Carrying a Sprint Evo phone used to make you feel special, in a geeky way.

It was the first true 4G wireless phones when it debuted in 2010, showcasing the Clearwire-powered WiMax network.

With a huge screen, sleek black case and powerful processor, the Evo was the baddest phone on the block. As long as the battery held out.

Now Sprint's releasing a more powerful version that I've been testing, the HTC Evo 4G LTE.

You feel special carrying this Evo, too, but for different reasons.

For one thing, it's contraband.

Imports of the new Evo were blocked this month by U.S. Customs, delaying its May 18 launch. The phones are being reviewed to see if they comply with a court ruling in a patent spat between Apple and HTC.

The Evo -- and an HTC One phone for AT&T that's also held up -- are casualties of Steve Jobs' going "thermonuclear" on Google's Android software.

I think the late Mr. Jobs is doing Sprint customers a favor by delaying the Evo's release.

The Evo's biggest selling point is that it uses fast, new 4G LTE network technology. LTE is becoming the new standard for smartphones in the U.S. and soon every major network will offer it.

Sprint plans to have LTE across its network in 2013.

The problem is, Sprint doesn't yet offer LTE coverage anywhere. It's promising coverage by "midyear" in six cities -- Dallas, Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, San Antonio, Kansas City -- but won't say where it's coming next.

Yet it began selling LTE phones in April.

These phones also work on Sprint's 3G network, which is being upgraded, but there's no comparison to LTE speeds. Current LTE phones also won't work with the LTE capacity-boosting service Clearwire is providing Sprint next year.

This is like selling color TVs limited to black and white content. It's infuriating if you're already used to the newer technology.

I began testing the Evo the day President Obama was in town. Downloads were so slow I wondered if the Secret Service had jammed the network.

I tried watching a high-def YouTube trailer for "The Expendables 2." It was maddeningly slow, so I tried it on the free Wi-Fi at a McDonald's. It still froze and buffered more than a dozen times.

I tried the same video on the bus ride home, over Sprint's 3G network. The sound of gunshots roared out of the Evo's "Beats" audio system so I pressed the volume button, and the phone completely froze.

After a reboot, the video "loading" icon spun for another mile. Finally it began playing as I stepped off the bus, then paused to buffer 25 seconds later.

Network aside, I found the Evo to be a nice phone with an 8 megapixel camera, good call quality and far better battery life than the 2010 Evo.

Despite a massive 4.7-inch display, the $200 Evo feels light and easy to hold.

From the front, the case is plain but handsome. The back has an odd combination of shiny and matte plastic, divided by a red aluminum kickstand. It's not as striking as the original Evo or as svelte as the HTC One series (T-Mobile's One at left).

The first Evo's battery barely made it past lunchtime. I could use the new one lightly for well over a day without recharging. Sprint claims 7.5 hours of talk time, but the battery is "embedded" and can't be replaced by users.

There are many layers of capability in the Evo, which runs the latest "Ice Cream Sandwich" version of Android.

Especially prominent is an assortment of preloaded media apps. This profusion of digital storefronts is a little confusing.

Google's "Play" store and service get a home-screen icon and appear in the corner when you scroll through multiple screens filled with apps. "Play Movies" and "Play Music" also link to Google services. "Music" opens a folder with other music apps and "Watch" launches HTC's video store.

Another app, called "Media Share," is designed to connect the phone to a Wi-Fi network and share media files. I thought it would be cool to rent a movie from HTC and play it back through my home network, but I couldn't connect the phone. This was probably a user error, but it should be easier.

The Evo also has the ballyhooed Google Wallet and NFC capability. Wallet lets you load credit-card info, which is permanently linked to your Google account. Wallet also stores retail-loyalty cards, and Google will use it to send you coupons and offers.

With near-field communications hardware, you can wave the phone near special credit-card readers at some stores to make a payment.

That may appeal to some, but to me the convenience isn't worth giving Google my credit information. It's like giving Cookie Monster keys to the Keebler factory. If Google wants that access, it should provide a free phone and wireless service in return.

