I have had faith in the Android platform from day one, it is solid, it has a linux kernel, it does what you want, when you want making everything ever so reliable. Admittedly my first encounter with Android was unfortunately with the Samsung Galaxy, it served its purpose yet was a unrefined and a little slow. The HTC Desire on the otherhand, one knows they are dealing with serious hardware here from paper, and the handset actually proves true.  It is essentially a rebranded Nexus One, the original Google-developed phone which was manufactured by HTC, Sony turned down the contract. Bound by the unignorable marketing force of Apple I am obluged to compare to the iPhone. Bye, Bye iPhone, this blows it out of the water.

The phones construction is superior in every way, it fits well in one hand and is light and responsive enough to use single handed. The hardware is quite impressive, 1Ghz Snapdragon, 5MP camera with LED flash, incredible clear 480×800 Sony SLED amongst the usual trimmings one has come to expect in a smartphone, GPS, Bluetooth. The software is HTC Sense on top of Android, this works quite nicely, the widget structure is excellent, 7 home screens to work with for essentials such as Clock, Contacts, Calendar, Mail/Social network updates, Weather, etc. This can be customised anyway you wish.

General operation of the phone is very responsive and lightning fast.  Everything Instant. Everything connected. Everything integrated.  And this is the real beauty of this device, all information on the device is linked, okay you may need to manually link some entries in facebook to contact list, but all contact data from Google/Facebook/Twitter/Flickr are viewable on the contact card.  GPS is incredible fast, and accurate, I have yet to put Bluetooth support through its paces.  Camera is well decent at 5MP with flash, video is also very clear. Battery seems to be above average for a smartphone, and there are a number of options to conserve power, disabling wireless transmitters, dimming screen, amongst other fine tuning. Inclusion of Google Navigation is a nice bonus, and Google Earth is amazing in detail, 3D buildings would be nice however. The G-Sensor and GPS are both incredible accurate, and can be recorded in My Tracks (Google mapping service) and uploaded to Google Maps. There is a Kindle app from Amazon to easily read and purchase books, this is one of the killer features for me, no more lost books! And indeed the convenience of being able to carry a volume of books in your pocket, and yes the books are perfectly readable, its nice to have a copy of Huxley’s Brave New World on me at all times, my Catcher In The Rye.

It is obvious after a couple of hours using the phone that it is a serious iPhone competitor, probably the first handset to give it a run for its money. 

After a little time with this device you know you are dealing with serious high tech gadgetry, just what every aspiring Jack Bauer or James Bond needs to have in his pocket.

Indeed, the only corners cut on the Desire are the round edges on the handset frame.