When HTC aren’t commissioning new ad campaigns they’re making smartphones, and while we would hate to put words in their collective mouth it seems highly likely that the HTC Dragon will end up packing Android 2.0. While Motorola may have beaten HTC to the jump with announcing the first Android 2.0 smartphone, albeit briefly, Gearlog have confirmed that the company is indeed already playing with the next-gen version of Google’s open-source platform.
The HTC “YOU” campaign we spotted earlier this month has now gone global, and brings with it a new “Quietly Brilliant” tagline and “You don’t need to get a phone. You need a phone that gets you” slogan. Twenty countries will get the new adverts, including TV spots examples of which you can see after the cut, which all focus on the individuality of HTC’s range and the flexibility of things like HTC Sense.
Unlike, say, “there’s an app for that”, the HTC commercials don’t so much focus on the precise functionality of their handsets but the way we use them. They’re also platform-agnostic; there’s no mention of either Android or Windows Mobile.
By now we know that the Verizon Droid not only looks good, but has plenty of technical promise too, and BGR have followed up their preliminary hands-on with a more comprehensive preview of the Android smartphone. The Motorola Droid gets praised for its “sharp, vibrant, bright and really, really responsive” 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen, while the keyboard may lack travel and feature closely-packed buttons but it’s good enough for “efficient” typing and is better than the T-Mobile G1. Meanwhile the charging dock/multimedia station (which you can see in a video demo after the cut) automatically turns the Droid into a weather station.
Droid feedback, plus news on AT&T’s Droid and a whole Droid army after the cut
HTC have quietly answered many Android developer’s prayers, and pushed out the kernel source code for the Hero smartphone. Available to download now – though admittedly of little use to most of us – it opens up the potential for much more modification of the Hero with custom ROMs.
Amazon UK have begun taking preorders for the much-anticipated HTC HD2, the upcoming 4.3-inch Windows Phone with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor. A healthy – some might say whopping – £549.99 ($913) SIM-free, the HD2 is, according to Amazon, due to be released on November 20th 2009.
Taking the software enhancements from your flagship Android smartphone and injecting it into the runt of the range might throw up warning signs for some, but that’s exactly what HTC have done with the Tattoo. It may be smaller, pack fewer megapixels and a less fashionable touchscreen than the HTC Hero, but the Tattoo still totes the well-received HTC Sense along with Android 1.6. Are we looking at the bargain of the season, or is the Tattoo just playing dress-up? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
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Been holding off on picking up an HTC Hero until your next paycheck comes in? Might not be such a great idea to wait; according to HTC exec Jack Tong, strong sales of the chin-tastic European and Asian Hero are putting the pressure on production of the Android smartphone.
Streaming music looks to be the next step in driving smartphone adoption, with UK carrier 3 to offer the HTC Hero with the Spotify app preloaded and a subscription to the premium service included in the monthly contract. According to Mobile Entertainment News, the Hero will be priced at £99 ($161) with a 24-month agreement, the £35 ($57) tariff integrating Spotify’s £9.99 ($16) subscription fee.
Update: 3 UK have put up a pre-registration page for the deal, though there’s no specific availability date. The Hero will come with a voucher for 24 months Spotify Premium subscription; that does mean that after two years your monthly plan will stay the same price but you’ll no longer get inclusive streaming music.
We’ve mentioned the HTC Dragon a few times over the past week or so, with the rumored 1GHz Snapdragon-based Android smartphone – aka the Android HD2 – seemingly promising to answer any complaints users had about HTC smartphone performance. However, we’ve been yet to actually see the device in action; that may have changed today, with The Unlockr being sent some live photos of a mysterious, unnamed Android handset that could very well be the HTC Dragon.
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With only a relatively brief hands-on with the HTC HD2 under our belt, and memories of the laggy Toshiba TG01 worryingly fresh in our minds, you'll forgive us for holding our breath to see exactly what sort of showing the Windows Phone's 1GHz Snapdragon chipset produces. That breath-holding is, happily, a little less earnest today, having watched The Inquirer's hands-on video with the HD2.
Video demo after the cut
JP
