HTC unveils quartet of mobile devices

The biggest announcement at Monday's launch was that of the Touch Dual, a sequel to the so-called "iPhone killer", that has the added bonus of a slide-out keypad.

HTC's vice president, Florian Seiche, announced Orange as the first pan-European operator to carry the Touch Dual (it will be free of Orange's £35 per month tariff), but suggested that other operators would also be offering it soon.

Asked whether HTC's inclusion of a physical keypad on the Touch Dual was an admission that users are not happy with using their touchscreens to dial numbers, Seiche claimed that it was in fact designed to "offer as broad a choice as possible to the customer", and enabled "more opportunities for those who still feel comfortable with a physical keypad".

Seiche also revealed that operators will be given a choice between 10-key and 20-key versions of the Touch Dual. A soft keypad for the original Touch device will be made available via download for those who have already bought that handset.