The biggest rival to the Samsung Galaxy S2, the HTC Sensation houses an impressive dual-core 1.2GHz processor and super fast web surfing speeds which rival any laptop; making it one of the most impressive new releases this year.

SIM Free HTC Sensation

Another great feature of the unlocked HTC Sensation is its massive 4.3” S-LCD screen complete with a 540 x 960 pixel resolution.  This means that photos and videos can be seen in a quality to match that of the 8MP camera; making media recording a joy.

Making the HTC Sensation, one of the most user friendly handsets available; it comes complete with pre-loaded Google Android 2..3 (Gingerbread) and HTC Sense v3.0.  This makes the handset simple and easy to use, even for those who are not familiar with smart phones.

An excellent buy, for Android lovers and mobile phone lovers alike; the HTC Sensation is the perfect phone for all.

The Facebook button on the HTC ChaCha allows users to access the site quickly and easily.   The ChaCha also has a Facebook chat widget meaning you can join in instant live chats and juggle multiple conversations with your Facebook friends – brilliant for those who like nothing more than a good gossip.

Sim Free HTC ChaCha

Another great feature of the HTC ChaCha is its ringer volume: as soon as you lift up the ringing handset the volume reduces or if you flip the handset over it completely silences.

The handset comes with a QWERTY keyboard, so you can send messages at speed to keep up with all your conversations and features Android 2.4 and HTC Sense, an aspect unique to HTC’s, designed to make your handset experience more enjoyable.

The HTC ChaCha comes complete with a 5 megapixel camera and VGA front camera; a capacitive 2.6” screen and connectivity to rival any smart phone; making it an excellent option for those who use their smart phones mainly for social media and messaging.

Thinking of getting one?  Here’s two of our favourite HTC ChaCha accessories:

The Official HTC ChaCha Grey Hardshell Is a great HTC ChaCha case as not only does it protect from bumps and scratches, but it does so without adding any bulk to the handset.  The HTC ChaCha cover is a TPU skin meaning it has the flexibility of a silicone case but the protection of a tough case.  It also contains all the relevant cut outs and ensures a snug fit as it is specially made for the HTC ChaCha.

Official HTC ChaCha case

The second is the HTC Car Upgrade kit.  What’s great about this HTC ChaCha car holder is that not only does it dock your phone whilst you’re driving but it doubles up as a HTC ChaCha charger too.  The car kit holds your handset in numerous positions and is attached via the windscreen.

HTC ChaCha Car Holder

Even better, we now know when the Sim Free HTC Sensation will be available and how much it’s going to cost.  The date you need to put in your diary is the 27th June, with the handset costing £499.95.

Sim Free HTC Sensation

Pre-loaded with Google Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and HTC Sense v3.0, the HTC Sensation provides the most up-to-date and user-friendly functionality available.  Team that up with the handset’s pure speed and impressive 8MP camera and you’ve got one of the most powerful phones on the market; but even the most powerful of phones need protecting so here’s our suggestion for the perfect HTC Sensation case.

HTC Sensation Case

The Official HTC Translucent Black Casel case for the Sensation is designed specifically for the handset and has all the flexibility of a silicone case with the protection of a tougher case.  It’s a great alternative to a Flexishield and will protect the back and sides from bumps and scratches, whilst containing all the relevant cut-outs to keep the handset fully functioning.  Team this case with a HTC Sensation screen protector for complete protection.

As it’s made for the Desire HD by HTC themselves, you know it’s going to be a perfect fit. In fact, the fit is a bit tight to start, but after a week or so using it you’ll be sliding it in and out with no problems. To aid removal from the case, HTC have integrated a pull tab mechanism, which means you’ll never be fiddling with the pouch when an important call comes in. The ribbon has a nice silky feel, and is firmly secured to both the case and the leather tab so it’s not going to break any time soon.

The case is genuine leather, so you know the quality is good. It is machine stitched, but it’s very neat and right at the edges of the case, so you get full use of the internal dimensions. On the front of the case is an engraved HTC logo, which while not serving any particular purpose, still looks good!

