Here are the videos you don’t want to miss this week – January 30, 2016
While it hasn’t been all too busy in the Android world as of late, our video team has still been working hard to bring you some great Android-related coverage.
This week Krystal brought you her full review of the honor 5X, Huawei’s new budget smartphone that’s just made its way to the United States. Josh has some thoughts about switching to an iPhone for about a month, and Nirave gives us a detailed walkthrough of Android 6.0 Marshmallow (beta) on the Samsung Galaxy S6. Joe has also brought us two great new videos regarding the best new Android apps and games of January 2016.
There’s certainly a lot to cover here, so without any further delay, here are the videos you don’t want to miss this week.
honor 5X review
The honor 5X is just now making its way to the United States, and it’s one heck of a value. At only $200, this might actually be one of the best cheap Android phones available on the market. Is there anything you should know before you run out any buy one for yourself? Don’t miss Krystal’s full review of the honor 5X.
Why I switched to iPhone (…and back again)
Josh recently took a little vacation, where he actually switched to the iPhone 6s for a full month. Now that he’s back on Android, he’s willing to share his thoughts.
This is Marshmallow (beta) on the Galaxy S6
While there’s still no official build of Android 6.0 Marshmallow for the Galaxy S6, Samsung has released a beta to the public. Wondering what changes it will bring to the handset? Nirave goes hands-on with Marshmallow (beta) on the S6.
Apps, apps, and more apps
10 best new Android apps of January 2016
Following a major lull in December, it seems as though every developer decided to release their new applications in the same month. Check out Joe’s latest roundup of the best new Android apps of January 2016!
10 best new Android games of January 2016
Not only have there been a ton of app releases in the past month, there are also a good amount of games you should check out. Here are the 10 best new Android games of January 2016.
Android Apps Weekly
The future of Link Bubble and the return of the mobile Humble Bundle – you don’t want to miss the latest episode of Joe’s Android Apps Weekly show.
New Sony Xperia C6 render shows off bezel-less display, looks drop dead gorgeous
A high-quality render of Sony’s unannounced Xperia C6 smartphone has been released by a reliable tech leaker on Twitter. The Xperia C6, if the newly released render is to be believed, looks a lot like Xperia C5 Ultra, which was introduced back in mid-2015. Just like the C5 Ultra, the new Xperia C6 is expected to have a near bezel-less display, which would definitely help this device stand out from amongst the crowd.
See also: Bezel-less Sony Xperia C6 leaked ahead of MWC 2016
The new Sony Xperia C6 render was released by @OnLeaks, who says that the image was constructed based on the phone’s factory schematics. Not much else is known about the Xperia C6, but rumour has it that Sony’s upcoming device will run an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 chipset under its hood, clocked at a cool 2.0GHz. There’s another rumour which says that the Xperia C6 will have a 1080p resolution display, while the display size may be anywhere between 5- and 6-inches.
While we can’t say for sure, Sony might introduce the new Xperia C6 at MWC 2016, which kicks off on February 22nd in Barcelona. Several other players are also expected to make major announcements on the first day, like Samsung, who’s expected to announce the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge after Sony’s press conference. Alleged press renders of Samsung’s unannounced flagship devices were leaked not too long ago as well, so be sure to check those out before MWC kicks off. Stay tuned for the full coverage on all things relating to Android at MWC 2016!
BlackBerry goes all in, says their future is with Android
BlackBerry’s Priv was a major change for the company, marking the first time they’d shipped a device running Android instead of any of their BlackBerry OS iterations. So far, it’s done pretty well for the company; well enough, in fact, that the company said they were planning on launching another Android device later this year, which will probably end up being the Vienna we’ve been hearing about.
Earlier this month, CEO John Chen said the company was doubling down on Android and only shipping Android-powered devices in 2016, but we might see that exclusivity go a little further than just this year. Damian Tay, head of BlackBerry’s Asian Pacific operations, made some comments about how the Priv was BlackBerry’s “transition” over to Android products. That doesn’t give much hope to anyone that’s holding out for another BlackBerry 10 device.
He also noted that the company considers Android the future, and there wouldn’t be much point in maintaining both operating systems simultaneously. Plus, BlackBerry’s enterprise efforts were cross-platform anyway, so moving that side of things over to Android is basically already finished.
This doesn’t 100% spell the end of BlackBerry 10, as sometimes these comments are mistranslated or misunderstood. But either way you look at it, if BlackBerry has success with Android this year, they probably won’t be keen on changing a winning formula. Sorry, BlackBerry enthusiasts.
source: Economic Times
via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: BlackBerry goes all in, says their future is with Android
Tag Heuer Connected review: $1,500 for a smartwatch?
