HTC Vision to Join Motorola Droid with Full QWERTY Keyboard

The HTC Vision is a rare Android phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. Like HTC's Droid Incredible, the device boasts a 3.7-inch display, 1 GHz processor, and the Android 2.1 operating system with the Sense user interface. Motorola clearly proved there was a market for Android gadgets with a physical keyboard in the form of the Droid last fall. Moreover, Motorola this year is expected to launch the Droid 2, which has a full QWERTY keyboard like its predecessor.

HTC reportedly has an Android smartphone in the works gadget bloggers are calling the Vision, a rare Android phone with a full QWERTY keyboard.

Engadget, which scored this picture here, said the HTC Vision sports features Android fans have come to love in HTC's Droid Incredible.

This includes 3.7-inch display, 1 GHz processor, which has become the de facto chip speed among high-end Android devices and Android 2.1 with HTC's Sense user interface.

Despite the fact that HTC and Google launched the G1 with a physical keyboard in 2008, some said Google's Android team didn't care for the full keyboard, which proved clunky.

Rumor had it Google viewed the QWERTY keyboard as a texting tool relegated to the realm of corporate road warriors with RIM BlackBerry handsets.

As if to prove the sentiment, HTC followed G1 with the myTouch 3G, which skipped the physical keyboard, from T-Mobile last summer. HTC also delivered the Hero, which Sprint sells, in the fall.

This year HTC's Droid Incredible and Evo 4G, which both eschew the physical keyboards, are proving very popular among users who crave the 1 GHz processing speed and Android 2.1 (soon to be upgraded to Android 2.2) OS, as well as the larger screen sizes for better multimedia and Web browsing.

Motorola clearly proved there was a market for Android gadgets with a physical keyboard in the form of the Droid last fall. Moreover, Motorola this year is expected to launch the Droid 2, which has a full QWERTY keyboard like its predecessor.

Meanwhile, HTC's success with building smartphones based on Google's Android operating system is paying dividends. The phone maker said Tuesday its second quarter profit rose 33 percent on strong revenue.