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HTC Desire S Android smartphone

Gingerbread temptation?

Photo call

It seems to deliver in these areas too, as it’s noticeably quicker skipping through the menus and apps than previous HTC Android handsets, even the very recent Incredible S, currently running on Android 2.2. The Desire S has a 1GHz single core processor, but that doesn’t hold it up much in general use. The new dual core processors are likely to show their mettle with advanced gaming and other apps, but for general use, this is just about as fast as it needs to be.

HTC Desire S HTC Desire S

Messaging and Friendstream

Compared to the original Desire, the S is now beefed up with 768MB of RAM (from 576MB) and the internal storage has been almost doubled to 1GB. Its MicroSD expansion accepts cards up to 32GB, but the card capacity you get with the handset will depend on the network or supplier.

HTC has taken advantage of Gingerbread’s dual camera capability to add a 1.3Mp camera to the front for video calling. Unfortunately, it’s not true video calling, since you can’t use it over your network – you’ll need to instal a third party app such as Fring, from the Google Market, and connect to the Internet to use it.

HTC’s ever-popular Sense user interface which sits on top of Android has had a few tweaks too, with a function that turns down the ringer volume when you pick it up… and silences it altogether when you turn it over. And previous goodies have returned, such as the FriendStream widget which pulls together your social networking and message updates. As with previous Androids, pulling in your Facebook contacts and syncing with your Outlook contacts and calendar is easy and straightforward using HTC Sync.

HTC Desire S

Browser

The Android browser now supports Flash video – so you’ll be able to see more of those fancy animated sites than the iPhone can – and the intuitive text wrapping and pinch to zoom makes surfing the web always fun and never a chore.

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