Scientists redesign the tree of life to add a thousand species

Scientists have been having a hard time figuring out where newly discovered organisms, such as giant viruses, fit in the tree of life. That’s especially true for a particular group of researchers who unearthed 1,011 new species within the course of 15 years. In order to accommodate the new organisms they found — and since life on Earth turned out to be more diverse than what previous generations of scientists thought — they’ve decided that it’s time to reinvent the evolutionary tree. Besides the 1,011 organisms they discovered, the team also studied the DNA of 2,072 known species to be able to get an accurate representation of nature’s diversity.

The resulting diagram shows how the different types of Bacteria vastly outnumber those that fall under Archaea and Eukaryota, which includes humans. There’s even a new and major branch under Bacteria called Canditate Phyla Radiation that’s composed of microorganisms that lead symbiotic lifestyles, including parasites and those that benefit their hosts.

Jill Banfield, a UC Berkeley professor and the study’s lead author, identified all these new bacteria with her colleagues by piecing together the genomes they gathered from the environment. They got their samples from meadow soils, water geysers, deserts and even from the mouth of a dolphin. They might not have seen these organisms yet, much less grown them in a lab, but they already know their DNA makeup.

The team believes their work could benefit not just microbiologists, but also biochemists looking for novel genes, as well as researchers studying evolution. Co-author Brett Baker said “[t]his incredible diversity means that there are a mind-boggling number of organisms that we are just beginning to explore the inner workings of that could change our understanding of biology.”

Via: The New York Times

Source: Nature, UC Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin

Airmail’s productivity-oriented email app comes to the iPad

Airmail is a popular Mac and iOS email app among power users, as it lets you use nearly any client and tailor the environment to suit your needs. While it recently came out on iPhone for the first time, the company just released version 1.1 for iPad which, along with the new features, should please hardcore users even more. Airmail now has split screen and multitasking, keyboard support for iPad Pro users, read receipts, smart folders, Touch ID support and a “send later” function for scheduled emails.

For those not into mega-customization, the price and time commitment may be a bit much. If your email is a bottomless well of time-suck, though, it helps you plow though messages more rapidly. It not only works with Gmail, IMAP/POP3 and Exchange clients, but is also compatible with Google Drive, Dropbox, Wunderlist and other productivity apps. Other features let you star items from the lock screen, instantly create a PDF from an email and load remote images, usually with just a few touchscreen presses. If all of that is worth $4.99 to you, Airmail 1.1 is now available on the App Store.

Via: The Verge

Source: Airmail

JBL Announces Noise-Canceling Headphones Powered by USB-C

Audio device manufacturer JBL recently announced the Reflect Aware C headphones, which will give users noise-canceling abilities without the need of a separate battery pack, thanks to its USB-C connector (via The Verge). Using the new input, the headphones draw both power and audio from a USB-C port, like the one on Apple’s 12-inch MacBook or the just-announced HTC 10 smartphone.

The Reflect Aware C headphones were built for activity-focused users, coming with sweatproof and ergonomic in-ear tips to keep them from falling out while running or working out. The selling feature of the device — the ability to mute extraneous sound — can be scrubbed through various noise-canceling levels to hear less or more outside sound. The toggle switch that controls this setting also houses a microphone for phone calls and music playback/volume control.

Although USB-C has yet to take off, even within the stable of Apple products, JBL’s product is a telling step forward for companies looking to move past the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, which has been a steady topic of conversation since last year. On the smartphone side of things, the Reflect Aware C will be able to be used with devices like the new HTC 10 smartphone, which launches in May and houses a USB-C port as its main charging solution.

JBL is staying tight-lipped about availability and pricing on the new noise-canceling headphones, but some information can be gleaned from another product in its lineup. The similarly-titled Reflect Aware headphones, announced at CES, will pack all of the USB-C version of the product’s features, but trade-off that output for an Apple ecosystem-friendly Lightning connector.

Get the most out of your exercises by filtering what gets in. The new JBL Reflect Aware™ sport earphones delivers both best in class noise cancelation and the ability to mix in sound from your environment for greater awareness of your surroundings when you want it, making it the most versatile sport headphone on the market.

Designed for sport with a unique reflective design, the JBL Reflect Aware™ earphones, feature legendary JBL sound and an ergonomic fit design that keeps the earpieces in place regardless of the intensity of your workout routine. Sweatproof and available in blue, black, red, teal, the JBL Reflect Aware™ earphones require no battery because they draw power and digital audio directly from the lightning connector on Apple devices.

