Add charm to Android’s list of Assets

Google says that about 300,000 Android phones get activated each day.
The Internet giant’s mobile operating system virtually exploded overnight as every mobile device maker, including locally branded phone makers as well as generic manufacturers in China, took to the Google Android, apparently charmed by its features.

Smartphone maker HTC was among the first to be convinced of the Android’s assets, producing the first Android device, the T-Mobile G1, for Google in 2008.

Subsequently, HTC came out with Nexus One, considered to be the Google branded phone that became the standard by which other Android phones would be measured.
Among the high-end Android phones HTC recently came out with was the Desire HD, a handset boasting of a 4.3-inch “super LCD” capacitive touchscreen display, SRS surround sound, and a new Sense UI configured to work smoothly with the Android OS.
The HTC Desire HD is a testament to what Android is all about—adaptive light platform that phone makers can tinker with to further enhance the phone’s UI to suit the needs of their target audience.
The HD Desire is run by Android Froyo 2.2, which enables it to respond or react “intuitively” to the user. For example, the phone’s ringer volume automatically goes down once the phone is placed face down. Or the phone may be made to ring from a website. It allows users to remotely wipe contents of the phone, lock the phone, or send a message to it in case the phone gets lost.
The HTC Desire HD also features an amazing converged contacts page—a key feature of Android, enabling a user to gather all contact information from social networking sites and add them onto the phone’s contacts list.
The HTC Desire HD also features a superb converged gallery page, where photos and captions from albums of Facebook friends may be displayed, apart from the pictures stored in the phone or SD card.
Since the HTC Desire HD has a new Sense UI, a powerful software that greatly enhances graphics and animations, the phone has a message page, where messages like notepads may be flicked in a snap.
The phone boasts of a 1.5 GB ROM and 768 MB RAM plus Qualcomm’s 1 GHz Snapdragon mobile CPU. It has the capability to download apps from The Market (Android’s online apps store) directly to the SD storage card.
Another notable feature of this phone is its ability to become a Wi-Fi hotspot, enabling other Wi-Fi devices such as a laptop, tablet or phone. With this feature, several other devices may access and use the phone’s 3G connectivity.
Internet speed offered by this phone is a rollercoaster compared with other smartphones. The Android’s 3G browsing speed may go up to 14.4 Mbps while uploading data may go up to 5.76 Mbps. With this speed, downloading several apps at the same times becomes a breeze, but be sure the telco’s signal is at optimum high.
With the battery, this tablet-like phone weighs 164 grams. It is also thin at 11.8 mm. The sturdy case is sculpted wholly from a block of solid aluminum. To insert the battery or SIM card, portions of the back may be opened.
The camera with auto focus and LED flash boasts of a whopping 8 megapixel capacity. It is also capable of HD recording. To enhance a photo, the phone also has an editing software.
The phone has a minimalist design, with just the obvious shiny metal bars (volume rocker on the left side, power/sleep button on top, and speaker above the display) providing highlights to the phone.
Below the phone are the RJ45 jack and mini-USB port for charging and transfer of files to a PC.
Similar to other smartphones like the iPhone, it has threaded messaging and ebook reader powered by Kobo. It includes the ability to highlight, annotate and quickly search for definitions or translate unfamiliar terms.
The device retails at P35,000.