So if you’re looking for a way to protect your HTC Desire HD while it’s in transit, look no further than the PO S550 pouch. It’s stylish to look at, functional in design, and offers all around coverage against scratches and minor impacts.

Personally, I’m not quite decided between the HTC Desire HD and the HTC Desire Z yet – I’m quite attached to the idea of a physical QWERTY keyboard – so you can expect a blog-post comparing the two quite soon as I try to sort through my thoughts!

We’re currently expecting to offer the SIM free HTC Desire HD from the beginning of November, priced at £459.96, and pre-orders can be placed now on the website.

We’ve also been busy sourcing tons of HTC Desire HD cases and accessories ready for the SIM free lauch, and these have been coming into stock in dribs and drabs.  But it won’t be long to wait now until all the accessories (not to mention the handset itself) arrive in stock, and we’re expecting them to fly off the shelves, so it might be an idea to pre-order pretty sharpish if you want to get your hands on them.

Here’s our top three choices of case for the Desire HD:

Flexishield Skin for the HTC Desire HD

1. Flexishield Skin for the HTC Desire HD

Our best value case, the Flexishield is similar to a crystal case but with the durability and flexibility of silicone.  That keeps the phone protected from knocks and bumps, without adding too much bulk to the handset – something that you certainly don’t need, as the Desire HD is so large already.

Case-Mate Barely There Case for HTC Desire HD – Silver

2. Case-Mate Barely There Case for HTC Desire HD – Silver

The Case-Mate range is available in a variety of sedate but stylish covers, giving your phone more personality whilst keeping it looking tasteful.  The case wraps tightly around the phone, emphasising rather than hiding its curves, and protects whilst also allowing access to all the ports and buttons that you need.

Piel Frama Case for HTC Desire HD

3. Piel Frama Case for HTC Desire HD

For something a little more costly but high-quality and professional-looking, the Piel Frama is an HTC Desire HD case that is designed to impress.  Each case is made from finest hand-crafted leather, which each case taking a total of 25 days to manufacture from start to finish.  The company also take a lot of care to work within the guidelines for ecological leather manufacturing.

No matter how careful you are, without protection, your screen will get scratched. It’s just one of those things. With this being the case, the simplest way to look after the screen on your HTC Desire Z is to fit a HTC Desire Z Screen Protector.

The only way to truly protect your HTC Desire is with the invisibleSHIELD. This fantastic product is completely invisible so that it protects your screen without spoiling the look of the handset that a case can sometimes do. The urethane plastic that it is manufactured from is so super slim in design that it does not affect the look and feel of the Desire Z’s capacitive touchscreen at all.

HTC Desire Z

Now some screen protectors can be a bit hit and miss – they can scratch with heavy abrasion and can pick up dust if they are not fitted properly. Even then there can be an overlap on the size of the screen compared to the protector. Not so the invisibleSHIELD. Precision cut to size, the screen protector fits your screen snugly and, as the plastic began life in the US Military as a helicopter blade protector, it has self healing properties, allowing the scratches it may pick up to be erased and therefore remoulded into its original clear state.

Having said all of the above and for that extra peace of mind, InvisibleSHIELD are so confident that this screen protector does exactly what it says on the tin, the packaging includes a lifetime replacement guarantee direct from the manufacturer.

Microsoft have been working with a variety of designers, and phones are available at launch from LG, HTC and Samsung.  Since three out of the five handsets available at launch are HTC, though, I’m going to concentrate on those for the moment.

It will certainly prove a big step for HTC, who this year have been on the up and up with a range of high-end, best-selling Android devices (most notably the HTC Desire).

We haven’t managed to get our mitts on the handsets for a proper look at them yet, but it’s only a matter of time as they’re launching across the country this week.  At first glance, the main draw-back to the handsets seems to be that they don’t have a MicroSD card slot, meaning you have to make do with the on-board memory.

