HTC’s Android-powered Desire smartphone will make its Aussie debut on Telstra’s Next G network next month with plans starting at $60 per month.
Telstra’s first Android smartphone hits the streets next month with the Australian debut of the HTC Desire.
The smartphone will be available to consumers and business customers from April 27th for outright purchase at $779, or on a $60 per month plan for consumers and $65 per month for businesses.
Both plans are on a 24 month contract; the consumer plan comes with no data, however, while the business plan has only a base level of 300MB of data. Additional data has to be bought and bolted on using Telstra's Next G data packs.
Consumers can also sign up for Telstra’s mobile repayment option on any eligible plan and pay off the $779 over either 12 or 24 months.
Telstra's HTC Desire ships in that lovely bronzy brown colourThe Desire is rated for 7.2Mbps download on the 850MHz Next G network as well as the more conventional 2100MHz band, and runs Android 2.1 (Eclair) topped by HTC’s custom Sense UI.
New features in Sense include a newsreader application and widget and a FriendStream app which aggregates update feeds from Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.
Data and settings as SMS/MMS messages, bookmarks and Wi-Fi passwords are automatically backed up to the microSD card.
Telstra worked with HTC engineers to tweak the Desire’s Sense UI in order to add Telstra services such as Sensis, Trading Post, WhereIs mapping, BigPond and Foxtel Mobile.
The late April release date kicks off Telstra’s three-month exclusivity window on the Desire, which will also become available to Optus and VHA from the start of August (should those carriers choose to range the handset).
Customers can register their interest in the HTC Desire at
www.telstra.com.au/htcdesire.
The launch of the Desire kicks off a busy month for Android smartphones, with Motorola set to debut one or possibly more Android phones – which borrow a page from HTC’s playbook by wrapping Android’s UI inside a customised skin, in this case Motoblur.
Sony Ericsson has also confirmed April as the target date for the release of its first Android phone, the Xperia X10, which will be available on both the Vodafone and 3 networks as of May.