TouchFLO 3D...AT&T Style

Before I cover HTC's TouchFLO 3D interface, I would like to briefly comment on the GUI loaded on the Fuze.  For those familiar with HTC phones, you'll quickly notice a major difference in its style and design.  This is because AT&T chose to modify its original interface and include their own theme, one that I'm personally not quite fond of.  The color choices are horrible and their are some slightly annoying add-ons that many will not like.  While this particular section will be dedicated solely to AT&T's version of HTC's impressive TouchFLO 3D interface, later in this review I will show you how to get by much of the crap and show you examples on how to modify the phone to your liking.

HTC's TouchFLO 3D

Ever since the release of the HTC Touch, featuring TouchFLO, it has not only been a huge success for the company, but has inspired many talented developers and companies to create similar interfaces to make navigation of a Windows-powered device much more "touch-friendly".  Taking things a step further, HTC introduced the HTC Touch Diamond quite some time ago, which was their first phone to feature their new and improved TouchFLO 3D shell replacement.  This has apparently been another huge success and they have chosen to continue to feature this in all their very latest touchscreen phones.  The HTC Touch Pro was their second phone to feature it and the Fuze manages to sport this visually appealing interface but not without some high modification from AT&T.  Let's take a detailed look at "their" preferred version...

The TouchFLO 3D interface on the AT&T Fuze consists of a whopping 11 screens.  For those of you have owned HTC phones and have even modified TouchFLO via third-party tools, you'll probably not be used to this many menus on the main slider. 

As you can quickly tell, the whole TouchFLO 3D theme is significantly different than the original HTC design.  Personally, I don't like the color combination and think it just doesn't accent the hardware well at all.  Most actually agree with this since its release and I'll show you how to customize this later in this article.  Starting with the Home Screen, the clock has to go.  I prefer the original calendar-like flip style much better.  From here, you'll have access to your call history as well as your calendar.  When you move over to the next two tabs on the slider, you'll get to the impressive 3D menus.  The first is your contact favorites, which you can highly customize with images and flip through them in a 3D-style fashion.  The most impressive menu here personally is the Email Menu.  Everyone you show this to is always highly impressed.  From here, you can "preview" your email messages in a 3D envelope-style fashion and simply click on any message to view the full details.  You also have shortcut soft keys here to create a new message or to view your main (Pocket Outlook) inbox in a standard fashion.

Just like the email tab, text messages are previewed and you can scroll through all with touch gestures just like all other menus.  If there is an attachment, you'll have an attachment icon indicating there is a file attached, allowing you to view it via touch.  The next menu is one that should go.  This is the dreaded AT&T menu loaded with junk you'll probably never use.  Later in this article, I will show you how to avoid the entire install process of their proprietary software, saving internal memory.

The internet tab is actually quite nice.  You have a nice large icon that will launch the included Opera Mobile browser and can scroll down using your finger to get to your custom bookmarks/favorites.  Note that their version of TouchFLO 3D heavily focus around Opera over PIE.  This is actually a good thing though and I'll elaborate more on that later on. 

Two other very impressive 3D-like menus are the Music and Picture tabs.  The music tab allows you to flip through Artists easily via album art and you have a fairly large play button to enable playback.  What I find is the most impressive 3D menu in terms of its transition effects is the Pictures & Videos menu.  Double tapping on any image will load the full screen viewer and you also have buttons for both the pictures and video.  The weather tab is pretty much the same as a majority of previous HTC phones featuring TouchFLO.  You have impressive animated weather icons and have access to a 5-day forecast via the left soft key.

The Programs Menu looks a bit odd, but functions just like the original HTC menu found in most of their phones.  It just doesn't look as good.  You can add and launch your most used applications and can easily customize this menu by removing any of the available shortcuts.  Finally, you have your Settings Menu that is practically just like the COM Menu on Windows Mobile 6, except that it is much easier to navigate and enable or disable certain features.

Extra Enhancements

**click to enlarge**

When you slide out the keyboard, there's a nice landscape menu that is designed to easily make use of the features with the keyboard.  For example, click on the large Message icon and you'll be in the conversation mode, allowing you to quickly type in your message.  I actually like this menu quite a bit for texting and email using the slide-out keyboard.

The Dialer is very similar to the original one found in HTC phones with TouchFLO.  Only the theme sticks to AT&T.  The Contacts Menu is also pretty much the same.  For those who have not played with HTC's version, it is much more touch-friendly and there are letters on the right side of the phone where you can slide your finger up or down to quickly get to a specific contact.  The call status screen is nice as well.  You have large buttons and if you notice, there's a "send text" soft key there as well, which I will cover a bit later.

TouchFLO 3D Demonstration Video

What better way to show you how the phone functions than providing a video demo.  This video was taken to not only show you the impressive TouchFLO 3D interface, but also to demonstrate just how responsive the touch screen really can be.  In fact, it is highly more responsive than any HTC phone I have owned in the past.

video clip

**click to play**

You'll notice just what a light touch is used to navigate through all menus and activate certain features.  Bottom line here is that I personally love the screen and its default sensitivity to touch.  However, now that you can further tweak this if need be.

Next: Windows Mobile 6.1