HTC shows off its Mini+ and Fetch Bluetooth accessories (hands-on)
Remember HTC's Mini+ companion device that connects to your smartphone and lets you take calls without exposing your treasured handset? We got the chance to spend a few minutes playing with the gear and thought you might like to see how we feel. At the same time, the company whipped out the Fetch (pictured, after the break,) a Bluetooth tether designed to clip onto your key chain and prevent you from losing your most vital things.
If you're unaware, the Mini+ is, basically, a Bluetooth feature phone that you can use to save you using your smartphone while out and about. Connecting over BT 2.1+EDR, the unit is light to the point of being insubstantial (it weighs about as much as two packs of gum) and you're not likely to notice the weight of it in your pocket. In the business world, the device also doubles as a presentation remote and even comes with a laser pointer, so you can both show your colleagues who's boss and annoy the cat when you get home. Like the original Mini, which was designed to work with the Butterfly / Droid DNA, the device can also be used as a remote trigger for the smartphone's camera.
As a companion device for the One Mini, the Mini+ (we'd better be careful with names here) gains the infra-red transmitter that was lost on the smaller smartphone. All a user needs to do, therefore, is download a companion app to the One Mini and you'll be able to use the Mini+ as a remote control for your TV. While it's been designed to work with the One Mini, the Butterfly S, Desire 200 and 500 models, the Bluetooth controls are industry standard, so it's entirely possible that you'll be able to use the basic call functions with any other smartphone.
You may remember that HTC applied for the Fetch trademark back in June, and now we know what device that moniker has been attached to. The unit is an eraser-sized (and similarly light) black cube on a cord that you can clip to your keychain and pair to your smartphone over Bluetooth 4.0 (LE). It's designed that, as long as both remain within 15 meters of each other, it'll be silent -- but step beyond that distance and it'll raise hue and cry until they've been reunited. That way you'll always be alerted if you forget your keys (or smartphone, as it works both ways) or if a light-fingered person makes off with either. The unit will also geotag its location should it ever run out of charge, so you'll know its last known location and can pull double duty as a camera shutter. We don't know yet if Fetch will work with other Android smartphones, but we're finding out for you as we speak. There's no official word on pricing or availability for either unit, but Clove's got the Fetch listed for £30 ($50) and had the Mini+ listed for £55 ($80), which seems entirely plausible.
