WHEN the HTC Touch HD was first unveiled here in November, it was not to much fanfare. Afterall, the Apple iPhone craze was still rather new, with the iPhone 3G only hitting our shores officially in August.

But with its massive 3.8-inch WVGA screen, the Touch HD is widely seen as the closest challenge yet to Apple's iconic mobile phone.

Looking at specs alone, the Touch HD's feature-packed list - 3.5G, 5-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, MicroSD expansion slot - could put the iPhone to shame.

It doesn't help that the two phones are pretty much the same size.

Here's what we got from first looks:

In the hands, the Touch HD feels sturdy and expensive. It's smooth, rubbery back cover - probably for preventing slipping - definitely trumps the iPhone 3G's plasticky back.

Both phones are also just as minimally designed, although the iPhone still wins for being truly sleek.

Because the Touch HD's screen also responds to a stylus - unlike the iPhone 3G that only reacts to fingertips - it also comes with a stylus that slides into the lower right corner of the phone. On top, there is a 3.5mm jack for you to plug in your headphones and speakers - a nice touch missing from some of the earlier HTC phones that used proprietary jacks.

The Touch HD has four touch-sensitive hardware buttons at the bottom screen. HTC has added haptic feedback - the buzz or vibration you feel when you touch the buttons - so you know when you've tapped on them.

Tapping the screen too, has the same effect.

The 3.8-inch screen almost takes up the entire face of the phone, and is the best part of the Touch HD.
With it's 480 by 800 resolution, pictures and fonts look incredibly sharp.

There's also a lot of real estate to tap on and flick, important since the phone runs HTC's own TouchFlo 3D user interface above its Window Mobile 6.1 operating system.
Still, the phone doesn't react quite as fast as the iPhone 3G, when flicking through pictures or scrolling through with fingers. The touchscreen does seem to respond faster to the stylus though.

The Touch HD's 5-megapixel camera also takes crisp, clear pictures. Pity that there isn't a hardware camera button. To take a picture, you need to tap on the screen twice. Once to focus, and the second time to shoot. Not very user friendly. There's also no flash.

For a more detailed look at the HTC Touch HD, please see our full review in the 24th December edition of Digital Life.