Skip to main content

HTC Makes Its Mark on Android with Customizable Tattoo Phone

HTC Tatoo
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Taiwan’s HTC has taken the wraps off the Tattoo, a new handset based on Google’s Android mobile operating system. While the Tattoo is HTC’s fourth Android-based handset—the first was the T-Mobile G1—it is only the second to feature HTC Sense, a customizable user interface that enables users to create their own home screens for their phones with just the information and utilities they want. Always want your friends’ Facebook updates front and center? No problem. Are you a Twitter fiend? Put tweets right on your home screen. HTC Sense enables users to set up individual screens for different roles (such as work, friends, and family).

“Everyone wants their own phone to feel like it was specifically made for them,” said HTC CEO Peter Chou, in a statement. “The Tattoo, with HTC Sense represents an easy way to shape your own distinct mobile experience and really make it your own.”

As a handset, the HTC Tattoo offers a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen display, a 3.2 megapixel video-capable camera, and 900/2100 MHz HSPA/UMTS and quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity. The Tattoo also packs an internal GPS receiver for location-aware applications, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networking, an integrated compass, an FM receiver, and expandable storage via microSD cards. Of course, being an Android phone, the Tattoo integrates with Google mobile services like Google Maps and Gmail, and users can tap into the nascent Android Market to download additional apps that expand the phone’s functionality.

HTC plans to put the Tattoo on sale in Europe in October (no pricing information has been offered), and bring it out to additional world markets in following months.

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
This Android phone has a camera feature I’ve never used before, and I love it
Gray Vivo V30 Pro Aura fill Light held in hand.

We have all had some amazing moments ruined by flash. That is why the flash's utility on our phones has largely stayed out of photography and been limited to ensure that we don't stub our pinky toes while grabbing a snack from the kitchen in the middle of the night.

But as we know from large studio setups, good lighting is vital for images; high-end cameras aim to address the limitation of low light with larger camera sensors and lenses with wider apertures. For phones, unfortunately, the physical dimensions of a camera module do not facilitate that liberty to a great extent. Vivo, which is known for some prodigious phone cameras, has an intuitive solution to the problem -- and it involves using a smarter and refined version of the flash.

Read more
Does a job listing mean Apple TV is getting an Android phone app?
The Apple TV app listing in Google Play.

There already is an Android app for Apple TV. More than one, actually. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

Let's read way too much into a job listing from Apple. Spurred by a (paywalled) piece from Bloomberg under the headline "Apple Signals That It’s Working on TV+ App for Android Phones," the reblogging industry is all atwitter over the idea that an Apple TV app may be coming to Android phones and tablets. And it might!

Read more
A cheap Samsung phone crushed its biggest rival in this camera test
The Samsung Galaxy A35 and Galaxy A55's cameras.

The Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 are close enough in style, software, and price that you may be questioning which model is the right one to buy; we certainly did in our reviews.

We eventually settled on the cheaper Galaxy A35 being a great purchase as it had some interesting and unexpected advantages over the more expensive Galaxy A55, despite slightly slower performance. But what happens when the camera is most important to you? We decided to find out.
Galaxy camera spec comparison
The Samsung Galaxy A35 (left) and Galaxy A55 Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more