HTC is the first company out of the gate with a smartphone running the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system. Sure, some have been floating around the Internet, but the Touch Dual will be the first one you can run out and buy. WinMo 6.1 is a step up from WinMo 6, and the HTC Touch Dual brings it to life well.

If you weren't invited to any barbecues this holiday weekend, there's a consolation prize waiting for you at your local Best Buy: The HTC Touch Dual smartphone (cue dramatic music).

The Touch Dual was announced at the CTIA Wireless conference in early April. This phone carries forward the TouchFLO user interface and rotating cube that lets you reach select content and applications with the flick of a finger. Of all the smartphone manufacturers out there, HTC has done the best job at making Windows Mobile products as usable as possible. Its own UI overlay that sits on top of Windows Mobile practically lets you forget you're using WinMo until you dig down pretty far into the menu system. There are several other versions of the Touch available, with and without keyboard.

The Touch Dual has a slide-out keypad for dialing numbers and entering text. It uses a 20-key keypad rather than a standard 12-key keypad. It places two letters per key instead of three, and uses software similar to SureType for predicting words as you type.

The Touch Dual allows you to access most of the phone's features with it in the closed position, but the added convenience of the 20-key keypad means you don't have to worry about pecking at the touch screen if some long e-mails are in your future.

A couple of things to note. The HTC Touch Dual has quad-band GSM/EDGE radios, as well as dual-band 850/1900 MHz HSDPA for blazing-fast 3G speeds. That means it will work with AT&T's 3G network. The Touch Dual will be sold for $549 unlocked. That means you can order from Best Buy, and use it with whichever network you wish.

That's a nice...Touch!