Author Archive: Matt

HTC announces the HTC One

At a series of special events in a number of cities today, HTC have officially announced the HTC One.

The flagship Android device has been the subject of various leaks and rumours over the past few months and we’ve formerly known of the device by its codename, HTC M7.

I’ve had a chance to play with this handset already and can tell you that I am really excited about this device, cant wait to get hands on the review unit. Until then, here is the press release and we’ll have a few more posts about the HTC One coming up shortly!

Introducing the new HTC one, A New perspective on smartphones

HTC BlinkFeedT, HTC ZoeT and HTC BoomSoundT Deliver HTC One’s Unprecedented New Smartphone Experience

London and New York City, February 19, 2013 – HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today announced its new flagship smartphone, the new HTC One. Crafted with a distinct zero-gap aluminium unibody, the new HTC One introduces HTC BlinkFeedT, HTC ZoeT and HTC

BoomSoundT, key new HTC Sense^® innovations that reinvent the mobile experience and set a new standard for smartphones.

“People today immerse themselves in a constant stream of updates, news and information. Although smartphones are one of the main ways we stay in touch with the people and information we care about, conventional designs have failed to keep pace with how people are actually using them,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. “A new, exciting approach to the smartphone is needed and with the new HTC One, we have re-imagined the mobile experience from the ground up to reflect this new reality.”

HTC BlinkFeed: A personal live stream right on the home screen
At the centre of the new HTC One experience is HTC BlinkFeed. HTC BlinkFeed is a bold new experience that transforms the home screen into a single live stream of personally relevant information such as social updates, entertainment and lifestyle updates, news and photos with immersive images so that people no longer need to go to separate applications to find out what’s happening. HTC BlinkFeed aggregates the freshest content from the most relevant and interesting sources, giving it to people at a glance, all in one place, without the need to jump between multiple applications and web sites.

To enable this new dynamic approach to the smartphone, HTC will provide both local and global content from more than 1,400 media sources with more than 10,000 articles per day from some of the most innovative media companies, such as the AOL family of media properties, ESPN, MTV, Vice Media, CoolHunting, Reuters and many others. For more information on HTC BlinkFeed’s content partners, visit the HTC Blog.

 

HTC UltraPixel Camera with HTC Zoe

The breakthrough HTC UltraPixel Camera redefines how people capture, relive and share their most precious moments. HTC Zoe gives people the ability to shoot high-res photos that come to life in three-second snippets. These Zoes, photos and videos are then displayed in a unique way that brings the gallery to life and transforms the traditional photo gallery of still images into a motion gallery of memories. It also automatically creates integrated highlight films from each event comprised of Zoes, photos and videos set to music with professionally designed cuts, transitions and effects. These highlight videos can be remixed or set to different themes, and can be easily shared on social networks, email and other services.

To enable this innovative camera experience, HTC developed a custom camera that includes a best-in-class f/2.0 aperture lens and a breakthrough sensor with UltraPixels that gather 300 percent more light than traditional smartphone camera sensors. This new approach also delivers astounding low-light performance and a variety of other improvements to photos and videos. In addition, the perfect self-portrait or video is just a tap away with an ultra-wide angle front-facing camera which supports 1080p video capture. Multi-axis optical image stabilisation for the rear camera also helps ensure video footage smoother whether stationary or on the move. HTC UltraPixel camera adds many other features and effects such as enhanced 360′ panorama, time sequencing and object removal.

 

HTC BoomSound

The new HTC One offers the best audio experience of any mobile phone available today. HTC BoomSound introduces for the first time on a phone, front-facing stereo speakers with a dedicated amplifier and an amazing full HD display that immerses people in music, videos, games and the YouTubeT clips they love. Beats AudioT integration is enabled across the entire experience for rich, authentic sound whether you’re listening to your favorite music, watching a YouTube video or playing a game.

HDR recording uses advanced dual microphones and audio processing to capture clean, rich sound that is worthy of high-definition video footage. Phone calls sound great on HTC One thanks to the addition of HTC Sense VoiceT, which boosts the call volume and quality in noisy environments so that conversations come through loud and clear.

