So, they’ve become my new favourite manufacturer, I rated them as the manufacturer of 2009, and they’ve set the blogging world alight by making the Nexus One for Google; so, the question is, what next for HTC?
Well, I’ll tell you what: they’re going to mess with our heads, that’s what.
Y’see, back in the mists of time (aka/ five weeks ago), a new HTC phone appeared in leaked form on the internet, and I got quite excited about it, because it’s the first HTC feature phone, the first time one of their handsets hasn’t been a smartphone. That was exciting for many reasons, not least because it signalled a shift into a whole new market by the Taiwanese manufacturer, one that they’d never dabbled in before.
Back then, that phone was called the Touch.B, but now, it has a new, official name, and it’s one that’s destined to show what a twisted sense of humour HTC have, and why I like them so much.
Yes, their first non-smartphone is called the HTC Smart. Genius.
The really cool thing, though, is that, as we all knew they’d do, HTC have fiddled about with the UI, so that what you get here isn’t the standard Qualcomm Brew UI. No, as you can see from the pic, they’ve done some fiddling, and I’m doubly excited, because they’ve made the HTC Smart into the first feature phone to have the Sense UI, the one seen on phones like the uber-powerful HTC HD2. Obviously the HTC Smart will have nowhere near the power of the HD2 (since it only has a 300MHz processor), but the UI will be spot on.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that I reckon we could’ve just found the best cheap touch phone on the planet. I’d bet good money on this having an entry-level price point, and you know only need to look at the Orange Vegas to see how much people will talk about (and crucially, will want) a cheap phone with a touchscreen on it. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Smart will redefine the world of entry-level phones.
And woohoo! Video of it in action, that tells us the point of it: it’s all about getting people who might not necessarily buy a smartphone to try out and love the Sense UI, so that when they DO get a smartphone, they’re more likely to buy one with Sense; ie/ another, more expensive HTC. Clever tactic, that.
I can sum that up by simply telling you my feelings on the HTC Smart: I want to play with one, as much as I want to own an HTC HD2 (and you all know how much I want that). That’s how excited I am about the new baby phone in HTC’s portfolio…
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