There's a new competitor coming to the smartphone arena, and it's part of the newly unveiled three-phone "HTC One" series by HTC.
Today at Mobile World Congress 2012, HTC announced that starting this spring, they will be offering the HTC One S. The HTC One S will be T-Mobile’s thinnest smartphone (7.95mm) and featuring an ultra-sleek, aluminum unibody design. The HTC One S is T-Mobile’s first product to ship with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and the HTC Sense 4 user interface.

The HTC One S allows offers entertainment features such as Beats By Dr. Dre sound technology. The HTC One S also makes it simple to get and listen to music, with Google Music pre-loaded on the device for easy cloud-based access to the user’s personal music collection.

“We’re thrilled to partner with HTC on the launch of its new HTC One series of smartphones and to bring the HTC One S to the U.S.,” said Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president, marketing, T-Mobile USA. “With the HTC One S, we’re not only delivering on our promise to bring leading-edge technology to market but are continuing to provide customers with the best 4G entertainment experiences from listening to high-quality music to streaming high-resolution movies.”

The phone's camera and video technology is also a highlight.
Camera enhancements include:

-- Fast Capture – The HTC One S dramatically reduces the time it takes to capture those key moments, with an estimated 0.7-second shot time and a 0.2-second autofocus that allows for nearly unlimited continuous shots.

-- High Quality Photos in Adverse Conditions – The HTC One S delivers dramatic enhancements in image capture quality even in adverse lighting conditions. The f/2.0 lens on the HTC One S offers amazing low-light performance, capturing 40 percent more light than the f/2.4 lenses available on other high-end phones.

-- Concurrent Video/Still Capture – HTC One S lets the user capture a shot and shoot video at the same time – perfect for capturing life’s moments as they happen. While shooting 1080p HD video, consumers just need to tap the shutter button and the device snaps a high-resolution still photo while the video continues to shoot. Consumers can also capture a still from a previously recorded video.

“People take photos on their phone more than any activity other than making phone calls, which is why we improved every part of the camera experience on HTC One S,” said Jason Mackenzie, president, global sales and marketing, HTC Corporation. “We’re thrilled to bring our combination of our premium design, amazing camera and authentic sound to T-Mobile customers in the U.S.”

The HTC One S will be equipped with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor by Qualcomm and a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED touch screen.

Availability

The HTC One S is expected to be available this spring from T-Mobile at retail stores, select dealers and retailers nationwide, and online at http://www.t-mobile.com. For more information, visit http://htc.t-mobile.com/one/s-4g-phone or http://www.htc.com/us/products/htcones-tmobile.

Matt Myftiu can be reached at matt.myftiu@oakpress.com.