Something for the Mrs
Taiwanese smartphone specialist HTC has launched a new Android phone, apparently aimed at the fairer sex. The HTC Rhyme comes in subtle colours, has a ‘refreshed' Sense UI, and comes with a bunch of groovy accessories.
At its core this is a mid-range (1 GHz Snapdragon) smartphone, running Android 2.3, so will probably be on a £20-£25 per month contract when it arrives in October. But rather than just making it pink and calling it a bird's phone, HTC does seem to have put a bit of effort into trying to cater to specifically female needs.
Apart from the colours - plum (purple), hourglass (grey) and clearwater (white) - there's a new version of the Sense UI. The home screen, as you can see from the images and video below, is quite different from what HTC users have become used to. In fact it looks like it has taken some inspiration from WP7, of which HTC is also a licensee, in bringing more information and widgetry to the home screen. You can even get a bunch of information, such as social updates, from the locked screen.
But it's the accessories that are the most idiosyncratic feature of the HTC Rhyme. In the US (we await confirmation regarding the UK) it comes bundled with some headphones and a docking station as well as the Charm. This is a little cube that you plug into the headphone port on the phone and then lights up when you get a call or message.
The idea seems to be that you have the cube dangling out of your bag while the phone itself is buried under the mountains of crap some women seem to feel they can't leave the house without. Then, when a call comes in, not only are you aware of it, but you can simply yank the phone out using this Cube, and save having to sift through said crap in order to answer the call.
"HTC Rhyme represents an entirely new approach, based on recognition that there is a substantial group of consumers who want their phones to be more personal and complimentary to every moment of their day," said Scott Croyle, VP of design at HTC. "HTC Rhyme is focused on delivering this through a fresh new style and experience that includes a family of innovative accessories like the HTC Rhyme Charm and Docking Station that are meant to naturally integrate into people's lives."
Specs
CPU Processing Speed
1 GHz
Storage
Total storage: 4 GB
Available storage: up to 1 GB
RAM: 768 MB
Expansion slot:
- microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
Connectivity
- 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
- Bluetooth 3.0 with FTP/OPP for file transfer, A2DP for wireless stereo headsets, and PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit
- Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
- DLNA for wirelessly streaming media from the phone to your TV or computer
Sensors
- Ambient light sensor
- G-Sensor
- Digital compass
- Proximity sensor
Power & Battery
Battery type: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1600 mAh
Talk time:
- Up to 480 minutes for WCDMA
- Up to 620 minutes for GSM
Standby time:
- Up to 340 hours for WCDMA
- Up to 295 hours for GSM
Platform
Android with HTC Sense
Network
HSPA/WCDMA:
- Europe/Asia: 850/900/2100 MHz
- Upload speed of up to 5.76 Mbps and download speed of up to 14.4 Mbps
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
- 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Camera
- 5 megapixel color camera with auto focus and LED flash
- 720p HD video recording
- VGA front-facing camera
Location
- Internal GPS antenna
Multimedia
Audio supported formats:
- Playback: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma (Windows Media Audio 9)
- Recording: .amr, .m4a, .aac
Video supported formats:
- Playback: .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv (Windows Media Video 9), .avi (MP4 ASP and MP3), .xvid (MP4 ASP and MP3)
- Recording: .3gp, .mp4
