The beat goes on

It had me at red. Or, rather, at the logo on the back cover of the new HTC smartphone: a lowercase “b” in a red circle — Beats by Dr. Dre, the very expensive brand of headphones and loudspeakers created by rapper Dr. Dre and Interscope-Gefen-A&M Records chairman Jimmy Iovine.

The first time I heard music with a Monster Beats headphone — borrowed from a friend a year ago — I was blown away by the clear, crisp quality of sound. Having been used for years to my earphones when listening to music, a pair of headphones covering my ears made listening suddenly seem so different and so much better.

Think of it this way: You’ve been watching movies with a DVD player and suddenly somebody put you in a room equipped with a Bluray set up with a high-fidelity audio surround system. Each clink of glass, each footstep and explosion grabs you fully. Now imagine having that audio quality in your ears — with your music coming not from your MP3 player but from your phone.   

The Beats logo on the back cover of the Sensation phone may be the coolest audio logo ever. Beats by Dr. Dre headphones are popular with not just musicians and producers, but also NBA stars and other athletes.

So, when HTC launched four new smartphones early this month at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, the roomful of journalists naturally gravitated to HTC’s aptly named Sensation phone. The HTC Sensation XE comes with red Beats earphones, and the Sensation XL with red Beats Solo headphones, which are a little smaller than the Beats headphones that NBA players and musicians like to sport.

This phone has…swagger.

Having bought stake into Beats this year to the tune of $300 million, HTC is in a position to change the way we enjoy music through our phones — giving us studio quality audio wherever we are, whether in the gym, airport, office, at home or in transit. Sensation is the first-ever phone to feature Beats Audio technology.

“We believe that audio is a crucial part of any consumer’s mobile experience and will continually push the audio boundaries to encompass not only improved voice but music, movies and games,” said Lennard Hoornik, president of HTC South Asia Pacific. “The HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio offers a truly incredible experience that demonstrates our leadership in innovation and technology, as well as our commitment to place consumers at the centre of their mobile worlds.”

The Beats Audio experience is described as a “combination of software and hardware that allows you to hear music the way the artist intended. When used with the exclusive custom-made Beats headset, the handset automatically switches to the bespoke Beats Audio sound profile, delivering audio tracks tuned specifically for the headphones.”

Listening to music from your Sensation phone using Beats headphone, you will notice a fuller bass and crisper vocals, better clarity and range because the specially designed headphones work seamlessly with the HTC Music application.

The HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio also packs an eight-gigabyte MicroSD card, which can store thousands of songs. The exclusive, custom-made Beats headset features a remote control, so you can pause, play or skip through tracks and answer or end calls without taking out your phone from your bag or pocket.

The HTC Explorer, running on Android, is an entry-level smartphone in a curved and compact case. It has a 3.2-inch touchscreen display and a three-megapixel camera.

The Sensation XE also packs other firepower: an eight-megapixel camera, a 1.5 GHz dual core processor and an extended battery of 1730 mAh that enable you to listen, watch, speak and browse for even longer.

From one end of the market to the other, HTC’s got it covered. It also launched its most affordable smartphone: the Explorer, also running on Android, an entry-level smartphone in a curved and compact case. It has a 3.2-inch touchscreen display and a three-megapixel camera.

Jason Mackenzie, president of global sales and marketing, HTC Corporation, says, “HTC Explorer is an easy-to-use smartphone that puts the customer in control, providing quick access to their most important content and information. It is a smarter phone for anyone and it represents another clear demonstration of HTC’s global commitment to expanding the market for advanced smartphones.”

You can customize the Explorer’s lock screen to display social updates, photos, weather or stock updates, which can be viewed by waking up the phone. The People widget lets you track social updates from colleagues, friends and family in a single, easy-to-view thread. You can also easily send a photo, video clip or location in a message with just one touch.

Lady Gaga and her signature Beats by Dr. Dre. Among other endorsers and fans are Justin Bieber, Diddy, LeBron James.

You can set up multiple e-mail accounts and combine different calendars into a single view. The calendar reminders are displayed in different colors so you don’t get confused. Being an entry-level smartphone, it helps you keep your phone bill in check as it tracks your call minutes, messages and data.

From audio to camera capabilities, HTC is breaking new ground. The new Windows smartphone Radar raises the quality of photos taken with your phone.

Radar is designed to keep you close to the people, news and entertainment that matter to you most. 

HTC Radar features a dedicated hardware camera button that enables you to capture vivid images while the f/2.2 aperture lens and back-illuminated sensor provide improved low-light performance. With 28mm wide-angle lenses you can capture more of the scene in front of you while the new panoramic feature lets you create dramatic pictures of skylines and landscapes. HTC Radar can shoot bright and vibrant HD (720p) videos for those family functions or a night out with friends. And with the HTC Photo Enhancer, you can quickly touch up pictures and upload them to Facebook, tagging your friends as you go using automatic face detection built into Windows Phones. 

 “Phones were originally designed for communication, but they haven’t kept up with the way consumers are actually communicating today. That’s why we built Windows Phone to put people first, building in all the key types of communication people are already using right out of the box,” said Andy Lees, president of Windows Phone Division.  “The HTC Radar brings a sleek, modern design that perfectly complements this people-first experience, making sure it’s easy to connect and share with the people you care about most so the message always gets through.”

The Radar carries HTC Watch, an application and service that puts an entire library of the latest, premium movies and TV shows right at your fingertips, letting people discover the latest video content in an easy way. Using Virtual 5.1 surround sound for a rich audio experience, the Radar will keep you entertained even when you’re on the move.

Lennard Hoornik, president of HTC South Asia Pacific, listens to his playlist using his Sensation XL with Beats Solo: “We believe that audio is a crucial part of any consumer’s mobile experience and will continually push the audio boundaries to encompass not only improved voice but music, movies and games.”

And because this is a Windows phone, you get amazing mobile gaming with Xbox Live, giving you access to games for Windows Phone, which include features like Leaderboards and Achievement that connect you with your friends and the Xbox Live community around the world.

If you prefer an elegant unibody phone, then the HTC Rhyme is the one for you. It is enhanced with HTC Sense 3.5 — an all-new home screen design that removes clutter from your phone and is preloaded with unique customized wallpapers.

Some surprises include the ability to silence your phone by flipping it or simply tap a word or phrase and it will look it up on Google, YouTube, Wikipedia or the dictionary; tangle-free headphones; a sports armband; a wireless headset and Bluetooth car speaker that you can lip onto the sun visor in your car for safe driving; and a docking station. Another unique feature is the Rhyme Charm, a light-emitting cube tat attaches to your phone to alert you to incoming messages or calls while the phone is buried deep in your bag.  

These four new smartphones definitely embody HTC’s slogan “quietly brilliant” but, this time, with a lot of swagger and swank.

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HTC Sensation XE, Explorer, Radar, and Rhyme will be released in the Philippines in November.