Countdown to Apple iPhone Launch - Day 15 - June 29 Launch

Germany's three leading mobile service providers will start selling the HTC Touch smart phone in late June -- earlier than the European debut of Apple's iPhone, which the HTC Touch hopes to rival.

Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp., which makes the HTC Touch, said today that its touch-screen phone would retail for a recommended €450 ($599 U.S.) if sold without a contract.

Complete story can be found here:
Countdown to Apple iPhone Launch - Day 15 - June 29 Launch

Bottomline:

Apple iPhone is not even out yet, and it has already found solid competition in HTC's HTC Touch phone. Head to head, iPhone will have four to eight times more memory than the Touch, and include a complete Internet browser and fully functional iPod. HTC Touch will be a worthy competitor nevertheless since the wireless operators may lower its price point based on contracts, and the fact that it has already found a foothold in international markets - this means it has been tested and primed. Could HTC Touch become the dark horse that rivals iPhone? Or could it even create a larger market for touchscreen mobile cell phones?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of the top 20 innovators of The Innovation Index, and is the number one innovator for 2007 according to BusinessWeek.

Also check:

Countdown to Apple iPhone Launch - Day 14 - June 29 Launch
Countdown to Apple iPhone Launch - Day 13 - June 29 Launch
Countdown to Apple iPhone Launch - Day 3 - June 29 release
Countdown to Apple iPhone Launch - Day 2
Countdown to Apple iPhone Launch - Day 1