Others may also be excited to have a truly next generation phone like the HTC Evo 4G LTE.

It's a fine phone, but users will be paying $80 per month to use it on a last-generation network for a significant part of their two-year contract.

Here are the phone's specs, via HTC:

Network: LTE (Band 25) and CDMA 1xRTT EVDO Rel. 0, EVDO Rev. A
Dimensions: 5.31" (L) x 2.72" (W) x 0.35" (T)
Keyboard/Form Factor: Virtual QWERTY
Weight: 4.73 ounces
Operating System: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with HTC Sense
Display: 4.7-inch 1280x720 HD with IPS technology (In Plane Switching); Capacitive touch screen
Battery: 2000 mAh
Camera: (Main): 8MP color CMOS with auto focus; (Front): 1.3MP color CMOS Front Camera; Back Side-Illuminated (BSI Sensor); HTC ImageChip
Memory: 1GB RAM, 16GB ROM, microSDHC compatible
GPS: GPS/AGPS
Connectivity: Bluetooth 3.0+, 3.5mm Stereo audio jack, Micro USB connector with MHL, NFC, WiFi: IEEE 802.11 A,B,G,N
Processor: 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon Qualcomm MSM8960

Here's a photo taken with the HTC Evo 4G LTE, of the site of Amazon.com's forthcoming office towers:

Here's a quick video showing the photo-sharing feature on the HTC Status, the new phone that HTC developed with Facebook. It goes on sale Sunday for $50 with a two-year AT&T contract and a minimum $15 per month data plan.

The device has a dedicated Facebook button below the keyboard that you press to post or share photos on the social networking site.

It's billed as "one click" sharing, but it actually takes more than one press -- the blue "F" button starts an application where you can compose a message and post with another tap on the touchscreen.

The button's best trick works if you're using the phone as a camera. Once the camera is activated, you can press the F it works like a shutter button. When you take a picture, the screen shifts to "upload to Facebook." You post with a tap on the screen, or use drop-down menus to decide where on the site the photo should be posted and who can see it, and add tags and a description.

It has a few new Facebook applications built into HTC's Sense interface.

A Facebook window streams updates onto the phone's screen, just below the HTC clock. There's also a Facebook Chat application that shows which friends are available to chat, and a "FriendStream" app pre-loaded on the phone. Plus its "share" button includes Facebook and other sites by default.

There's no Facebook Skype application yet.

Facebook aside, it's a nice phone, especially for the price. It has a horizontal screen and qwerty keypad, with about the same proportions as a BlackBerry.

The hardware is smooth and curved plastic, with rounded corners above the screen that look like they were lifted from the Nexus. From the side, the phone has the kicktail that first appeared on the G1.

If you're used to the big 4-inch screens on smartphones the 2.6-inch touchscreen on the Status feels a little small and it's harder to read text on a Web page. On the other hand, it doesn't feel like you're carrying a small TV set.

HTC originally called the device the ChaCha and the name flashed on the screen during setup. It's a better name than Status, which fortunately doesn't appear anywhere on the case.

The phone is white and silver, or mauve if you buy a special version available at Best Buy.

The phone is AT&T's first to use Google's Android 2.3.3 "Gingerbread" operating system and has Google apps including Talk and Places.

It also has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and video capability; a front-facing camera for taking self-portraits; and a 2 gigabyte memory card pre-installed. It weighs 4.3 ounces and is 4.5 by 2.5 by 0.4 inches.

The device claims to have 6.5 hours of talk time and 26.6 days of standby time on a single battery charge.

Every time you turn around nowadays there's another huge tech trade show, at which a bunch of new phones and tablets are announced.

Here's a sample of the cool new gadgets surfacing at the CTIA wireless conference this week in Orlando. Some of the devices were already announced, and some still don't have prices and specific ship dates yet.

Sprint was the first to offer a 4G phone in the U.S., and now it's offering a 4G phones with glasses-free 3D displays, available 2U this summer for a price to be announced later. It's an Android-based device built by HTC, with the "Sense" interface designed in Pioneer Square.

