Anyone looking forward to the new HTC Desire HD or Desire Z will be happy to hear that htcsense.com is now online.  The site’s been password protected for the past few weeks, but it looks like HTC is gearing up for business since their two new Android phones should be hitting the streets any day now.  Htcsense.com is simply a new tool to help you manage your phone from your computer rather than having to do everything from your handset.  Users will be able to do sort through and edit their contacts, manage and send sms and picture messages, and even customize their handset’s look in feel directly through the website. 

Dashboard

The main dashboard on htcsense.com is really all about security and peace of mind.  If you happen to leave your handset at home or at a friend’s house, you’ll be able to forward your calls or messages to another phone number with a few simple clicks. There are also features to remotely lock and erase your handset.

Footprints

I have never been real big fans of HTC’s Footprints app.  The Android Market has quite a few apps that offer similar features, but now that Footprints is integrated into htcsense.com things might get a bit more interesting.  I could definitely see Footprints as a great vacation planner.  Simple use the website to mark all the spots you plan on visiting and you’re set to go.  You can add pictures and note to your location so that all the information you’ll need is all in one spot. 

People

The People tab on htcsense.com should allow users to manage their contacts.  Since my EVO with the custom Desire HD Rom doesn’t want to sync up with the website yet, things are a bit scarce.  Until I can get my contact list to sync up, it’s hard to tell if this contact manager will be more useful than editing contact information through Gmail. 

Messaging

Have you ever deleted a text message that you shouldn’t have or struggled to find a text that had some important information you needed?  The messaging center allows you to quickly sort through all the text messages you have ever received on your phone (even if you deleted them).  To make things even easier, HTC has added search functionality.  You can even send individual or group messages to everyone in your contacts list directly through the website

HTC Hub

While HTC Sense has always given user the ability to customize their handsets, htcsense.com is taking things to a whole new level.  Think of HTC Hub as the ultimate customization took for your HTC Sense phone.  From here, you will be able to browse through and download apps, scenes, wallpapers, skins, and sounds for your handset. 

One of the new highlights of the newest version of HTC Sense is the ability to download customized skins for the UI.  If any of you have seen the myTouch Slide, you know what I’m talking about.  The new skins allow you to completely change the look of the widgets, notification bar, and app launcher.  The new HTC Sense comes with a handful of scenes already installed, but through the HTC Hub you will be able to browse through and download additional skins. 

For now, the selection of content in the HTC Hub is pretty limited, but we’d expect HTC to beef up their catalog once the HTC Desire HD and Desire Z finally go on sale. With the new htcsense.com website, HTC is continuing to deliver on their promise to allow users to “make it mine.”  The site isn’t anything revolutionary, but it does add to a more complete experience with HTC Sense. 

Source: htcsense.com

We’re back!  Vacation is over and we’re hoping to get back into the news groove today.  It you didn’t keep up with all the HTC news from the past week, we’ve put together a quick highlight of what you missed.  There are some new details on the Windows Phone 7 front with images and specs of the HTC HD7 and the HTC Trophy.  Also, the Nexus One received a minor update for Android 2.2.1 with fixed a few bugs and the EVO 4G’s latest update has finally removed the 30 frames per second cap.  And for all those frequent flashers out there, the Desire HD Rom has been ported to the HTC Desire, DROID Incredible, and EVO 4G. 

News stories courtesy of AndroidGuys, Androinica, and WMExperts

• HTC’s next Android for Verizon breaks cover
• More countries will soon get paid apps in Android Market
• Nexus One gets updated to Android 2.2.1, build FRG83
• Windows Phone 7 featured in AT&T Ads
• Desire HD ROM Ported to HTC Incredible, HTC Desire, and Evo 4G
• T-Mobile G2 Won’t Support Tethering at Launch
• HTC on Sense & Windows Phone 7: “…we will innovate”
• Desire HD ROM Ported to HTC Incredible, HTC Desire, and Evo 4G
• HTC Trophy spec sheet
• HD7 Specs List surfaces
• First real images of the HTC HD7/HD3 appear

We were finally able to download HTC’s full press kit from today’s event in London and were pleasantly surprised to find a few video files along with the typical images and press releases. Probably the most interesting video clip is the introduction of the Desire HD, Desire Z, and the new HTC Sense. The 6 minute clip gives us a quick highlight of the hardware of the two new handsets and overview of the new features included in HTC Sense.  Though many of you are fans of stock Android, HTC has really stepped thing up with the latest version of HTC Sense.  Stock Android may be the build of choice for the modder/hacker, but we have a feeling that the general public will find that HTC Sense really brings a more complete experience to Android right out of the box. 

This second video is a quick recap of today’s pres event. HTC typically posts up a video with the entire press conference. Until then, this highlight reel should keep most of you satisfied.

