New HTC smartphones abound

HTC is churning out new devices at such speed that it’s seeing its presence spread like wildfire – which incidentally is the name of its latest Android offering, launched Monday.
Based on Google’s Android 2.1 (Éclair) and using HTC’s Sense (think MotoBlur but HTC style) Wildfire is hoping to capture some of the momentum from its predecessor the HTC Desire, with the Taiwanese firm especially hoping to target a younger audience.

HTC has put significant focus on the device’s social networking capabilities, as well as an app sharing widget which lets users recommend an application to others by sending a download link via email, text message or over social networks.
The firm boasts its Sense user interface makes Wildfire even more social than any of the other social focused phones available, because it puts “people at the center,” and works in “a more simple and natural way.” Hmmm…. Now where have we heard that before? KIN? MotoBlur offerings? Nokia? Yes, pretty much all of the above.
This latest ‘must-have’ device for young narcissists displays content from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr, organizing it all handily into one stream of updates, perfect for fragmented attention spans.
As for app sharing, “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,” said HTC’s EMEA VP Florian Seiche.
“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.”
The device specs are all pretty much what one would expect these days from HTC; a 3.2-inch capacitive touch screen, a five-megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash, a 3.5mm audio jack and micro SD card slot.
The device runs on a Qualcomm MSM7225 chipset, and in terms of networks uses WCDMA/HSPA: 900/2100 or AWS/1900 or 850/2100 MHz as well as GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 850/900/1800/1900 with download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. Battery life is 440 minutes of talk time for WCDMA or 490 minutes for GSM.
HTC says Wildfire will be heating up shelves across Europe and Asia from Q3 of this year.
In other HTC related news, there are rumors of both another Android offering in the works – with a slide-out keyboard – as well as an upcoming Windows Phone 7 handset.
The rumoured Android offering is said to be part of T-Mobile’s Project Emerald, consisting of a Nexus One-like device running Android 2.1, HTC Sense, and may also be based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor.
The main feature is rumoured to be a slide out keyboard and a front facing camera, which leads some to believe the phone could be an addition to the Sidekick brand. There is also speculation the handset will have a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen and 16GB of onboard storage.
As for HTC’s Microsoft offering, what is rumoured to be the firm’s first Windows Phone 7 device – the Mondrian – may have been revealed via a leaked firmware image.
Emerging specs suggest the Mondrian would have a 4.3-inch, 800×480 display, a five megapixel camera with HD video recording, and be based on Qualcomm’s super snappy 1.3GHz Snapdragon, making it HTC’s fastes smartphone to date.
HTC has been a Microsoft partner for some time now, so a Windows based HTC is certainly on the cards, the only question is when it will emerge. HTC hasn’t announced anything officially yet and the leaked image could simply be a mock-up of a prototype based on the reference design Microsoft has doled out for Windows Phone 7.