T-Mobile has launched the HTC One S in its bid to retain customers. The phone will release on April 25 for $199.99 on a two-year contract.

The smartphone is the first on T-Mobile to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The device also runs Sense 4.0, is powered by 1.5GHz dual-core processor, has a 4.3-inch screen (with 960x540 pixels resolution) - smaller than the HTC One X's 4.7-inch screen, and packs an 8-megapixel camera, while supporting Beat Audio to enhance sound quality.

The phone will be available in Gradient Blue color and HTC One S owners will also get free 25 GB of cloud storage from DropBox for two years.

Though T-Mobile won't see Deutsche Telekom's $4 million investment in 4G until next year, the network does offer HSPA+. T-Mobile claims it offers up to 42Mbps download speeds.

T-Mobile recently began to rebrand its ads in an effort to lure customers from rival carriers such as AT&T and Verizon. The first of such ads showed its spokeswoman and model, Carly Foulkes, ditching her signature pink dress for black leather with the tagline "No more Mr. Nice girl." The carrier said the rebranding exercise will continue throughout the year.

T-Mobile has struggled to remain competitive because of a lack of devices, with AT&T and Verizon announcing devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the Nokia Lumia 900. The latter is currently second among the most popular smartphones with a plan on Amazon.com.

T-Mobile also doesn't offer the iPhone. Executives at the company said that not stocking the iPhone has hurt sales and caused customers to switch carriers. In Q4 2011, the carrier lost 526,000 customers (as opposed to the 126,000 net customers it gained in Q3 2011).

Further, using unlocked iPhones on T-Mobile only supports 2G speeds because the phone has a different wireless spectrum.

On why the iPhone hasn't been stocked by T-Mobile, executives said the decision is Apple's. The wireless giant hasn't revealed why it can't stock the device, or if it will, when Apple launches the next generation iPhone.

The present aim of the carrier is to offer other, competitive devices. "We're not trying to compare the One S with the iPhone. But everyone who I've let use this device hasn't wanted to give it back to me. It's a great phone, and I think it will appeal to a lot of different people," Matt Bybee, product manager for handset marketing at T-Mobile, said.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Dave Clark)