The move could perhaps fill in a gap of noise-canceling headphones for this year’s main-line iPhone release, as recent rumors predict that first-party, Lightning-connected and dynamic noise-canceling headphones will launch with the 2017 “iPhone 7s.” This year’s iPhone 7 would simply adopt Lightning-connected earpods without the inclusion of noise-canceling technology.

The Reflect Aware in-ear headphones will cost $159.95 and the first round of orders begin shipping on June 19 in Blue, Black, Teal, and Red. Although unconfirmed by JBL, the Reflect Aware C will most likely be priced at a similar point — thanks to a laundry list of mirroring features — but the release date could be shifted.

Related Roundups: Retina MacBook, iPhone 7
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You can soon pick up the Xperia Z5 Premium in glorious pink

Sony has announced that the Xperia Z5 Premium will be available in pink from the start of May. The company shared details on the official Xperia blog, detailing the upcoming variant of the premium-looking 4K smartphone.

Following the standard Xperia Z5, which turned pink earlier this year, this new option will be ideal for those who wish to stand out from the crowd and really turn some heads with their valuable possessions. Designer, Murai-san spoke about the Xperia Z5 Premium in pink:

“The colour was first created for Xperia Z5 Pink and the hue also lent itself well to the finish of the Z5 Premium. As with other Z5 Premium devices we wanted to give an expression of light, so we adapted the colour to the Z5 Premium’s materials, the result is a deeper, rich tone due to its glossy finish – the perfect complement to its Premium name tag. The colour is also one of the trend colours for 2015AW-2016SS, so Xperia customers can tailor their look and colour co-ordinate their phone and outfits with the latest fashion trends.”

Sony confirmed that the Xperia Z5 Premium in pink will be available in select countries only.

Read through our Xperia Z5 Premium review

Sony Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact and Z5 Premium

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Samsung unleashes Milk VR to bring you an alternate reality without a headset

Samsung has published the Milk VR app to the Play Store, allowing those who are able to download and install the app to their smartphone a way to enjoy VR without a headset. This catalogue of content includes 360-degree videos that can be manipulated during playback, much like you would using Streetview on Google Maps.

All you need to do is hit play and then pan your phone around to change the view on-screen. Other platforms and services are already supporting 360-degree content, including the likes of YouTube. As noted by Variety, content is provided by various partners, including Mountain Dew, the NBA, 20th Century Fox and Skybound Entertainment. Here are some highlights of the app itself:

• Search or browse the ever expanding library of Samsung Milk VR 360 video content
• Play any video directly on your Samsung phone, even without your Gear VR headset
• Explore your 360 world either by moving your phone left/right or using touch navigation
• Download to play your videos in Gear VR for an even more immersive experience

Unfortunately, only a select few Samsung handsets are supported: Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy S6 edge+. Interested in learning more about Milk VR? Check out the official website for featured content and more details. You can also download Milk VR from the Play Store. Note that the app appears to be region restricted.

HTC 10 preview: The full story of HTC’s best phone in years

HTC’s bold new flagship could be the return to form it needs. Our first look at the HTC 10 — and the company’s thoughts behind it.

The narrative of HTC over the past half-decade has been a tale of upheaval, misfortune and constant reinvention. Compared to its heyday in the beginnings of Android’s ascension, the Taiwanese phone maker now seems a diminished presence in a market increasingly cornered by Samsung, Apple and nimbler Chinese upstarts.

A tough 2015 didn’t help matters. A tepid high-end offering, the One M9, set the tone for a dismal year at HTC, even as its fledgeling efforts in virtual reality started to show promise. Once a colossus of smartphone design, the firm seemed to be losing its way.

But HTC is still hungry, and it isn’t going away anytime soon. Today, almost 14 months removed from its last flagship announcement, HTC unveils the product upon which its hopes for the next year are pinned.

This is the HTC 10. In it are contained the biggest changes to HTC’s design language, software experience and branding since 2013’s One M7. And it might just be the return to form that this company so badly needs.

Hands-on walkthrough

HTC 10: In video

Perfect 10

HTC 10: The brand

Throughout its almost 20-year history, HTC has produced many good phones — and really great phones on occasion. But the manufacturer has struggled to nail every aspect of the smartphone equation — something Apple and Samsung have all but perfected in recent years.

That’s a problem in the high-end marketplace of 2016, where brilliance is increasingly expected to come as standard. Many phone makers now deliver more-than-capable cameras, stunning displays and impressive, premium build quality. The mark of a truly great device is that it excels across the board.