Smartphone makers have churned out watch after watch in hopes of happening upon something game-changing. If nothing else, they’re getting good at making pretty gear. Still, none of them have the clout that horological giant Tag Heuer does, which is why our collective ears perked up when we heard that the Swiss company was making an Android Wear watch. The result is the Tag Heuer Connected, a watch that looks like some of the company’s most iconic models … and works just like every other Android Wear device out there. At $1,500, it’s also the most expensive Android Wear watch around, but — spoiler alert — it’s hardly worth the price.
Hardware
As you’d expect from a watchmaker with a storied history, the Connected is a remarkably well-built piece of kit. For one, it’s almost shockingly light — thanks to the fancy Grade 2 titanium Tag Heuer used for the chassis and lugs. I honestly wasn’t expecting the Connected to feel as trim as it did just based on looks; it’s a distinctly masculine piece that takes cues from a handful of the company’s existing chronographs, specifically models like the relatively new Calibre Heuer O1. Its waistline measures a plump 12.8mm, for one, making it the thickest Android Wear watch, in addition to the most expensive.
Of course, the body had to have a little extra meat to accommodate the 1.5-inch (38.1mm) LCD display running at 360 x 360. All told, the dial measures a full 46.2mm wide. That screen is also covered with a piece of sapphire crystal that does a fine job fending off scratches, though it didn’t keep the panel from getting smudgy after lots of tapping.
So yes, it’s a big watch — enough to make dainty wrists look totally ridiculous. At least the vulcanized rubber strap made for some comfortable wearing. It’s dead simple to adjust the size for bigger and smaller wrists alike; you just move the titanium clasp up and down along the band to fit just about any size. In any case, I really can’t overstate this: The Connected’s fit and finish are the finest of any Android Wear device, even if the look won’t be for everyone.
While the Connected earns points for build quality, it lacks a few of the niceties we’ve grown accustomed to on other Android Wear watches. It’ll track your steps, for instance, but there’s no heart-rate sensor on board. Other high-end watches, like the Huawei Watch, also come with speakers that will come in handy once Android Wear is updated to support them, but you won’t find any here. Sorry, runners, there’s no GPS, either (although, having taken the Connected to the gym a few times, I find it a little too bulky for running anyway).
Thankfully, the stuff you do get is more potent than you might expect. Rather than run on one of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400-series chips, Tag teamed up with Intel and Google to get everything optimized for a dual-core Intel chip instead. A brief note on that silicon: It’s actually a 1.6GHz Z34XX Atom processor, though Tag says it’s normally clocked at 500mHz. The more you know! I’ll dig into performance more in a bit, but for now, suffice to say that Tag and its partners might be on to something here. Those processor cores are assisted by 1GB of RAM, and the watch sports the industry-standard 4GB of internal storage and a 410mAh battery.
In use
If you’ve read any of our recent Android Wear device reviews, you already have a pretty good understanding of what the OS is capable of. In fact, it’s matured quite a bit since it first debuted a year and a half ago. Still, as I’ve said before, there’s a pervasive sense of sameness that comes with Android Wear, as watchmakers aren’t able to fiddle much with Wear’s design and functionality.
After you plunk down your $1,500 and receive the watch, the first thing you’ll want to do is register it on Tag Heuer’s website. Yes, I know, I hardly ever bother with that either. This time, though, it’s a crucial step in making sure your watch gets all the functionality it’s supposed to. To wit: Of the four (yes, only four) included watch faces, one called “Themed” revealed a Weather Underground theme only after registering the watch. Even better, after setting that theme, the watch absolutely refused to load any weather information. Uh, thanks?
Tag’s touch is a light one, so the only other apps that come preloaded on the watch are a handsome alarm, a timer and a stopwatch. The stopwatch in particular is a neat touch, as it apes a bit of classic chronometer design by displaying multiple dials for minutes elapsed and tenths of seconds. In a bid to make the Connected more palatable, Tag also inked deals with the makers of apps like RaceChrono, Golfshot Pro, ViewRanger (for trail maps) and Insiders (for curated suggestions of fancy, neat things around you). These all run fine on other Android Wear watches too, but Tag promised that Connected owners would get free subscriptions to those apps’ premium features. Unfortunately, Tag offers no instructions for how to actually claim those free subscriptions, and Insiders in particular won’t even let you past a landing page without an invite code. Swell.
Of course, that’s just the situation right now. Tag Heuer has said that a slew of Connected-exclusive goodies would eventually come to the watch, including watch faces customized by celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and model Cara Delevingne. No, seriously. There’s no word on when those features will get added, but we’ll revisit them if and when they do.
Software stuff aside, the Connected still feels like a mixed bag. On the one hand, the Intel chip powering the watch is no slouch. Normally with Android Wear devices you’ll run into lag while swiping furiously through notification cards and a watch’s app list. There was hardly any of that here; the few instances where I did see some stuttering only underscored how fast the watch usually is. Qualcomm’s stranglehold on the mobile chip market means we’re probably going to keep seeing Snapdragon used in smartwatches, but I’d be happy if more device makers started pledging allegiance to Intel.
