HTC hopes there's a reason to buy a Rhyme

 
HTC won't come right out and say that the HTC Rhyme unveiled by the phone maker in New York Tuesday is squarely aimed at women.
But the stylish purple, um, "plum" in marketing-speak, Android smartphone sure seems to speak to females. Consider that one of the supplied accessories is a "charm" you can attach to the phone and clip on a bag or purse that lights up when you get an incoming call or text message -- the idea is that if a charmless phone was buried at the bottom of your handbag, you might not otherwise be aware that someone is trying to get in touch.
The phone also comes with a wireless charging dock that turns the device into an alarm clock or a music station, as well as headphones with a "tangle-free" cord (the tangle-free part would surely appeal to males as well as females). When you plug the phone into the dock, it is automatically paired with Bluetooth speakers.
I didn't have a lot of time with Rhyme, but the lightweight plastic device (with a band of metal) felt comfortable to pick up and hold. The phone runs the Gingerbread version of Google's Android platform, has a 3.7-inch LCD display, 4 gigabytes of onboard memory and 8 GB preinstalled on a microSD card. The 5-megapixel autofocus camera features an LED flash, burst shooting, panoramic mode and face detection. The phone can record 720p HD video. There's also a front-facing VGA camera.
Verizon Wireless, the exclusive carrier for the device, will sell the phone for $199 in its stores. It will also be available at Target. But though Verizon has been pushing its zippy fast 4G LTE network on other smartphones, Rhyme is a 3G-only device. And while not ruling out interest by people who own other smartphones, Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer Marni Walden expects the new handset to appeal to people looking to graduate to a smartphone for the first time.