Archive for March 1st, 2015

By March 1, 2015 Read More →

HTC Grip sees gripe

B_BYtXoWwAAKDMTHTC are entering the wearables market this year with a dip stick. Much like the HTC Flyer years back HTC are not taking any chances with an emerging market without testing the water first. Their first wearable, like many other companies, is a fitness band. Simple, rubber, black and safe. Working closely with Under Armour the Grip is know as a sport band connecting with Bluetooth to and Android device. GPS is inbuilt and a 100 mAh battery that will see only 5 hours of life, unless you turn GPS off. There is a soft touch material inside to keep sweat at bay.

The lack of battery life will no doubt put people off, Samsung’s option lasts a good deal longer however that exists entirely within the Samsung eco-system. Huawei and Acer have similar devices on their roadmap and if they drop a better battery in then there is little reason to recommend the HTC Grip.

Honestly this feels like an afterthought and with HTC announcing two big devices in Barcelona, this is likely to be ignored however it will hopefully not put HTC off working on wearables.

 

By March 1, 2015 Read More →

The HTC One 2015 (M9)

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The Internet has been awash with rumours and speculation regarding the HTC One M9 and things have gotten quite savage. Seasoned leakers had their credibility questioned, HTC themselves rumoured to be leaving red herrings all over the show and mock ups of dreamy devices arrived on the biggest sites as most likely candidates. No one could be trusted, until now.

The HTC One has been refreshed for 2015 under the model number M9. Much like the previous M8 and M7 this flagship device boasts the best HTC can produce, with a carefully selected specification list, a closely considered design HTC have produced an update that is both an in-keeping fan pleaser and a high end status symbol that adds elegance to the flooded and cutthroat high end Android market.

In an early preview HTC have shown off the goods on a technician’s preview ROM that is likely to receive a few tweaks before it hits market. HTC denied requests to benchmark the phone as it runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor the however the ROM was not perfected at the time and scores would not be accurate. Recent reports surrounding the LG Flex 2’s identical processor overheating is not an issue HTC is concerned with. Both HTC and Qualcomm have not noticed any similar problems with the 810 and are certain the chip will deliver the power without reaching unacceptable heat levels, especially when you consider the chip in housed inside the M9’s metallic case.

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Whilst the M9 is similar to the M8 and M7 the specs are updated to take on a new year and new challenges. The camera has been upgraded to a 20mp shooter with the Ultra Pixel shooter from before being brought around the front for selfies. HTC have made a lot of effort in the past year to position themselves as the leader of the selfie phone and they have succeeded, The Ultrapixel technology really lends itself to the forward facing position. Of course HTC are still building on the camera results so sample photos are not available until launch and finalised firmware. The battery capacity has been increased from 2,600mAh to 2,840mAh.

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The Boomsound continues from the M7 alongside the equaliser from the M8, now HTC have added the Dolby Audio to enrich the experience. 24 bit audio is also compatible with the M9.

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Four colours will be available to start with, Pink, gold, silver and grey. Whilst these do not have exotic colour names they do give you a better idea what to expect with using realistic names. The silver version pictured above includes an elegant gold twinge around the sides, this will help distinguish M8 users from M9 users however this isn’t as big an update in styling as some users might like and folks will probably have to ask before they can tell its the newer HTC One.

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One of the biggest additions HTC have made is a software update for HTC Sense, a Theme generator, This learns what you use, where and when, be it apps, or games. It can suggest content you might want depending on your location and time of day. An example being a railway timetable application where you are in the proximity of a railway station. Images from your gallery are shown when you are near somewhere you may have taken photos at before. The lockscreen mimics this feature and suggests local facilities and amenities nearby. 

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Overall the update to the HTC One isn’t a big one, but a logical one. There is nothing revolutionary here and HTC may suffer from the same backlash that Apple have seen each year, especially when it comes to the protruding camera housing. Some may like the “if it ain’t broke” approach however others have trusted HTC for innovation over the years and may be disappointed.

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor 2.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 processor
  • 3GB RAM
  • Android 5.0 Lollipop 
  • 4G LTE speed
  • Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac network
  • Bluetooth
  • 5″ Super LCD3 touch screen
  • 1920 x 1080 resolution 
  • 32GB internal memory
  • microSD slot up to 128GB compatible
  • 20.0MP and 4.0MP front-facing cameras
  • Up to 20 days of standby time lithium-ion battery
Posted in: News, Phones
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