HTC announces Rhyme and Explorer smartphones

TAIWANESE PHONE MAKER HTC has announced two phones, the Rhyme and the Explorer.

The firm seems to be announcing more handsets almost weekly with the Sensation XE coming out last week. These two handsets are on the budget end of the scale with more modest specifications.

Scott Croyle, VP of design at HTC said, "HTC Rhyme represents an entirely new approach, based on recognition that there is a substantial group of consumers who want their phones to be more personal and complimentary to every moment of their day."

The Rhyme will have a 3.7in super LCD touchscreen, a 1GHz single core processor, 768MB of RAM, up to 1GB of internal storage and a 5MP camera. It will be exclusively available on O2 in a plum colour next month.

A SIM free version will also be available which will tip up on 8 October on Clove.co.uk.

Both phones have a new version of Sense, HTC's Android overlay, which we believe to be version 3.5. One thing that is for sure is that it's quite different from previous versions.

Pocketnow has a picture of the HTC Explorer that looks similar to the Rhyme and the existing Wildfire S but has a smaller screen at 3.2in. Apparently it will have a 600MHz processor and a 5MP camera.

The image is supposedly an "official press shot" but HTC's public relations firm had no information on the Explorer when we contacted it. We'll have to wait and see if HTC announces the phone.

Online retailer Clove said, "At the moment we're expecting it (the Explorer) to arrive in November. Check back for updates on pricing - we'll have it listed on the Clove website once it's been announced officially." µ