HTC handset designs are leaked

SOMEONE at HTC obviously has an itchy email send finger as for the second year in a row the firm's array of prospective handset designs has been leaked.

Looking at the photos and specs it appears that HTC users are in for a treat next year. Coming up are handsets called Legend, Salsa, Bravo, Photon and um, Buzz. All in all there are five Android based handsets planned for release over the next twelve months, plus three others based on the Windows Mobile OS.

With so much range, there is presumably a phone for everyone, and looking over the specs there are a number of lookalikes as well. Want a slide out Qwerty keyboard like the popular Communicator? Say hello to the Windows 6.5-based Tera. The Salsa has more than a show of a certain summer-fruit PDA, while the inspiration for the Legend comes from a bit closer to home, Hero-alike anyone?

Taking each in order then, the Legend should come out this March and offers the Android OS, 5MP camera, GPS, FM radio, and a compass. The Salsa is also based on Android, and has a four-row Qwerty keyboard and a 2.6-inch touchscreen. It is expected to be out in June.

Two so-called 'social' phones, the Buzz (April) and Tide (May), add to the Android list, and are firmly pitched in the direction of consumers. What's to say about these? They both have the social notworking and Web 2.0 features like photo face tagging and quick links to things like Flickr, Twitter and Facebook. You know the drill.

The final Android handset is the 'performance' Bravo phone. The Bravo has a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen, joystick control and quick access to Google's mobile apps. Backed up with a 1GHz Qualcomm chipset, 16GB memory expansion slot and high end video capturing, this looks like the best bet of the lot for power users.

The HTC Tera, Trophy and Photon model phones will all use the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS and feature things like a business card scanner.

Good old Windows Mobile. µ