Over at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we have been been watching excitedly as each manufacturer creates a fanfare with each new android handset they show off to the world. 

With virtually every major manufacturer in the open handset alliance having announced an android phone this week. Everyone was waiting with bated breath for the android trailblazer HTC to show its cards! Wow! did they bring out a winning hand. Not just one excellent handset but two new showcase devices for the android family.

HTC Desire

If there is a better name for it, I would have called it the HTC Gorgeous.  This is a phone that really lives up to its name as most Nexus One users can attest- and with the release of the Desire, it seems that HTC have done one better.  This phone is the separated at birth twin of the Google Nexus One, however sporting a slightly bolstered internal spec and the inclusion of an FM Radio, HTC Sense and Android 2.1 . Trust me HTC sense has never looked so good as on the high Res AMOLED  screen. Having a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor inside the phone also means that its fast, snappy and very responsive.

The other major additions to the handset is of the clickable optical joystick- which works excellently.  It seems blackberry is not the only one removing the rollerballs from their handsets.    With Android, you really need this option when it comes to selecting text and copying and pasting.I suggest that this should be a standard for all handsets to come.

Tmobile has announced its releasing the handset from 24 March! and Orange will be following with a release in April.  ( Much to Connor from Orange’s delight!)

HTC Legend

This handset is for me is jewel in HTCs crown. Its pure engineering beauty and something that even Apple junkies will be gazing wistfully at. 

Designed by HTC- owned design house, One & Co, this device brings together facets of elegance, beauty, strength and functionality.  Form and functionality are entwined in the design and every element of the handset has a practical use, with nothing  added purely for decorative use.  

The handset itself is made from a block of  aluminium with is machined out to produce the whole external case in one piece- and gives the handset the strength and beauty to withstand a pretty much anything thrown at it. As a by-product of the design, it also means that servicing the handset is a breeze with the whole innards simply being slid out of the internal casing.

The handset is also ergonomically designed to fit more snugly into your hand, and doesn’t have the same “squared” feeling of the original hero.  I am also happy to see that the "pronounced” android chin is still there although much more muted than before.

Inside the box, the handset is tricked out with the latest HTC Sense 2.1 and has an excellent 600Mhz processor on board, FM Radio and AMOLED screen.  Everything that will really set it apart from its competitors.

According to the press release, Vodafone have got their hands on it and it will be rolling to a Vodafone store near you in April.  As an interesting addition, it seems that Vodafone’s excellent “Vodafone 360” will be included on it as an extra application.  Hopefully more on this later.

HTC Sense

The main element in HTCs secret sauce is the upgraded new HTC Sense UI for 2.1.

The first major addition to the customization is that HTC has started to add multitouch gestures to its sense UI. Over the past week or so we have seen videos of the mac “expose” like feature which HTC have christened “helicopter” mode. This is also accessed by pressing and holding the home physical button on the front.  It seems like such a simple tweak but it suddenly allows you to easily use all the main home screens on your handset. ( Look for this to be copied by apple in the coming months!)

They have also recoded the account manager so it runs through androids bolstered system and includes native support for Twitter, Facebook. ( Where’s my linked in please??)

Regards to other tweaks and additions:

• HTC have added in a new app called Friendstream” that gives users one single place to find all the latest updates from Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other accounts. 
• Gone are the choice of HTC widgets and google widgets- HTC have united them in one place.
• You can now have any group as a widget speed-dial on your homescreen
• The Keyboard for the handset will now go portrait and landscape in all apps

Looks like it will be a great month for Android phones in March, and existing users- don’t get too upset- HTC have announced that Android 2.1 and the great new software updates are going to be rolling out to your handsets in March as well.  So good news all round. 

Now the difficult choice – which to upgrade to???

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1. HTC goes for number 1 in their new range of handsets