Too bad the display is a bit of a letdown. The 1.5-inch LCD panel isn’t nearly as crisp or pixel-dense as the competition’s. The Huawei Watch and the smaller of the two Moto 360 variants have sharper screens, making for text that’s easier to read and watch faces with a little more clarity. Even the ill-fated second-gen edition of the LG Watch Urbane had a screen that was better than what we’ve got here in the Connected, with brilliant colors and 348 pixels per linear inch. It was gorgeous; too bad you can’t buy one anymore.
Normally, this screen situation wouldn’t be such a huge deal — it’s still perfectly readable, after all– but c’mon: This is a $1,500 watch. I don’t think I’m out of line for expecting something more impressive. On the plus side, though, the screen brightness is respectable, and the Connected’s ambient display also does a nice job telling you the time even in bright sunlight.
Since the chipset inside is technically capable of faster clock speeds than the Snapdragon 400s inside most other Android Wear watches, battery life probably weighed heavily on Tag and Intel as they built the watch. Thankfully, while the screen fails to impress, there’s a lot of life in the Connected’s 410mAh battery. During weekdays when the flow of work-related notifications seemed endless, the Connected never lasted for less than 20 hours with the ambient display turned on and screen brightness set at half. And when the relative quiet of the weekend rolled around, that number surged: I’d routinely wake up the day after a full charge and have about 20 percent left to play with.
The competition
Honestly, nothing else in the world of Android Wear comes close to what Tag Heuer is offering. Setting aside how well-designed the device is, owners have the option of trading in their watches after the two-year warranty expires for a unique mechanical Carrera designed to look like the Connected. It’s a neat idea in theory, especially since it provides an escape route from the smartwatch age for Tag Heuer traditionalists. The caveat: You have to shell out another $1,500, which is what the Carrera starts at anyway. On top of that, since Tag hasn’t actually shown anyone what that replacement looks like, who knows whether that $1,500 fee actually constitutes a good deal.
While they aren’t as fancy as the Connected, the relatively affordable Huawei Watch ($349 and up) and the 2015 Moto 360 ($299 plus) are both strong choices if you’re looking for something running Android Wear. As I’ve said, Huawei’s watch has a sharp display, not to mention a boatload of attractive watch faces and an undeniable sense of style. Speaking of style, the Moto 360 comes in two sizes, including a 46mm variant for people who like the dimensions of the Connected’s screen, and it’s highly customizable, too.
Since the Connected’s price is so high, I can’t help but compare it to the upper-level Apple Watches. The closest thing pricewise in Cupertino’s lineup is the $1,500, 42mm stainless-steel Watch with a Fauve Barenia leather cuff by Hermès. Apple’s Hermès line and the Tag Heuer Connected share a sense of luxury and polish that befit their price tags, but man, their approaches seem totally different. Sure, they handle notifications, run apps and allow you to interact with connected phones with your voice. The thing is, the Connected feels more like a proper watch with additional smart features. Apple’s goal was to make something that acts like an all-encompassing digital concierge on your wrist — a smartwatch through and through.
Wrap-up
If you’re looking for a good Android Wear watch, you don’t need to spend $1,500. It’s completely unnecessary. That’s not to say the Connected is a bad device — far from it. Its build quality is fantastic, and it’s comfortable in addition to being stylish. It’s just that nothing about the experience feels worth that kind of money.
But maybe that’s just me. The lure of fancy, expensive watches stretches back to the very beginning of horological history. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who eagerly pull up their sleeves, itching to talk about their new Ulysse Nardin piece or the great eBay deal they found on a Rolex Submariner. For those people — ardent watch lovers — the Connected makes a little more sense. It’s a taste of the smartphone age wrapped in a familiar package, complete with a $1,500 exit strategy in the form of a trade-in. If that’s you, well, enjoy. Everyone else can stay away with no regrets.
Sony Xperia C6 render leaks
Sony will be holding a press conference at the upcoming MWC 2016 trade show, just like it normally does. Unfortunately, the next Xperia flagship won’t make an appearance. However, Sony may be prepping some other handsets for a release. Yesterday, a render leaked of what appears to be a yet to be release Sony-branded smartphone.
Sources say that the leaked render is of the Sony Xperia C6. Most of the design elements are similar to that of other Sony handsets. The most notable design element here is the handset’s razor thin bezels along the sides. Based off of rumors, the Xperia C6 could house a 5-inch display with a Full HD resolution. The handset may also include an octa-core processor from MediaTek, the Helio P10. Judging from these specs, the handset will be a mid-ranger, hopefully with an affordable price tag.
