take the honors.  The Touch Diamond will launch on the Telus network August 14 with an expected price of $150 with a three-year contract, $350 with a two-year contract, and $450 without a contract.  Sprint will also be offering a temporary discount on its data plans charging only $15 for unlimited messaging, web browsing and email compared to its usual price of $30 per month.

Turns out Sprint is expected to release its Touch Diamond September 2 and rumors are still bouncing around that have a GSM Touch Diamond hitting the US before Christmas.  The Telus HTC Touch Diamond includes EVDO Rev. A 3G, 4GB of storage space, WiFi, and Telus Navigator packaged with the mobile phone’s built-in GPS.

via electronista

Despite the fact that Google has announced a delay in the release of their mobile Android platform and rumors of a possible merger with Symbian, the big name behind the operating system HTC says everything is on track for a 4th quarter release.  The company behind the wildly popular Touch Diamond handset which is already available with 50 wireless carriers in over 30 countries, says they’ll begin shipping Android-based handsets to ODM clients in the 4th quarter.

On a slightly different note, a recent writeup in The China Post states that Sprint will be getting a CDMA version of the HTC Touch Diamond this month, and despite the fact that HTC wasn’t planning on releasing a GSM version to avoid competing with Apple’s iPhone, a GSM Touch Diamond is apparently on its way to North America before Christmas.

Photo Credit: Phone Arena

HTC’s popular Touch Diamond, a GPS-enabled handset, will get an exclusive edition of GPS navigation software maker ALK’s CoPilot Live 7 mapping software across the pond in Europe.  It comes on DVD, and simply transfers from your PC to the Touch Diamond.  It then automatically recognizes the handset’s built-in GPS receiver.  A true “plug and play”-type solution.  Specially configured for the Touch Diamond’s display, the CoPilot Live 7 maps allow you to zoom in and out for a closer, more detailed look.  The new ALK software is now available in Europe, priced at £60 for maps of the UK and Ireland and £90 for maps of the entire European continent.

via navigadget

Looks like the HTC Touch Diamond announcement that we thought would be today, was in fact today.  Not only does the Touch Diamond feature GPS, but it’s damn fine looking as well.  Take a look at the specs below, and if you care to read the press release, it’s after the jump…

HTC Touch Diamond Key Specifications

Size: 102 x 51 x 11.33mm
Weight: 110 g
Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA
Operating system: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
Camera: 3.2MP, with video calling
Internal memory: 4 GB Internal Storage, 256 MB flash, 192 MB RAM
Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
GPS: GPS/AGPS
Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
Battery: 900 mAh
Talk time: GSM: up to 4 hours
Standby time: GSM: up to 300 hours/100 hours with push email
Chipset: Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528MHz
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The latest example of mobile handset GPS convergence looks to be the HTC Touch Diamond.  HTC is expected to announce something big tomorrow, and judging by the leaked photos and specs of this GPS-enabled mobile phenom, it looks to be this phone.  Besides the obligatory GPS inclusion, other features are expected to include:

• 2.8-inch VGA display
• WinMo 6.1 Pro
• WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0
• eGPS, FM tuner
• Quad-band HSDPA 7.2
• 4GB internal flash, microSD slot
• 528MHz CPU
• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus
• 10.7mm (0.47-inches) thick
• Supposedly also features an orientation sensor / accelerometer

No word yet on a QWERTY keyboard, nor pricing info, but we’ll watch this unfold to get you all the latest details.

via engadget mobile