Taiwan’s HTC – the world’s fourth-largest smartphone vendor – today launched two new devices at a high-profile central London press event, although there was no sign of a Windows Phone 7 device or an Android 3.0 tablet (contrary to industry scuttlebutt in the buildup to the unveiling).

The HTC Desire HD is essentially an upgraded version of Sprint’s WiMAX Evo device, featuring a 4.3 inch screen, Dolby Mobile sound and the first to be powered by the new 1GHZ Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon processor. It offers 720p HD video and an 8MP camera with dual flash. HTC’s CIO Horace Luke was keen to talk up the “block of solid aluminium” it is “sculpted from.” The HTC Desire Z meanwhile features a new ‘pop hinge’ that opens as a Qwerty keyboard. It carries a slightly slower processor than the Desire HD (800MHz) with a 5MP camera also supporting 720p HD. The two smartphones run Android 2.2 and support the company’s Sense user interface. Both devices will be available across major European and Asian markets from next month, with the Desire Z shipping in North America by the end of the year. Pricing details were not revealed. Vodafone has promised to launch the two smartphones in all its markets, with exclusivity in Spain, Australia and Turkey.

Arguably of more significance than the launch of the devices are two other developments from HTC today. First, the vendor unveiled an enhanced version of the HTC Sense interface with improved mapping software, sound and multimedia capabilities (as well as a new e-book store from Kobo), and also touted a new website, HTCSense.com, will also allow users to manage information on their phone via their computer. Examples include being able to locate a missing phone by triggering the handset to ring loudly, even if it is set to silent, via HTCSense.com; or – should the phone be lost or stolen – being able to remotely lock the phone, forward calls and texts to another phone, send a message to the phone to arrange its return or even remotely wipe all personal data from it. HTCSense.com also archives all contacts, text messages and call history. “It’s about providing customers with additional capability to manage, control and customise their experience from their phone or PC,” said CEO Peter Chou (pictured). “No longer is it just about HTC putting a phone in your hand.”

Second, HTC’s marketing department upset a few Nokia employees today by attempting to steal the limelight from the Finnish vendor’s high-profile Nokia World event, running on the same day over in East London (Excel centre). HTC provided coaches from Excel all the way to central London in an effort to entice numerous journalists to its own event, a strategy that worked, given a full house at the press conference. Meanwhile Nokia hit back, sending a group of people with giant red balloons reading “I know where I’m going with Nokia’s Ovi Maps” to stand directly outside the entrance to HTC’s event.