Based off the leaked render, the Xperia C6 will come in three colors, a dark grey, a silver, and a goldish-colored model. Perhaps we’ll find out more on the handset at MWC 2016, which is set to begin on February 22 in Barcelona.
Source: OnLeaks (Twitter)
Via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: Sony Xperia C6 render leaks
President pledges $4 billion toward computer science in schools
The White House isn’t just relying on legislation to make computer science education a priority in the US. President Obama has launched a Computer Science for All initiative that gives states $4 billion in funding to expand computer science in K-12 schools through a mix of better course materials, partnerships and teacher training. The move also sends another $100 million directly to school districts, unlocks $135 million in funding from government organizations and gets further cooperation from both local governments as well as tech leaders.
Some of those leaders include companies that have already promised support for the President’s educational initiatives. Apple, Cartoon Network, Code.org, Facebook, Microsoft, Salesforce and Qualcomm are all widening their education efforts, investing in programs or both to help improve computer science in the country.
Throwing cash at a problem won’t make it go away, of course, and there aren’t any guarantees that the money will make a difference. However, the effort at least tackles one of the core issues head-on: getting computer science into schools in the first place. Roughly three quarters of schools go without any CS programs, and 22 states don’t accept these classes as credit toward a high school diploma. If the extra funding works as planned, it’ll get CS courses into more schools and help create a generation of kids that know how to code before they reach college.
Source: White House Blog
Sprint HTC One M8 units are now receiving Android 6.0
An OTA update containing Google’s latest Android 6.0 (excluding the minor Android 6.0.1 update) is now rolling out to Sprint HTC One M8 units.
Millions of Android users are still waiting to get their hands on the latest software from Google. Subscribers of Sprint who have HTC’s 2014 One M8 flagship will be happy to know that the update is rolling out to everyone as of this moment. The confirmation came from Mo Versi, HTC’s VP of product management, who announced the plans on Twitter yesterday evening.
The Android 6.0 update will bring you all of the latest features from Google. These include the new Now on Tap capability, doze, simplified app permissions, and lots lots more. Google has received a majority of good feedback regarding its latest update since it launched back in May of last year.
When you receive the update, you’ll want to ensure that you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network to avoid data overages. Since it’s a big update, it will take some time to download and install. It’s also recommended that you charge your One M8 to at least 50% prior to installing the software. The update is rolling out in waves like it normally does, so if you don’t get the update today, or tomorrow, don’t be discouraged. If you haven’t received the notification to update yet, try going into settings under ‘About phone’ and then ‘check for new software updates’, this may speed up the process. Happy updating!
Source: Mo Versi (Twitter)
Via: Android Central
Come comment on this article: Sprint HTC One M8 units are now receiving Android 6.0
Recommended Reading: Michael Jackson’s music in ‘Sonic 3’
The Michael Jackson Video Game Conspiracy
Todd Van Luling,
Huffington Post
If you paid attention to the music in Sonic 3, you likely noticed some of the audio resembles Michael Jackson’s tunes. While Sega admitted the King of Pop was involved with the soundtrack, it claimed to have nixed all of his work from the final version despite obvious nods to the singer. As it turns out, that’s not exactly the case and Huffington Post details the a decade-spanning search for the truth from some of Sonic’s biggest fans.
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Trent Reznor Recalls How David Bowie Helped Him Get Sober Rolling Stone’s Bowie tribute issue is out this week and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor discusses the loss of a mentor. |
How Microsoft Plans to Beat Google and Facebook to the Next Tech Breakthrough Microsoft is refocusing its research division to make it a much bigger part of the company. |
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A Different Creed: The Legacy of ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ Assassin’s Creed traces its roots back to a cancelled Prince of Persia title, and this piece provides some of that backstory. |
Flashbacks and Forecasts: HTC in 2016
The smartphone industry is in turmoil. Commoditization, market saturation, and plain old competition are weakening the position of established players, while hungry newcomers are seeing opportunities everywhere. Only the strongest will be able to grow in 2016, but the fate of smaller players is unclear.
Don’t miss:
Case in point, HTC, a shadow of its former self, battling for relevancy throughout 2015. What does the new year hold for HTC? Join us as we examine the facts.
2015: a year to forget
HTC began 2015 on an optimist note, thanks to slowly improving financials and high expectations for the One M9. Smartphones aside, the Re camera seemed to signal a widening of HTC’s focus, and there were rumors of an HTC tablet to follow up the Nexus 9, as well as an Android Wear smartwatch. The worst seemed to be over, or, as one company executive put it at the time, HTC had “been through hell and survived.”
HTC's 2015 roadmap will be our best ever–with some huge surprises that will blow you away. 😉
— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) December 31, 2014
Then MWC 2015 happened and our hopes for an HTC revival were quashed by the mundane reality of the One M9. HTC’s 2015 flagship looked an awful lot like HTC’s 2014 flagship, which itself wasn’t that different from its predecessor.