The last video features HTC’s Peter Chou (CEO), John Wang (Chief Marketing Officer), and Horace Luke (Chief innovation Office) talking about the new HTC Sense and the innovation behind the software running on the HTC Desire HD and Desire Z.

It may be a little overdue, but we’re pretty sure that HTC cans over in Europe and Asia will be more than happy to hear that the HTC EVO will be launching on their site of the globe as the HTC Desire HD.  The HTC Desire HD will feature a 4.3 inch capacitive LDC display, Dolby Mobile, virtual surround sound, 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 720p HD video recording.  HTC makes no mention of it, the we’re pretty sure that the 1GHz Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon processor will be running Android 2.2.  Like the HTC Legend which launched earlier this year, the HTC Desire HD is carved out of a solid piece of Aluminum.  The only down side to the HTC Desire HD’s design is the lack of the kick-stand which is a very prominent feature of the U.S. HTC EVO 4G. 

Like the HTC Desire Z, the new Desire HD will feature the new HTC Sense and will be able to take advantage of HTC’s new htcsense.com which allows user to remotely monitor their handset.  According ot HTC, the Desire HD will be making its way onto carriers in Europe and Asia sometime in October.  For now, we only have the one image above, but we’ll be updating the post once HTC makes other image available to the public.

UPDATE: Through some digging, we were able to locate some image files on HTC’s site.  Hope you enjoy!
UPDATE 2: We’ve addin in the official press shots and full handset spec sheet

HTC Desire HD Specs

• 1 GHz Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon processor
• Android 2.2 (Froyo) with HTC Sense
• 1.5 GB of internal storage
• 768 MB of RAM
• Size: 123 x 68 x 11.8mm (4.84 x 2.67 x 0.46 inches)
• Weight: 164 grams (5.78 ounces) with battery
• 4.3″, WVGA resolution Capacitive display
• HSPA/WCDMA (900/2100 MHz) and GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• Bluetooth® 2.1, A2DP, FTP, OPP, and PBAP
• Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
• 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
• Standard micro-USB (for charging and syncing)
• 8 megapixel color camera with auto focus and dual LED flash with 720p HD video recording
• 1230 mAh rechargeable lithium ion battery
• Motion, proximity, and ambient light sensor

Here we go again.  If you though the shots we showed off a few hours ago were a little too blurry to enjoy, Engadget has been treated to a handful of new images of the T-Mobile G2 which give us a much clearer look at the device.  The new pictures actually give us a glimpse of how the sliding mechanism for the QWERTY keyboard works.  Rather than simply sliding up, the screen appears to pop over the keyboard when transitioning between the open and closed positions.  The new pictures also give us a more clear view of the keyboard and the mysterious dotted buttons on the bottom row.  We can’t know for sure, but we’re pretty certain that the three buttons will be used to left, center, and right on the home screen. 

The images of the back and side of the T-Mobile G2 reveal the camera, LED flash, microUSB port, volume rocker, and a rubber/metallic design similar to what we have seen on the HTC Desire HD and HTC Schubert. 

If you’re dying to know what HTC has been working on for the past few months, we suggest you mark September 15^th on your calendar.  HTC has just send out invitations to the media to a press event they will be hosting on September 15^th in London.  As usual, no details about the event have been revealed, but we’re pretty sure that HTC will be showing off at least a few different Android and Windows Phone 7 devices.  The date does fall pretty close to the expected launch of the HTC Vanguard on T-Mobile USA, but HTC typically does not announce U.S. specific devices at their international press events.  That being said, the HTC Vanguard could be launch in both the U.S. and EU just like the HTC Dream.   

Other phones we could expect to see unveiled at HTC’s London event include the HTC Ace (Desire HD), HTC Mozart, HTC Vision, HTC Schubert, and the HTC Glacier.  If that list looks a bit long, keep in mind that HTC is expected to unveil 6 new phones and ship over 8 million units in Q4 alone.

Looking for some new details on the mythical Project Emerald?  The guys over at Phandroid are now reporting that Project Emerald is actually a reference to the launch of two different HTC handsets, not one.  The source behind this new rumor claims that will have a “dual-launch of the HTC Vision as the G1 Blaze, and the HTC Desire HD as the myTouch 3G HD” with the first handset hitting stores on September 22^nd and the other will make an appearance one week later on September 29^th. 

While we like the idea of a dual-launch plan, there are a few things here that simply don’t add up:

• According to the leaked T-Mobile roadmap, the HTC vanguard and Emerald are launching two months apart from each other
• There are no similarities between the HTC Desire HD and the myTouch 3G HD
• No concrete details are known about Project Emerald, but neither the HTC Vision nor the HTC Vanguard are expected to feature a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor

We may be wrong, but we’re going to be labeling Phandroid’s rumor as pure speculation.  We know that HTC and T-Mobile have something big planned with Project Emerald; we just don’t think a two phone launch is what they have in the works. 

Source: Phandroid