HTC Wildfire escapes from Yellow Mountain riding Android 2.1 (update: official)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 17th 2010 7:17AM
posted May 17th 2010 7:17AM
Update: And it's official. Press release touting a Q3 release for Europe and Asia after the break.
Update 2: Our hands-on is up.
[Thanks, Frank]
KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE WITH HTC WILDFIRE
Share apps, updates and experiences with the latest social powerhouse from HTC
LONDON – 18 May, 2010, 07.00 CEST – HTC Corporation, a global designer of smartphones, today introduced HTC Wildfire™, a new HTC Sense-based Android phone that integrates the most popular social networks to help bring your friends closer to you. HTC Wildfire closely follows the success of the acclaimed HTC Desire and makes the company's signature HTC Sense experience accessible to a younger audience.
"Today's social networks provide an essential forum for friendship with more than 400 million users* – many of whom are young adults – actively sharing their lives with their friends through Facebook," said Florian Seiche, Vice President, HTC EMEA. "HTC Wildfire makes the HTC Sense experience available to young mobile users for the first time. It brings all your communications into one place, whether it's through Facebook, Twitter, text messages, images or email, ensuring that you are never far away from the conversation and always close to your friends."
HTC Wildfire helps you stay connected with those who are most important to you through HTC Sense, a user experience focused on putting people at the centre by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. You won't miss out on the fun as HTC's Friend Stream application seamlessly gathers and displays content from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr into one organised stream of updates. HTC Wildfire enables you to stay up to date with your friends' posts, comments, alerts and photos, wherever you are.
In addition, each contact viewed in HTC Wildfire's address book includes a thread of recent communications with that person, including when you last spoke, recent text messages and emails, and social network updates. When your friend calls, HTC Caller ID displays their Facebook profile photo and latest update, as well as a reminder if their birthday is fast approaching.
Thanks to a new app sharing widget, HTC Wildfire enables you to recommend an application by email, text message or over social networks. Your friends will receive a link allowing them to find the application on the Android Market with a single click and download it to their phone.
Florian Seiche continued, "We understand that people need a better way to navigate their way through the tens of thousands of applications that are currently available on the Android Market. In fact, our own independent research found that consumers are not only hungry for the latest and most popular applications that their friends are using, they want an easier way to find and download them. For the first time ever, you can recommend the newest and coolest apps to a friend or group of friends with HTC Wildfire. With so many applications to choose from, there's a world of content to discover and pass along to your friends."
HTC's latest advanced smartphone is great for viewing and sharing photos on Flickr and for surfing the internet thanks to its 3.2-inch capacitive touch screen. A five-megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash allows you to capture special moments, while a 3.5mm audio jack and micro SD card slot mean you are never without your favourite songs.
Availability
The new HTC Wildfire will be broadly available to customers across major European and Asian markets from Q3 2010.
Share apps, updates and experiences with the latest social powerhouse from HTC
LONDON – 18 May, 2010, 07.00 CEST – HTC Corporation, a global designer of smartphones, today introduced HTC Wildfire™, a new HTC Sense-based Android phone that integrates the most popular social networks to help bring your friends closer to you. HTC Wildfire closely follows the success of the acclaimed HTC Desire and makes the company's signature HTC Sense experience accessible to a younger audience.
"Today's social networks provide an essential forum for friendship with more than 400 million users* – many of whom are young adults – actively sharing their lives with their friends through Facebook," said Florian Seiche, Vice President, HTC EMEA. "HTC Wildfire makes the HTC Sense experience available to young mobile users for the first time. It brings all your communications into one place, whether it's through Facebook, Twitter, text messages, images or email, ensuring that you are never far away from the conversation and always close to your friends."
HTC Wildfire helps you stay connected with those who are most important to you through HTC Sense, a user experience focused on putting people at the centre by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. You won't miss out on the fun as HTC's Friend Stream application seamlessly gathers and displays content from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr into one organised stream of updates. HTC Wildfire enables you to stay up to date with your friends' posts, comments, alerts and photos, wherever you are.
In addition, each contact viewed in HTC Wildfire's address book includes a thread of recent communications with that person, including when you last spoke, recent text messages and emails, and social network updates. When your friend calls, HTC Caller ID displays their Facebook profile photo and latest update, as well as a reminder if their birthday is fast approaching.