Customers can forgive a repetitive design (just ask Apple), but in the M9’s case, the public was expecting something very different. An image that trusted leaker Evan Blass put up showed a device with glass-covered front-facing speakers, as well as a larger model featuring a front-mounted fingerprint scanner. Days later, a set of high-quality renders based on the leaked image got everyone even more excited.
Then the M9 launched in late February, with only minimal changes compared to the M8. Worse, HTC had failed to fix the one glaring problem of the M8 – its hit and miss camera. The M9 came with a different camera setup, but its quality was still subpar.
What really sealed the deal for the M9, however, were the overheating issues of the Snapdragon 810 processor. HTC had the tremendous bad luck of being the first OEM to run into highly publicized issues with Qualcomm’s flagship processor. LG, Sony, and others also had to deal with it, but it was HTC that took the brunt of the fiasco. The company’s handling of the problem was rather poor, but to its defense, there wasn’t much HTC could actually do about it.
Cher Wang takes over
By June, it was becoming clear that the M9 was a disaster for HTC. In its June quarterly earnings, the company revealed it was going back to red, with expected net losses of more than $250 million. Tellingly, a big chunk of the losses was attributed to a “one-off impairment for idled assets and some prepaid expenses.” HTC booked manufacturing capacity worth $90 million that it never got to use due to the M9’s poor sales performance.
Soon after the announcement of the M9, Chairwoman Cher Wang announced she would take over as CEO from Peter Chou. It was a momentous event, even if HTC tried to minimize its importance. After more than a decade at the helm of the company he co-founded in 1997, Chou was stepping down, in what could only be seen as a quiet admission of defeat. Chou stayed with the company as head of its “Future Development Lab,” though his actual attributions were unclear.
From her first public statement as CEO, Cher Wang signaled a shift in focus for HTC. The company that had been synonymous with smartphones was to stake a claim for itself in the field of virtual reality with the Vive, a VR headset co-developed with gaming powerhouse Valve. Vive and other “connected products” have been touted as HTC’s next growth engine ever since, with smartphones curiously taking a back seat.
Too many Ones
HTC spent its summer releasing an assortment of One variants. There was the M9+, with a fingerprint scanner and a Quad HD screen; the larger One E9+, made out of plastic; the One ME, a plastic M9+ with a different camera; and the M9(s), a MediaTek-powered version with minor cosmetic changes . To be fair, at least in the West, the M9 remained the one, true flagship. Nevertheless, the wave of objectively superior models that HTC released in Asia frustrated users in the US and Europe, and confused pretty much everyone.
By fall, HTC was losing confidence. Its shares were so cheap that its market capitalization was smaller than its cash reserves, meaning that for investors on the Taipei exchange the company’s assets were effectively worthless. In October, the company said it would stop issuing guidance for upcoming quarters.
See also: Best Android phones (January 2016)
Who copied whom?
It was clear that HTC needed a fresh take, and not only on the financial side. The designs the company put out throughout 2015 were stale and repetitive. Some much needed change came with the A9, a sleek mid-ranger that launched in the US on October 20. The 5-inch device drew a lot of inspiration from the iPhone, though HTC execs were quick to claim that it was Apple who copied HTC all along. Despite the controversy, the A9 generated some good vibes, that were somehow dampened by the $499 price tag.
The full extent of the disaster that 2015 was for HTC was visible on January 6, 2016, when the company announced a 35% drop in sales compared to 2014, which wasn’t very good either.
To sum up, 2015 brought HTC a new boss (but not really), a flagship that did more harm than good, massive financial losses, and almost no bright perspectives.
2016: “HTC will never disappear”
On Christmas Eve 2015, Cher Wang took some time to talk with the press about the remarks of Reuters columnist Robyn Mak, who predicted that HTC would be one of the mobile brands that would die in 2016. Wang, whose personal wealth is estimated at $8.8 billion, said that “HTC will never disappear” and that she had faith that the market could still grow. In an accompanying statement, HTC boasted that it holds a technological lead in VR and in smartphones.
So, where is HTC heading in 2016?
M10: starting over
It’s tempting to think that 2015 was truly rock bottom and that HTC’s fortunes can only improve from here onwards. But that’s what we thought in 2015, and in 2014, and in 2013…
On the smartphone front, HTC needs a clear and immediate winner with the M10. Rumored to launch sometime after MWC 2016, the M10 – also known under its codename Perfume – is said to feature a 5.1-inch AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 820 processor, and a front-mounted fingerprint sensor similar to that of the One M9+.
The most interesting rumored spec is in an area where HTC struggled over the years – the camera is said to be a 12MP model, featuring a homegrown UltraPixel sensor. While we can’t say anything in advance, this sounds like a risky bet. The M8’s UltraPixel camera was one of its few real weaknesses. Has HTC managed to up its camera game to compete with Samsung and LG?