Darren Sng, Head of Global Product Marketing for HTC.

The mark of a great phone in 2016 is that it excels across the board.

This promise is embodied by a bold yet straightforward new brand name, Darren Sng, HTC’s Head of Global Product Marketing, told Android Central ahead of the HTC 10 announcement — the idea of a “perfect 10.” Universal brilliance, not just flickers of greatness here and there.

Promising perfection is one thing. Reaching such dizzying heights is an enormous challenge of engineering, design and logistics, which is why so few phones ever hit this mark. Nevertheless, with HTC 10, the company is upfront with its lofty ambitions.

So what of the HTC One brand, the cornerstone of HTC’s high-end portfolio since 2012? Sng says this isn’t going away entirely, but that “HTC 10” is the focus for this year’s flagship.

(And as for 2017 and beyond, we’d expect to be talking about an HTC 11, not a return to the “One M” series.)

The hardware

Aluminum and silicon

At the most basic physical level, the HTC 10 takes many of the best HTC design traits and mixes them into a new and eye-catching package. After flirting with a perilously iPhone-esque design in the One A9, the company’s standard-bearer for 2016 sports a far more HTC-like aesthetic.

The gentle curve of the back, paired with sharp chamfered edges, reminds us of the fan-favorite M7, while the new, deep chamfers add an ostentatious twist, particularly in the silver and gold models. And the contrast between sandblasted matte aluminum and highly polished angular accents give HTC’s new phone an eye-catching edge in a world of increasingly interchangeable metallic slabs. Protruding through the metal is a pronounced but fairly inoffensive camera bump.

Deep, lustrous chamfers give HTC’s new phone an eye-catching edge.

It’s also apparent that HTC has finally settled on how a metal phone should feel. The curve of its back makes the HTC 10 more ergonomic than most flat aluminum rivals. After experimenting with slippery curved sides in the One M8 and weird plastic shelves in the M9, the side walls of the HTC 10 are all part of the metal unibody.

Measuring a mere 3mm at its thinnest point, the phone’s outer edges don’t give you much to grip onto, but this is offset by its curved back and angular joins.

Even with such slim sides, there’s plenty of room for a the textured power key, volume rocker and SIM tray on the right edge. It’s also pretty easy to hold onto — when picking up the phone and manhandling it, even for the first time, I didn’t feel in any danger of dropping it.

That metal unibody comes in three main color options — silver, gold and gray. If you buy silver in North America it’ll come with a black front; in other territories you’ll get white. Meanwhile the gold model features a white front, and the grey version’s extremely dark grey metal merges into a pitch-black glass face. The in-hand feel of the grey model also differs dramatically from the other two. As is often the case with darker anodized colors, it’s a bit more plasticky, and attracts fingerprints far more easily than either gold or silver.

(There’s also a red-plus-black model — Camellia Red — that’s exclusive to Japan’s KDDI for now.)

Around the front, the HTC 10’s chamfered sides blend into subtly tapered “2.5D” Gorilla Glass, with no awkward, unsightly joints. The manufacturing tolerances in the pre-production units we used were impressive, particularly since early production runs of metal phones sometimes show manufacturing anomalies. Everything lines up just as it should.

In stark contrast to previous HTC flagships, there’s really not a lot going on with the HTC 10’s glass front. In fact, even the maligned front-mounted HTC logo has (finally) been banished. Darren Sng told us this is because there’s no need to remind customers which handset they bought: “You know you bought an HTC phone.”

(And besides, as far as brand awareness goes, there’s always that big old HTC logo around the back.)

The removal of oversized speakers and front-facing HTC logo makes for a much cleaner looking phone.

There’s also a new button setup, which sees HTC returning to capacitive keys to maximize the amount of screen space that’s used showing you — well, things that aren’t buttons. Instead, you’ve got illuminated, touch-sensitive Back and Recents keys flanking the fingerprint reader, which also doubles as your home key. Like the One A9, a single touch wakes and securely unlocks the phone. HTC quotes fingerprint unlock times of 0.2 seconds — and based on our experience with the A9’s excellent fingerprint scanner, that’s probably no exaggeration.

The result of all this is a phone with a significantly cleaner profile than previous HTC offerings. It’s much less visually busy than the M9 or even the A9, taking all the assorted clutter out of the way and leaving little to distract you from that all-important display.

HTC’s new 5.2-inch, Quad HD (2560×1440) SuperLCD 5 panel is a thing of beauty. It’s still early days, but even now we can say it matches the best from rivals like Samsung and LG in terms of brightness and clarity. For its part, HTC boasts that the screen can display 30 percent more color than previous generation LCDs. We’ll have to wait to test it some more out in daylight, but our first impressions are universally positive.

