HTC TITAN

Available now
4th September 2011

A Windows Phone 7.5 handset featuring HTC's largest ever smartphone display, the HTC TITAN certainly deserves its name. And just in case the name sounds familiar, HTC did have the similarly named TyTN handset a few years ago.

It's been almost a year since the launch of HTC's last Windows Phone handsets, and since then Microsoft's new operating system hasn't made a huge impact. However, it has steadily improved over the past year and the latest version, 7.5 is showing some promise for customers, against a backdrop of troubles with the rival Android OS which is making manufacturers look again at Microsoft's offering.

The most obvious feature with the TITAN is the display, a large 4.7" 480 x 800 pixel panel which is one of the largest on the market. Inside is a 1.5GHz single core CPU coupled with 512MB of RAM. On the back is an 8 megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture.

This is a 3.5G phone with WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth plus DLNA integration. Inside is 16GB of non-expandable memory, some of which will be used up by the operating system. There's a pretty decent media player and all the usual smartphone software features that you'd expect, although everything is very Microsoft-oriented.

The user interface is very different from other smartphones, and it takes a bit of getting used to. On the other hand, Microsoft have thought long and hard about how people want to use their phones and there are plenty of people who rate Windows Phone very highly when it comes to usability.

The HTC TITAN is quite a big device at 132 x 71 x 10mm and 160 grams. The 1600 mAh battery gives up to 6.8 hours talktime and 19 days standby time.

There's a chance that Windows Phone might just be about to take off, and high-end handsets like the TITAN are certainly going to help. HTC say that the TITAN should be available from October onwards, starting in Europe and Asia although there is no guidance on price.