HTC 7 Trophy

Here’s a brief low-down of the three:

HTC 7 Mozart

By all accounts, the Mozart is an aesthetically pleasing phone, with Engadget describing it as “classy” and ITPro as “good looking”.  Of the three, this looks to be the definite choice if it’s the media experience you’re after; with integrated Microsoft Zune, you can sync your phone with your PC media library.  Dolby Mobile and SRS WOW HD give you virtual surround sound.  Though the 3.7 inch screen is more than generous, if you’re keen on a more visual experience you’d be better off with bigger brothers the HTC 7 Trophy or 7 HD.

HTC 7 Mozart accessories

HTC 7 Trophy

The Trophy, on the other hand, looks like a great choice for gamers – my little brother’s already salivating over it.  With a 4’3 inch screen and integrated Xbox live, it gives an immersive experience so that you’ll never be away from the action for too long.  On the other hand, we have trouble prising my brother away from the Xbox as it is, so your mileage may vary on whether being able to game wherever you are is a good thing or not!

HTC 7 Trophy accessories

HTC HD7

The HD7 is your own pocket cinematic experience, whether you’re a budding film director or more of a coach potato.  It comes with a 5 megapixel camera and can both shoot and playback video in HD, giving your home movies that professional sheen.  Like the Trophy, the screen is an enormous 4.3 inches, so it’s definitely important to invest in a good HTC HD7 cover.

HTC HD7 accessories

iTunes is one of the easiest ways to download and organise your music if you use an iPod or iPhone – but what if you use iTunes to organise and play your music and don’t have an iPod or iPhone?

I’m sure that most of us don’t know that you can sync pretty much any phone with iTunes. Generally speaking, you’ll get a software disc in with your phone that will have a program on for copying your music to your phone, but this can sometimes be clumsy, lead to duplicate songs on your computer, or require your songs to be changed to a different format, but there are ways around this.

I recently came across 2 free programs, (one for Windows, one for Mac OS X) that will let you sync just about any phone with iTunes.

iTunes Agent for Windows users:

This is a simple and easy program to use. It doesn’t matter what phone you have, as long as your PC can recognise it as a storage device once you’ve plugged it into a USB port.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the program, you just need to tell it:

1. How to organise the music on your phone:
   • iTunes saves it in the format: Artist / Album Name / Song.mp3
   • Artist Folder saves in the format: Artist-Album / Song.mp3
   • Flat saves in the format: Artist – Song.mp3
2. Where the music should be saved to on your phone
3. Which playlists you want to synchronise with your phone

That’s about all there is to it. It really couldn’t be easier. Further instructions on how to use it can be found on the iTunes Agent support website.

The newly announced HTC Snap is due for release in July, and is available now to pre order.

The Snap runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and features a QWERTY keyboard, 2MP camera, WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth. Unlike most other HTC devices, the Snap is not a touchscreen device and resembles the popular BlackBerry range of handsets.

For pricing information, or to order yours now – head over to the HTC Snap product page.

So whats so special about this phone then?
Well, the operating system is the first to be produced by a non phone/computer manufacturer. Its open source, meaning that any developer will be able to develop applications for it. With it being powered by Google, using the internet on the device should be excellent.

Specification:
Not the prettiest or smallest of handsets, the G1/HTC Dream does have some impressive specifications.

• 3.17″ Touch Screen
• 5 Hours Talk Time, 130 Hours Standby time
• 3 Mega Pixel Camera- Low resolution considering we’re now upto 8MP
• HSDPA with upto 7.2Mbps downloads
• Supports upto 8GB Micro SDHC, 1GB card bundled with phone
• In Built GPS with Google Maps & Street view pre-installed
• Android Market – Similar to Apple’s App Store, the Market will allow you to download 3rd Party Applications straight to the phone
• Amazon MP3 Store – The Amazon MP3 store hasn’t launched yet in the UK, but is not far off.
• YouTube, another of Google’s toys, YouTube support will be built in as standard.

UPDATE: If you want to have a play with the new Android operating system, T-Mobile have launched an online simulation that lets you experience the G1 in all its Android glory. Head over the the T-Mobile G1 Emulator to try it for yourself.

More details will emerge over the next few days, and I’m certainly keen to see reactions on how the phone is to use. Feel free to leave your comments below.

UPDATE: The T-Mobile G1 is due for release on the 30th October.