Audio has been a huge differentiator for HTC in years past, and that’s where the HTC 10’s new BoomSound Hi-Fi system comes in. There’s a single front-facing speaker inside the earpiece, along with a dedicated bottom-facing subwoofer down below. While you’ll miss out on the stereo audio offered by earlier HTC phones, the new Hi-Fi setup is impressive, and we’ll take a closer look in our full review in the near future.

Beyond the speaker system, the HTC 10 builds on a strong track record in wired audio performance, with 24-bit high-definition audio support, including the ability to upscale content to high-def. According to the manufacturer’s own stats, the 10’s impressive built-in amp matches the iPhone’s output level of 1V, with less noise and distortion.

To take advantage of that beefy audio hardware, HTC will bundle new high-res audio earphones with its latest phone. And on the software side, in addition to preset modes for headphones and earbuds, the “Personal Audio Profile” feature will let you tweak playback to suit the characteristics of your own hearing. For example, certain frequencies that you hear less clearly might be boosted.

So the front-facing stereo speakers may be gone, but HTC’s enthusiasm for audio doesn’t appear to have wavered.

The same goes for computational horsepower. Powering the HTC 10 is an expectedly high-end assortment of smartphone components. It’s running Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 processor, along with a roomy 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD slot. (A scant few regions may get lucky and see a 64GB option.) Unlike some high-end rivals, HTC’s new flagship includes support for Android 6.0’s Adoptive Storage feature, which lets you directly top-up the internal space using an SD card, as opposed to keeping it as a separate removable bucket of storage.

HTC’s secret sauce — low-level performance tuning — promises to make its new flagship faster than rivals where it really matters.

As we’ve seen in phones like the LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7, Qualcomm’s new chip packs more than enough power for a smooth Android experience. HTC’s own low-level performance tuning aims to go beyond this impressive baseline performance level, however. The manufacturer’s own tweaks make the HTC 10 faster than rivals at app launches and task-switching, it’s claimed, while giving it an iPhone-beating score for touch response.

There’s no doubt that the HTC 10 feels fast — responsiveness has long been a hallmark feature of HTC’s phones — but then all phones are pretty fast these days. It’s going to take more long-term use to see whether precious milliseconds shaved off here and there add up to a tangibly quicker experience.

Even then, the real test will come after a month or two of use, with a whole bunch of apps installed and background services chomping at the bit.

For this, HTC claims to have another trick up its sleeve to counter the junk that can accumulate in smartphones over time. The new Boost+ application — HTC’s own app, not a skinned version of someone else’s utility — includes features for clearing out unneeded data from internal storage and RAM. There also are features for managing the battery cost of gaming on your phone, not unlike Samsung’s Game Launcher on the Galaxy S7. And the new App Lock capability can lock away sensitive apps behind a passcode or fingerprint authentication. Most interestingly, the app also can monitor background tasks and highlight “unusual” activity from apps that might be using too much juice.

Sure, some of these functions — particularly those relating to memory management — probably should be handled by the OS itself and not a standalone app. Nevertheless, it’s there, and the company’s even releasing Boost+ in the Google Play Store for other Android phones to give owners of rival devices’ a taste of what’s waiting for them on the HTC 10. Whether the app will actually catch on with users remains to be seen.

Apps aside, the HTC 10’s hardware tuning also extends to battery longevity, where the manufacturer says its “PowerBotics” tweaks — combining hardware and software to boost overall efficiency — can help eke up to two days of use from the fixed 3,000mAh battery. Cringeworthy name aside, PowerBotics’ quoted 30 percent improvement in efficiency is a big deal, should it turn out to be accurate.

HTC 10 brings a new, smarter QuickCharge 3.0 charger, USB Type-C and USB 3.1 out of the box.

If it does run out of juice, however, the phone supports Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 through its USB Type-C port, with the promise of up to a 50 percent charge in 30 minutes. Unlike some USB-C phones, that connector is fully enabled for the latest USB 3.1 standard, meaning faster file transfers should be supported between the HTC 10 and a compatible PC or Mac.

In fact, the bundled Rapid Charger also includes some proprietary HTC charging technology designed to keep the phone and charger cool, along with built-in surge protection. HTC achieves the former by integrating power management circuitry into the charging brick itself, ensuring the power doesn’t step up or down too quickly. In essence, it’s a smart charger for your smartphone.

