HTC Sense Event
Sep 15, 2010, 9:03 AM by Philip Berne
The HTC Desire Z will soon come to the States as the T-Mobile G2. Check out our hands-on look from HTC's launch event in London.
Desire Z / T-Mobile G2
At the HTC event in London today, the company showed off the new HTC Desire Z, which will come to the U.S. next month as the T-Mobile G2. Though T-Mobile has been teasing the G2 for a while now, this was my first time to get a hands-on look at the device. In pictures, I was not impressed with the simple-looking QWERTY slider. The design seemed rather bland and the keyboard seemed a bit narrow. But in person, the phone is a whole new animal. The build quality is fantastic.
The keyboard opens with a smooth, gentle slide, like taking a BMW into a corner on a winding road. It's easy to open with one hand and snaps into place reassuringly. The keyboard it reveals feels great for typing. I spent a few minutes hammering away and enjoyed every keystroke. It isn't quite as bouncy as I like, but the keys are easy to find without looking too hard, and the long width from Q to P leaves plenty of room for each key.
The phone has an understated style. In pictures it seems simple, but the shell uses so many stiff metals and other fine materials that it feels solid in the hand without feeling too heavy. The optical trackpad at the bottom also worked fine in my tests, though Android hardly needs any assistance from a joystick.
The most impressive thing I saw from the HTC Desire Z is the fast power on capability. From a powered-down state, the phone sprang to life in about 6 seconds. I've seen many modern smartphones that can't wake up in less than a minute, so the fast startup on the Desire Z is truly impressive. At the press event, HTC CMO John Wang talked about this feature as a part of the new Sense UI. With rumors that the T-Mobile G2 will use a stock build of Android 2.2, and not HTC Sense, I hope that this is a feature of the hardware so U.S. buyers can also benefit.
We'll have a hands-on video tour of the new HTC Desire Z uploaded soon, so check back this afternoon for a longer look, included a demonstration of that fast boot-up.
HTCSense.com
Perhaps even more interesting than the two new Android handsets launched today, HTC also showed off its upcoming HTCSense.com Web site, with a host of related services. HTCSense.com acts as a central command for backup and security services. Android devices have been missing a dedicated desktop command post, so HTCSense.com is filling a void in this space.
You can backup your phone, including text messages, to HTCSense.com. If you need to retrieve a message later, even without your phone, you can search for it on HTCSense.com. The HTCSense.com site will backup your contacts, customization choices and your call history, as well.
You will also eventually be able to upload photos and media to HTCSense.com. The ill-fated Microsoft Kin had a similar Kin Studio site for media backup, though the Kin's service was much more extensive. Still, it was one of the only great features on Microsoft's consumer device, so it will be interesting to see how other companies adapt the concept.
The HTCSense.com site can also help locate and manage your phone. If you lose your phone in your couch cushions, you can send a command from the HTCSense.com dashboard and your phone will start ringing, even if it is set to silent mode. The dashboard will also show you a map with your phone's location, in case you left it in a friend's couch. You can also have the phone display a message, which is a feature also found on Apple's MobileMe pay service for iPhone.
If you lose your phone in enemy territory, you can remotely wipe your data through the HTCSense.com dashboard. You can also remotely transfer your data from one Sense phone to another using the HTCSense.com dashboard.
These services aren't completely unique, and many phones carry them in one form or another, but they are less common on Android devices. While Microsoft and Apple build many of these tricks into their phones (and Apple charges a fee to use remote locate), Android phones needed third-party software for these features. HTC has always plugged Sense as an experience, and not just a user interface design, so it's nice to see this extended with more Web-based capabilities.
Video
Here's my hands-on look at the HTC Desire Z, aka the T-Mobile G2. Be sure to watch until you see the fast startup demo, it's truly impressive for a modern smartphone.
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Comments
Thinking of getting android soon HELP
Will the G2 have Sense?
Is that important?
Does the fact that the G2 is supposed to be the 2nd Google phone mean that it is a "pure" Android phone, thus precluding Sense?
I now have a Memoir phone and I pay the full price for Internet access but I get very few of the full Internet services. I thought that this was a older Samsung thing but today I saw a co worker's phone with the same widget bar but much more ability to customize. He has ATT.
I have kept up on the latest technology but I have barely seen Android in action. No one I know uses any of the "fancy" smartphones so I play with ...
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Sense is an overlay to...
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What.....?
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"Like taking a BMW Into a Corner"
Although it's not an unpleasant phone to hold (admittedly I've only held a prototype G2) , it's about on par with the Nexus One, which is to say nicer than the junky feel of Motorola and Samsung's smartphones, but below the iPhone 4.
And memo to Mr. Berne: a metal appliqué is not the same as a structural stainless steel frame.
HTC Desire Z vs Nexus One features?
HTC seems to put the back cover with a small speaker hole cut out, which might be the reason for the low volume.