The HTC Evo 3D has a 4.3-inch, 960 by 540 pixel 3D display. Inside it has dual-core 1.2 gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4 gigabytes of internal memory and 1 gig of RAM. It functions as a 3G/4G hotspot supporting up to eight devices at once over WiFi and outputs 720p video via HDMI. On the back it has dual 5 megapixel cameras for taking 3D images and videos.

Sprint's also going to sell a tablet-sized version of the device, called the HTC Evo View 4G. It has a 7-inch diagonal, 1024 by 600 pixel touchscreen (without 3D). The tablet runs on a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor with 32 gigs of internal memor and 1 gig of RAM. It also uses HTC's "Scribe" system for input with a digital pen and works as a hotspot.

Yesterday, Sprint announced that it's also going to sell Google's new flagship Android device, the Nexus S 4G. The Samsung phone has a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, 1 GHz processor, a dedicated graphics processing unit and Android version 2.3 ("Gingerbread"). Sprint and Google also said they're connecting Google Voice, so Sprint customers can use their phone number with Google's calling service. The phone's coming this spring.

AT&T yesterday announced that it's also selling a glasses-free 3D phone, the LG Thrill 4G, with a 4.3-inch screen, dual-core 1 GHz processor and Android version 2.2. The Thrill comes with 16 gigs of memory - 8 onboard plus an 8 gig memory card - and records 3D video at 720p and 2D video at 1080p. It also plays back high-def video thorugh an HDMI port or streams it to DLNA devices.

AT&T's also going to sell a version of the Windows-based HTC HD7, which it's calling the HD7S. It's going to use the HSPA+ network and have the updated software with cut-and-paste when it's released in a few weeks.

T-Mobile also introduced several new phones, including the "G2x with Google by LG," or the G2x for short. It's based on a dual-core 1 GHz Tegra 2 processor and Android 2.2. There's also an 8 megapixel camera that takes 1080p video and front-facing 1.3 megapixel chatcam.

T-Mobile announced that it's boosting the maximum speed of its HSPA+ network in a handful of markets - Las Vegas, Orlando and New York - to 42 megabits per second. To get those speeds, you'll need a new device, though - namely the "Rocket" stick modems announced at the show:

The Bellevue-based company also introduced a "value" smartphone, the Nokia Astound, that will cost $80 (after a $50 rebate) when it goes on sale April 6. It has a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, free turn-by-turn navigation and an 8 megapixel camera that takes 720p video. The Astound is based on Nokia's Symbian operating system that's going to be displaced starting next year by Windows.

Remember those rumors about a Facebook phone?

It turns out HTC and Facebook spent several years developing two of them that are being announced today in Barcelona.

HTC worked with Facebook to integrate the social network into the phones, adding a dedicated Facebook key with the "F" logo that pulsates when you're doing something shareable on the phone.

When taking pictures, you can press F to upload them to Facebook, for instance, or when using Google Maps, you can press it to share your location.

"HTC has brought Facebook to these two new devices in an innovative way enabling people to connect and share easily whenever they want, wherever they are," Henri Moissinac, head of Facebook's mobile business, said in the release.

Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC North America in Bellevue, said Facebook's logo appears on the special key but "we will not brand this as the Facebook phone or anything."

Mackenzie said the "ChaCha" model with a 2.6-inch touchscreen and exposed keyboard will compete with the BlackBerry Curve.

The second model is a touchscreen-only phone called the Salsa, with a 3.4-inch screen.

They'll be available in the second quarter, at prices to be announced later.

UPDATE: AT&T is going to carry the phones, perhaps exclusively, according to Ina Fried.

Both are based on version 2.4 of Google's Android software and have Facebook integrated into the HTC Sense interface.

When calling or receiving a call from a Facebook friend, the software displays friends' latest status and photos and alerts you if their birthday is coming up.

HTC's also announcing a tablet computer, the "Flyer," that will go on sale in the second quarter. It's intended to be a high-end device, with an aluminum housing, a 7-inch diagonal touchscreen, a 1.5 gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 32 gigabytes of RAM and HSPA+ wireless capability.