That’s a huge focus on optimization and efficiency — something HTC will be hoping can differentiate the 10 despite the increasing homogeneity of smartphone hardware. If everyone has more or less equally capable hardware, HTC’s going to push the message that it’s squeezing more performance — more power, more battery life — out of it.

Software experience

HTC Sense with more Google

The other big differentiator for HTC is software. The firm has long revamped its Sense user interface every 12 months or so, and this year there’ve been some significant changes. The short version is this: HTC is working a lot more closely with Google, and the HTC 10’s new version of Sense is the most minimalist and uncluttered to date.

It’s a continuation of the re-tooled, Googlified version of Sense 7 we saw last year on the One A9. Only this time, the Sense of 2016 feels like it was designed from the ground up with the Google stuff in mind, as opposed to layering it on top of an existing HTC UI.

Google and HTC are working more closely than ever before. The result is a pared back Sense with fewer duplicative apps — and a whole lot of Google.

Visually, Sense is as close to vanilla Android as it’s ever been, with UI elements like the notification pulldown brought over wholesale, and HTC’s own apps adopting more of a Material-like look and feel.

“We want to [apply] Material Design throughout our system,” marketing head Darren Sng told us.

The partnership with Google also has cut down some of the duplicative apps found on most other Android phones. Many HTC apps, like the BlinkFeed launcher, HTC dialer, messages, clock and weather remain. However elsewhere there’s a whole lot of Google going on: Google Calendar replaces the HTC calendar app, Google Photos replaces HTC Gallery and Google Play Music takes over music playback duties.

Of the very small number of preloaded apps, it’s about a 50/50 split between HTC and Google. The major exceptions are News Republic — part of BlinkFeed — as well as Facebook, Instagram and Facebook Messenger. HTC tells us it’s moving away from agreements with app providers for preloaded content, so if you’re buying an HTC 10 unlocked directly from the manufacturer, you won’t have any bloatware to worry about. (Unless your definition of bloatware includes Facebook, of course.)

As for what happens to the HTC 10 once the U.S. carriers get hold of it, well, that’s anyone’s guess.

Sng admits that paring back on some of its own apps wasn’t an easy step for HTC, but a necessary one. “Are we giving up something? Yeah, sure. It’s really hard to do,” he said. But the company believes that in the end HTC customers — and the entire Android ecosystem — will benefit.

Are we giving up something? Yeah, sure. It’s really hard to do.

After all, HTC may be one of the first Android phone makers to work this closely with Google on applications and design, but the company expects rivals to follow suit. “Our relationship with Google isn’t exclusive,” Sng told us.

You might think splitting the app loadout between HTC and Google might lead to a disjointed experience, but the partnership with Google extends beyond simply taking apps from Mountain View and loading them onto the HTC 10. HTC has a “direct line” to the people in charge of each of the Google applications it uses, Sng told us, with proper escalation procedures for any issues that arise.

Case in point: Google Photos on the HTC 10 integrates seamlessly with the HTC Camera app, and supports all HTC’s photo features.

It’s not all Google, though. Aside from the newly minimalist Sense UI, HTC’s extensive theming system from the M9 makes a return, along with a crazy new “Freestyle” mode that lets you break free from the grid-based layout and use big, cartoonish graphics to represent your apps. Anything can go anywhere.

HTC’s new, closer partnership with Google is about more than just apps on a phone.

The new, closer relationship with Google is reflective of HTC’s new partner-centric strategy across all its major product areas — for example Valve with VR and Under Armour with connected fitness devices. This strategy was hinted at by HTC’s Jason Mackenzie — now Global Executive VP — in an interview with Android Central late last year Mackenzie, then HTC America President, told us: “What we’ll do is look for partnerships like [Under Armour] where we can really add value, and partner with somebody [in other product categories] similar to what we did in the early days of smartphones.”

The cynical way to look at this would be to say HTC’s weakened position in the smartphone world makes relying on its major partner in that space inevitable. At the same time it’s easy to see an HTC phone with fewer HTC apps as a diluted and less-differentiated experience. Nevertheless, HTC has a long history of partnering with bigger firms, including Google. And, arguably, there’s more room to innovate in areas outside of basic bundled apps in the modern smartphone market.

The shape of HTC Sense in 2016 reflects the reality of a highly competitive phone market. For a smaller player like HTC, offloading some of the work for basic apps onto Google lets it differentiate in other areas. For instance, Darren Sng says that with engineering resources freed up, and a leaner UI to begin with, it’s going to be quicker and easier for the firm to push out future Android versions to the HTC 10.

