HTC's big-talking talker

The design of HTC’s latest slider handset may hark back to early smartphone formats, but the S740 still packs in all the technology necessary to make it a leading contender in the modern mobile market, its maker claims.

HTC's S740: how you type is your decision

The HTC S740 can be used in either a vertical format, giving you a standard 12-key layout underneath the phone’s 2.4in, 240 x 320 display, or it allows you to flip the phone horizontally and pull out a 116mm-long Qwerty keyboard.

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A 3.2Mp camera and separate video call camera are included

Emails can be retrieved over HSDPA connections of up 7.2Mb/s, but you could also make use of the S740’s quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge connection for voice calls. Assisted GPS and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi are under the phone’s hood too.

A 3.2-megapixel camera is somewhat sub-par these days, but a second 640x 480-resolution camera’s included for video calls. Pictures are stored on Micro SD memory cards, but can also be moved onto other devices over Bluetooth 2.0 and through the phone’s USB 2.0 connection.

HTC’s S740 runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and will be available in Europe next month. A UK price hasn’t been tapped out yet.