HTC Legend

The HTC Legend is a tablet-style
Android smartphone hape keren, following
up from the HTC Hero with a
number of improvements all
around.
Launched at the same time as the
HTC Desire, the HTC Legend is
more compact and comes with
the same 3.2" 320 x 480 pixel
display that the Hero had.
However, the design has been
reworked to look more elegant
(more of which later) and the old
trackball has been replaced by an
optical one with a clickable
surround.. not that Android really
needs such a thing anyway. On
the back is a 5 megapixel camera
with autofocus, LED flash and
geo-tagging support.
This is an Android 2.1 handset,
and as usual HTC have added
their own feature on top such as
the Sense UI that we have seen
before. Inevitably, it has been
given some new social
networking features called
"Friend Stream" which brings
together updates from friends
on Twitter, Facebook and other
social networking sites all in one
place.
This is a very elegant looking
handset, with a combination of
aluminium and plastic "bumpers"
that make it look absolutely
fabulous. The HTC Legend is
certainly going to attract the
right kind of attention when you
take it out of your pocket to use.
HTC say that the Legend is made
out of a single piece of
aluminium which should add to
the robustness and "wow factor"
when you look at it. It still retains
the distinctive "bump" that other
HTC Android devices have,
although originally that was a
design feature to protect the
trackball which is now optical
rather than mechanical. The black
sections are there for practical
purposes - the WiFi, cellular and
GPS antennae are all hidden
underneath plastic sections
because metal housing would
tend to block the signal.
Inside the HTC Legend is a 600
MHz Qualcomm 7227 processor,
which is pretty much standard
for this type of handset..
although we do wonder how
well it will cope with the
processor demands of Android
2.1. Internal memory is 384MB of
RAM which should be enough for
most users. It's a slim device at
112 x 56 x 12mm, but perhaps a
little on the heavy side at 126
grams. The 1300 mAh battery is
quoted as giving up to 6 hours
talktime on 3G and 23 days
standby time.
This is a 3.5G device with
maximum download speeds of
up to 7.2Mps and uploads of up
to 2Mbps. 802.11 b and g WiFi is
supported, and of course there's
Bluetooth and USB for local
connectivity. The HTC Legend
has the usual multimedia player,
plus an FM radio and a useful
3.5mm audio socket too.
Slated to be available in Europe
from April onwards, the HTC
Legend will provide stiff
competition for other
smartphone manufacturers, and
should appeal to customers who
want something that's as elegant
as the iPhone but quite different
at the same time.