HTC 10 Cameras

UltraPixel, Take 2

With the exception of the HTC One A9’s surprisingly decent 13-megapixel shooter, it’s been a long time since HTC has shipped a high-end camera that wasn’t considered a disappointment.

On paper, the HTC 10 has everything you could want from a smartphone camera in 2016.

The HTC 10 could be the phone to reverse that trend. And it’s bringing back the “UltraPixel” branding for a new, all-singing, all-dancing 12-megapixel rear camera. Like the previous generation UltraPixel, this new “UltraPixel 2” camera prioritizes pixel size over pixel count, to allow for brighter low-light photos.

This time we’re dealing with 1.55-micron pixels, compared to the original UltraPixel’s 2.0-micron dots, though now at a larger 12 megapixel resolution behind an f/1.8 lens. The camera also packs optical image stabilization (OIS), along with dual-tone LED flash and a laser autofocus unit, the effective range of which has been doubled to 1.5 meters compared to first-gen laser AF.

In terms of pixel size, the HTC 10 matches the Nexus 6P (in fact, it may even be the same physical sensor — HTC’s not saying), and goes slightly bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S7, with its 1.4-micron pixels — although Samsung uses a brighter f/1.7 lens.

HTC’s camera app has received a much-needed tune-up in the HTC 10, with a new, cleaner UI and a slide-out menu from the left allowing you to switch between modes. And on the right, quick controls for features like flash and HDR. (Speaking of which, HTC finally has included an Auto HDR mode, which is enabled by default.) Pro mode, first introduced in the M9, makes a return, complete with the option to shoot in RAW if you prefer.

Prepare for optically-stabilized UltraSelfies!

The rear camera, however, is only half of the story. The selfie camera has also received a lot of attention, being the first front-facer to include OIS for extra-stable selfies and Snapchat videos. The camera itself — dubbed, with an entirely straight face, the “UltraSelfie” camera — is a 5-megapixel unit behind an f/1.8 lens, with 1.34-micron pixels. Again, that’s smaller than the One M9’s UltraPixel front-facer, but the brighter lens and optical stabilization should make up for that.

On paper, then, both HTC 10 cameras have plenty going for them — indeed, it’s got just about everything you could want from a pair of smartphone cameras in 2016. Real-world performance remains unclear at this early stage, but what we can say is the camera is fast to launch (HTC quotes start times as low as 0.6 seconds), and faster to take photos.

Image quality, at a glance, seems decent when viewed on the phone’s screen. HTC’s boast of hitting the number-one spot on photographic benchmarking site DXOMark, with a Galaxy S7-matching score of 88, is also impressive — although the outlet’s scores often don’t entirely reflect real-world performance. Naturally we’ll have much more to say on the performance of both cameras in our full review.

Meet the Ice View case

The HTC One M8 in 2014 brought us the Dot View case, the neat dot-matrix flip cover that showed you the time, missed calls, weather and other info through a low-res grid of dots on the front cover.

With the HTC 10, we’re introduced to the successor to Dot View — a higher-res interpretation of the same idea, dubbed Ice View.

Read our introduction to the HTC 10’s Ice View case

The return of the king

HTC 10 first impressions

Even at this early stage, it’s pretty clear that the HTC 10 is the best HTC phone in years. It’s a more complete thought than the M9, and a better all-round device than the A9.

There are even signs that HTC may have finally addressed its longstanding weakness in the area of digital imaging, which is no small deal.

All in all, we’re eager to spend more time with the HTC 10, and we think it’s shaping up to be one of the most notable Android phones of the year.

If HTC is to reverse the fortunes of its smartphone business, however, then a spectacular new flagship is just the start. But the HTC 10 is one hell of a start. And Darren Sng is quietly confident in the latest — and yes, greatest — in a long line of HTC flagships:

“We hope that we nailed it this time.”

HTC 10 specs

The HTC 10 is now official. Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM and plenty of other stuff inside to get spec junkies interested. Not to mention a new camera and HiFi audio. In 2016, a phone needs to do more than look pretty — and HTC seems to understand and have found a great balance of form and function with the 10. There’s a lot to like here.

