HTC Desire HD

HTC Desire HD

Manufacturer	HTC Corporation
Carriers	Vodafone, including Vodafone AU[1] and Vodafone UK, T-Mobile, KT, Singtel, DiGi, Softbank,[2] Play Mobile, Orange Poland, Orange France, Telus[3]
Availability by country	UK October 19, 2010 (2010-10-19)
Type	Smartphone
Form factor	Slate
Dimensions	123 mm (4.8 in) L 68 mm (2.7 in) W 11.8 mm (0.46 in) D[4]
Weight	164 g (5.8 oz)
Operating system	Android 2.2 (Froyo) with HTC Sense; updates to 2.2.1 and 2.3 (Gingerbread) available
CPU	1 GHz Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon[5]
Memory	1.5 GB flash, 768 MB RAM
Removable storage	up to 32 GB with microSD
Battery	Li-ion 1230 mAh
Display	4.3 in (110 mm) TFT LCD Multi-touchscreen
Rear camera	8 megapixel autofocus with dual LED flash and 720p HD video recording.
Connectivity	2G: 850/900/1,800/1,900 MHz 3G: 900/2,100 MHz HSDPA: 14.4 Mbps HSUPA: 5.76 Mbps Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth: v2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate
Other	FM tuner, Facebook, Twitter, MS Exchange, compass, A-GPS, DLNA support, Google Navigation, Adobe Flash 10.1, USB and Wi-Fi tethering

The HTC Desire HD (codenamed: "HTC Ace") is an Android smartphone by HTC Corporation. It was unveiled at a press event in London hosted by HTC on September 15, 2010,^[6] and was made available for sale in October in Europe and in January 2011 in Canada. The Device is HTC's flagship device in most markets, until the release of their new line of flagship models, the HTC Sensation and the HTC Evo 3D.

Hardware

The smartphone has an aluminium unibody design with the Android Android™ 2.2 (Froyo) with HTC Sense. On the back, there are two plastic covers, one contains the battery, while the other contains the SIM card and the microSDHC card. It features a 4.3-inch class WVGA TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen, 8 megapixel camera (can record 720p video) and support for HSPA/W-CDMA and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE.^[7]

It is the first phone to use the new 1 GHz MSM8255 Scorpion CPU. This second generation Snapdragon processor uses a low-power 45-nm process technology for higher integration and efficiency, and the Adreno 205 more than doubles the performance of the Adreno 200 GPU. This allows for longer talk and standby times than the original HTC Desire even with a smaller capacity battery.^[8]

The HTC Desire HD has 768 MB RAM and 1.5 GB of internal flash memory data storage. There is also a single microSDHC slot, which can accept a microSDHC card with a capacity of up to 32 GB of data storage.

Software

The HTC Desire HD incorporates Dolby Mobile, Sound Retrieval System WOW Surround Sound, DLNA, Adobe Flash 10.2, and DivX/Xvid video playback support, however, not many audio codecs are supported and apps have to be downloaded in order to support more formats.

At launch, HTC unveiled the updated HTC Sense features, including a new web site that allows remote interaction with HTC Sense enabled handsets for backups, security features, and other handset interactions. For example, it can remotely lock and wipe the handset of all sensitive data, while the service also creates automatic backups of contacts, text messages, call history, customizations, etc. HTCSense.com will also send commands to the handset to set the ring volume to maximum volume even if it is on silent mode and give a location on a map.

The new HTC Sense brings some enhanced multimedia abilities giving users more options to create and share content (including new photo and video effects). It also includes location-based maps, which can be pre-loaded or cached and thus delivered without download delays or incurring mobile roaming charges. Also included is a new e-book store and a dedicated e-reader with annotation, search and translation abilities. It also provides a social networking hub, known as Friendstream which allows users to monitor their Facebook, Twitter, as well as other social networks all in one page.

Also, the new HTC Sense adds a new feature, Fastboot, which improves the HTC Desire HD's startup time, from more than 40 seconds to less than 5 seconds. Technically, the phone is placed in a low-power sleep mode when powered off and wakes up when started up. However, if the battery is removed and placed back, the phone takes about a minute to boot.

The HTC Desire HD has received a new software update in December 2010, the Android 2.2.1 version 1.72.405.3 which brings various improvements and some bug fixes.^[9] As of January 2011 the 2.2.1 v 1.72.405.3 software update was pulled due to issues with the HTC Sense overlay.^[10]

During May 2011 in Western Europe, an over the air update updated unlocked, unbranded Desire HDs to Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread and HTC Sense 2.1. On June 12 in Australia, an over the air update was available for unbranded Desire HDs taking them to Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense 2.1. On July 2011, HTC announced via Facebook that it was testing Gingerbread for branded Desire HDs and HTC released the update at the end of July. With the Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread Update, the Desire HD now has the ability to set Wi-Fi proxy settings which was not available previously with Android 2.2 Froyo and has Sense 2.1.

