If you still have not had enough of the upcoming HTC Touch.B, we thought you might enjoy a short video clip. MobiFrance has come through again (it almost seems as if they are teasing us). You should have no trouble recognizing the Touch.B as an HTC handset. Throughout the clip, you'll notice some familiar icons, buttons, and sound clips that have been on HTC devices for a while. The Touch.B is nothing amazing when compared to HTC's Windows Mobile and Android phones, but I'm sure the simple design and expected cheap price will definitely make the HTC Touch.B a hit. Source: MobiFrance (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://mobifrance.com/news/2009-12-03/id15766/-Video--L-interface-du-HTC-Touch-B-sous-BrewMP/ sl=fr tl=en hl=en ie=UTF-8)

For years, HTC has built its reputation and its success on the Windows Mobile platform. At one point, nearly 90% of all Windows Mobile phones on the market were manufactured by HTC. Late last year, HTC branched off from producing only Windows Mobile handsets with the introduction of the HTC Dream with Google Android OS. Since then, HTC has seen great success with the Android platform and is now planning on shifting nearly 50% of their 2010 handset production to Android powered devices. But many people are a little confused about a new handset that popped up on the net a few days ago. The new HTC Touch.B (http://htcsource.com/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=840 Itemid=37 PHPSESSID=c9b9e0ee4861e59781b0d40d19207900) was initially rumored to be running on Android, but now it turns out that it actually will be running on Qualcomm’s new BrewMP. We first heard about HTC’s plans to introduce a BrewMP handset earlier this year. If you were like us, you might have read the news story and simply moved on. After all, if you’re an HTC fan you most likely don’t care about “dumb phones” since everything that HTC puts out is typically cutting edge technology. So why would HTC even think about producing handset that wouldn’t get a second look from you or me? Over the past four years, HTC sales have grown from $2.2 billion in 2005 to $4.6 billion in 2008. Profit margins are right about 30% since HTC runs a pretty lean ship. Unfortunately, the financial crunch has taken its toll on HTC as well. Sale for 2009 are up for HTC handsets, but the company is expecting to see a 5% dip in revenue due to increased competition in the marketplace. HTC desperately needs to find another role in the handset marketplace in order to maintain their profit margins and continue to grow their business.

Yesterday, we were teased with a few pictures of HTC's new Tocuh.B by MobiFrance. They initially indicated that the handset would be running on Android, but now they have gone back on their word. It turns out that the HTC Tocuh.B will be HTC's dumb phone that runs on Qualcomm's BrewMP. Get it Touch.B? Anyways... the BrewMP ROM on the Touch.B is still in Alpha testing so things are not working yet as they should be. Currently the handset features a 2MP camera with no video recording, 3G and Bluetooth support, but Wi-Fi is surprisingly missing. The UI for the HTC Touch.B has a slight hint of TouchFLO, though I'm sure it will get a bit more tweaking before the handset makes its way on to store shelves. Qualcomm has been working hard to get developers on board with their new BrewMP, but things have been a bit slow due to all the focus that the iPhone and Android have been getting. Fortunately, Qualcomm's BrewMP has an Ace up its sleeve which many developers will not be able to ignore, full Flash support. Developers should be able ot great games and apps using Flash which should allow for more dynamic and engaging experiences. The HTC Touch.B will probably not be release until Q1 of 2010. If HTC's DROID Eris is selling for $99 right now, there's no reason why the Touch.B would not be a free phone with a new 2 year contract agreement.

If you though that a leaked Android 2.1 Hero ROM was enough news for the day, think again. I'd like to introduce you to the HTC Touch.B. According to MobiFrance, the HTC Touch B 9code named HTC Rome) will be HTC's next Android phone to hit the streets. Not much is known about the device, but it does resemble the Windows Mobile powered HTC Touch2 which was just released a few months ago. The HTC Touch.B features a minimalistic candy bar design with only three buttons on the front of the handset, volume toggles on the left side, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top. MobiFrance hinted that there may be more information to share tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the images below. Source: MobiFrance (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmobifrance.com%2Fnews%2F2009-12-01%2Fid15755%2F-Exclusif--Premieres-photos-du-smartphone-HTC-Touch-B--nom-de-code-ROME-%2F&sl=fr&tl=en)