After the success of the HTC Desire we’re really excited to be able to launch its little brother – the HTC Wildfire.

The big news with the HTC Wildfire is that it’s our first pre-paid smartphone for Next G™ network customers.

It features the same easy-to-use user interface and Google Android 2.1 operating system that’s made the HTC Desire such a popular phone.

It’s tailored especially for what our younger customers want.  That means it is:

Great for social networking

It has some great social networking apps built-in, including HTC’s Friend stream which allows you to view friends’ Facebook updates, Tweets and Flickr photos in one organised stream, all on the same screen. We’ve also included Telstra’s own social networking service which is called Tribe.

It brings together Facebook®, Twitter and MySpace in a single mobile portal and is free-to-browse — which means customers don’t need to worry about how much data they’re using. Pre-paid customers just need to have a minimum recharge of $20 in the last 30 days to access the unmetered service.

HTC Wildfire™ is also the first Telstra smartphone to feature Swype™ text input technology. It allows customers to glide their finger across a virtual keyboard to spell words, rather than tapping out each letter.  It makes updating social networking sites that little bit faster.

• It entertains: Wildfire provides access to thousands of games from Android Market and its YouTube app makes it easy to watch videos. Our customers can also choose from the 33 channels available on from Telstra.Mobile FOXTEL
  
• It’s great value: Our pre-paid customers are looking for the best value possible. They will be able to pick up the Wildfire for $349 — no need for a contract. This includes a $10 recharge credit to get customers going.
• It looks good: Looks are important. Wildfire features brushed aluminium highlights and it’s available in ‘Pure White’ or ‘Phantom Black’. It’s also nice and compact.

Availability and Pricing

Telstra Pre-Paid customers can purchase the HTC Wildfire outright for $349 from 7th September.

Customers can team it with Telstra’s new Pre-Paid Cap+ offer which buys customers bonus credit to use on standard national calls and SMS to Australian and international numbers. For instance, customers who recharge $30 can receive a $170 bonus credit for voice calls and SMS to Australian and International numbers and 50MB of bonus data. The more customers recharge the higher the bonus credit.

• Fone Zone will offer the HTC Wildfire in Pure White (Post-Paid variant only) exclusively from 24 August (until 28 September when the colour becomes available from all Telstra stores and partners).
• Telstra Stores and Partners will offer HTC Wildfire in Phantom Black from 7 September on Pre-Paid, with Pure White to be made available from the 28th September.
• Customers can also purchase HTC Wildfire on a range of Telstra Post-Paid plans including for $0 upfront on Telstra’s  $49 Cap Plan when signing up for 24 months (Min Cost $1,176) from 24 August.