HTC: Two New Smartphones, plus HTCSense.com

HTC was being very mysterious about something exciting it had to show us in London at the same time as Nokia was busy with its annual event.

The Scandinavian giant didn't hesitate to send over some of the team with goodie bags, sandwiches and press releases, an interesting strategy for a market leader rapidly losing a grip on its dominant position.

Two announcements: hardware and software

HTC's Sense software is getting a big boost, and catching up with BlackBerry Protect and MobileMe with the new HTCSense.com service.  Sense is already a welcome addition on its own, adding custom ringtones for different settings, and improvements in Maps and Navigation, but HTCSense.com marks a big change.

You'll be able to use it to remotely synchronise your SMS, MMS and e-mail, but also go and find a map, address or e-mail from any computer you like.  Of course, there are some security features there, including the ability to remotely make your phone ring, localise it using GPS, lock it and even wipe it.  The service is linked to both the phone and the SIM card.  If your phone is stolen, your first reflex after blocking its IMEI number will be to remotely delete all your data. 

And if you accidentally leave your phone at home, you can also redirect incoming calls and messages.

Desire HD and Desire Z

HTC also launched two new smartphones, the Desire HD and Desire Z.  There aren't many surprises in store with the former, which takes the same look as the HTC HD2 and adds an 8 Megapixel camera with double LED flash, a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 768 MB of RAM.  Our first impressions just that it's very smooth but nothing extraordinary, although the screen is very nice to look at.



It's also the first phone from HTC to feature Dolby audio filters.   The video player is compatible with Xvid, and the phone can also stream videos, photos and music over a DLNA network.

The Desire Z meanwhile, is much closer to the original Desire.  Its Snapdragon processor is 200 MHz less fast, but is still more responsive than the Desire HD.  RAM falls to 512 MB and the camera now has just 512 MB.  The real advantage, though, has to be the phsyical keyboard, and it's the first HTC phone since the G2 to have one.  We're not entirely convinced: as much as the new system for opening it out on two arms is obviously better than the earlier sliders, we can't say we're as impressed by typing.  The surface of the keyboard is very flat, with very little feedback and a plastic feel to the touch.  It's a long way from a BlackBerry.  In a sensible move, HTC has included two customisable hotkeys.

Both phones will be available next month, and HTCSense.com will launch on the new handsets.  The people we spoke to from HTC also more or less confirmed that it will subsequently be available for older phones.

What about a tablet?

Despite all of our insistence and tricky questions, there was no official news from HTC's design team.  But then again, they didn't say 'no' either.  The idea of an Android 3.0 tablet in 2011 is looking increasingly likely ...


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