Thanks to a new app sharing widget, HTC Wildfire enables you to recommend an application by email, text message or over social networks. Your friends will receive a link allowing them to find the application on the Android Market with a single click and download it to their phone.
Florian Seiche continued, "We understand that people need a better way to navigate their way through the tens of thousands of applications that are currently available on the Android Market. In fact, our own independent research found that consumers are not only hungry for the latest and most popular applications that their friends are using, they want an easier way to find and download them. For the first time ever, you can recommend the newest and coolest apps to a friend or group of friends with HTC Wildfire. With so many applications to choose from, there's a world of content to discover and pass along to your friends."
HTC's latest advanced smartphone is great for viewing and sharing photos on Flickr and for surfing the internet thanks to its 3.2-inch capacitive touch screen. A five-megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash allows you to capture special moments, while a 3.5mm audio jack and micro SD card slot mean you are never without your favourite songs.
Availability
The new HTC Wildfire will be broadly available to customers across major European and Asian markets from Q3 2010.
So it's just a crappy low-spec version of the Nexus One? I would have chosen a less attractive name than "Wildfire".
@TareG
Agreed... nothing to see here.
Move along, folks.
@TareG
They probably chose that name because these will sell faster than a burning wildfire
@TareG Full Press release: http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2010/05/17/htc-wildfire-announced/
Hands-on: http://www.slashgear.com/htc-wildfire-hands-on-1785710/
@TareG : The Nexus One and the Desire get married. And their kid has cancer. That's my first thought of this device.
Seriously HTC, after the Evo, why make anything not as good as it?
@blenderman345
WTF? Is that the best example you can think of?
@blenderman345
Same reason Nvidia and Ati make their top end cards and then everything else afterwards.
@TareG
It's styled similar to the Nexus One, I guess, but really it takes design cuts from lots of different HTC phones like the Desire, Magic, and Legend.
This is a hardware refresh for the Tattoo, nothing more.
@ilh +1
Now only if Nilay understood this also.
blenderman345 thinks that all human beings are nerds.
@Chefgon it has almost the exact same specs as the Legend if not for the processor and probably the screen.
@TareG
C'mon people. Smartphones are like 25% of the market. 75% of all customers are buying crappy cheap Nokias 11XX etc. If they can get in on the smartphone for featurephone price, then good for them and good for HTC. Most people don't need a Nexus One and in Europe, many people are are prepaid(data too) and buy their phones outright.
HTC get's in early with the customer for the next upgrade. Very smart move.
@etwashoo2
No need to tell these fools. Arrantly while sitting in their cubicles working for someone else or better still jobless in mummys basement, they believe they and only they fully understand business and multi-billion dollar corporations like HTC have no clue what they're doing.
@Tes Hello Captain Condescending, explaining to us "fools?" why companies make low-end phones. Thank you.
It's just not impressive that's all. Nobody's saying its a stupid/wrong/ill-calculated move or anything.
@TareG I see nothing bad in releasing an affordable Android device. Cos now if aren't eager to spend 500+$ there's only an option of buying a Hero, which is kinda..well old.
@TareG
It seems that's EXACTLY what you're saying. Or at least, ironically, you're being condescending to those who can't afford the top of the line smartphones and saying they're interests shouldn't be served here on Engadget because YOU have bigger fish to fry.
@TareG
More like "Desire Jr.".
@TareG
...or "Nexus .6". Heh.
@etwashoo2
Exactly. I got in on Android with the Droid Eris on a BOGO deal when my wife wanted an upgrade. I loved it so much I had to upgrade to the Incredible at launch. Low-cost smartphones are the perfect way to grow the user base -- and some people are perfectly happy with them. For her it's a "phone plus" whereas for me I like a "slate PC plus".
Is that an optical trackball I see there? It looks an awful lot like my HTC Desire
How much better is this than my HTC Desire?
@Joanna D
Joanna, your HTC Desire is a lot better.... like 2 years better.
@Joanna D If that's a 3.2 inch screen, then it's smaller than your Desire and more pocketable, and probably much cheaper. A Ford Fiesta might not be 'technically' as good as a Mercedes S-class, but millions will still buy Fiestas.
So... it's the Legend, again? But it looks a bit more like the Desire?