In September 2011 it was reported that HTC plan to update the Desire HD to Android version 2.3.5,^[11] which would provide, for example, voice and video calling with Google Talk.

Variants

There are multiple variants of the Desire HD in the USA. AT&T Mobility in the US has a variant of the HD called the HTC Inspire 4G, one of AT&T's first 4G HSPA+ devices. Verizon Wireless has a LTE-enabled variant, the HTC Thunderbolt, which has a slightly modified design which includes a front-facing camera.

Reception

The HTC Desire HD has received generally positive reviews from critics. CNET UK gave it a 4.5/5 and called the Desire HD the "ultimate smartphone", claiming it is "impressive and monumental".^[12] SlashGear praised it as a "thinner, more pocket-friendly handset" than the HTC EVO 4G.^[13] Engadget criticised the device's build quality and battery life but gave the phone a score of 7/10.^[14] TechRadar praised the device giving it 4.5/5 stars, describing it as "...the very latest in cool smartphone technology that actually works."^[15] Gizmodo praised it as "A 720p-Shooting Android Behemoth" though they felt that it was a little too big for comfort.

Sales

In the UK, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone struggled to maintain enough stock to meet demand.^[16]

See also

• Android (operating system)
• List of HTC phones
• List of Android devices
• Comparison of smartphones
• Comparison of Android devices

References

1. ^ "HTC Desire HD exclusively coming to Australia via Vodafone and 3". Unwired View. http://www.unwiredview.com/2010/09/20/htc-desire-hd-exclusively-coming-to-australia-via-vodafone-and-3. Retrieved 16 September 2010. 
2. ^ "Softbank 001HT Desire HD". Softbank. http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/smartphone/product/001ht/. Retrieved 18 April 2011. 
3. ^ "HTC Desire HD with HTC Sense. Only from TELUS". Telus. http://www.telusmobility.com/en/QC/htc_desire_hd/index.shtml?INTCMP=HomeILCdesireHD. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
4. ^ "HTC Desire HD Product Overview". HTC. http://www.htc.com/au/smartphones/htc-desire-hd/#specs. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
5. ^ "HTC launches the Desire HD". Thomas Ricker. http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/15/htc-launches-the-desire-hd-an-evo-for-the-rest-of-world/. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 
6. ^ "Live from HTC's London 2010 launch event". Engadget. http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/15/live-from-htcs-london-2010-launch-event/. Retrieved 15 September 2010. 
7. ^ "HTC Desire Specification". HTC. http://www.htc.com/uk/product/desirehd/specification.html. Retrieved 16 September 2010. 
8. ^ "New HTC Fast Boot Technology Already Present On Desire Z/HD Offers 5 Second Boot Times. Smarts, Trickery, Or Both?". Android Police. http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/09/19/new-htc-fast-boot-technology-already-present-on-desire-zhd-offers-5-second-boot-times-magic-trickery-or-both/. Retrieved 21 September 2010. 
9. ^ "Software update for HTC Desire HD: Android 2.2.1 v 1.72.405.3". MobileSmug. http://mobilesmug.com/news/2-software/701-software-update-for-htc-desire-hd-android-221-v-1724053-. Retrieved 28 December 2010. 
10. ^ http://www.htcdesirehdforum.com/htc-desire-hd-updates-and-rooting/2-2-1-update-been-pulled/
11. ^ http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/2011/09/android_2_3_5_for_desire_hd/
12. ^ "reviews.cnet.co.uk". http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/htc-desire-hd-review-50000752/. 
13. ^ "HTC Desire HD Hands-on". Slashgear. http://www.slashgear.com/htc-desire-hd-hands-on-15102388/. Retrieved 15 September 2010. 
14. ^ "HTC Desire HD Review". Engadget. http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/htc-desire-hd-review/. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
15. ^ "HTC Desire HD review from TechRadar UK". TechRadar. http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-desire-hd-717295/review. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
16. ^ "Networks declare HTC Desire HD stock shortage". dialtosave. 2 December 2010. http://www.dialtosave.co.uk/mobile/news/2010/12/02/networks-declare-htc-desire-hd-stock-shortage/. Retrieved 2 December 2010. 

External links

• Official website
• HTC Desire HD users group
• Sample photos of the HTC Desire HD with detailed EXIF-data