HTC refreshes Android lineup with Incredible S, Desire S and Wildfire S (update: hands-on)
The buttonless wonder we once knew only as "HTC's upcoming flagship device" has today been revealed to be the Incredible S. It's a new 4-incher that emulates the Droid Incredible's successful industrial design, but deviates in a lot of other ways, including the fact it'll launch globally -- at some point in early Q2, but with only Android 2.2 on board. We got to see one in person ahead of today's unveiling and we have to say it feels like a very solidly and neatly built pocket machine. The capacitive buttons' labels are not painted on and actually rotate with the screen, so that they can be either in landscape or portrait mode, whatever your wishes (and physical position). We found that ever so simple little feature added a greater sense of interaction with the phone, plus -- let's face it -- it's just a ton of fun to do.
In terms of hard specs, the Incredible S comes with a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 backed by 768MB of RAM, a 720p HD video-capable 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and autofocus, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing image taker, and a 1450mAh battery. Resolution is your standard-issue 800 x 480.
That res is also shared by another in HTC's newly launched handsets today, the 3.7-inch Desire S. It is essentially an HTC Desire inside a new aluminum unibody shell, making use of largely the same design language and specifications. The camera is still a 5 megapixel unit, and is joined by an MSM8255 powering things from within, a new front-facing camera (1.3MP), 768MB of RAM, and a 1450mAh battery. The big difference between it and the Incredible S it is launching alongside is that the Desire S will ship with Gingerbread (2.4) from the start, which should be some time in the middle of Q2 2011.
Soon after its launch, we'll all get to witness the debut of the Wildfire S, the new low-end offering from HTC, which cranks up resolution from QVGA to HVGA relative to its predecessor and adds yet more colors and vibrancy for the sake of that ephemeral youth appeal that all these phone makers are hunting for. A big point in the Wildfire S' favor is that it'll also come with Gingerbread preloaded.
Hands-on photography by Sean Cooper.
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HTC LAUNCHES THREE NEW SMARTPHONES WITH HTC SENSE™
HTC Desire S, HTC Wildfire S™ and HTC Incredible S™ deliver premium style, power and speed
BARCELONA, SPAIN – Mobile World Congress – February 15, 2011 – HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today unveiled three new versions of its most popular and advanced smartphones – HTC Desire S, HTC Wildfire S and HTC Incredible S. The new smartphones continue HTC's commitment to expanding the market for advanced smartphones while providing distinct choices in design, power and value. Each phone also includes HTC Sense, HTC's unique customer-focused user experience that puts people at the center by making phones work in a more simple and natural way.
"HTC developed the HTC Sense experience to bring cutting-edge innovation to our customers in simple and natural ways that just make sense - this is what HTC Desire S, HTC Wildfire S and HTC Incredible S represent best," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "These new phones offer an exhilarating mix of style, innovation and features that extend people's mobile experience in ways that feel personal and completely original."
HTC Desire S
As a successor to the popular and award-winning HTC Desire, the new HTC Desire S blends stunning design with power and speed. Inspired by the HTC Legend™ smartphone's aluminium design, the HTC Desire S is sculpted out of a single block of aluminum making it feel solid and natural in your hand. With Qualcomm's new 1GHz Snapdragon™ MSM8255 processor, the HTC Desire S offers snappy performance and power. It offers dual front and back cameras, High-Definition video recording and the 3.7-inch WVGA display presents multimedia content brilliantly.
HTC Wildfire S
Building on the popularity of the HTC Wildfire™ smartphone, the HTC Wildfire S smartphone is an affordable, compact and playful device that packs a powerful smartphone experience. It enables people to maintain and build connections and friendships through popular sites like Facebook®, as well as through voice and text messaging. You can instantly tag your friends in photos before posting them on Facebook, or share your latest discoveries from the Android™ Market at the touch of a button.
HTC Wildfire S is one of HTC's smallest phones ever – measuring just 10.13cm long and 5.94cm wide – and boasts a distinctive 3.2 inch, HVGA display.
Celebrate your individuality and choose from a wide variety of colors including black, purple and white. The phone's home screen is fully customizable with your favorite apps, widgets and content, while a 5-megapixel color camera with auto focus, expandable microSD™ memory and support for a variety of audio and video formats make a great all-around multimedia device that slips easily into any pocket.
HTC Incredible S
The alluring HTC Incredible S smartphone combines cutting-edge design with a premium mobile experience for those who dare to be different. Showing what can be achieved when engineers and designers work together to raise the bar for mobile phone design, the HTC Incredible S smartphone features a stunning, contoured body that highlights the internal hardware components of the device. Capturing and viewing video in crystal clear High-Definition has never been so easy and a bright 4-inch WVGA Super LCD display and stereo surround sound bring a vibrant cinematic experience to the palm of your hand.
HTC Incredible S also takes high quality pictures with its 8-megapixel camera with dual flash, and it easily enables videos, photos and music to be shared from the handset direct to a TV using DLNA® technology. Thanks to the HTC Incredible S's front facing camera and video call functionality, users will constantly be able to chat with their friends face-to-face.
Availability
The HTC Desire S, HTC Wildfire S and HTC Incredible S smartphones, will be broadly available to customers across major European and Asian markets during Q2 2011.
