HTC’s Touch Diamond 2 bagged the Editor’s Choice award among Register Hardware’s top Windows Mobile smartphone of 2009. But it appears the firm is already working on a successor, this time designed to run Windows Mobile 7.

The successor will be known as both the HTC Diamond 3 and the Obsession.

HTC had planned to launch the phone in June, but delays have caused it to push the unveiling back to later in 2010, “reliable sources” told website WMPU.

The delay may have been caused by Microsoft. The software giant originally planned to unveil WinMo 7 – described as a major revision of the mobile OS – in 2009, but unspecified delays forced Phil Moore, Head of Mobility at Microsoft UK, to admit last month that the OS’ launch had “been put back until late next year [2010]”.

Those reliable sources also claim to know that the Obsessive will run on a 1GHz Qualcomm CPU, support 3G connections and offer 4GB of on-board storage with the option to slot in Micro SD cards of up to 32GB.

HTC is also said to have fitted the smartphone with a 5Mp camera and given it a multi-touch 3.7in OLED touchscreen.

We will bring you more news about the rumoured HTC Touch Diamond 3 as it comes in. ®