Aside from its stylish coat of white and blue paint the HTC Rhyme is a similar phone to the . It has the same 3.7in capacitive touchscreen, is powered by the same single-core 1GHz processor and has the same 768MB of RAM. However, the Rhyme boasts 4GB of internal memory compared to the Desire S's 1.1GB.

The HTC Rhyme runs the Android 2.3 operating system and also includes the latest 3.5 version of HTC's Sense UI overlay. New features include an updated clock widget on the home screen, a preview window that lets you view your most recent e-mails, photos, messages and apps, and 12 new wallpapers. You can also take photos with face recognition and burst mode and upload photos to Facebook automatically -- a feature first introduced in HTC's and Facebook phones.

As the Rhyme is a Sense 3.5 Android phone, its the first smartphone that will work with the company's new HTC Sync software. The program is now compatible with both Windows and Mac PCs and will sync music playlists from iTunes, along with your contacts, calendar, photos, videos and Web browser bookmarks.

The HTC Rhyme will be available from 1 November exclusively through Optus in Australia. It will be sold for $0 on Optus' $59 cap plan over 24 months. The plan includes $750 worth of calls, unlimited SMS and MMS, 2GB of data and unlimited access to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, eBay and Foursquare services within Australia.