It's launching with Android 2.4 but will be upgradeable to the upcoming "Honeycomb" version of Android that's optimized for tablets.

HTC designed a new version of its Sense interface for the larger screen of a tablet, with a carousel for navigating icons and widgets.

The Flyer also comes with a stylus for taking notes on the device. Mackenzie said this is needed in part because it's a more polite way to take notes than typing on a tablet or laptop during a meeting.

HTC is playing up the Flyer's media capabilities. It will feature HTC's new "Watch" video download service and come preloaded with the OnLive streaming game service, taking advantage of a $40 million investment HTC is making in the Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup.

The Flyer also has a 5 megapixel camera plus a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for videoconferencing.

The price of the Flyer and bundled services such as OnLive will be announced later, Mackenzie said.

Also being announced is a new version of HTC's Desire model, with an aluminum unibody design; the Incredible S with a 4-inch screen (up from 3.7-inches on the previous Incredible); and a lower-end Android phone called the Wildfire S that's intended to be a more affordable smartphone sold for $100 or less by wireless carriers.

The Desire S, the Incredible S and the Wildfire S in four flavors:

The top executive at HTC's U.S. headquarters said he's not too worried about Nokia hooking up with Microsoft and the deal validates HTC's approach to the smartphone business.

After getting an early boost from Microsoft, HTC has emerged as a leading producer of advanced phones, claiming higher-end market share that Nokia's hoping to win back with Windows-based devices.

Mighty Nokia is actually following the same path HTC took to its success, said Jason Mackenzie, (left) Bellevue-based president of HTC for North America and Latin America.

Mackenzie said Nokia's partnering with Microsoft is "a validation of what we're doing."

"Nokia's following a similar lead to what HTC's been doing, in not investing in our own platform, taking solid platforms and filling the gap to deliver a solid experience to the end user," he said.

As for the competition HTC will face from Nokia phones running Windows, it's "one more competitor," he said.

"I feel confident in what we're doing," he said. "We've got a fresh brand that's resonating with consumers."

HTC emerged in the late 1990s as the first manufacturer of Microsoft Pocket PC devices and early Microsoft smartphones that appeared starting in 2002.

In recent years the company invested heavily in software and hardware design studios in Seattle and San Francisco to differentiate its phones. It developed a polished software interface that it layers over the underlying operating system.

HTC continues to make phones based on Windows -- including five Windows Phone 7 models so far =- but it's now selling more phones based on Google's Android software. It released the first Android phone in 2008.

Mackenzie said HTC will continue to produce Windows Phone 7 devices, despite the Nokia announcement. It won't be announcing any new Windows models next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona but several will be announced later in the year.

"Obviously Windows Phone 7 is a platform we've invested tremendously on" and "we'll continue to support that," he said.

Asked if the Nokia deal will improve the momentum of Windows Phone 7, Mackenzie said: "It broadens the ecosystem, which is good for everyone. We'll see."

LAS VEGAS -- HTC, which introduced the first 4G phone last year with Sprint, today announced two more for the fast networks.

The announcement came just after Motorola announced the "Bionic" Droid phone for Verizon's 4G LTE network and the potent dual-core Atrix for AT&T.

The Atrix is a quasi 4G phone for AT&T's HSPA+ network, which the carrier is calling 4G even though it's really a boosted version of 3G. HTC also announced one of these quasi 4G phones for AT&T.

HTC -- a Taiwanese company with U.S. operations in the Seattle area -- announced the ThunderBolt for Verizon's new LTE network. The touchscreen, Android-based phone has a 4.3-inch screen, 8 megapixel camer, HD video and DLNA media streaming capabilities.

Skype, including video chat capabilities, are built into the ThunderBolt. Pricing and availability weren't disclosed.

For Sprint, HTC is making the EVO Shift, an Android 2.2 model with a 3.6-inch touchscreen and slide-out physical keyboard. It's going on sale Jan. 9 for $150, after a $100 rebate.