 

HTC Sense TV

HTC Sense TV transforms the new HTC One into an interactive program guide and remote control for most TVs, set-top boxes and receivers. Tapping the power of the cloud, Sense TV makes it simple and intuitive to see what’s on and find that favourite show.

 

Metal Unibody Design

Wrapped in a zero-gap aluminium unibody and sporting a brilliant 4.7″, Full HD (1080p) screen, the new HTC One features the latest Android Jelly Bean operating system and LTE network technology to offer blazingly-fast browsing in a package that combines premium design with breakthrough build quality.

Available in stunning silver and beautiful black, the sleek and crafted aluminium unibody sits comfortably in the hand and showcases HTC’s unique antenna technology, which helps people achieve a crystal clear signal. The display also resists scratches and reduces glare, whilst offering incredible 468ppi resolution and rich, natural colours.

 

Global Availability

The new HTC One will be available globally through more than 185 mobile operators and major retailers in more than 80 regions and countries beginning in March. For more information and to pre-register for the new HTC One, visit www.htc.com.

Posted by: Matt

HTC: The countdown

A visit to HTC’s website is met with a simple countdown on the homepage at the moment. The countdown of the expiry coincides with HTC’s press event being held on the afternoon of 19th February.

The exact details of the event are a closely guarded secret but it is expected that we are to be introduced to the much rumoured HTC M7 which is almost universally claimed to be the HTC One.

As always, I’ll be on had covering the event on Tuesday afternoon and will have full details as soon as I am able to share. For now it’s just a case of sit and wait and be hypnotized by the ticking down of the seconds!

Posted by: Matt

Try the new Sony Xperia Z at Phones 4U

The new Sony Xperia Z may not yet be available to buy but thanks to Phones 4U, you can get your hands on it in one of its 300+ stores to try the phone out before it goes on sale.

I’m not aware of this being done with any other phone before so it’s a great opportunity to see what the phone is like before you go ahead and pre-order one. You can pre-order from today and the Xperia Z starts shipping on the 28th Feb.

This is a great idea and one that I hope to see in future with other handsets and manufacturers.

Full press details follow.

Microsoft Surface Pro launches, sells out

Microsoft released their Surface Pro 128GB and 64GB and made them available through their online store in the USA. However, within just a few hours the flagship tablet device is already out of stock.

The 128GB version, which costs $999 and does not come with a Touch or Type cover, had sold out before 6:00am PST Saturday morning, according to Microsoft-focused news website WinBeta.

Looking at the Microsoft store again this morning it seems that the 64GB version is now back in stock, presumably someone at MS found another couple of boxes down the back of the sofa.

Call me cynical but isn’t it entirely likely that MS simply chose not to list all of their 128GB inventory purely to create the media attention to selling out which we are now fuelling? Hmm.

One thing that really bothers me about these Surface products is this line regarding the storage in the 64GB model: “64 GB (approximately 29 GB available for user content)” – less than half of the memory is available?!

Posted by: Matt

Vodafone: Don’t upgrade your iPhone 4S to iOS 6.1

Via their online support forum, Vodafone have warned customers with iPhone 4S models not to update to iOS version 6.1. Apparently iOS 6.1 is causing issues with 3G and can also impact the device connecting to the network.

I’ve a number of colleagues that started to report issues with the iPhone’s shortly after the update and, guess what, we too use the Vodafone network.

Furthermore, they are all reporting that the battery life following the update has been dramatically shortened, but this could be part of the issues with the phone struggling to connect to the network.

The statement from Vodafone can be seen below:

Hi everyone,

We’re aware of an issue caused by Apple iPhone 4s handsets that have been upgraded to iOS 6.1 which impacts performance on 3G.

Some customers may occasionally experience difficulty in connecting to the network to make or receive calls or texts or to connect to the Internet. Apple is working on a solution to their software issue. These connection problems are intermittent.

While Apple’s investigations continue, we would recommend that anyone who has not yet installed iOS 6.1 on their iPhone 4s should delay doing so until Apple has confirmed that their problem has been fixed.

Posted by: Matt