New Comer Smartphone - HTC Sensation

 The HTC Sensation is a smartphone device based on the Android OS. Operating system: Android with HTC Sense

• Operating system: Android with HTC Sense
• CPU: 1.2 GHz dual core
•  Internal phone storage: 1GB
•  RAM: 768 MB
•  Camera: 8 megapixel with auto focus and dual LED flash
•  Battery: 1520 mAh

The Sensation weighs148 grams with a 4.3-inch touch screen. The size of the handset measures 126.1mm x 65.4mm x 11.3mm (4.96” x 2.57” x 0.44”). In terms of size, the Sensation is quite a large phone and quite a bit larger than I personally am used to. Using the touch screen display gives the sensation that you are running your fingers through silk. The glass is contoured along the entire edge of the screen. The screen is activated via a quick press of the on/off button at the top of the phone. Gone are my qualms about the size of the phone. The display uses the screen to its full capability thus justifying its size. The amount of information that can be portrayed on a screen of this size and the space available enables icons, menus and applications to run and work to the best of their ability. Literally, the size of the display reduces the amount of continuous screens that one needs to go through to complete an interaction or to enjoy an application. At the bottom of the display sits the default keys of Home, Menu, Back and Search.

The notifications bar is full of useful information, showing the most recent used applications as well as information about download, email, updates and more. The notification bar is easily accessed, by swiping down from the top of any screen. The Sensation comes equipped with 7 display screens. A short press of the on/off button brings you to the lock screen, which shows you short-cut icons for phone, mail, camera and messages and dragging any icon into the ‘ring’ will activate it. The date, time, weather and your favourite apps are shown on the default home screen and this can be personalized in any way you wish: from removing applications completely, to another screen, or adding new ones. You can shop for more applications via the Market place where you can find free or paid apps for purchase. The vast majority of applications are updated automatically but a few have to be updated manually. Updates for Facebook for Android, for example was shown directly within the Facebook App.

I do prefer what is becoming the old fashioned method of one app for one function so I have both Twitter and Facebook installed despite the fact that the HTC Sensation has a wonderful application called Friendstream. In this application, all your social network updates are shown together. The Sensation comes equipped with a multitude of applications pre-installed including the usual Gmail, Google maps and navigation. The camera was easy to use via the touch screen facility and includes scene modes, zoom, full widescreen, resolution, geo-tag, auto-focus, face-detection and a self-timer. The 8-megapixel camera produced some good quality images. The Sensation has a back-facing camera in addition to a front facing camera. The personalization options on the HTC Sensation, is almost endless, ranging from wallpapers and ringtones to organizing your preferences with widgets, apps, shortcuts and folders.

Text input was simple and efficient both in emails, text messaging and in social networking applications. In addition, the Sensation comes pre-installed with Trace keyboard (similar in function to Swype). The Sensation has connectivity options for Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and tethering. The security functions protect both your information on the phone, access to your phone and sim card and installations. There are power options for the battery to both enable power efficiency and power saver settings.

The HTC Sensation can use an SD card up to 32gb and has an internal storage with available free space of 1.10 GB. HTC Hub incorporates HTC Sense, which have additional apps and plug-ins not available in the Market Place.

HTC Sense allows you to download HTC apps, widgets and wallpapers

To access your phone remotely

Automatically share stuff with your friends who have HTC phones

Register your phone with HTC

The Sensation includes an online bookstore with a Reader. The Sensation includes the option to download a ‘how to’ guide. In addition you can download ‘how to’ videos. The Sensation includes the option to transfer your information from a previous phone to your new HTC. A newsreader and YouTube application are installed by default keeping you up-to-date with the world news and media.

Music player shows: album art, albums, artists, playlists, genre, composers and music purchased with options to shuffle or play all. The browser is a shining point in the Sensation. The ability to view a complete web page on one screen proved invaluable with text reflow proving invaluable. The touch screen options including zoom, served to improve that experience even more. Web pages loaded quick and fast, clarity was the essence in every page and it precisely and accurately registered touch screen input for links and text input.

The quick access to my applications via the lock-screen and default home screen served my purposes such that I rarely had to go in amongst the menu. I was equally satisfied with the multi-media applications of the camera, video, music and radio. Social networking was particularly enjoyable on the Sensation. Initially, it may appear that the HTC Sensation is aimed at business professionals. Ignore the size of the Sensation.

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