Perhaps more important than what’s inside the M10, is its design. It would be almost absurd for HTC to come up with another iterative design. There have been no leaks claiming to show the M10 so far, but the company gave us a hint in October, when HTC Asia president Jack Tong announced the beginning of a “different and fashionable phase” starting with the A9. Does that mean the One M10 will look like the One A9? Probably not, but we can expect something very different from the played out M9.
It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell it
The One M10 has to be really good, but that won’t be enough to make it a sales hit. HTC needs to take a close look at its marketing department, in dire need of fresh ideas. To be fair, it’s not a good time to try new ideas, not with a global slowdown affecting even the mighty Apple and Samsung. Then again, HTC doesn’t have much to lose at this point, and looking at some of its marketing efforts from 2014-2015, it can’t get much worse.
There’s a whole discussion to be had about the place that HTC can occupy in a smartphone industry that is commoditizing fast. Perhaps it would be best for HTC to give up any delusions of grandeur and embrace a niche position, focusing on a small number of exquisite devices that stand out from the crowd. It’s not like HTC has a big market share or steady revenues to protect, and niche players can thrive even in a highly commoditized market.
If HTC decides it still wants to go after the general market, it needs some clarity. In 2015, the slew of devices it put out was downright confusing, even for tech bloggers. Customers appreciate options, but when it gets hard to tell products apart, you have a problem.
VR pioneer
HTC made its name as one of the pioneers of the smartphone industry, and in 2016, it’s obvious that it aims to be one of the first big VR players. Virtual reality seems poised to finally become mainstream, with compelling products from Oculus (Facebook), Sony, Microsoft, HTC/Valve and others.
Early reactions to the Vive headset have been largely positive, and HTC can rely on Valve to bring expertise in the field that will make or break VR – gaming. If the Vive is well received when it launches this spring, HTC may get the rare opportunity to transform itself. It’s not hard to imagine HTC even giving up on smartphones to focus entirely on VR. It wouldn’t be the first time the company pivots.
However, we don’t know yet if people will actually want to strap monitors to their faces and go about exploring virtual worlds. Even if VR does take off as the next big thing in consumer electronics, HTC is going against some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
A great user experience is not a guarantee that Vive will be a hit. HTC knows that all too well from the smartphone industry. One rumor put the price of the Vive at $1500 – if that pans out, only the most enthusiastic early adopters will find it appealing. And there’s the problem of getting developers to create software for the platform. In a recent survey, most game developers said they were working on the Oculus Rift platform, followed by Gear VR, and Google’s lowly Cardboard, with HTC’s Vive coming in on fourth place. Sure, things can change once devices finally hit the stores, but it looks like Oculus already has a leg up on Vive.
Murky waters
Beyond smartphones and VR, HTC’s outlook is less defined. There has been talk of an Android Wear smartwatch from HTC for over two years, but it looks like that project is dead. HTC did team up with Under Armour to create a wearable as part of a connected fitness set, but the market is awash with fitness trackers and it’s hard to believe HTC will find any kind of traction here. On the tablet front, the Nexus 9 turned out to be a wasted opportunity, as HTC did not follow up with a tablet of its own. The RE camera is an interesting little gadget, but it’s not going anywhere either.
Perhaps the most exciting rumor we’ve heard about HTC’s 2016 product lineup is a report about two Nexus smartphones that the company is supposedly working on together with Google. A successful Nexus device can be very beneficial for its manufacturer – Asus, LG, and Huawei are good examples. On the flip side, HTC gained almost nothing from the Nexus 9. Let’s hope that, provided this Nexus rumor is true, HTC will fare better this time.
In this series:
Wrap up
HTC is one of the most interesting companies in the Android ecosystem. In terms of sales, it’s not even in top 15 globally. Still, people are passionate about HTC, and that can’t be said about larger companies like LG, Huawei, or Lenovo. Nostalgia is a key reason why we hold on to HTC and why we all hope to see a comeback. But it’s not just nostalgia – HTC has always tried to bring something special to the table and the world of Android would be poorer without it.
Despite a chorus of pundits predicting its death, HTC could survive in 2016 and beyond. The question is, will we know it as a phone maker or something else?
Flashbacks and Forecasts: HTC in 2016
The smartphone industry is in turmoil. Commoditization, market saturation, and plain old competition are weakening the position of established players, while hungry newcomers are seeing opportunities everywhere. Only the strongest will be able to grow in 2016, but the fate of smaller players is unclear.
Don’t miss:
Case in point, HTC, a shadow of its former self, battling for relevancy throughout 2015. What does the new year hold for HTC? Join us as we examine the facts.
