HTC and Telstra are having a little event at the moment for the launch of the HTC Desire, Telstra’s first Android handset. And within seconds of playing with it, one key feature stands out – like the Millenium Falcon, this thing is making the jump to light speed.
The speed probably isn’t anything new for all those people who imported the Nexus One, as it uses the same 1GHz Snapdragon processor. But compared to my iPhone 3G, this thing is like watching The Flash race the Hulk.
Even though the device will come pre-loaded with a heap of Telstra content like Foxtel and WhereIs, apparently it won’t be locked to the pages, unlike the HTC HD2, for example. In fact, they’re spending a lot of time talking about just how customisable the device actually is.
The 3.7-inch AMOLED screen is stunning and large, and the browser supports Flash 10. The capacitive touchscreen supports pinch to zoom as well.
From the brief time I’ve had with it, I’m really excited by this phone. It’s going to be available for $0 up front on the $60 consumer plan which doesn’t actually include any data, and will be exclusive to Telstra for three months. There will also be an option for the $65 business plan which includes 300MB of data.
Alan
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 12:24 PMI’ll definately be getting this, but that much without data is not for me… I’ll probably import it and find the best offer for phone and data… any suggestions?
ash
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 12:30 PMBetter off getting the Nexus One, then sorting out your plan rather than paying $60+ for phone with bugger all data :p
Alan
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 1:09 PMSense and the optical joystick are my pluses for this version though.
srw
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 4:47 PMTo import a nexus one via priceusa is around $720 (depending on prevailing exchange rates) so actually the contract free price of $779 is not bad considering the very nice improvements of Sense UI, physical nav buttons (back, menu, home, etc) and the optical trackball replacement (the soft buttons on the nexus one are HORRIBLE, don’t know how many times I’ve hit home when trying to hit the spacebar on the soft keyboard) … I might have to buy a few of these for family (I’m an Android developer so I have a vested interest getting my family on Android :))
Also don’t forget this is on NextG frequencies, if you’re outside the city limits you’re not going to get good 3G reception if you run this on someone else’s SIM.
Ben Shuker
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 12:36 PMVirgin let you add on 1gb for $15.
Tim
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 2:12 PMI have it on preorder from OS and will be using the vodafone sim only cap $55. Seems to be my best option atm.
Aidan
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 5:47 PMHey alan,
Another thing to consider is that phones through google (ie/ nexus one) will be the first to update to new firmware.
The motorola droid (released in Nov 09 i think) is only now getting the 2.1 update, 3 months after nexus one was shipped. Nexus one came stock standard with the 2.1.
Alan
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 12:26 PMHahah Nick
What nice painted toenails you have:P
Michael
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 4:01 PMYou must have been studying that picture to see that! Very funny though.
Nick Broughall
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 4:04 PMLol. Actually, those toenails and hands belong to the lovely Jen Bishop, editor of Dynamic Business Magazine, who agreed to model the phone for me.
Shane
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 12:47 PMI agree, I’d really like to have a closer look at the device as a whole, but I’d prefer to get it “free” of the networks and make my own choices (hay, apple, you listening!!???)
Prav
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 12:48 PMAny word on whether you can buy it outright from Telstra straight away?
I still want to use Telstra – but not on the default plan.
Seamus Byrne
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 2:45 PMYes, they also announced it will be $779 outright.
Justin
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 12:48 PMi getting it five-sure. but i think ill just wait the 3 months till its on another carrier. im with 3 on the $49 cap and last time i renewed my contract they gave my any phone on the $69 cap for free and gave me $4 of credit a month for data, but you have to ask for it they wont just give it to you. i just told them i spoke to someone on the phone from 3 (didn’t really) and thats what they offered me. he typed it in to the computer and said yep i can do that for you too.
Rodney
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 12:57 PMAny indication on a date that people can walk into a Telstra retailer and get one?
Alan
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 1:10 PMhttp://apcmag.com/telstra-to-launch-htc-desire-on-april-27-from-60month-780-outright.htm
”
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.
“
matt
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 2:34 PMin my experience, the IPhoneOS does Apple no favours when it comes to performance. having said that, even the 3GS shits all over the 3G. and these must be nearly twice as powerful again
Bernie
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 3:24 PMI’m hoping the new HTC EVO 4G (or something similar) will come to Australia. I don’t think the 4G thing will work here unless someone can tell me otherwise, which I hope is possible as it looks like a good upgrade path to me.
On the issue of performance of the iPhone 3G, I didn’t think it was that bad (I have one) and I found it faster than my old Nokia N70, so no complaints. I’m interested in all the comments on the 3Gs and the HTC Desire being so much faster; it’s making me anxious for my upgrade.
David Anderton
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 3:59 PMSo after 3 months we should expect to see this phone on other carriers ie virgin/vodafone? In my experience any phone on telstra you can take about $15-$20 off a month for other carriers. Ie the blackberry bold 9000 is %60 on telstra and the newer bold 9700 is only $49 on vodafone!
P.S F#CK telstra
Shane Lord
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 4:59 PMI guess I’m just a bit concerned about future updates for Android on this handset. As has been proven with the HTC Hero – Sense UI slows down the release of new OS updates due to changes required.
I think the new 850Mhz Nexus One that’s just come out in the US (850Mhz=NextG) would be a better fit for me – knowing it will always be kept in mind as Google update the OS.
Then again I really want to see how Windows Phone 7 is when it’s finally in shipping hardware. Might just stick with my iPhone 3GS for the moment.
Regards,
Shane.
SirMuffinMan
Friday, March 26, 2010 at 1:20 PMGah, why the hell did I buy a Samsung Galaxy? This monstrosity does absolutely no favours to Android.
Wonder if I can bail out of this plan and switch to another.
Nicholas Grinyer-Kircher
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 2:05 PMOh really, Telstra? $60 and no data? Give me a call when you finally come out of the stone age. I was really excited about getting the HTC Desire with you guys for a minute there, and ditching my iPhone and Vodafone.
But no. I’ll stick with voda, thanks. At least I get decent data.
Zac
Monday, April 5, 2010 at 6:40 AMAm thinking of buying an iphone or blackberry on a 3 cap plan, selling the phone on ebay, then buying the Desire online from overseas (UK).
Can anyone tell me if this is a viable plan and if the phone will work on 3′s network? Or Vodafone’s?
Joe
Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 5:46 AMWell guys an gals I get my upgrade on Saturday and I’ll be getting the desire for free on a £30 a month tariff with unlimited net,txts and sat nav I read all the reviews and this phone seems like an iphone killer even with os4.
seb
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 5:43 PMcome mobile retailers are selling it < $650 !!!!!