The phone should be a success for HTC, thought it has lost it’s early buzz. It does have issues, starting with the camera; the same basic module HTC been using for some time now. LED illumination will help in certain low light situations where the camera can be held absolutely stationary, but in general will be no help for what is basically a slow small aperture lens. Also, once again HTC doesn’t provide a dedicate hardware shutter release. HTC saves a few pennies at the expense of convenience.

After backpedaling on the Diamond2, HTC has caved to customer demand and provided a 3.5mm audio jack, but unlike the original HD, mysteriously position it on the bottom edge of the phone. Again, HTC saves a few pennies, the cost of the coax cable that was used in the HD.

But perhaps the biggest question about the HD2: will its success necessarily translate into a win for Microsoft? HTC has now so thoroughly disguised Windows Mobile, does anyone really care anymore what OS lies under Sense?

My quibbles aside, I look forward to having my own HD2 in a couple of weeks.

As to the Mobility Minded folks: a little more data please! (battery life, audio quality: call and media playback, video play back, camera: MTF, grain, color accuracy – just to name a few.)

Much appreciated!

Paul