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[Media Release]

HTC Hero Awarded Mobile Phone of the Year at Mobile World Congress 2010

HTC also ranked World’s Most Innovative Company and second in Consumer Electronic category by FAST COMPANY magazine

HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, launched HTC Hero in June 2009 in London, and has since won the recognition of several international awards. The phone beat four other nominees in the recent Global Mobile Awards held at the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona to clinch the Best Mobile Handset or Device of the Year.

Since October 2009, HTC Hero has been awarded three major international awards, including Stuff Magazine’s Gadget of the Year, Mobile Choice’s Phone of the Year, and T3 Magazine’s Phone of the Year. With the lineup of awards under HTC’s belt, various telecommunication providers around the world have been aggressively promoting HTC’s products in their retail shops.

HTC was also included in the internationally recognized magazine FAST COMPANY’s list of “World’s Most Innovative Companies,” and was ranked second in the Consumer Electronic category. Adding to the accolades for the HTC Hero, the mobile powerhouse also won several awards in the region in 2009, like the Editor’s Choice Award by Hardware Zone and the Silver Award by Hardware Magazine.

“‘Quietly Brilliant’ reflects our corporate culture. We listen attentively to and observe consumers’ demands. HTC strongly believe in the concept of ‘YOU’ — making mobile phones consumer-centric through the combination of software and hardware, with each mobile phone specially tailored for the user. We hope that consumers share the same sentiments and have confidence in HTC products,” elaborates Cher Wang, Chairman, HTC Corporation.

HTC’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter Chou, commented, “We are glad to be conferred with these awards and are pleased to share the prestige with our end users.”

HTC Hero is all about enhancing the mobile experience for the user. Its superior capabilities complemented by its thoughtful design elements have proven it a winner. Keeping users ahead of technology, HTC Hero will be upgradable to Android 2.1 from May 2010.

About HTC

Founded in 1997, HTC Corporation (HTC) is a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design. Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations and launched state-of-the-art mobile phones for mobile operators and distributors in Europe, the US, Asia and around the world. HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

[Media Release]

HTC Country Manager Mark Sergio officially announced today that the HTC Magic™, the first Android-powered mobile phone in the Philippines, will be available exclusively through SMART Gold, the postpaid brand of leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART).

SMART and HTC Corporation will be launching HTC Magic™ very soon. The HTC Magic™ is the first of its kind to be introduced in the Philippines. The smartphone is equipped with the Android operating system, and is supported by SMART’s HSDPA network, the widest in the country.

“To truly maximize the power of advanced, all-in-one devices, they need to be powered by innovative operator technologies — offering the HTC Magic through SMART Gold is a natural fit,” said Miriam Choa, activations manager of SMART Gold.

The HTC Magic™ comes with a powerful mobile browser that provides easy access to Google services such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Talk. It also has the Smart Dialer function, which allows users to either dial the phone number or simply type in the first few letters of the name of the person they want to call.

“Part of SMART’s efforts in putting the Internet in the hands of every Filipino is providing subscribers a broad selection of the latest, most advanced handset models that suit their lifestyles at very affordable rates,” said Choa.

SMART Gold is a pioneering postpaid brand which offers a wide variety of monthly plans, all offering free or subsidized handsets, free airtime and SMS. SMART Gold subscribers enjoy access to high-speed, mobile Internet and other value-added services powered by SMART’s nationwide mobile broadband coverage.

The HTC Magic will be available exclusively under SMART Gold subscription plans, and will be out in the market by the end of June 2009.

I wonder how the first Android phone in the Philippines will fare against the iPhone… Not that Apple’s mobile — being carried by SMART’s competitor — has really covered much ground to date, but there are droves of iPod/iPhone enthusiasts in the country, not to mention a few Apple App developers.

This should be interesting to follow.

red mobile, the telecommunications company that has successfully captured the eye of young, technologically-inclined Filipinos, is gearing up to engage an even broader market. Recently, red mobile launched a line of 3G handsets to carry its signal nationwide, in a bid to provide not only affordable mobile communication, but also trendy and cutting-edge devices.

The red mobile SIM is compatible with 2G and 3G phones, such as the Samsung J200, Motorola VE 538, Verzio Duplii, Nokia 3120C, and introducing the red SPARK and red FLAME handsets (photos below).

the FLAME (front & back), and the SPARK

To date, red mobile offers the cheapest/lowest call rates in the industry, not only for voice but also for video calling. At ₱0.50 per minute (within the red mobile network), this emerging player is certainly setting a new standard in mobile communications.

During the Asian financial crisis of 1997, it was pre-paid service that saved the mobile telecommunications industry. Today, as global economic recession looms, much more innovative and cost-effective means of doing business are needed to ensure further growth and development. And red mobile, although not yet a giant compared to its competitors, seems to have the much-needed flexibility and agility that’re called for to survive and thrive into the future.

