There are obviously a lot of iPhone clones out there. Some are better than others..
HTC just announced the ‘Touch Diamond’. The specs look good. 3G, GPS, big internal storage, nice bright screen. By all accounts it should be comparable to the upcoming 2nd gen iPhone. I was just looking at their demo and think that they spent too much time worrying about transition effects and not enough time worrying about usability.
The two most notable problems are this.
1. No consistency in the UI: The contacts have a roladex feel, the music is some sort of stack, and the photos, well, I’m not really sure what that is. Some sort of hanging chain type of interface… ?!
2. Poor use of space: The 2 worst offenders are mail and photos. The mail appears to be organized in an envelop and displayed with a 3d perspective where the right side of the message is further away form the screen. This is downright horrible design. Test that should have prime focus should not have perspective that makes it harder to read. IT should also not be covered by an image which obstructs the view. The photos also show on an angle, and in only a small part of the screen. If I’m looking at a photo, I want to see it!. The ‘chain’ format that it’s in doesn’t allow you see to what’s next or last (which is the only reason not to have a full screen photo anyway.)
Now, this isn’t a hands-on review. This is purely from looking at their flash demo. but, the 20seconds I spent looking at the flash demo made it clear that I wouldn’t be giving this device any more attention.
