HTC has launched the HTC Desire HD and Desire Z in London today, alongside a new online service to allow remote management of the phone and remote data wipe in case the mobile phone is lost or stolen.
HTC’s Desire HD builds on the HTC Desire mobile released earlier this year in Australia by Telstra by adding a larger 4.3″LCD screen similar to that offered by the Windows Mobile powered HD2 and an 8Mp camera capable of 720P high definition video recording. The CPU in the Desire HD is the 1GHz Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon, and the phone is manufactured out of a single block of aluminium like the very sexy HTC Legend currently available through Vodafone.
Alongside the HTC Desire HD launching today is the HTC Desire Z, which is the first slider Android phone from HTC since the original Google G1 handset which debuted the Google Android operating system. HTC has a long history manufacturing slider phones with hardware QWERTY keyboards, beginning early in the century with Windows Mobile 5 phones rebranded and sold by other companies such a Dopod in Australia.
The Desire Z is ideal for business users looking for a Google Android based alternative to BlackBerry for email on the road. It comes equipped with a 3.7″ LCD screen and an 800MHz Qualcomm 7230 processor as well as a 5Mp camera capable of recording 720P high definition video.
Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation emphasised the holistic approach of the company in delivering more than just hardware through the HTCsense.com online service to add to the HTC mobile experience.
“We’re excited to be taking the HTC Sense experience beyond the phone to a whole new level with a series of connected HTC services we call HTCSense.com,”
HTCSense.com delivers a suite of online services that allow people to manage their mobile phone online. Functionality in the HTCsense.com online suite includes the ability to locate a missing phone lost behind the sofa by triggering it to ring loudly even if it is set to silent, or even locate it on a map via the GPS. HTCSense.com is particularly useful for business users in that If the phone is lost or stolen, users can remotely lock the phone, forward calls and texts to another phone, send a message to the phone to arrange its return or even remotely wipe all personal data from it.
Vodafone confirmed distribution of the HTC Desire HD and Desire Z in Australia, possibly in an exclusive distribution agreement.
