Ahead of the launch of its highly-anticipated Touch Pro smartphone, HTC has further added to its handset range by releasing the HTC S740.
Like the Touch Pro, this quad-band, 7.2Mbps HSDPA capable device features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. But it also features a conventional 12 button number keypad underneath the display.
The S740 does not have a touch screen, but is based on Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard rather than the touch-enabled Professional version.
With the S740, HTC is following a similar path to that taken with the Tytn II and its close cousin, the S730, reviewed here as the O2 Atmos. It features a 2.4in QVGA display, a 3.2 megapixel camera, 256MB of internal memory and a microSD card slot for adding more.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are integrated, as is an FM radio. Full POP3, IMAP and Exchange Server push email support are also included.
HTC hopes to give users a choice between the touch screen only Touch Diamond, the touch and keyboard equipped Touch Pro, and the keyboard and keypad equipped S740.
"Clearly, one size does not fit all", said Dr. Florian Seiche, vice president of HTC Europe, "and the S740 will play an important role in expanding our growing portfolio of devices.
"Demand for high-performance, smart, mobile devices, continues to see strong growth globally and HTC is well positioned to meet the varying needs of our diverse customer base", he added.
HTC says that the S740 will be available across Europe in September.
