HTC has just unveiled the Touch Cruise 2009, a personal navigation 3G smartphone that is enabled by the so-called modern GPS. The HTC Touch Cruise 2009 is supported by UMTS 900/2100MHz as well as HSDPA that allows data transfers of up to 7.2 Mbps. Besides being WiFi-ready, the HTC Touch Cruise 2009 also features a scrollable directional pad for easy navigation through the phone’s operating system.

Moreover, the Touch Cruise is loaded with a geo-tagging photo imaging application called the HTC Footprints wherein photos that it captured can be geo-tagged with exact GPS coordinates and attach audio clips afterwards. A caption can also be included in the image.

Surprisingly, this Touch Cruise 2009 is just the same smartphone that this website has featured months ago only it was still revealed under the codename HTC Iolite! The Touch Cruise 2009, or HTC Iolite, whatever it is called, will be released in the U.S. in Spring 2009, for US$500-$600.