HTC Touch Dual: iClone or Genius?

Today, HTC announced a new Windows Mobile 6-equipped touch screen smart device. The HTC Touch Dual is the latest in the company's line of TouchFLO devices, and will be available in Europe later this month.

HTC works with Devicewire and Expansys as direct retailers of its product line. Unfortunately for United States consumers, the Touch Dual only comes with support for European HSDPA/GSM/EDGE networks.

The handset itself uses a 2.6-inch QVGA touch screen, has a 2 Megapixel front-facing camera optimized for video calling, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, and has an HTC ExtUSB interface, which is a mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack combined.

Most painfully obvious is the similarity between this device and the headline-hogging iPhone. Even the product demo on HTC's site is almost identical to an iPhone demo from several months ago. For a side-by-side comparison, view the HTC TouchFLO demo against the iPhone Commercial.

The TouchFLO technology has been expanded from the previous incarnation on the HTC Touch, as it now includes photo slideshows and image manipulation with on-screen controls, and simple touch browsing of both the device and the internet.

Unfortunately, due to the similarity to the iPhone, a device that could stand on its own merits may just be written off as a Windows-based iClone. But HTC has combined the idea from one of the most popular devices in recent history with a mobile version of one of the most popular operating systems available.

A Pablo Picasso quote of dubious origin says: "Bad artists copy, Great artists steal." Some may take a look at this new device and see that it goes beyond the realm of copycat and into the realm of genius.