HTC Obsession to be the HTC Diamond3

January 21, 2010 | By Surur

Reliable sources have told WMPU that the HTC Obsession, HTC’s rumoured 3.7 inch AMOLED smartphone set to come later this year, will be coming to AT&T and T-Mobile USA as the HTC Diamond3.

They were also able to confirm a time scale – the smartphone was intended to ship as early as June 2010, but may be delayed somewhat. Despite the plans to come so early, the smartphone is definitely a Windows Mobile 7 device, and will not be coming in a WM 6.5 version first.

A reminded of the specs of the device below:

The full specs are below.

CPU: Qualcomm QSD8250; 1GHz
GSM HSDPA
Device Size: 112 x 56 x 11.7 mm
Memory (RAM/ROM): 512MB/512MB
Internal Storage: 4GB
External Storage: MicroSD (up to 32GB)
Screen Size/Type: 3.7-inch capacitive AMOLED “Multitouch Supported”
Camera: 5.0 Megapixel AF with flash; HD 720p video@ 25fps
Video Support: Windows Media Video (WMV), MPEG-4 (MP4/M4V) H.264, DVR-MS4
Audio Support: Windows Media Audio (WMA), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC-LC), FairPlay DRM, MP3 (.mp3)
Battery: Removable 1230 mAh
Talk Time: Up to 10 hours
Standby Time: 240 hours
Internet Use: 6 hours (3G), 7.5 hours (WiFi)
Video Playback: 7 hours
Audio Playback: 24 hours

Unlike previous Diamonds the device will not be coming in a CDMA version, following poor sales of the last Diamond.

In some ways the branding will be reassuring to HTC HD2 owners, who would prefer not to see their investment superseded so quickly with an HD3.

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged AT&T, htc diamond 3, htc obsession, t-mobile usa, windows mobile 7

http://twitter.com/one_solo @one_solo

That's what I thought, glad to see that this is only going to be Diamond3. Hope that HD3 can be a better machine…

GP007

This does look/sound like a good device as well though, I mean 512MB rom/ram + 4GB internal AND support for the newest 32GB mSD cards! All of that with a 1Ghz snapdragon and a AMOLED screen to boot. This is def something to look at if you don't want the extra screen size the HD3 will probably have. 3.7" isn't that small really, I could probably live with that, and my eyesight sux.

But as for the HD3, I expect the newest ARM cpu in that, the 1.3Ghz or hell, even the dual core one? It might sound like overkill, but if battery life is there who wouldn't want that sorta beast in their pocket?

drphysx

The name and the time frame make perfectly sense.

Glad to hear that it will come with WM7, not WM6.5.X. You seem to be very sure about that?

Any info about a Touch Pro 2 successor?

GP007

I guess i'm lucky I held off on getting a HD2 before the holidays. While it's a good solid phone and all, not knowing for sure if it can get WM7 is what held me off.

That said, I can't wait to see how this Diamond 3 turns out as well, I figure a HD3 won't see the light of day till 2011 probably.

drphysx

But MAYBE, and I think most likely, you would get WM7 first if you bought an HD2.

It will almost certainly be leaked before any WM7 device hits the market.

GP007

That could happen sure. BUT, better safe than sorry wouldn't you agree?

drphysx

Don't know. I bought the HD2 as soon as it was available, one of the first devices shipped, and I'm very happy with it.
Even without WM7, it's easily the best smartphone available. WM7 will just be the icing on the cake

Of course, it's not 100% certain that it will get an upgrade, but even if HTC decides no to release an official one, I'm very confident that someone will leak the necessary software.

In the worst case, I'd buy another device. But even then, it wouldn't bother me that I bought the HD2, because I'd know I paid for having the best smartphone on the market for at least eight months.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

Doesn't make sense. If it's a diamond it should come at around May/June and the rumors till now say WM7 won't definitely be out until October/November

drphysx

LG still plans a WM7 phone for September. Given that LG’s phone has much higher specs, an HTC phone with lower specs earlier than September makes perfect sense.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

How does this make WM7 available in May/June? nope it doesn't make sense…
that is IF the current rumors are true

http://intensedebate.com/people/Foamy Foamy

I think getting WM7 on it would get priority over keeping to their original time frame. i wouldn't be surprised if a late WM7 release also pushed back a lot of phones.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

hum… So you say maybe the HD3 is pushed back to 2011, the D3 is pushed to late 2010 and HTC plans something else for the May/June timeframe? may happen!

GP007

Seeing how new the HD2 is, pushing the HD3 back to 2011 makes sense. As for the D3, I'm thinking Sept fits just fine. MS and it's partners would wanna get in ahead of the holidays and make hype for their devices I'm sure.