For AT&T, HTC is making the Inspire 4G, an aluminum touchscreen model with a 4.3-inch screen and surround sound. HTC is also offering Web services to map the phone's location if it's lost, or wipe its data if the phone is stolen. It's coming out in the first quarter.

Here's the Motorola Bionic for Verizon, followed by the Atrix, which has an Nvidia Tegra processor and 16 gigabytes of storage:

Today's jaw-dropper is the amazing growth of Android-based phones - up 886 percent in the second quarter, according to research firm Canalys.

The surge also made Android the largest smartphone platform in the U.S., where it took 34 percent of the market in Q2.

Crazy growth in the overall market for smartphones continues as mobile phone buyers, especially in the U.S., upgrade to the more capable devices. Canalys reports that smartphone sales grew 64 percent in the quarter.

Worldwide Nokia still leds with 38 percent of the smartphone market in Q2, with its shipments growing 41 percent year-over-year to 23.8 million in the quarter, Canalys reported.

RIM's BlackBerry grew 41 percent, holding second place with 18 percent of the global market, while Apple's iPhone sales grew 61 percent after the iPhone 4 launch and it now has 13 percent of the smartphone market, according to Canalys.

"Expect to see smart phones accounting for a growing proportion of the wider mobile phone market as they become increasingly affordable to more customers," Canalys Senior Analyst Pete Cunningham said in the release. "By 2013, smart phones will grow to represent over 27% of shipments worldwide, with the proportion in some developed markets in Western Europe surpassing 60% and 48% in North America."

The chart - with U.S. and China stats only - included in the Canalys release:

HTC's big bets on software, branding and Android are paying off. The company today announced sales during June were up a record 67 percent. Sales for the entire second quarter were up 58 percent to $1.9 billion.

HTC's smartphone business began on the Windows platform, but it's now the largest manufacturer of phones based on Google's Android software.

The company is based in Taiwan -- where its stock hit a 52-month high today -- and has its U.S. headquarters in Bellevue and software development center in Seattle.

Maybe now's a good time for HTC go ahead with its plans to list its stock in the U.S.

Smaller cities in the Northwest are starting to get fourth-generation wireless technology.

Clearwire today announced that it's extending its 4G service to Yakima, Tri-Cities and Eugene. Today's batch of Clearwire market announcements also includes Merced and Visalia, Calif., and Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.

The service promises mobile download speeds of 3 to 6 megabits per second with bursts up to 10 Mbps. It works with special modems, PC adapters and, so far, one phone, the HTC Evo sold by Sprint. Sprint is set to have the technology available in its Central Washington stores on July 11.

Coverage maps (below) at Clearwire's Web site indicate the Central Washington service actually extends to the Lower Yakima Valley cities between Yakima and Tri-Cities including Toppenish, Prosser and Sunnyside. Ellensburg is also shown as having 4G.

But the company still hasn't made it to Spokane, Walla Walla or Wenatchee, or Olympia on the west side. Not to mention rural areas.

This picture may show the last HTC Evo 4G phone being sold at a Sprint store in Washington during today's launch sale. I took this about an hour ago at the store at Westlake Center, where the guy in the vest is getting the last one ready for a customer.

A worker told me that all the stores in Washington are sold out after the morning rush but they're hoping to get more soon. Westlake ran out during lunch and the store a few blocks away on Union ran out at around 11 a.m. I've asked Sprint for an official update. (I also heard that Radio Shack may still have a few ...)

Meanwhile, there were still a few cookies left from this morning's launch event at the Westlake store, where I briefly talked to one customer who said he'd buy an Evo if the store had any more in stock.

Here's my review of the Evo 4G, the first phone to use Clearwire's 4G network. I said that it has "network capabilities that may change the way people think about buying wireless and broadband service."

One update: After the review was filed, Qik, the video chat application provider, clarified that the basic video chat features will be free. Premium features, including video archiving and the ability to upload videos to the service, will cost $4.99 a month starting July 15.

A chart that Qik posted, explaining the pricing tiers:

Here's a picture of a speed test of the 4G service at my desk -- it was faster when I held it higher and closer to the window:

RANCHO PALSO VERDES, Calif. -- Peter Chou's hunch was right. His Taiwanese phone company, HTC, was founded in 1997 to pursue the vision that smartphones would be transformative.

