Unveiled during the Mobile World Congress in February as the HTC Maple, HTC today officially debuted its newest QWERTY smartphone, the HTC Snap. Running Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, the HTC Snap is powered by a Qualcomm MSM 7225 CPU at 528 MHz. The smartphone will be available in two versions. While the HTC Snap will support triband GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800/1900 MHz the worldwide version will feature UMTS/HSDPA at 900/2100 MHz while the U.S. American version, which will be called HTC S522, will feature UMTS/HSDPA at 850/1900 MHz. Both version will furthermore support Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, WiFi b/g as well as GPS/aGPS.

Backed-up by 256 MB of ROM and 192MB of RAM, the memory can be expanded my SDHC compatible microSD cards. The 2.4" non-touchscreen supports QVGA and the main camera supports a resolution of 2.0 megapixel. At a size of 11.6 x 6.15 x 1.19 cm, the HTC Snap weights 120 gram. Instead of a D-pad or optical joystic, the device features a Jog ball, similar to HTC's recent Android smartphones.

HTC's new and innovative "Inner Circle" feature allows HTC Snap users to press a dedicated Inner Circle key to bring E-Mails from a preselected group of people to the top of their inbox, enabling important messages to be acted upon immediately.

The full QWERTY keyboard is ergonomically designed with extra-large domed keys and responsive tactile feedback to make typing E-Mails and text messages fast, accurate and comfortable. The HTC Snap is powerful enough for experienced business users looking for an affordable, straightforward choice for remotely synchronizing E-Mail, calendar and contacts with their Microsoft Exchange server.

The HTC Snap is expected to be available in select channels during the second quarter of 2009, rolling out in markets around the world throughout the second half of the year. Additionally, the unlocked version supporting HSDPA at 850/1900MHz for the US market will be made available under the name HTC S522 during the summer.
Prices weren't announced today.

Cheers ~ Arne