HTC launches the Touch Pro in Australia

(Credit: HTC)

HTC today announced local availability for the latest in its Touch series of smartphones, the HTC Touch Pro, with the handset expected to reach stores in the last week of September.

After having been overlooked as a potential iPhone carrier, Hutchinson's 3 Mobile will be the sole carrier for the Touch Pro with a brief exclusive until the middle of October. 3 will offer the Touch Pro for $22 per month when purchased on a $69 24-month contract. Outright, the Touch Pro will retail for $1,099.

The Taiwanese manufacturer hopes to build on the success of its Touch Diamond handset released at the end of June, with the Touch Pro offering a similar user experience to the Diamond with the addition of a QWERTY keyboard to complement the handset's touchscreen input.

Aside from this obvious physical difference, the Touch Pro will also feature an increase in memory, 288MB RAM up from the 192MB used in the Diamond, which should help to alleviate some of our concerns about the laggy interface we experience when reviewing the Touch Diamond.