HTC is out with their newest smartphone, the HTC S740. The phone, a successor to the S730, is inspired its looks by HTC Diamond, which was released earlier this year. It has a matte black faceted back and a 2.4 inch QVGA display.

The phone measures 116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm and weighs 140g with battery.

The Windows Mobile (6.1 standard) based S740 is meant to work as an efficient mobile messaging solution. For this, the phone has a combination of a traditional 12-key phone design with HTC's signature sliding QWERTY keyboard. It also supports POP3, IMAP, and Exchange push email.

The 3G-ready phone comes packed with 2 cameras, a 3.2 megapixel and a VGA. The main camera (3.2 megapixel) features fixed focus.
For connectivity, there's WCDMA/HSDPA (900/2100 MHz for EU and Asia) and GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz.

According to HTC, the S740 has the fastest mobile broadband capabilities with a maximum download speed of 7.2 Mbps, which is up to 18 times faster than 3G. Of course, actual speeds will vary according to your carrier's network status.

The phone also features Bluetooth, WLAN, GPS, FM radio, Google Maps, RSS Hub, and HTC ExtUSB with mini-USB and audio jack in one, and includes USB 2.0 High-Speed.

For more on the HTC S740, including specs and details, go here.

While it's more or less certain that the HTC S740 will release in Europe this September, there's no word yet on pricing. And it's unclear when the S740 will reach Indian shores and how much it will cost. With the iPhone being priced out of reach in the Indian market, the S740 could galvanize the market with some smart pricing.