Orange Gets the new Mini HD2 - HTC HD Mini

Mobile phones manufacturers seem to have caught onto the idea that 'mini' phone models appeal to a wide audience, HTC have now released their own new handset to compete with rival manufacturers in the form of the HTC HD Mini.

Nokia were the first to release a new pocket friendly version of a popular model in their Nokia N97 mini phone, this was a shrunken version of their best selling N97 model and was promoted to the fashion and youth market.

Next to follow was Sony Ericsson, their latest release and first ever Android powered handset has already been announced in two smaller formats, the huge screen of the Sony Ericsson X10 at 4 inches means that it will not suit everybody, however the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro editions strip this back to 3.2 inches for practicality purposes.

Getting back to HTC, they have followed suit with their own new mini phone which is a direct upgrade (for want of a better word) to the previous HD2 handset which still features the largest touch screen available on the market at a massive 4.3 inches.

The new HTC HD Mini miniaturises this down to a manageable 3.2 inches which seems to be the most popular size amongst consumers but keeps the majority of features found in the original model.

These features include the HTC Sense user interface, WiFi, HSDPA, Bluetooth, GPS with digital compass, Windows Mobile 6.5 (although in this case its the newer 6.5.3) and a high quality 5.0 mega pixel camera with autofocus on the rear of the phone.

It looks increasingly like the manufacturers have decided that the most popular size of a mobile phone touch screen is between 3 and 3.2 inches, the majority of new handset seems to be offering this size with rivals to this latest HTC phone being the Nokia X6, Sony Ericsson Vivaz, LG Pop, Nokia N97 mini, Samsung Monte and Samsung Wave.

HTC have been busy recently releasing even more models, the HD Mini joins the recently launched HTC Desire and HTC Legend handsets which both run the Android operating system. The Legend is closest in terms of specifications with a 3.2 inch screen and 5 mega pixel camera.

The HTC HD Mini has now been made available on the Orange network on a range of third party pay monthly deals, this comes after the phones initial release as a SIM Free and unlocked handset just the day previous with further network launches expected very soon.