HTC went on to produce the first Windows smartphone in 1999 and later the first phone based on Google's Android software. On Friday, it launches the first smartphone running Clearwire's 4G network.

Chou showed Walt Mossberg the 4G Evo that HTC's making for Sprint during his appearance at the All Things Digital conference.

Mossberg asked Chou to discuss how his company is building phones based on both Google's Android software and Microsoft's Windows phone platforms.

"Different people like different things," Chou said. "What we try to do is have the best mix of technologies and design and give people a choice."

What's the difference between Android and Windows, Mossberg asked.

"Windows has a lot of Windows users -- legacies -- and they are very familiar to the Windows experience."

Asked about the challenges Windows Mobile has had, Chou said "Windows has a lot of value" and noted that HTC is making phones based on the upcoming Windows Phone 7 software.

Android appeals to people who do more social networking, and it has good applications, like maps, Chou said.

HTC -- which has U.S. headquarters in Bellevue and a software center in Seattle's Pioneer Square -- is moving from a somewhat invisible manufacturer of phones for other companies to a consumer brand with more prominent logos and a proprietary software interface.

Chou said its recent brand campaign is working and customers are now asking for HTC phones by name, he said.

Mossberg questioned whether consumers will get confused by all the brands appearing on phones now -- the manfucturer, carrier and software provider.

"There's a lot there," Mossberg said.

"We are trying to minimize that a little bit, so there are some of those on the back and not everyone on the front like right now," Chou said.

Smartphone sales are surging, but they're still expensive to produce -- about $400 apiece wholesale -- and are complicated for some users, Chou said.

The company is working on a lower-priced alternative, the HTC Smart, that will cost phone companies about $150, run apps and be based on Qualcomm's Brew platform.

Asked about the fragmentation of Google's Android platform, Chou said the proliferation of different versions "causes a little bit of problem" but that's the nature of a modular product.

During audience questioning, Chou was asked about the short battery life of the Evo. He replied that the battery works longer if the phone's more advanced features aren't being used, but he said battery life is something that needs to improve on smartphones.

"The battery technology is one area that innovates very slowly," he said, adding that he spends a lot of time talking to battery suppliers.

"I don't have a lot of good news, but I hope one day we don't need a battery to run the device," he said.

In response to a question from an interested investor, Chou said he hopes to have the stock listed in the U.S. as well as on the Taipei market.

Unchecked by Apple's patent lawsuit, HTC is rolling out some slick new Android 2.1-based smartphones, including the Droid Incredible announced today.

Verizon will start offering the Incredible on April 29 for $200 (after a $100 rebate) with a two-year voice and data contract starting at $70 per month.

The Incredible has a "topographic" design with ridges on the back that are intended to reflect the stuff inside. Verizon's press release said it "demonstrates the powerful engineering just beneath the surface."

Maybe the ridges will make it easier to grip than some other smartphones. But I'll bet bigger selling points will be the red speaker grill and accent ring around the camera lens.

That powerful engineering includes the now obligatory 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, plus an 8 megapixel camera, a digital compass and a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen.

Verizon's also releasing exclusive Skype and NFL apps "shortly after the phone becomes available."

Here's the list of features:

After spending a few days with the latest phone that Steve Jobs doesn't want you to have, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

I'm talking about the HTC HD2, a striking gray slab with an enormous 4.3-inch display - the largest touch-screen of any phone now available in the U.S.

Two weeks after being sued by Apple for patent infringement, Taiwanese phone maker HTC is responding with a formal statement defending itself against the allegations.

The company's statement is a prelude to a legal response, still being drafted, that challenges the patent suit Apple filed in federal court, as well as a complaint it made to the International Trade Commission.

An HTC executive at its U.S. headquarters in Bellevue said the company has the support of partners such as Google. That reinforces the notion that Apple's suit is part of a bigger feud under way between tech giants that are all building roughly similar touchscreen smartphones.

