HTC’s “Hero” Takes on The iPhone

Inside the shell of a converted tramshed in East London, a splashy launch for a stylish smartphone.

[Horace Luke, HTC Chief Innovation Officer]:
„Let me introduce to you HTC Hero.“

The touch screen device built on Google’s Android platform equates to a bold attempt by HTC to take on Apple’s popular iPhone — not by creating a copycat — but by building an attractive alternative.

The “Hero” supports Adobe Flash, has a five megapixel camera with built in geotagging.  It also uses Teflon on the matte white underside of the phone to help resist dirt. 

However, what HTC is really emphasizing with this launch is just how much the user experience can be tailored to suit individual preferences and moods.

There’s even a name for this customizable interface — it’s called Sense.

[Horace Luke, HTC Chief Innovation Officer]:
„The first thing you’ll notice is that your experience is completely tailor made to the kind of content that you would actually use. The second thing is that we have a technology in here called scenes and with just one touch you can change your profile from being at work to going out at the weekend. For example, on the weekend you might not want your work email and with just one touch it changes the personality of the phone to suit what you’re using the phone for.“

And rather than having to open several applications to see what a friend is up to — each contact has a profile page with:

[Horace Luke, HTC Chief Innovation Officer]:
„All the SMS from the person, all the email from the person, all the different updates that person may have posted on Facebook and Flickr, all the photos that person may have posted.“

And call history too. Luke says thought even went into how the phone would sit when placed on a table.

Andrew Lim has worked for years covering mobile devices, for CNet and now for Recombu.com.  He says HTC has taken a significant step forward with its atest offering.

[Andrew Lim, Editorial Director Recombu]:
„If you look at their previous products, they still had a way to go but I think the HTC Hero is as close as anyone has got to a real iPhone competitor.“

Hero is launching in Europe this July through T-Mobile and Orange.  It will be released in Asia later in the summer and a North American version will be available sometime in 2009.

So far, no pricing details have been announced.

(NTDTV)