HTC Tattoo brings Android to the masses

Second HTC phone with Sense overlay promises full customisation

The Tattoo offers seven fully customisable screens and a wide array of widgets

Mobile phone maker HTC has unveiled the second Android device to incorporate its Sense overlay.

The HTC Tattoo promises new levels of customisation, both of the physical device and the interface, to offer full personalisation, and is considerably cheaper than previous Android devices in an attempt to appeal to the mass market.

"Everyone wants their own phone to feel like it was specifically made for them. The Tattoo with HTC Sense represents an easy way to shape your own distinct mobile experience and really make it your own," said Peter Chou, chief executive at HTC.

The Tattoo offers seven fully customisable screens and a wide array of widgets, and uses replaceable covers to allow owners to change the outward appearance of the phone.

Replaceable covers are not a new concept in the mobile world, but seem to have fallen out of favour in recent years. HTC said that users will be able to design and purchase their own unique covers, or search and select from popular designs.

The Tattoo is fractionally smaller and lighter than its predecessor the HTC Hero, but also uses a 528MHz Qualcomm CPU, which may prove to be an issue as one of the most common gripes with the Hero is that it can slow down dramatically as the processor becomes overloaded.

The Tattoo's 2.8in 240 x 320 touch screen may also be a let down to some when compared to the 3.2in 320 x 480 display used in the Hero, and HTC has also done away with the trackball used in its previous Android phones, replacing it with a circular four-way navigation control with an 'enter' button in the centre.

It also packs in a 3.2-megapixel camera and a 3.5mm headphone jack, and offers the usual support for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, a microSD slot for expandable memory, a digital compass and an FM Radio.

The HTC Tattoo will be available in Europe at the beginning of October, and will roll out in markets around the world in the following months.

As might be expected, the reduced specifications mean that the Tattoo will be quite a bit cheaper than other Android devices from HTC. Pricing will depend on individual operators, but the company expects the Tattoo to be free on an 18-month £25 per month contract.