Craig S

Great, now for Fuze 2, Tilt 3… whatever, the next slideout QWERTY
http://intensedebate.com/people/Strangerx Strangerx

Running out of names, HTC, huh? I can't wait to see the HD3 then .
I hope we see the HTC 2010 roadmap leaked soon like it happened in the previous years
http://intensedebate.com/people/Foamy Foamy

i predict that either they will have a new range focused on gaming with a tegra 2 or the HD3 will have tegra 2 and be their best gaming platform. I am happy to see that the HD3 could still keep the screen size. can't wait to get some specs for it.
hmm

This doesn’t make sense. Why would they continue the Diamond line into WinMo7? I think they’d go with a completely new name and line for a completely new OS. HTC is supposed to be innovative not lacking in originality. Attaching a 2 to their best devices was fine, but 3 would be too much. I see it getting a new name in Europe and it certainly won’t be called Diamond3 in the U.S. I’ll believe it when I see it.

GP007

It could just be a working name, or they could drop the 3 and call it something like the Diamond+ or DiamondHD? Who knows. I don't much care what the device itself is called as long as it looks good, works good and so on.
http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

what about the popularity of the Diamond,Pro and HD brands? I think HTC will want to guarantee this popularity for their next generation phones now that D2,Pro2 and HD2 have this successful.

http://www.avianwaves.com Parrotlover77

I wonder if the CDMA carriers will ever realize that if you do zero marketing you will get low sales? Of course, Sprint spends way too much on the failed Palm Pre and gets nothing in return, so maybe they are jaded. lol.

That's really too bad about no CDMA. I hope the CDMA carriers change their mind. Or maybe I'm reading mountains out of molehills here. I'd prefer a keyboarded version anyway and the TP2 is selling pretty well and gets great reviews.

GP007

Maybe the Palm Pre Plus will help them a bit, but I figure Sprint is banking on it's new 4G/WiMAX Overdrive stuff to make a difference for now. I expect they'll also get a nice WM7 phone at some point (or a few of them) as well.

If WM7 hits the mark and gets good press, then MS is going to push the Windows Phone marketing hard, and that helps all of it's partners as well.
Rico

i think it's less the carriers' decision and more the manfucturers'. The devices are made with GSM in mind, and i'd assume it's far easier to change the operating frequency of a GSM radio than to replace it with altogether with a CDMA radio.

Regarding sales, i can't imagine that either the GSM or CDMA Diamond sold that well. The screen is tiny and difficult to type on. i've got the Fuze/Touch Pro, and if it weren't for the keyboard, it would be unusable at times. Going back to what i said in the first paragraph, it's a nobrainer to adjust the operating frequency to US bands and sell it here. i'm sure this is a big part of the reason why we haven't seen a CDMA iPhone for Verizon.

http://twitter.com/iFlossiFOB @iFlossiFOB

Well truthfully I hate HTC..Even though I do understand the concept of the HTC HD series being the high end phone of the company. Why would they drop the HTC HD2 with 488 ram and not do the same to the Diamond3.

I'm going to the get Nokia N900 and sell my Touch Pro2, I'll come back to Windows Mobile once the Touch Pro3 comes out. Depending on how crazy hot the OS "Seven" turns out to be.

PTrizzy

that's what I don't get either. Though, the "2" suffix is older than the "3" suffix, so I can understand why the D"3" would warrant more ram and somewhat newer technology than anything with a "2" suffix. Being that the HD line is for HTC's high end phone, expect the HD"3" to come with 1Gb/1Gb over anything on the D"3" or TP"3".

Rusty

Just so long as it doesn't come to Sprint. We don't want no options. Afterall, we gots us Palm!! Sure they'll be out of business in a couple more years. But Sprint's got to have its niche since it doesn't apparently want to get any worthwhile WM/Blackberry/Android devices.
ceaser

well there goes my hopes of getting one since im on sprint, and their of course CDMA. I guess I'll stick with my pre, and just get the pre 2 when it comes to sprint this summer/fall uhum 1ghz processor as well 3.6 inch screen running WEBOS 2.0. the future OS. Goodluck though win 7 I hope they dont dissapoint because so many people like me are waiting for winmo to emerge from the fog finally.
boe

When you say sales of the last diamond were slow – are you talking about the Diamond or Touch/Imagio? I know they couldn't keep the Touch Pro in stock for 2 months after it was released.
Taiwan_techie

For those who are hoping to see a HD3 soon, have some thoughts for people who forked out the money to buy a HD2 outright.

Come on HTC! Give the HD2 WinMo 7! ~

Guest

According to a few, we will see WM7 for the HD2, though no idea of timeframe.

Pantelis

How sure are you that the above info are correct? Which is your source? Please check this link out and tell us your opinion?
http://htcdevs.nstars.org/forum-f1/topic-t1.htm
http://twitter.com/joanneholfmann @joanneholfmann

Guess what? Two new phones are ready to roll-out gearing up with some WinMo 7 goodies already! One of them is the HTC obsession: http://bit.ly/htc-obsession-detailed-preview

and the other is LG Apollo
http://flyertemplates.prowebmedia.net flyer templates

Amazing specs on this one. 7 hours of video playback… WOW