T-Mobile and HTC Team Up on High-End Android Phone for Shutterbugs
While the name suggests that the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide is just another high-end Android phone, its photography features could let the device stand out from the pack.
The new device, which T-Mobile plans to ship sometime next month, packs a number of hardware and software features for the photo enthusiast, including an 8-megapixel camera, a wide-aperture lens, no shutter lag and a dedicated hardware button that lets users skip the lock screen and go straight from sleep mode to taking pictures. That last feature is a popular option on Windows Phone 7 and Apple is working to add something similar with iOS 5.
Overall, the phone is designed to earn a place in the hearts of smartphone buyers, who increasingly count on their phones to serve as their primary point-and-shoot camera.
“Knowing that the best camera is the one you’ve got with you, we set out to create a new best-in-class smartphone that allows our customers to leave their cameras at home,” T-Mobile Senior VP Andrew Sherrard said in a statement. “Our newest myTouch device takes capturing and sharing memories to a new level by combining high-quality smartphone hardware with features that customers would expect from a top-of-the-line digital camera.”
The device is also capable uploading images directly to Facebook, Picasa and Flickr and of recording 1080p high-definition. The myTouch 4G Slide also comes with several photo programs, including one that takes panoramic photos and another that allows several photos to be taken in a single burst.
On the non-photo side, the phone comes in two colors (black and khaki) and packs a slide-out keyboard, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chip and a 3.7-inch screen.
T-Mobile has yet to announce pricing or exact availability for the device.