HTC Sensation Available For Pre-Order On Vodafone

HTC’s Sensation Gingerbread smartphone is now available for pre-order on Vodafone UK, with the launch date expected to be 19 May.

Vodafone‘s customers can get the Sensation for free on a two-year pay-monthly contract, which starts from £35 per month, inclusive of 900 minutes of calls, unlimited texts and 750MB of mobile data.

Those with lesser usage can opt for the £25-per-month package that includes 100 minutes of calls, 500 texts and 500MB of mobile data. According to Vodafone’s price plans, customers have to pay £199 extra for the “high-performing phone”.

HTC’s multimedia superphone

Running Google’s Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) the Sensation is designed specifically for a high-definition and multimedia viewing experience. Described as “a multimedia superphone” by HTC, the handset offers a 4.3-inch qHD screen with 540 x 960 resolution and virtual surround sound capability.

In a bid to attract movie fans, HTC also offers “an unprecedented movie watching experience” with the Sensation via HTC Watch – a video streaming service that allows users to rent or buy films as well as TV programmes. Its “progressive download” technology lets users start watching their videos seconds after the downloading starts.

“HTC Watch also keeps tabs on your Internet connection and ensures you get an uninterrupted viewing experience,” says the manufacturer on its website.

Besides the multimedia features, the Sensation also comes with a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 768MB of RAM and 1GB of internal storage, which can be expanded to 32GB with a microSD card.

The smartphone’s 8-megapixel rear-facing camera is capable of HD 1082-pixel video recording, while the 1.2-megapixel model at the front enables video calls.

HTC’s Flyer tablet

Poised to launch in the same month is HTC’s first Android tablet, the Flyer, which is aimed to wow the already crowded market with a magic pen stylus for note taking.

The gadget is now available for pre-order at the Carphone Warehouse, with a price tag of £599.99 for a SIM-free 3G model. The Wi-Fi only version is expected to ship later this year, at a lower price.