HTC’s Rhyme to bring inductive charging to phones

We’ve been wondering why it’s taken so long for inductive charging to arrive in a handset, and now we finally have one: HTC’s Rhyme will recharge when you rest it on the supplied dock.

Heading to Optus, the Rhyme is a new Android handset with a 3.7 inch touchscreen, 1GB internal storage plus room to move with expandable memory in the microSD slot, 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera with a zero lag shutter, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and a GPS.

While much of this technology is fairly standard on phones these days, the inclusion of induction charging is a new one, the handset packing in a docking station with speaker that will charge your handset the moment you lay it in the recess.

The HTC Rhyme recharges in its supplied dock without you needing to plug anything into the phone.

Another interesting accessory thrown in is the HTC Rhyme Charm, a little cube on a string that – when plugged into the phone’s 3.5mm jack – will light up when you get a message. The cord even clips to the phone, making it easy for you to pull the phone out of hard-to-reach places, such as a handbag.

Playing with the HTC Rhyme at its launch yesterday, we were reminded of the Desire S, except with a plastic casing. The shift to induction charging is one of the more impressive changes, making the phone easier to charge and essentially turning it into an alarm clock when it’s docked.

“We’ve designed the HTC Rhyme based on feedback that consumers want their phones to be more personal and complementary to every moment of their day,” said Ben Hodgson, Country Manager for HTC Australia and New Zealand. “Together with a family of integrated accessories such as the HTC Rhyme Charm, HTC Rhyme Docking Station, HTC tangle-free headphones and HTC Rhyme pouch, HTC Rhyme delivers an ecosystem of style and substance, meant to naturally integrate into people’s lives and deliver a more convenient mobile lifestyle.”

Optus will be getting the Rhyme first, arriving on November 1 and exclusive to the network for three months.

 

UPDATE: After looking at our review unit, we’ve now confirmed that it’s not inductive charging.