Mid-ranger available in Carphone Warehouse stores starting today
Originally announced for the UK market back in August, HTC today sends word that its mid-range Desire 500 handset launches today at the Carphone Warehouse. CPW has exclusivity over the white version, and will also sell the Desire 500 in the standard black, seen above.
The Desire 500 packs a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 CPU, 1GB of RAM and an 8-megapixel rear camera with HTC’s ImageChip tech. On the front is an 800×480-resolution 4.3-inch display, and there’s 4GB of internal stroage, expandable via microSD by up to 64GB. As you might expect, the Desire 500 runs HTC’s Sense UI, with the same BlinkFeed home screen reader found on high-end HTC phones.
A quick glance over the Carphone Warehouse’s online store reveals on-contract prices starting at £15 per month, and a very reasonable SIM-free price of £199.99. More details at the link below, and in the press release after the break.
More: Carphone Warehouse
Press Release
HTC Desire 500 lands in the UK as Carphone Warehouse becomes first retailer to range new handset
HTC packs amazing camera with Video Highlights into quad-core-powered HTC Desire 500
London, November 11, 2013 – Carphone Warehouse has become the first UK retailer to start selling HTC’s mid-range Desire 500. The handset is now on sale in stores nationwide across all major mobile networks.
Carphone Warehouse has snapped up an exclusive on the Shimmer White version of the handset and will also range the Lacquer Black version of the phone. The HTC Desire 500 will make Quadcore processing speeds more accessible to a wider group of consumers.
Peter Frolund, HTC’s General Manager UK said: “The HTC Desire 500 packs all you would expect from HTC into a great mid-range package. It boasts leading audio thanks to HTC BoomSound, an 8MP camera with features like Video Highlights and our Sense user interface with BlinkFeed, which we’ve brought to the Desire range for the first time in this model. We wanted to change what people expect from a mid-range smartphone and deliver a highly competitive device that didn’t compromise on the features that make our handsets world-class. The Desire 500 achieves that.”
Content live to the home screen as BlinkFeed comes to Desire
The HTC Desire 500 brings HTC’s acclaimed BlinkFeed to the Desire range. Transforming the home screen into a customisable stream of live information, HTC BlinkFeed is displayed on a stunning 4.3inch display and aggregates social streams and news, providing the freshest content at a glance.
Drawing on local and global content, BlinkFeed links to more than 10,000 articles per day from some of the world’s leading media companies including AOL, ESPN, MTV, The Financial Times and Reuters.
Life through a mobile lens
The Desire 500 has an 8MP camera, which combines with the dedicated HTC ImageChip processor to create spectacular stills and HD video. A 1.6MP front-facing camera also makes high-quality self-portraits easy.
The camera software comes complete with face and smile recognition and is packed with a selection of creative filters.
Changing the way mobile users share special moments forever, Video Highlights takes stills and videos from one event or a day’s shooting and compiles them into a 30-second reel, set to music based on one of six themes. By working with professional music editors, the image transitions for each theme are specifically timed to the tempo to ensure a professional result with zero effort.
Smartphone performance that keeps up with the busiest lifestyle
Sporting a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, the HTC Desire 500 offers high-speed multitasking, super-fast web browsing and graphic-intense gaming on the move. With support for microSD cards of up to 64GB, the HTC Desire 500 need never run out of space for the photos, videos, apps and games that matter most.
“The Desire range has become renowned for bringing a premium mobile experience to the mass market.” commented Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. “This particular model, the Desire 500, is no different. It is perfect for people who are always-on-the-go, it enables powerful multitasking and live-streaming of important and interesting information, and it boasts an excellent camera and that brings your important moments to life.”