The high tech computing corporation has just updated its Cruise handset, for the likes of O2 to adopt in its Xda range *cough*

A few weeks back we brought you news of the online reseller Expansys leaking details of a new HTC mobile, by opening up its pre-ordering. This was even before the HTC had confirmed its very existence, let alone made public the phone themselves.

At the time we even noted the name of the product aired looked very much like an internal code name rather than an actual product branding, the HTC Iolite was just that.

We can now bring you the joyous and bountiful news, their HTC Cruise from 2007 has had a makeover and comes along with the very same product name as before.

The original Cruise mobile hit our shores early 2008, where it was commonly found in the disguise of the O2 Xda Orbit 2. Although we were told by an HTC spokey type person it also may have made an ever so brief appearance on the Orange network as itself.

Cruise 1.0, as we’re now calling it, came with a Qualcomm 7200 400Mhz chipset. A 2.8-inch QVGA screen, with a WIFI and was capable of the wonders of GSM, EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA.

How it stood out at the time was the bundling of TomTom’s mapping software, driven off the back of its built in GPS. They’ve enriched the latest model with a similar feature set, we’ve been informed. Although no details were available as to whom they’ve gone with now or even if they have included something of this nature again.

This time around HTC has stepped up a gear with adding their new Footprints technology, where an image is taken from its 3.2MB camera which not only uses geotagging functionality but also other multimedia material. This comes along with the likes of an audio file being including, turning a mundane picture into much more of a rich media experience than just something for the eyes to be bestowed upon.

There’s also a new processor onboard, seen in the Qualcomm MSM7225 528MHz monster running on the Windows 6.1 platform. It still has WIFI and all the same network options that will invariably differ from USA to Europe.

In the last ticking seconds of 2008, Germany’s O2 division pushed out details of a new Xda called the Guide. No information has been forthcoming in the UK yet on this model, but we’re almost positive the handset is the latest Cruise. As the spokey type person from HTC confirmed this phone will be with them, exclusively sometime soon.