Telstra has announced that it will offer subscribers the new HTC Snap smartphone starting 11 August, exclusively until November. The company adds to the Windows Mobile running smartphone a Telstra Blue Tick meaning it is recommended for handheld use in rural coverage areas.

The handset is similar in layout to the standard BlackBerry phones with full QWERTY keyboard and TrackBall. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm MSN 7225 528 MHz processor and comes with 256 MB ROM and 129 MB RAM.

The handset comes with a 2.4 inch TFT LCD display with LED back light and QVGA resolution.  The phone has HSDPA / WCDMA connectivity support as well as quad-band GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE.

Furthermore the HTC Snap comes with a modest 2 megapixel camera with fixed focus and has connectivity support for Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) and A2DP for wireless stereo handsets. The phone sports WiFi connectivity support and HTC ExtUSB.

The HTC Snap will be available from August 112 for free upfront to Telstra Business and Consumer customers on a $60, or higher, Telstra data plan.