Archive for: HTC
- February 10, 2012 9:43 am
PhoneArena has managed to snag a few images of an unannounced HTC device (see above) that features a design reminiscent of the Incredible 1 & 2. They speculate it could be a possible Incredible 3 or upcoming HTC Fireball.
As far as specs go, there isn’t anything breathtaking to be had: 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 4.3″+ AMOLED display, 1 GB of RAM, 8mp/VGA rear/front cameras, LTE, and Android 4.0 ICSfar too long, wouldn’t you say?
While we’ve known for some time that HTC had a slew of handsets lined up for Android 4.0 ICS in 2012, no specific time frames were given. Today, the uncertainty gets a bit clearer with HTC’s latest update which says we can expect Android 4.0 updates to hit the HTC Sensation, Sensation 4G and HTC Sensation XE by “end of March”, with the Sensation XL “following soon after”. That only leaves the HTC Rezound, Vivid, Amaze 4G, EVO 3D, EVO Design 4G, Incredible S, Desire S and Desire HD to go.
Be sure to keep checking back as we’ll keep you updated on the latest HTC (and other manufacturers’) Android 4.0 update schedules as they’re announced/leaked.
The HTC Sensation, a pretty awesome Android phone in its own regard, is now officially available for pre-order from Clove UK sans color. Besides the hue-shifting appearance, the whitened XE is otherwise identical to the original: 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 4.3″ qHD (540 x 960) display, 768 MB of RAM/4 GB of ROM, 8-megapixel rear-facing camera w/ 1080p video recording capability, a 1,730 mAh battery, Beats Audio and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Look for the white Sensation XE to begin shipping on February 20th to our friends across the pond for £340 .
The HTC Ville is an upcoming (rumored) dual-core device. On top of the mid-range hardware, the Ville will be the first device from HTC to ship with Sense 4.0. As we saw the other day, Sense 4.0 is actually pretty good looking thanks to its more reserved, less flashy aesthetics.
Today, we get another look at the Ville thanks to Chinese site ePrice. (Via) As we’ve stated before, the rumored Qualcomm S4 processor will bring a new level of battery life (for the better) as well as performance all while remaining rather svelte. Outside of the CPU and revamped Sense UI, the Ville isn’t all that special; an 8-megapixel camera and 4.3″ qHD (540 x 960) display round out the list of notable mentions.
While we’re happy to see HTC making the internal hardware of their phones more efficient, it is the quad-core packin’ Edge that has our full attention.
Let’s be real here for a minute. 99% of you out there reading this site (and similar ones) more often than not (read: pretty much all the time) update your Android phones the second an official release becomes available or long before official releases ever hit the web. More mainstream Android users such as your mother, father, sister, older friend may not, however. This is where your love of tech comes in and can be put to good use informing/helping other Android users.
HTC has a small problem with security and Wifi. Apparently a number of HTC devices can allow a malicious app to harvest and send off private WiFI network information when the “ACCESS_WIFI_STATE” permission is combined with the .toString() command. HTC says several of the affected devices have already been patched and the updated automatically rolled out, with many more auto-updates in the works. A few devices, however, will require manual updating. For more info on these devices, head on over to the HTC Help Center and keep checking back for more info.
Complete breakdown of affected devices after the break.
Well well well. What do we have here — an upcoming HTC Ville smartphone and Sense 4.0 unearthed and unveiled.
The unofficial reveal is unlikely to please anyone at HTC. For us, however, it’s a nice chance to see the biggest changes to Sense UI since 1.x before they actually drop. And we like what we see. For starters, the cartoony bottom bar/launcher, icons, and color tones throughout have been released by a more modern, simple assortment of whites, grays and blacks. But it’s not too simple. One particular thing that we find pretty spiffy (and that you’ll see in the video after the break) is the animation for menus and lists; each section appears and disappears in a scrolling shade type of way. Kind of hard to describe, but easy to enjoy. In fact, we’d say Sense went from our increasingly least favorite skin — And we hate skins! — to our favorite.
As for the specs, we’re still looking at a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon, 1 gig of RAM, an 8 megapixel rear shooter (with 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera), a 4.3″ qHD (960 x 540) display, and a vast assortment of wireless technologies.
