MyTouch 4G Slide is a smartphone and advanced camera

The MyTouch 4G Slide smartphone will be sold by T-Mobile USA for $200 starting in July.

Computerworld -

T-Mobile USA announced that the new MyTouch 4G Slide smartphone will go on sale in July, and it claimed that the new device has the "most advanced camera of any smartphone."

T-Mobile said the HTC smartphone, which runs Android 2.3, will sell for $199.99, after rebate, with a two-year contract.

Digital photography purists have long argued that combining a phone with a camera doesn't produce great photos, but that hasn't stopped HTC and T-Mobile from trying.

Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president of marketing at T-Mobile, said the MyTouch 4G Slide will allow users to leave their cameras at home, since they'll be able to use the smartphone for dual duty.

The Slide has an 8-megapixel camera -- a feature that's becoming somewhat commonplace among newer smartphones. However, the Slide's camera comes with a dual LED flash and zero shutter lag so users can take shots instantly.

Other features of the Slide's camera include a wide aperture lens with an F-stop at 2.2 and a backside illuminated sensor for use in low light situations. It also has features called SweepShot for capturing panoramas with a single sweeping motion, ClearShot HDR for capturing a single object in a bright location that could otherwise be washed out, and BurstShot for taking multiple photos in a sudden burst of shots -- which could be useful for people taking photos of sporting events or other activities involving fast movements.

T-Mobile, like the other major carriers, sells more than 30 models of phones and smartphones, so it's no surprise that the carrier would try to make the Slide stand out from the pack by positioning it as a viable replacement for a point-and-shoot digital camera.

T-Mobile said the device can be used to quickly post photos and videos to services like Facebook, Picasa or Flickr at 4G speeds. The camcorder is a full HD 1080p camera with built-in editing software.

The 3.7-in. LCD touchscreen is smaller than those of the biggest new smartphones, which have screens as big as 4.3 inches. The Slide's slide-out keyboard allows for qwerty typing.

The Slide also features a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, making it one of the fastest smartphones for browsing or accessing apps. It comes in khaki or black.

The phone has Qik technology to support video chat, and it has Nuance's Dragon speech-recognition software to make it possible to use voice commands to initiate calls, write texts or search the Web.

T-Mobile's 4G networks rely on HSPA+ and HSPA+42 technology in some locations, offering more than 10Mbps data downlinks. AT&T is in the process of purchasing T-Mobile, although the government approval process is expected to last another year.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

Read more about Smartphones in Computerworld's Smartphones Topic Center.