HTC Smart: A smart phone that's cheap as chips -- Qualcomm chips, that is

HTC has unveiled what it is claiming is a new type of smart phone, focusing on ease of use rather than advanced features. The HTC Smart will run on a platform from Qualcomm called Brew.

It's a pretty little touchscreen phone, and it runs the same 'Sense' user interface as seen on other HTC phones, including the Hero -- a phone we'd practically make love to. It's powered by a 300MHz processor (the iPhone 3G runs at just over 400MHz; the 3GS just over 600Mhz), with quad-band 3.6Mbps HSDPA data connectivity.

Other features include a 71mm (2.8-inch) LCD screen, a 3-megapixel camera, 256MB of internal memory, a microSD slot for memory expansion and up to 600 hours of standby time. Most of these specs scream 'budget', so we expect the Smart to be very affordable. It's not known if the screen is of the resistive or capacitive type, but HTC's last budget outing, the Tattoo, was disappointingly resistive.

The company elaborated on this. "HTC Smart utilises Qualcomm Brew, an operating system that enables smart-phone devices to be offered at more aggressive price points, providing HTC with the flexibility to deliver smart-phone features on devices across multiple tiers."

Looks like this could be just the first in a number of Brew-powered HTC phones. Note that the Brew platform has actually been around for years, and has its own open developing kit for developers to use to build apps for any phones running it.

The HTC Smart will go on sale across Europe in the spring, though prices are yet to be disclosed. Expect it to be free on very reasonable contracts in the UK.