There Will Be No Android Version of the HTC HD2

[Ed Hardy]

HTC's most highly-anticipated model of the season is the HTC HD2, which has drawn attention with its 4.3-inch WVGA display and 1 GHz processor. This will run Microsoft Windows Mobile, and HTC's CEO says there won't be an Android version.

Peter Chou admitted there is demand for a version running Google's mobile operating system, but he has decided to not respond, in hopes of building new interest in Windows Mobile.

"Windows Mobile innovation has been a little slow and interest in Windows Mobile phones has been declining," he told Forbes in an interview. HTC's plan is to turn things around for Microsoft's OS. "We're working hard on these kinds of products to get excitement about Windows Mobile back."

An Overview of the HTC HD2
The HD2 (AKA the HTC Leo) will be one of the first devices on the market with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro, but have the new version of HTC's custom user interface layered on top. This used to be called TouchFLO, but has just been renamed HTC Sense to reflect a greater focus on consumers.

It will lack a hardware keyboard, but that's just about the only feature it won't have.

The HTC HD2 is going to be the first Windows Mobile smartphone with a capacitive display that supports multi-touch, so users can resize websites, Microsoft Office files, PDF documents and pictures easier with a pinch of their fingers.

This display will be the largest yet on a smartphone running Microsoft's OS, and will have a WVGA (800x480) resolution.

Naturally, the HD2 will have mobile broadband (7.2 Mbps HSDPA), plus it is going to include Wi-Fi b/g and Bluetooth 2.1. It will even be able to act as a Wi-Fi router for another computer.

It will also include a whopping 448 MB of RAM, an 5 MPx camera with auto-focus, a microSD card reader, GPS receiver, 1,230 mAh battery, and a 3.5 mm headset jack.

This HTC device will come with Windows Mobile's standard collection of mobile apps: Outlook, Office, Media Player. Opera Mobile is going to be the default web browser.

The HD2 will debut in Europe in the coming weeks, and will be released in N. America early next year. There have been reliable-seeming rumors that T-Mobile USA is going to pick up this model.

Source: Forbes

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[wsmith]

So, since when is 448MB "whopping?" That's the one thing that really baffles me about HTC. This (and a few others) might well be iphone crushers if they only had a meaningful amount of built-in storage. I'm not talking a few megs. I'm talking about double digit GB here. If this were 2mm thicker and included 32GB of storage or so, it would be the killer device of the moment.

Ah well, I guess I'll just keep waiting.

[SMARTPHONEPC]

Really no official droid version..difficult to port Android to it?

I really love the integrated MiFi feature though..

[SMARTPHONEPC]

"Opera Mobile is going to be the default web browser."

I love Opera BTW (even utilize portable versions of it & firefox on pcs) but isn't this a tad ironic for a Windows mobile device not to default to IE Mobile -"HTC's plan is to turn things around for Microsoft's OS"?

[Drillbit]

HTC and Peter Chou will pay for this stupidity when Acer's Liquid (Android with Snapdragon) starts eating them up, along with OMAP 3 Androids like the Droid and Xperia X10.

[Varjak]

I'm a bit surprised that HTC is throwing (almost all) it's lots in with Windows? I thought they were going to concentrate on manufacturing hardware and working with other OS suppliers? I guess that went by the wayside. They HAVE seemed to become the default WinMo flagship manufacturer though.

BTW, it's things like the built-in 'hotspot' function that really make me like HTC products, as much as I'd like to avoid Microsoft at all costs (I'm currently wrestling, AGAIN, with my XP desktop).

[Drillbit]

UK T-Mobile seems headed to get the HTC HD2. The ad mentioned Android Market as one of the features. Must be a major typo.