HTC Debuts £320 Android-based Tattoo Smartphone

Mobile phone maker HTC has unveiled a new smartphone based on the Android platform called Tattoo; the company chose this name because both the platform and the device itself can be customised and personalised to the user's wants.

Customers should be able to modify the phone's external appearance while ordering the phone, in a way similar to the iPhone. The device drops HTC's now legendary Jay-leno chin and provides a welcomed update to HTC's mature form factor. 

The fourth HTC Android smartphone comes with a 2.8-inch touchscreen (possibly resistive rather than capacitive) capable of showing 240x320 pixels and is not only quad band but also WiFi and Bluetooth compatible.

The rest of the specification is pretty much standard; powered by a Qualcomm ARM-base CPU running at 528MHz, the Tattoo adopts the HTC Sense user interface after the Hero, a 3.2-megapixel camera without flash, 512MB onboard storage and a microSD slot.

In a statement issued at the product's launch, Peter Chou said that "Everyone wants their own phone to feel like it was specifically made for them. The Tattoo, with HTC Sense represents an easy way to shape your own distinct mobile experience and really make it your own"

Expect the Tattoo to be available on Orange (+T-Mobile) and Vodafone as from next month both on contracts (£25 per month on 18 months contracts) and PAYG for as little as £320 complete with A-GPS, accelerometer and digital compass.