HTC unveils smartphone for the masses

The Smart features HTC's Sense user interface

HTC has announced a new handset that the company said will be offered at more aggressive price points than other smartphones, opening up the handset to a broader worldwide market.

Due to ship sometime this spring across Europe and Asia, the HTC Smart is a touch-screen model based on Qualcomm's Brew Mobile Platform, a freely available operating system that enables smartphone devices to be offered at lower price points, according to HTC.

However, this is overlaid on the Smart with HTC's own Sense user interface, found on other HTC handsets such as the HD2 and Hero, which provides quick links to user data, social networking sites and other handset features.

"Just adding a touch interface doesn't mean a phone is a smartphone; the integration of HTC Sense brings an unparalleled smartphone experience for people looking to do more on their phone," said HTC chief executive Peter Chou.

The HTC Smart weighs 108g and has a 2.8in QVGA screen. It is a quad-band handset supporting HSDPA up to 3.6Mbit/s with Bluetooth but no Wi-Fi support. Memory is 256MB, expandable via a MicroSD card slot.

HTC did not detail pricing nor disclose any mobile operators lined up to carry the Smart.