It's a crippled desire... That's um... great? Hopefully it's free on contract or something along those lines.
Why the 528 processor? Isn't that the same chip that's in the G1? WHy bother releasing a brand new phone with a 2+ year-old CPU?
@ryaninc
Because HTC has a love affair with Qualcomm, no matter how crappy the spec sheet.
I wish this old processor technology would be phased out of mobile devices, TBH...
@r34p3r
Engadget commenters are so immature. Since the evo 4g was released every other phone without a 4" screen is "fail". Not everyone wants a 4" media consuming slab to carry around, some just want email and web on a device that looks good and doesn't cost too much.
@ryaninc
Well, it will probably be the replacment of current HTC Tattoo, and the Qualcomm MSM7225 is very popular in the entry level smartphone segment today probably due to lower cost or some other cost related factor. Yes the MSM7225 has been used in all of the early Android phones from HTC and others, but if you look at the rest of the specs they are better then on the early models. The growth is in entry level smartphones and a 2+ old cpu works well in that segment.
I see the point in useing the MSM7225 to get rid of inventory, and then useing the MSM7227 on mid-range devices and the QSD8250 in the high-end segment.
WTF?!? didnt the legend just come out like 2 months ago! htc are moving fast
@oringal
I agree, it seems insane that a company would constantly release so many intercompeting devices into the market. I guess they're being saved by the bulk sales and branding deals they have with mobile carriers (in the US atleast).
@oringal Sounds like the Legend in a cheaper packaging. Which does make sense, unlike the Legend. Also, the old CPU is not too bad, the main issue I have with it is the very low amount of RAM. 384 MB isn't that bad though. It certainly won't fly, but it should be fast enough for regular use. My 32B Magic (MT3G as it is called in the US) is slow mainly because it constantly has to use the SD card for swapping. Though if I multitask a lot it slows down because the CPU doesn't have enough power.
Nexus Two
@symbian
umm... maybe nexus 0.5 i hope that 2 is an upgrade.
entry levek Desire huh??
difficult to read - but some translations for you guys:
Annäherungssensor = proximity sensor,
Lichtsensor = light-sensor,
it's probably hvga, not qvga..
also judging by official pics it very well might be qvga.. not cool
I'm gonna be humming Wildfire all day...
@detection I didn't think anyone would catch that ;-)
Nexus 0.5
I'm assuming this is a release to offer an entry level smartphone to those who don't want to pay a network / carrier a lot of money for a monthly contract.
My bet would be that this will be free on most carrier's (or one carrier's) network, on low cost price plans. Kinda the same reason for the Minis they have released? Competing with low-level opposition like Microsoft's Kin and and the Motorola Droid (and maybe some of Samsung's latest offerings)?
Personally, I'll pay the extra for an Evo.
It's a Tattoo/Click with Android 2.1 and a 5MP-Cam. No Problem with that BUT what about the 2.1-Update for the Tattoo/Click? I believe there wont be an official 2.1-Tattoo... Its a shame.
Dat bezel.
Hmm.. might not be so bad as long as one could get it off contract for less than assrape. I could sure use a secondary data phone.
What is wrong with some lower spec phones being released? Not everyone wants a 1ghz chip in their phone or a huge screen you know? It will probably be 250 euro's or something and free on a 1 year contract(in europe atleast).
Guys, it's an updated Tattoo. Get over yourselves. Cheaper phones need to exist. Remember, not every market is like America, with its enormous subsidies and cheap-ass plans. People in developing markets need cheaper phones. Although yes, the slow as hell processor on the Tattoo sucked balls. And this may not be much different, despite 2.1.
@Cenic1 completely agree with you ! not everyone can afford the EVO, Desire, Nexus One, HD2, Droid Incredible, or even the out dated Hero (which is about $500 for me)...... we need cheaper phones.
@Cenic1 - the problem is just that at 279€ (price in Germany) it's not really all that cheap. Considering the specs, this should be sub-200€.
@NewL Yes, I agree. That is the problem. I was more talking about the general philosophy of bringing out out cheap touchscreen phones. The Tattoo in Australia was also about AU$600 RRP when it first came out, although it is now down to $375. Maybe you just have to wait a bit... ;)
Girl, your like a Wildfire, fueling my Desire