HTC Desire S is Officially Red on Vodafone Exclusively

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What a brightly colored experience you’re about to have! The folks at HTC have deemed the color red to be so fantastic that they’ve officially dubbed their Desire S ready to wear it all the time! That’s right, those photos you may have seen a short while ago were real, and Vodafone is the exclusive holder of such a flamingly bright device. Can you dig it? Or is it too massively blastingly fantastically bright for your eyeballs?

You’ll notice by the spelling of the word “colour” that this device will be in Europe first. We’re hoping for more of this wacky color-coding to be taking place here in the states before too long. Got to make sure everyone can feel like they can choose what their phone looks like without adding a case, right? I hate to mention the competitor, but Apple got wise on this when they made their “official smart covers” in multiple colorings. What do you think about that?
Thusly there’s a small spattering of color here or there – most notably in the relatively recently released Sidekick 4G on T-Mobile, a phone made quite obviously for the Hipster generation, a group of people who love their colors to be bright. The insides of every Android phone have the ability to be utterly bright – does it make sense that the outside should be bright as well, or should they be like frame for artwork, blank and sparse to show off the POP art inside?
What do you think? How many more question marks would you like?
Also check out our sister site SlashGear’s review of the Desire S in original stinky blue.

HTC Desire S in red –now available exclusively on Vodafone
The HTC Desire S in now exclusive to Vodafone in a vibrant red colour.
The device boasts a slim and stylish design shaped from a single piece of aluminium, making it feel more solid than the HTC Desire – and lighter too. This new smartphone has an impressive 3.7” touchscreen; a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front and a 5-megapixel camera at the back able to shoot HD video with full SRS surround sound. The HTC Desire S has a 1GHz Snapdragon™ processor inside and is powered by Gingerbread, Android’s latest smartphone operating system.
Free on £30, 24 month price plans including 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500 MB of mobile data (when purchased online.)
Specifications:
Dimensions (mm) 115x12x60
Weight (g) 130
Standby time (hours) 430 (max)
3G standby time (hours) 455 (max)
TouchScreen Resistive/Capacitive
Processor 1GHz
Screensize (inches) 3.7
Talk time (hours) Up to 9 hours
3G talk time (hours) 7 (max)
Internal memory 1.1GB
Operating system Gingerbread

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XPERIA Play heist was fake confesses Vodafone New Zealand

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Vodafone New Zealand has admitted that it faked the entire “stolen XPERIA Play shipment” story, now confirmed to be a promotional campaign designed to mark the launch of the Sony Ericsson gaming smartphone. Doubts arose after Vodafone released “security camera footage” of the theft, which failed to convince viewers.

Company spokesperson Matthew East confirmed to The Australian that the announcement had, in fact, been a marketing stunt rather than a legitimate crime. It’s unclear when, exactly, the phone will launch.
Would-be XPERIA Play owners in New Zealand can find out more about the carrier’s competition here. The rest of us can sleep easily in our beds tonight, knowing that there aren’t rogue Sony Ericsson handsets roaming the streets, flaunting their illicit IMEIs and generally being rowdy.

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Entire Vodafone New Zealand XPERIA Play stock stolen

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Vodafone New Zealand has been forced to delay its launch of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, after its entire launch stock was stolen. According to the carrier’s Facebook page, a “major security” breach saw thieves make off with all the gaming phones.
The carrier shared a (tiny) photo of what looks to be a store with a boarded-up window, though it’s unclear if this single retail location actually had all of the Vodafone stock on-site. The handset is yet to be listed on the carrier’s site.
Vodafone hasn’t said exactly when would-be mobile gamers can expect more stock to arrive. Conspiracy theories already abound, however, with some Facebook commenters going so far as to suggest that the carrier has staged a fake robbery to cover up a more mundane delay of the XPERIA Play.

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Vodafone Smart brings you Android on the cheap

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Vodafone‘s 845 was a tiny Android phone with a suitably tiny price, targeting the entry-level market that Android has flourished so well in. Now, the carrier has its successor, the Vodafone Smart, an Android 2.2 Froyo handset with a 2.8-inch QVGA capacitive touchscreen and quadband HSDPA (3.6).

The dinky phone measures in at 56 x 106 x 12mm and tips the scales at a modest 100g. It can be customized with various different covers, channeling some retro Nokia action, and owners will be able to either choose from Vodafone’s planned spring/summer and autumn/winter ranges, or design their own online.
There’s WiFi and Bluetooth as you’d expect, and the Smart will drop in Germany, Italy and the UK first for around €90 ($79).


Press Release:

Vodafone announces the Vodafone Smart – a smartphone for everyone
Android powered and with innovative design features, the Vodafone Smart is the first in its category – in store for summer, available on pay as you go data plans
Monday 16th May, 2011. Vodafone today announces the launch of the Vodafone Smart, the latest handset in its own-brand range and the first in its category: a fully-featured smartphone with popular appeal for the next wave of data users.
The Vodafone Smart delivers a compelling smartphone experience, empowering customers to enter the world of the mobile internet, bringing together apps, navigation, social-networking and multimedia, all at a great price, in a great package.
Patrick Chomet, Vodafone Group Terminals Director said, “More and more Vodafone customers are enjoying the benefits of smartphones which currently account for over 40% of the phones we sell in Europe. Continuing to push the boundaries through our own-brand range, the Vodafone Smart is a new smartphone concept. It takes the higher end mobile internet experience and packages it for the mass market, its range of covers and accessories making it a fun fashion statement. Available on pay as you go plans, and on the fast, reliable Vodafone networks, the Vodafone Smart is a great step-up into the world of mobile data.”
The Vodafone Smart will be rolled out in a range of colours – from cool monochromes, through bold brights, to bespoke graphic designs. What’s more, customers will be able to personalise their phone, creating their own one-off covers on the web. With spring/summer and autumn/winter cover ranges planned, customers can build up a cover collection to suit their style and spirit.
The Android 2.2 software will give customers access to the full Android experience, including the Android Market™, Gmail™, Google Maps™ and Google Talk™ instant messaging. In addition, the phone has a zoom camera and a capacitive touchscreen as well as 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.
The Vodafone design team have created the user experience with first-time smartphone users in mind and, as such, the homescreen comes pre-loaded with direct links to key content and features including Facebook™, Twitter™, email, Vodafone’s ‘Prepay Manager’ for quick top-ups, Vodafone Music and finally the ‘Updates’ widget, which gives customers easy access to a shortlist of leading Android Market apps and other services selected by local Vodafone editors.
The Vodafone Smart will be available across the Vodafone footprint by early summer. Germany, Italy and the UK will be among the first to sell the phone which will retail for around €90.

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