HTC debuts the Snap Windows Phone

HTC Snap
Full QWERTY, with an Inner Circle key to point out which emails are important

HTC has announced its 12mm-thick Snap – a Windows Phone designed for those who are deluged by email. The traditional upright format with a full QWERTY keyboard is an unusual departure for HTC given its releases of late.

Running Windows Mobile 6.1 (though surely 6.5 later in the year), HTC reckons the Snap is simple enough for first-time smartphone users to use.

Running on HSDPA 900 / 2100 in most territories, the main specs include a 528MHz Qualcomm chip, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, 2 megapixel camera, A-GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The display is QVGA and there's also a microSDHC expansion slot.

Selected markets

The new handset will roll out over the coming months in 'selected markets' followed by others in the second half of the year.

Amazingly, HTC believes that people find they are overwhelmed by the amount of email they receive. Would you credit it? So, in response to these issues, the Inner Circle key (we really wish HTC had called it the Circle of Trust key) means you can bring emails from a preselected group of people to the top of your inbox, enabling important messages to be acted upon immediately. It actually might prove to be handy.

If you're in the US, the handset will be called the S522. Additionally, an unlocked version supporting HSDPA at 850/1900MHz will be made available in the US during the summer – it'll be under the name HTC S721.

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Dan (Twitter, Google+) is TechRadar's Former Deputy Editor and is now in charge at our sister site T3.com. Covering all things computing, internet and mobile he's a seasoned regular at major tech shows such as CES, IFA and Mobile World Congress. Dan has also been a tech expert for many outlets including BBC Radio 4, 5Live and the World Service, The Sun and ITV News.