Mobile Phone Blog:

It’s the smartphone release of the year thus far, and the HTC Desire is proving that it’s worth the plaudits as it’s selling nearly twice as much as its nearest rival on MobileShop.

The super phone is shifting 48% more phones than the Tocco Lite, the budget touch screen from Samsung, with the Nokia X6 16GB and the Blackberry 8520 Curve bringing up the rear of the chasing pack.

Hailed a work of art, a technological wonder and the most super of super smartphones, the HTC Desire’s features include a sleek design, the brilliant Sense user interface, a huge screen and a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. In short, it’s a thorough bred phone.

But with lots of competition, doing almost the same thing (the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 for one), it pains me to say Technical Markus backed the right horse, I mean phone, with his prediction that the Desire would sell bucket loads and lead the way for Android phones. To quote the tech meister “the HTC Desire is easily the best Android phone ever released” and “WILL sell out faster than U2 whenever somebody waves money at them”.

Fighting talk indeed but if you look at reviews of the phone, or even check it out for yourself, you’ll see that the HTC Desire really does have the goods.

First up is the Sense user interface

The Desire has full multi-touch pinch and zoom and a new feature that lets you move more easily between your seven  homescreen panels than other HTC phones. HTC are calling the feature, the ‘Leap’ thumbnail view. A literal name, since it lets users leap between screens without losing themselves in a technological mist. The user simply pinches out of the screen they’re in to see the seven screens in full.

Second up is the Google Android 2.1 operating system

This really needs no explaining. The Android 2.1 operating system hosts a wealth of apps. At the last count there was reportedly 9,300 apps released into the Android market in March. That’s a whole lotta apps. Then there’s all the Google services such as Gmail, Google search, Google Earth, and the list goes on.

Third up is the 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor

Now I don’t really know what this is, being female and all, but I can tell you that the one thing I do understand is that it means the HTC Desire will be very responsive. And combine that with the 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and it’s also superfast. Don’t ask me to explain as I really don’t understand the science. But there’s really no need to. All we need to know is that the phone has the ability to handle all the apps and services that the Android 2.1 system has to offer. A bonus really, when you consider how many phones have launched to lots of hype around their features but then fallen down at the first jump because its engine cannot deal with the same features that you brought it for.

Fourth up is social networking

This maybe unimportant to most people but if like me you spread yourself thinly across email, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and the rest then the HTC Desire is a great, great phone. Sony Ericsson has Timescape, Motorola has MOTOBLUR and rivalling them all is HTC’s FriendStream.

The fact that it’s not a fancy sci-fi name is a good indicator of its practicality because FriendStream is just that a stream that gathers all your contacts across social networks and email and displays what they’re up to in a very simple stream of updates and posts. It also does that (annoying?) thing of letting you co-ordinate Facebook and Twitter posts so that contacts cannot fail to miss your every outburst, stream of consciousness or boast. However, you can filter them so that friends don’t get bored with work stuff and colleagues need not find out about your every shameful and shameless night out.

And last but not least, there’s the look and feel

It’s not very often that a phone will take my breath away or make me sigh wistfully, in much the same way a well cut frock will but the HTC Desire does. Again HTC are using very literal names. The HTC Desire has been created to make people fall in love with it and desire it. It’s slim, it’s shiny, it’s smart, and it’s special.

The touch screen is big (3.7 inches) and AMOLED; it’s also sharp and vibrant with 16 million colours. But best of all for me, and this really is a personal thing, it’s a touch screen that never looks messy. Finger prints have always been a bug bear when it comes to shiny phones, touch screen ones in particular – the constant wiping becomes a cross to bear for me. And with the HTC Desire there’s no need because it really isn’t an issue.

And there you go, it’s a thorough bred and has incredible specs but when it comes down to it, the reason it’s a best seller for me is because it doesn’t collect finger prints all that much. I realise that I may well be a freak, so please let us know what you think are the best – or worst – things about the HTC Desire by leaving a comment in the box below.

Keep checking MobileShop.com for all the best deals and latest news on the HTC Desire – it really is an odds-on favourite or as HTC would simply put it ‘quietly brilliant’.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this lovely video introducing the one, the only, the HTC Desire.

More news as it happens! And be sure to subscribe now to get all the latest action from the world of mobile phones!