Verizon Launching HTC Touch as the XV6900, Adds Motorola Q9c

Submitted by Adama D. Brown on Monday, March 31, 2008

A model of the extremely popular HTC Touch smartphone will soon be available on Verizon's network under the XV6900 name, along with a second version of the Motorola Q9.

This announcement makes Verizon the third U.S. carrier to offer a version of the Touch, and the first to sell the device with its internal GPS receiver enabled. Sprint and Alltel both also offer the Touch in a grey version.

While all three devices share the same basic hardware and Windows Mobile 6 Professional operating system, the Sprint and Alltel models ship with their internal GPS receivers deactivated by software. Verizon's will be GPS enabled, and includes support for the carrier's VZ Navigator premium mapping service. It's unclear whether the GPS will be locked to this application, or if it will be usable with other mapping programs and services.

More About The HTC Touch

The HTC Touch, along with its follow-up models the Touch Dual and Touch Cruise that have been released in Europe, have sold well over 2 million units despite relatively little advertising, making it one of HTC's most popular smartphones.

All devices in the Touch family have a signature design which emphasizes the touchscreen functionality, and a customized launcher called TouchFLO, designed by HTC to make the device easy to use with fingers instead of a stylus.

Motorola Q9c Added To Lineup

Verizon will also be picking up the Q9c, a more business-oriented version of the Motorola Q9m smartphone that the company launched last August. The Q9c, despite being physically identical to the Q9m, features a different software package that emphasizes enterprise functions such as documents, email, and messaging, rather than the multimedia of the Q9m.

The Q9c features a thumb keyboard, EV-DO high-speed internet, GPS, and Windows Mobile 6 Standard.

Pricing And Availability

The Touch will be priced at $350 after 2-year contract and $50 mail-in rebate. The Q9c will run $250 after rebate and contract. Both devices are expected to be available in April.