Australian wireless operator Telstra announced recently that it would launch a new Android-based smartphone in the country in April, namely the HTC Desire, which was unveiled during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week. This phone is said to be the most advanced Android device to date, and the carrier will bring it to Australia, but it seems that it has no plans to also launch handsets powered by Samsung's newly unveiled bada operating system.

The HTC Desire comes to the market with a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor inside, coupled with a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen display, Android 2.1 on board, and HTC's own Sense user experience. In addition, the device also sports connectivity to the carrier's 3G network, and can deliver a new way to visually experience news, friends, photos, favourite places and whatever else that is important.

“Australians want to use their mobiles to explore the online world of social networking, entertainment, web browsing and e-commerce. The Android-powered HTC Desire handset will give Telstra customers the best of Google's web services like Gmail, Google Calendar and applications like Mobile FOXTEL, as well as the unmatched combination of speed and coverage available on Telstra's Next G network,” Telstra Chief Executive Officer, David Thodey, stated.

In related news, we learn that the mobile phone carrier does not intend to add to its offering the new Samsung Wave handset running under South Korean vendor's bada operating system. According to a recent article on smarthouse, the company said that the new device and its platform were yet “unproven,” and it seems that other carriers will make the same move.

“What we are looking for is handsets that allow us to sell our data services not Samsung's,” Telstra said. However, the new mobile phone comes with a nice range of advanced features and specifications, including a 3.3-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, as well as Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 user interface, a scratch-resistant surface, or Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity options.