"HTC strongly disagrees with Apple's actions," said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America in Bellevue. "We plan to use all of the legal tools that are at our disposal to both defend ourselves and set the record straight to the general public."

Mackenzie noted that HTC introduced touchscreen smartphones long before Apple's iPhone appeared in 2007.

"We started working on the first touchcscreen smartphone way back in 1999," he said.

That work led to the Pocket PC phone launched in 2002 with Bellevue's VoiceStream Wireless, which is now T-Mobile USA.

Since then, HTC has released more than 50 smartphones and worked with all U.S. phone companies, "vs. one single product at one single carrier," Mackenzie said, in another dig at Apple's iPhone business.

"We would not have achieved what we've achieved today -- including the partnerships weve developed with people like Microsoft, Google, all the U.S. operators, Qualcomm -- if we were a company that did not respect intellectual property rights."

Apple accused HTC of making and selling products that "incorporate, without license, many technologies developed by Apple and protected by patents issued to and owned by Apple and its wholly owned subsidiaries, including NeXT."

It asked the trade commission to block the importation of a number of phones, including the Nexus One that HTC makes for Google, the myTouch 3G sold by T-Mobile, the Droid Eris sold by Verizon and the new HD2 based on Windows Mobile.

Apple's suit specifically calls out phones running the Android platform backed by Google. A Google spokesperson referred by HTC, Jill Hazelbaker, didn't say whether the company would participate in HTC's legal defense, but provided a statement praising HTC for helping to make Android a success.

"The Android platform has seen tremendous adoption all over the world, and we are proud of all our partners who have made it such a success," she said via e-mail. "In less than a year and a half since HTC shipped the first Android device, there are now 26 devices with 60 carriers in 49 countries and 19 languages powered by Android."

Mackenzie wouldn't comment specifically on the lawsuit but said Apple's responding to HTC's success.

"We are experiencing more success than we've ever had in the U.S. market today. We've got great products at all the major operators," he said. "We're obviously having this conversation because of that and because of those successes we've had."

So far the lawsuit hasn't had an effect on HTC's business or plans for upcoming phones.

"I haven't seen any impact to our business since this case,'' he said.

I wonder if the timing of Apple's lawsuit against HTC over iPhone patents has anything to do with an Android developer that surfaced this week.

HTC is the primary manufacturer of Google Android phones, which have been on sale since late 2008.

Apple has dominated mobile developer mindshare with the iPhone's App Store. But that story began to wobble over the past year or so as developers realized they weren't making as much money as they thought they would.

Then on Monday, word, came that the gold rush is now happening on the Android platform.

At least it is for Eddie Kim, who told the world he's making $13,000 a month selling his "Car Locator' app for Android.

The headline on ReadWriteWeb.com: "Watch Out, iPhone Devs: One-Man Android App Nets $13K Monthly."

"There's money to be made there, and the userbase is only getting bigger," gushed the RWW blog, which is influential with developers.

Apple surely has been exploring the patent suit for some time, but is it a coincidence the filing comes a day after Android finally gets its Klondike Kim story?

HTC is based in Taiwan but its U.S. headquarters -- named in the suit -- are in Bellevue. Its software interfaces targeted in the suit were probably partly developed in HTC's secretive (and Apple friendly)Pioneer Square software development lab. A picture I took last year in the lab:

Apple came out with its horns blowing, issuing a press release with a sharp statement from Steve Jobs:

"We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it," Jobs said in the release. "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

Who knows who stole what, but squabbling over patents is a cornerstone of the tech industry. Most every player -- including Apple -- has been found to have poached someone's technology at one point or another.

An HTC spokesman in Bellevue said the company is still digesting the suit. He provided a statement noting that HTC "is a mobile technology innovator and patent holder that has been very focused over the past 13 years on creating many of the most innovative smartphones" and "values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations."

The statement:

"HTC only learned of Apple's actions this morning via media reports, and therefore we have not yet had the opportunity to investigate the filings. Until we have had this opportunity, we are unable to comment on the validity of the claims being made against HTC."