Operating System	Android 6.0.1
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 82064-bit Kryo quad-core
RAM	4GB
Display	5.2-inch QHD Super LCD 5
Rear Camera	12MP Ultrapixel + OIS, f/1.8 lens
Front Camera	5MP Ultrapixel + OIS
Storage	32GB + SD
Qualcomm QuickCharge	3.0
Battery	3,000mAh
SIM	nanoSIM
Audio	HTC BoomSound Hi-Fi Edition
Connectivity	USB-C 3.1 gen. 1
IR Blaster	No
NFC	Yes
Dimensions	145.9×71.9×3.0-9.0mm
Weight	161g

The HTC 10 is official: Snapdragon 820, 12MP camera and 5.2-inch Super LCD display

A new metal unibody design is part of HTC’s “obsessive attention to detail” in the new HTC 10.

HTC hasn’t exactly been keeping the HTC 10 a secret, but today they’ve made everything official and announced their latest handset to the world. At first glance it looks like a bit of a throwback to the HTC One (M7) design — which isn’t a bad thing — but there are plenty of improvements both inside and out.

The new unibody design holds a 5.2-inch QHD (2560×1440) Super LCD 5 display, above a fingerprint sensor much like what we’re used to from the HTC A9. With three colors to choose from — Carbon Grey, Glacier Silver and Topaz Gold — and a “seamless” adjustment from screen to the aluminum body, it certainly does look like a lot of thought and engineering went into the new design. We like how this one looks.

Inside of it all you have a Snapdragon 820 paired with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. In addition, the HTC 10 allows for SD cards up to 2TB to use for removable — and adoptable — storage. A look around the back shows off the new 12MP UltraPixel 2 camera, complete with OIS and laser autofocus. DXOMark gives the camera the same score as the Samsung Galaxy S7, so we expect good things from the camera — an area where many have found HTC phones lacking.

HTC 10 full specifications

HTC also has packed a new BoomSound HiFi version for audio buffs into the HTC 10, and brings 24-bit audio and a new powerful dedicated amplifier that promises to deliver “an all round audio performance that cannot be beaten.” To make sure the sounds of your music suit you, personal audio profiles are also part of the package. To hear the audio as it was intended, HTC has also included Hi-Res earbuds with an 8µm thin polymer diaphragm and 70% oversized drivers to deliver twice the frequency range of lesser headphones. To match the great playback, the HTC 10 also allows for 24-bit Hi-Res audio with your recorded 4K video. The multimedia package certainly seems impressive.

Topping it all off we find a new HTC Sense, complete with what HTC’s calling a Freestyle layout and no duplicative pre-installed software. You’ll be able to position icons, shortcuts and widgets just about any where you like on your home screen, and less bundled apps means you can better fine-tune your experience. A visit to the HTC Themes app promises thousands of ways to customize your HTC 10.

Make sure to see our hand-on with the HTC 10, and you’ll find the full press release below.

HTC’S NEW FLAGSHIP: 
SCULPTED TO PERFECTION

Power of 10: HTC’s engineering excellence delivers obsessive craftsmanship, unparalleled performance and imaging leadership

London 12 April 2016 – HTC has today unveiled what it has been working on behind closed doors for the last 12 months, with the launch of its latest smartphone. With customer feedback an integral part of the development process, combined with an obsessive attention to detail, the HTC 10 delivers everything that you would want from a flagship device.

Playing to the Power of 10 – symbolizing greatness and independence but also that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – this newest addition to the HTC phone family combines a world class camera with gold standard audio, bold new metal unibody design and unparalleled performance.

Designed to Perfection

Inspired by light and sculpted to perfection, the HTC 10 employs a new approach to design where bold contours are carved out of solid metal. Capturing the light beautifully, the chamfered edges boast a slimmer, more slender look with its full glass front merging seamlessly into the metal body.

Passionate about the small details, it’s not just the materials that come under scrutiny when we create a new handset. With the HTC 10, our design teams worked tirelessly to build a phone where the power button has been beautifully crafted, where the speakers deliver a sleeker look and better sound quality and where the fingerprint sensor recognizes your finger from almost any angle.

It is also important that we got the build absolutely right. Mercilessly engineered to handle everyday knocks, bumps and scratches, the HTC 10 was subjected to over 168 hours of extreme temperature tests, ranging from a freezing -20’C to a scorching 60’C, plus over 10,000 drop, bend, scratch and corrosion tests.

World-class camera!

With HTC 10 we’ve delivered what we believe to be the best smartphone camera available on the market today. With the world’s first optically stabilized, larger aperture f/1.8 lenses on both the front and rear cameras, new larger sensors, 12 million of our new generation UltraPixels (1.55um per pixel), faster laser autofocus powering the main camera and a wide angle lens and screen flash on the front UltraSelfieTM camera, this smartphone delivers brilliantly sharp, low light and high-resolution photos whether behind or in front of the lens.

