HTC's Whitestone for Verizon, high-power Leo rendered again?

HTC' Leo and Whitestone have been mentioned enough times in different contexts this year so that we have absolutely no doubt that they're real -- the questions at this point revolve around what they are, what they look like, and when they're coming. We still don't have most of those answers, but the situation might be getting a little clearer with the latest round of supposedly leaked renders. First up, the Leo (pictured left) basically sounds like HTC's go-for-broke, ultra high-end model with an 8 megapixel camera, 4.3-inch (yes, 4.3-inch) WVGA capacitive display, 1GHz Snapdragon, and all the trimmings; how it fits in with the Touch HD-replacing Firestone is unclear, so we'll have to keep a close eye on that one. Next, the Whitestone pictured here on the right looks a little less in-your-face than the last shot, though we don't know whether this is a newer or older render; either way, though, we feel good in saying that Verizon's lined up for one of the coolest Touch Diamond2 variants on the block.

[Thanks, Brian and sleepymia]

Read - Leo
Read - Whitestone

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 12th 2009 9:34PM]

The render of the Leo has a windows logo on it and the specs say it has a capacitive display. That must mean this is going to be a Windows Mobile 7 phone. Looking forward to it, maybe I will hold off on getting the Touch Pro 2.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 12:38AM]

I've got a feeling WinMo 6.5.1 / 6.7 will support capacitive screens.

But a 4.3-inch screen? I want a smaller phone...

Give me a diamond1 with 32gb or SD cards, a snapdragon, a WVGA screen instead of a directional pad, and a 3.5mm mini stereo jack and I would be in heaven... for a year in till they released something way better ;)

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 6:10AM]

Speak for yourself. We want 4.3".

What are you a midget?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 14th 2009 4:20AM]

I like a phone that feels good in my hand and fits nicely in my pocket :)

The reason I'm not getting a TP2 is the size. If I'm going to bring around something that big I might as well bring a netbook / laptop along and tether it to my phone. I can even do that wirelessly while my phone is in my pocket.

But I'm not against big screened devices, the more they sell the more app developers they will draw.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 12th 2009 10:26PM]

Nice, I hope I don't have to wait long for that Snapdragon, I wanted a Pro 2 but I want a fast phone.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 12th 2009 10:34PM]

Yeah for real, I was really ready to get a Touch Pro 2 in a few weeks, but I might be holding off for one of the above.

[mulda71 Posted Aug 12th 2009 10:53PM]

are there any rumored carriers for the Leo?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 12:13AM]

Whether this is the Firestone or Leo, HTC's done a good job of making
it look darned good!

If it is the Leo, here's a general observation for those of us still
deliberating over whether the Leo (aka Thoth, aka Athena 2) will be a
clamshell or a slider:

Refer back to the leaked HTC 2009 Lineup and you'll notice that the
keboard is not part of the main device, but EXTERNAL (bluetooth
maybe?).

With the advent of large (4.3"), high-res (480x800) displays, who
needs a physical keyboard? Why not make the device thinner and
lighter for must of us, and let the old-fashioned types lug the
keyboard around? Better still, make the device cheaper by not
packaging the keboard with it and sell the keyboard as an accessory.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 2:32AM]

Great! I hope I don't have to wait long for that, I wanted a Pro 2 but I want a fast phone.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 4:22AM]

Touch Pro 2, Hero or Leo?

Hard to decide.

Love the keyboard of the Pro 2, love the Sense UI of Hero (and even the regular Android UI over Windows Mobile), love the specs for Leo. But who knows when Hero is coming out for sure (rumors of October) and Leo is probably a lot farther off.

Now if Leo (or something else by HTC with just as good or better hardware) ran Android and Sense UI (or a much more finger-friendly version of WM and Sense UI) that would be in the area of my dream phone.

Here's to hoping.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 9:25AM]

GAH i read too fast and thought LEO was coming to Verizon.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 2:07PM]

Gah....I thought it was to, thanks for ruining my day : (

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 6:25PM]

slap the pro 2's keyboard on to the leo and its my dream phone im fine with winmo 7 and touchflo or android with sense is a gig of ram and rom possible

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 13th 2009 6:37PM]

o and add a tilting screen with as much tilt as the titn 2

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 17th 2009 8:28AM]

I am an X7501 user (5" LCD) and need a new large LCD phone and the Leo loooks like the one for me (Latest rumors suggest Athena 2 is not in our future).

Question is will the Leo GMS frequencies work on AT&T's network?

Any info or link wiould be most appreciated.

Claude H.