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AT&T and HTC officially announced that HTC Aria will arrive on the AT&T network June 20. The smartphone-which received an early-June outing with some leaked images-will be AT&T’s first to run the Android 2.1 platform.
In addition to AT&T’s 3G network, the Aria can access AT&T’s HSPA 7.2Mbps technology, as well as help itself to AT&T’s 20,000 plus WiFi hotspots. And also on board is the latest version of HTC’s Sense user interface, which makes it easy to customize the device and stream together data from social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter into a single view.
Also notable is the Aria’s size. Just bigger than a business card, it’s 4 inches long and weighs 4.05 ounces. And bucking what appears to be a trend for squares and edges, the Aria is round-of-edge and coated with a “soft-touch” material that makes it nicer to hold.
“Its unique combination of compact size and beautiful design instantly separates HTC Aria from the pack of -me-too’ smartphones,” Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America, said in a statement. “But what really differentiates HTC Aria from other smartphones is the acclaimed HTC Sense experience, which we are pleased to be bringing to AT&T customers. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC Aria organizes all of your communications in the most human way possible – by person.”
Additional features include a 5-megapixel camera, a 3.2-inch HVGA capacitive touch screen and an optical joystick, as an additional navigation option. And running Google’s OS, there’s of course easy access to Google apps such as Google Navigation, Gmail and YouTube, as well as the Android Market, with its 50,000-plus applications.
The Aria will retail for $129.99, after a $100 rebate and with a two-year service contract.
While the Aria will be the latest Android phone on AT&T, the carrier has plans to roll out several more during the second half of 2010. On March 8, AT&T introduced its first smartphone with Android, the Motorola Blackflip. Surprisingly, just before its debut, AT&T confirmed that Yahoo, and not Google, was the smartphone’s default search engine.