2015: a year to forget
HTC began 2015 on an optimist note, thanks to slowly improving financials and high expectations for the One M9. Smartphones aside, the Re camera seemed to signal a widening of HTC’s focus, and there were rumors of an HTC tablet to follow up the Nexus 9, as well as an Android Wear smartwatch. The worst seemed to be over, or, as one company executive put it at the time, HTC had “been through hell and survived.”
HTC's 2015 roadmap will be our best ever–with some huge surprises that will blow you away. 😉
— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) December 31, 2014
Then MWC 2015 happened and our hopes for an HTC revival were quashed by the mundane reality of the One M9. HTC’s 2015 flagship looked an awful lot like HTC’s 2014 flagship, which itself wasn’t that different from its predecessor.
Customers can forgive a repetitive design (just ask Apple), but in the M9’s case, the public was expecting something very different. An image that trusted leaker Evan Blass put up showed a device with glass-covered front-facing speakers, as well as a larger model featuring a front-mounted fingerprint scanner. Days later, a set of high-quality renders based on the leaked image got everyone even more excited.
Then the M9 launched in late February, with only minimal changes compared to the M8. Worse, HTC had failed to fix the one glaring problem of the M8 – its hit and miss camera. The M9 came with a different camera setup, but its quality was still subpar.
What really sealed the deal for the M9, however, were the overheating issues of the Snapdragon 810 processor. HTC had the tremendous bad luck of being the first OEM to run into highly publicized issues with Qualcomm’s flagship processor. LG, Sony, and others also had to deal with it, but it was HTC that took the brunt of the fiasco. The company’s handling of the problem was rather poor, but to its defense, there wasn’t much HTC could actually do about it.
Cher Wang takes over
By June, it was becoming clear that the M9 was a disaster for HTC. In its June quarterly earnings, the company revealed it was going back to red, with expected net losses of more than $250 million. Tellingly, a big chunk of the losses was attributed to a “one-off impairment for idled assets and some prepaid expenses.” HTC booked manufacturing capacity worth $90 million that it never got to use due to the M9’s poor sales performance.
Soon after the announcement of the M9, Chairwoman Cher Wang announced she would take over as CEO from Peter Chou. It was a momentous event, even if HTC tried to minimize its importance. After more than a decade at the helm of the company he co-founded in 1997, Chou was stepping down, in what could only be seen as a quiet admission of defeat. Chou stayed with the company as head of its “Future Development Lab,” though his actual attributions were unclear.
From her first public statement as CEO, Cher Wang signaled a shift in focus for HTC. The company that had been synonymous with smartphones was to stake a claim for itself in the field of virtual reality with the Vive, a VR headset co-developed with gaming powerhouse Valve. Vive and other “connected products” have been touted as HTC’s next growth engine ever since, with smartphones curiously taking a back seat.
Too many Ones
HTC spent its summer releasing an assortment of One variants. There was the M9+, with a fingerprint scanner and a Quad HD screen; the larger One E9+, made out of plastic; the One ME, a plastic M9+ with a different camera; and the M9(s), a MediaTek-powered version with minor cosmetic changes . To be fair, at least in the West, the M9 remained the one, true flagship. Nevertheless, the wave of objectively superior models that HTC released in Asia frustrated users in the US and Europe, and confused pretty much everyone.
By fall, HTC was losing confidence. Its shares were so cheap that its market capitalization was smaller than its cash reserves, meaning that for investors on the Taipei exchange the company’s assets were effectively worthless. In October, the company said it would stop issuing guidance for upcoming quarters.
See also: Best Android phones (January 2016)
Who copied whom?
It was clear that HTC needed a fresh take, and not only on the financial side. The designs the company put out throughout 2015 were stale and repetitive. Some much needed change came with the A9, a sleek mid-ranger that launched in the US on October 20. The 5-inch device drew a lot of inspiration from the iPhone, though HTC execs were quick to claim that it was Apple who copied HTC all along. Despite the controversy, the A9 generated some good vibes, that were somehow dampened by the $499 price tag.
The full extent of the disaster that 2015 was for HTC was visible on January 6, 2016, when the company announced a 35% drop in sales compared to 2014, which wasn’t very good either.
To sum up, 2015 brought HTC a new boss (but not really), a flagship that did more harm than good, massive financial losses, and almost no bright perspectives.
2016: “HTC will never disappear”
On Christmas Eve 2015, Cher Wang took some time to talk with the press about the remarks of Reuters columnist Robyn Mak, who predicted that HTC would be one of the mobile brands that would die in 2016. Wang, whose personal wealth is estimated at $8.8 billion, said that “HTC will never disappear” and that she had faith that the market could still grow. In an accompanying statement, HTC boasted that it holds a technological lead in VR and in smartphones.
So, where is HTC heading in 2016?