[Media Release]

It can be extremely stressful for businesspeople in these uncertain times. To put more time and energy on work may seem like the most practical way to survive and succeed in the global financial crisis, but doing so can also take its toll. Play and relaxation are much needed after a long day of business meetings and corporate decisions. Balance is the key to living a successful, happy life–in business and in everything else. But then again, in this harsh economic climate, more work means less play… or does it?

ExcelAsia President Rita Trillo-Ugarte

That’s why ExcelAsia President Rita Trillo-Ugarte chooses only the HTC Touch Pro in helping her keep a balance between business and fun. “I need a phone that is as fast and efficient as I want to be, so that I can communicate easily with my staff and my clients,” she says, “and the HTC Touch Pro does just that.” With its elegant touch-screen user interface and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, sending short text messages and typing out long e-mails and business letters on the Touch Pro can be done in a zip.

“The HTC Touch Pro really is a powerhouse beauty. It has all the features that I need, in a sleek and smooth little package,” says Rita. As ExcelAsia president and first and foremost a mother and a wife, Rita likes to stay on top of her business affairs without sacrificing time with her family. “My daughter, husband, and I were in Palawan recently, and I couldn’t believe I was able to take care of my e-mails through my phone! My laptop didn’t even get the service,” Rita explains. “I can be online all the time with my HTC Touch Pro, which is very necessary for me. Now I don’t need my laptop that much,” she says.

The HTC Touch Pro’s 2.8-inch VGA touch screen provides four times the resolution of most PDA phones, making e-mail and web-browsing easier and sharper. It also runs on the Windows Mobile 6.1 professional operating system, allowing quick and convenient access to Microsoft Office applications and important documents while on the go.

HTC Touch Pro

“I recommend the HTC Touch Pro to individuals like me who strive for balance between work and play. The Touch Pro is a fully equipped business phone with all the non-business perks. I can use the stylus, tap the unique TouchFLO 3D interface with my fingertips, or type using the slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Even my friends think it’s so nice and chic!” says Rita.

Rita also likes taking pictures with her phone, especially with the HTC Touch Pro’s 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto-focus and flash. “I sent my sister Annie some pictures I took while we were in Palawan, and she couldn’t believe they were taken from my phone,” Rita says. And the wallpaper on her HTC Touch Pro screen? A lovely photo of husband Jose Mari and daughter Camila. No wonder Rita is always inspired with the most brilliant ideas.

The Symbian S60 on the Nokia N-Series mobile phones offers a wide range of applications that are Internet-enabled. Here are the apps that I currently have on my Nokia N82.

One of my favorites: Nimbuzz. Basically, it’s a chat program that consolidates your accounts on Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AIM/ICQ, and a few others into one interface. When you login to Nimbuzz on your mobile, you actually go online on all of the IMs that you specify in this app’s community settings. (Thanks to my buddy, Winston, for letting me know about Nimbuzz last year.)

Nimbuzz also lets you do voice via Skype; but I haven’t tried that yet, only the chatting part. It would really be cool if I could use Nimbuzz’s internet calling facility, and not get charged toll fees for international calls!

Another one that I find very useful and one that gives my mobile phone value-added goodness is Gmail for Mobile. Point your phone’s browser to m.google.com and click on the link for Gmail. On the next screen, you will find a link to “Faster Gmail” — this is the download link for the phone app.

What’s great about Gmail for Mobile is that it’s fast and navigates easily with keypad shortcuts. Reading and writing emails is as effortless as it can get on a mobile phone. Attachments are also handled pretty well by this mobile app. But you will have to have the right 3rd-party apps for accessing downloaded files (MS Word, .pdf files, etc).

Also, Gmail for Mobile now lets you add Google Apps email accounts. For example, I have a couple of email accounts powered by Gmail (thanks to Google Apps), and I’ve included those in my phone as well. So, when I access Gmail for Mobile, it’s easy to switch from my Gmail account to the other email accounts.

Nokia has Nokia Maps. But I’ve also installed Google Maps (which is also available for download from m.google.com). Just like with the regular PC-based application, you can add landmarks and other geo-info on the mobile version. Cool feature: it updates your position while you’re moving. Of course, that’ll only work for GPS-enabled cell phones.

The landmarks you embed via Google Maps are also utilized by Nokia Maps, by the way.

The web browser I use on the N82 is Opera Mini (currently at version 4.2). It’s much more intuitive than the S60 browser, supports tabbing, and has keypad shortcuts enabled. Now, if only I could remap the “0″ key to access Opera Mini instead of the default browser…

Compared to the old versions of the Mini, 4.2 now is much more powerful. Zooming is more seamless than before, and it’s much easier to navigate web pages than before. Also, the user interface looks much better now.

Facebook also has a mobile edition, but it’s really just a fancy bookmark — it simply makes use of the S60 browser engine. But it’s still a cool way of keeping your Facebook account up-to-date. Another online community that I access via mobile is Plurk. On your mobile browser, just go to http://www.plurk.com/m.

What about you? What Internet-capable mobile applications do you have on your phone?