HTC Rhyme – it’s almost time

HTC Rhyme smartphone, video screen

HTC are holding a media launch next Thursday afternoon for the HTC Rhyme smartphone. The Rhyme is another of the HTC production line of Android phones, this one running Android Gingerbread (aka Android 2.3).

HTC Rhyme, views of the front and back

The HTC Rhyme is a mid-range phone, sporting a 3.7 inch touchscreen. The colour, purple, would indicate that HTC is aiming this phone fairly and squarely at the feminine side of the smartphone fence. And perhaps the Papal set.



HTC Rhyme accessories

Accessories for the HTC Rhyme include the HTC Rhyme Bluetooth Headset, a Bluetooth Car Speaker, and a HTC Rhyme Docking Station.

Then there’s the HTC Rhyme Charm. This little device is:

a small light-emitting cube that attaches to the phone by a cord that can dangle from your bag and also be used to quickly pull the phone out of your bag. It also makes it easy to find your phone buried in your cluttered purse or backpack.

Overseas the Docking Station, Tangle Free Headphones and Charm are included in the box with the HTC Rhyme itself. Next week we’ll find out if this is also the case in Australia.

UPDATE 20 October, 2011

The HTC Rhyme will be exclusive to Optus, and will be available on November 1. It will sell for $0 upfront on Optus’s $59 plan, a minimum cost over the 24 month plan of $1,416. And yes, the Docking Station, Tangle Free Headphones and Charm are included in the box for the Australian release of the HTC Rhyme.

HTC Rhyme smartphone, video screen

HTC video

In this short video members of the HTC design team talk about the inspiration for the phone:

HTC Rhyme specifications

  • Operating system: Android Gingerbread
  • Display: 3.7-inch touch screen with 480 x 800 resolution
  • CPU: 1 GHz
  • Network: HSPA/WCDMA – Europe/Asia: 850/900/2100 MHz. Upload speed of up to 5.76 Mbps and download speed of up to 14.4 Mbps. Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
  • Storage: Total storage – 4 GB; Available storage – up to 1 GB; RAM – 768 MB; Memory expandable by microSD
  • Camera: 5 megapixel color camera with auto focus and LED flash; 720p HD video recording; VGA front-facing camera
  • Battery: 1600 mAh rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
  • Talk time: Up to 480 minutes for WCDMA. Up to 620 minutes for GSM
  • Standby time: Up to 340 hours for WCDMA. Up to 295 hours for GSM
  • GPS: Internal GPS antenna
  • Sensors: Ambient light sensor, G-Sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor
  • Connectivity: 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, Bluetooth 3.0 with FTP/OPP for file transfer, A2DP for wireless stereo headsets, and PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit, Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
    DLNA for wirelessly streaming media from the phone to your TV or computer
  • Size: 119 x 60.8 x 10.85 mm (H x W x D)
  • Weight: 130 grams with battery