— Photo: R. V. Moorthy

TOUCH ACCESS: Peter Chou (right), CEO and President of High Tech Computer Corp., with Sanjay Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Airtel, at the launch of mobile phone with TouchFLO technology in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: Taiwan-based High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) on Friday introduced its unique `HTC Touch' mobile phone in an exclusive tie-up with Bharti Airtel. Equipped with touch screen navigation technology, the mobile phone will be available only to Airtel users in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Jaipur.

Priced at Rs.19,900, the screen of the Microsoft Windows Mobile-based phone provides one-touch access to e-mails, text messages, calendar appointments and contacts, besides current weather conditions and forecasts for several cities around the world. The `HTC Touch' technology offers a unique way of controlling touch screen-based devices by responding to the sweep of a finger across the screen. The handheld device offers access to Outlook e-mail and the most popular Microsoft Office applications with Windows Mobile 6.

"The HTC Touch is the first device to feature TouchFLO, the new underlying touch screen technology developed by us,'' HTC Chief Executive Officer Peter Chou said here after unveiling the phone. Mr. Chou said this strategic partnership had been done keeping in mind consumers' needs. This initiative would have a positive impact on India's booming telecommunications market, he added.

According to Bharti Airtel Chief Marketing Officer (Mobile Services) Sanjay Gupta, "Our partnership with HTC to introduce India's First TouchFLO technology featured mobile phone underlines our commitment to innovation.''

Within the next three months, Bharti Airtel plans to introduce the phone in 25 new cities. The exclusive arrangement between the two companies is only for three months, after which it will be reviewed.

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