Hop past the break for a sneak peak at the HTC Ville and Sense UI 4.0. Be sure to let us know what you think!
Image Source: LaptopMag
The current race in the smartphone world is two-sided. On one side of the coin you have handset manufacturers pushing the envelope in regards to screen size; just how big can they build a phone? On that same note, at which point does a “phone” transition to “tablet”. On the flip side, manufacturers are also hellbent on creating the thinnest phone possible and throwing out all common sense and functionality out the window. Finally, add in the plethora of battery sucking features such as high-res displays, LTE compatibility, and super high megapixel cameras and the state of smartphones has become a sad affair of locker room size comparisons.
I stumbled upon this article over at LaptopMag today and found myself pretty much disgusted. Handset manufacturers are not catering to customers in the slightest, and in fact, I’d argue they’re doing us a disservice. An average of 3-5 hours of battery life with moderate to somewhat heavy use is atrocious and inexcusable. The worst offender (as we’re discovering first hand) is the Galaxy Nexus. The battery life is seriously border line the worst we’ve even had on any device.
But as the Droid RAZR MAXX shows, there is hope. Motorola finally woke up and realized the sad state of the smartphone world, more specifically, the Android smartphone world. Let’s be honest with ourselves. Apple and Microsoft’s group of WP7 partners have been pumping out phones with good to awesome battery life. The answer, as Motorola has finally discovered, was there all along — slap a gigantic battery in a phone to combat the battery sucking features. Actual component size is constantly shrinking yet the battery size of most high-end devices has remained the same.
Why all Android manufacturers can’t put their weapons down and start some actual innovation in regards to smartphone runtime themselves (cross suing each other off the list too) is beyond me. Here’s to hoping Motorola has had their fill of locker room-esque boasting and manages to bring LG, Samsung, HTC, and everyone else with them. If they’ve managed to make Windows Phone 7 quite the battery sipper that it is — And Apple has managed to make iOS quite efficient even with dual-core processors as well — there’s no reason they can’t do the same with Android.
The recently reviewed HTC Rezound wasn’t perfect when we prodded it back in early December. But as the first phone to feature that wonderful 1280 x 720 resolution, we were awestruck. And soon it’s getting better!
VZW has announced that a new update for the HTC Rezound is “coming soon”. Though, before you get too excited we must stress this is not an Android 4.0 ICS update, but instead a performance/bug fixing release. The update includes:
- Updated signal strength meter to 5 bar Received
Signal Strength Indication (RSSI)
- Screen Timeout issues while connected to Wi-Fi have been resolved
- Resolved issue with Mobile Hotspot data stalling while multiple users are
connected
- Improved audio quality during voice call
- Reduced forced closures related to the People application
- Improved device stability reduces continuous resets
- Resolved issue with Task Manager stopping Mail background servic
Not exactly the update we were hoping for but at least it’s something.
AT&T and HTC collectively unveiled their new (for the moment) flagship device, the HTC Titan II. Specs of the new hotness include a 4.7″ 480 x 800 Super LCD, single-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon processor, and 512 MB of RAM. LTE is of course standard while Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) is the flavor of choice.
More impressive than meager single-core, half a gig RAM, however, is the Titan II’s gargantuan 16 megapixel camera which includes auto-focus and dual-LED flash as well as an F2.2 lens and BSI sensor. (Translation: The Titan II should take some damn fine pictures.) HTC has also added their own software tweaks for the camera by way of panoramic and burst shot modes. Video buffs will enjoy the 720p video recording captured at 30fps. Battery life on the Titan II remains to be seen, though the 1,730 mAh battery should provide at least enough juice to make it through your typical day thanks to the single-core processor’s meager power needs.
We’re not going to lie. While Windows Phone 7 is awesome in terms of efficiency with regards to super smooth UI despite the single-core processors, we’re getting tired of the WVGA (480 x 800) displays — especially on devices as large as the Titan II. Hopefully we start seeing some more advancements on the Windows Phone front. While specs aren’t everything, they do keep people (namely us) interested.
