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Leading Windows Mobile original design manufacturer (ODM) HTC sold 2 million members of its Touch family of smartphones last year, it has been announced. As with the iPhone, the chief means of interaction between a Touch and a user is through the smartphone's touch screen and the user's fingers.

HTC launched the original Touch in Europe and Asia shortly before the iPhone made its debut in the U.S. last June. That model has since made its way to North America and second, the Touch Dual, and third, the Touch Color, members of the Touch family have come to market.

Although Apple sold twice as many iPhones, hitting the 4 million mark last year, HTC's achievement with the Touch, its only real rival for consumers' fingers, is still very impressive. It is also far beyond the 1.5 to 1.8 million units the ODM estimated it would ship by the close of 2008.

The key ingredient in all HTC's Touch smartphones is the ODM's proprietary TouchFLO technology, which essentially grafts an advanced touch interface onto the Windows Mobile graphical user interface.

TouchFLO is capable of recognizing and responding to the sweep of a finger across a screen.

The technology is even supposed to be intelligent enough to distinguish between finger and stylus input and then respond accordingly. Sweep your fingers across the display to launch an animated, three-dimensional interface comprising three screens: Contacts, Media and Applications.

The interface can be spun by swiping a finger right or left across the display, providing what appears to be easier access to these features for consumers than a normal Windows Mobile interface for most.

Overall, HTC shipped 11.2 million smartphones, about a 12 percent increase from 2006. It also grew revenue by 12 percentage points.