Today, HTC formally announced two new Sense devices: Legend, which will be available in Europe this April and in other parts of the world – including Asia – in the second quarter, and Desire, which will launch (also Q2) in Europe, Asia, and Australia. HTC took the opportunity to mention that a newly “enhanced HTC Sense experience” will be offered as a free upgrade to Hero owners in Europe and Asia.
The new Sense includes some UI improvements, such as the Leap thumbnail view of homescreens, as well as new apps and widgets like HTC Friend Stream, which “seamlessly aggregates all of your social communication including Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr into one organised flow of updates.” It sounds like Sense is starting to fulfill its initial promise, made at the GSM Hero launch last June.
Both of the new devices will ship with Android 2.1 and this enhanced version of Sense; 5 MP camera with flash, auto-focus, widescreen photo capture, and geotagging; 3G (with tether support), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS; 3.5 mm audio jack; an optical joystick; and of course, pinch-to-zoom integration. Despite these common traits, there definitely are differences between the two phones and they go beyond the Desire’s pimpin’ LEDs and the Legend’s aluminum unibody frame. Check out video, images, and specs after the break:
Desire
The name that was once attached to HTC’s Eris pre-release turns up again as the official brand of what is effectively the Nexus with Sense, although the design speaks more to HTC’s collective taste than that of Google. Features include a new mail widget that allows for a list view of multiple accounts, an agenda view for the calendar with visibility on the homescreen, full weather on the homescreen, and the ability to long-press text in the browser – selecting a single word or an entire paragraph – and send it right to Google Translate.
*3.7″ 480 X 800 WVGA Capcative AMOLED display
*1 GHz Snapdragon
*512 MB ROM / 576 MB RAM
*microSD up to 32 GB
*1400 mAh battery
Talk time:
WCDMA: Up to 390 mins
GSM: Up to 400 mins
Standby time:
WCDMA: Up to 360 hours
GSM: Up to 340 hours
Bands – Europe:
HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900
Bands – Asia Pacific:
HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900
Legend
HTC’s follow-up to the first true Sense device, the Hero, looks the part for sure. The aluminum unibody design looks more rounded than the previous Hero, and I must say, quite sexy. Like Desire, Legend features a new Sense experience, including social integration like we’ve never seen in a phone. Not to mention in a cool, glossy virtual package.
*3.2″ 320 X 480 HVGA Capcative AMOLED display
*600 MHz Qualcomm
*512 MB ROM / 384 MB RAM
*microSD up to 32 GB
*1300 mAh battery
Talk time:
WCDMA: Up to 440 mins
GSM: Up to 490 mins
Standby time:
WCDMA: Up to 560 hours
GSM: Up to 440 hours
Bands – Europe:
HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900
Bands – Asia Pacific:
HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900
Make It Mine, Stay Close, and Discover the Unexpected are what HTC considers the three pillars of Sense, but nothing sums up their take on Android like “quietly brilliant.” Can’t wait to get my hands on one of these. What do you think? Speak up in the comments.
