HTC brings Sense to Australian cellphone market

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 18 November 2009 13:32

Business IT - Technology

HTC has introduced two Android cellphones into the Australian market, the HTC Hero and HTC Tattoo, the first locally to incorporate its recently launched HTC Sense personalisation functionality.

HTC Sense was introduced in Europe in June with the launch of the Hero. The Tattoo debuted overseas in October and the Sense 'user experience' has also been offered on a Windows Mobile phone, the HTC HD2.
 
According to HTC, Sense revolves around three fundamental principles of personalisation that were developed by "quietly listening and observing how people live and communicate." They are 'Make it Mine', 'Stay Close' and 'Discover the Unexpected'. The company says the concept of Sense will eventually be extended to its entire range of cellphones.
 
Make It Mine, is about personalisation of the user interface. Stay Close embodies functions that bring together details of contacts and communication with them; phone calls, text messages, emails and communications via social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Photos posted to Flickr are also embraced within this process.

Discover the Unexpected seem hard to define. HTC says "It can be something as basic as turning the phone over on the table to silence the ring or as simple as improving the smart dialler for making calls quicker."

Both the Hero and the Tattoo are touch screen based phones with minimal mechanical input options (six buttons plus a volume control). The Hero is the more sophisticated product with higher resolution camera (5Mp v 3.2 in the Tattoo), larger and higher resolution screen (3.2 inch 320x480 v 2.8 inch 240x320). Both feature a dedicated search button that "goes beyond basic search, providing you with a more natural, contextual search experience that enables you to search through Twitter, locate people in your contact list, find emails in your inbox or search in any other area."

Both have GPS, and digital compass. The Tattoo has an FM radio, the Hero does not. Neither will operate on the 850MHz of Telstra's Next G network but both will operate at the 900MHz frequency being used by Optus and VHA for network expansion. Both will support HSPA at 7.2Mbps downstream but the Hero has a higher upstream bandwidth(2Mbps compared to the 384kbps of the Tattoo.)

The key differentiating feature of the Tattoo is the ability to order, for $29.95, personalised covers. Users can choose from a wide range of standard options, or upload their own images for use on the cover.

The Hero will go on sale at the beginning of December, initially through Harvey Norman for $799 with other retail outlets to follow a couple of weeks later. The Tattoo will launch shortly afterwards at a recommended retail price of $599.

HTC's sales and marketing director ANZ, Anthony Petts, said discussions were underway with mobile operators regarding them offering the products. HTC is also gearing up to ramp up its marketing in Australia under a new tag line "quietly brilliant."