M10: starting over
It’s tempting to think that 2015 was truly rock bottom and that HTC’s fortunes can only improve from here onwards. But that’s what we thought in 2015, and in 2014, and in 2013…
On the smartphone front, HTC needs a clear and immediate winner with the M10. Rumored to launch sometime after MWC 2016, the M10 – also known under its codename Perfume – is said to feature a 5.1-inch AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 820 processor, and a front-mounted fingerprint sensor similar to that of the One M9+.
The most interesting rumored spec is in an area where HTC struggled over the years – the camera is said to be a 12MP model, featuring a homegrown UltraPixel sensor. While we can’t say anything in advance, this sounds like a risky bet. The M8’s UltraPixel camera was one of its few real weaknesses. Has HTC managed to up its camera game to compete with Samsung and LG?
Perhaps more important than what’s inside the M10, is its design. It would be almost absurd for HTC to come up with another iterative design. There have been no leaks claiming to show the M10 so far, but the company gave us a hint in October, when HTC Asia president Jack Tong announced the beginning of a “different and fashionable phase” starting with the A9. Does that mean the One M10 will look like the One A9? Probably not, but we can expect something very different from the played out M9.
It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell it
The One M10 has to be really good, but that won’t be enough to make it a sales hit. HTC needs to take a close look at its marketing department, in dire need of fresh ideas. To be fair, it’s not a good time to try new ideas, not with a global slowdown affecting even the mighty Apple and Samsung. Then again, HTC doesn’t have much to lose at this point, and looking at some of its marketing efforts from 2014-2015, it can’t get much worse.
There’s a whole discussion to be had about the place that HTC can occupy in a smartphone industry that is commoditizing fast. Perhaps it would be best for HTC to give up any delusions of grandeur and embrace a niche position, focusing on a small number of exquisite devices that stand out from the crowd. It’s not like HTC has a big market share or steady revenues to protect, and niche players can thrive even in a highly commoditized market.
If HTC decides it still wants to go after the general market, it needs some clarity. In 2015, the slew of devices it put out was downright confusing, even for tech bloggers. Customers appreciate options, but when it gets hard to tell products apart, you have a problem.
VR pioneer
HTC made its name as one of the pioneers of the smartphone industry, and in 2016, it’s obvious that it aims to be one of the first big VR players. Virtual reality seems poised to finally become mainstream, with compelling products from Oculus (Facebook), Sony, Microsoft, HTC/Valve and others.
Early reactions to the Vive headset have been largely positive, and HTC can rely on Valve to bring expertise in the field that will make or break VR – gaming. If the Vive is well received when it launches this spring, HTC may get the rare opportunity to transform itself. It’s not hard to imagine HTC even giving up on smartphones to focus entirely on VR. It wouldn’t be the first time the company pivots.
However, we don’t know yet if people will actually want to strap monitors to their faces and go about exploring virtual worlds. Even if VR does take off as the next big thing in consumer electronics, HTC is going against some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
A great user experience is not a guarantee that Vive will be a hit. HTC knows that all too well from the smartphone industry. One rumor put the price of the Vive at $1500 – if that pans out, only the most enthusiastic early adopters will find it appealing. And there’s the problem of getting developers to create software for the platform. In a recent survey, most game developers said they were working on the Oculus Rift platform, followed by Gear VR, and Google’s lowly Cardboard, with HTC’s Vive coming in on fourth place. Sure, things can change once devices finally hit the stores, but it looks like Oculus already has a leg up on Vive.
Murky waters
Beyond smartphones and VR, HTC’s outlook is less defined. There has been talk of an Android Wear smartwatch from HTC for over two years, but it looks like that project is dead. HTC did team up with Under Armour to create a wearable as part of a connected fitness set, but the market is awash with fitness trackers and it’s hard to believe HTC will find any kind of traction here. On the tablet front, the Nexus 9 turned out to be a wasted opportunity, as HTC did not follow up with a tablet of its own. The RE camera is an interesting little gadget, but it’s not going anywhere either.
Perhaps the most exciting rumor we’ve heard about HTC’s 2016 product lineup is a report about two Nexus smartphones that the company is supposedly working on together with Google. A successful Nexus device can be very beneficial for its manufacturer – Asus, LG, and Huawei are good examples. On the flip side, HTC gained almost nothing from the Nexus 9. Let’s hope that, provided this Nexus rumor is true, HTC will fare better this time.
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Wrap up
HTC is one of the most interesting companies in the Android ecosystem. In terms of sales, it’s not even in top 15 globally. Still, people are passionate about HTC, and that can’t be said about larger companies like LG, Huawei, or Lenovo. Nostalgia is a key reason why we hold on to HTC and why we all hope to see a comeback. But it’s not just nostalgia – HTC has always tried to bring something special to the table and the world of Android would be poorer without it.
Despite a chorus of pundits predicting its death, HTC could survive in 2016 and beyond. The question is, will we know it as a phone maker or something else?
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