The device that had gone by the code name HTC Polaris has been relased by HTC as the Touch Crusie, making it the third member of the very popular Touch product line. Common among the Touch devices is HTC's TouchFLO interface which has often been compared to Apple's iPhone. This will be the first member of the Touch lineup to include an integrated GPS, although HTC does have other devices on the market that have this capibility, such as the AT&T Tilt and their HTC branded TyTN-II. Having used an integrated GPS device for a couple of months now, I don't think I would want to go back to a device without it.

The Touch Cruise is a highly connected device with the blazing fast HSDPA/3.5G connectivity, plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional and has a 2.8" touchscreen. For multimedia, the Touch Cruise includes a 3MP digital camera and an FM Radio. Of course, MP3 and video playback is included with WM6 and Windows Media Player.

With the Touch Cruise, HTC has kept their trend of releasing devices that bear very little resemblence to each other. The Touch and Touch-Dual looked very similar, which was unusual for HTC. Just visually looking at the physical design of the Touch Cruise, you wouldn't expect it to be part of the Touch family after seeing the other two. The TouchFLO software interface, however, is where they are tied together. The Touch Cruise doesn't have a slider keyboard like the Touch Dual does.