With the camera designed to launch in as little as 0.6 seconds, and a 2nd generation laser autofocus that gives you focused shots faster, it’s quick enough to even work in burst mode. All the settings are also conveniently located at your fingertips with Pro Mode still offering advanced options for more experienced photographers, including RAW format functionality.

Boasting a DxOMark score of 88*, this is one of the highest camera quality scores of any smartphone to date and is the result of tens of thousands of hours spent fine tuning each element to deliver world-class photos and videos.

Best in sight, best in sound

But it’s not just the imaging that puts this smartphone at the top of its game – the HTC 10 combines vivid 4K video with the world’s first stereo 24-bit Hi-Res audio recording, capturing 256 times more detail than standard recordings, across twice the frequency range and enabling you to bring to life your recorded content as if you were actually there in person.

Built for audiophiles, the HTC 10 is certified for Hi-Res audio and has been designed to make music sound the way that the artist intended. A headphone amp that delivers two times the power of a conventional headphone amp, the ability to upscale from 16-bit to 24-bit audio and high performance digital to analogue conversion combine beautifully to produce ten times lower distortion than other devices on the market, delivering an all round audio performance that cannot be beaten.

Everyone hears things differently, which is why the HTC 10’s all-new Personal Audio Profile system enhances your audio experience even further. By creating a unique profile that is tuned to your individual hearing, it dynamically adjusts specific sound frequencies to each ear, allowing you to hear music the way that the artist intended. Re-engineered HTC BoomSound™ Hi-Fi edition speakers feature the same separated tweeter and woofer design as leading acoustic systems and combine with a dedicated amplifier on each speaker, adding to the experience and delivering sound clarity unprecedented on a smartphone.

Great audio deserves great earphones so we have made sure that our flagship phone comes with the best Hi-Res audio certified inbox earphones yet. Featuring an 8µm thin aerospace polymer diaphragm and 70% oversized drivers, the listener is treated to richer sound and twice the frequency range, enabling you to enjoy the best audio experience right from the get go.

Performance at its Best

Whilst the HTC 10 nails it on the hardware, we have also delivered what we believe to be best in class software by focusing on getting the fundamentals right. With apps that launch twice as fast and that perform to the highest standard and a next generation quad HD display that is 30% more colourful, creating a true cinematic feel, and that is 50% more responsive to touch than its predecessor, even the smallest and fastest of finger movements track perfectly.

This attention to detail doesn’t stop there! With security high on people’s agendas, we have created a fingerprint scanner, which unlocks in a lightening fast 0.2 seconds and which has been algorithmically designed to recognise you faster and more accurately over time.

Engineered from the inside out to last longer, the HTC 10 boasts the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with enhanced 4G LTE. Each device also comes with Boost+ which is designed to make your phone faster, to consume less power and to provide effective security and applications management features. This includes smart boost, which automatically optimises your memory, a game battery booster, which uses less battery during gameplay, and a new PowerBotics system, which auto detects and shuts down apps that use excessive power, improving battery life by 30% and delivering up to two days charge.

Not only does Boost+ optimize performance, making it easier to launch apps, but its App Lock function also adds a new layer of security by enabling you to lock any app you choose, whilst App Manager provides an instant fix for when an app isn’t behaving.

The HTC 10 also includes the latest in-box quick charge 3.0 Rapid Charger with improved thermal management, so the battery can be charged by up to 50% in just 30 minutes – ideal for people who find their phone running low on juice before the end of the working day.

Controlled by You!

By reducing the number of duplicative and pre-loaded apps and bloatware, and integrating the best of both HTC and Google, we have created a more streamlined phone that enables you to decide what you want on your handset.

With HTC’s specially created new Freestyle Layout, you no longer have an on-screen grid that dictates the layout. Instead you can get creative by dragging icons, stickers and widgets anywhere you like. Layer them, group them, link stickers to apps or get rid of screen icons altogether, the choice is yours.

The latest version of HTC Themes also provides you with access to thousands of professional looking themes that each come with their own icons, backgrounds and sounds so you can customize your phone based on your own personal style.

Accessories and availability

To further streamline your experience, the HTC 10 offers an all-new Ice View case with a semi-transparent and highly versatile single front-cover case. So when that next call or message comes in, or when you need to skip a track, or snap that perfect shot, you can do it without even opening your smartphone’s case. It’s simplicity, without sacrificing protection.

The HTC 10 will come in two variants with different Qualcomm Snapdragon processors to cater for different market needs. They will both offer the same design, audio, camera and display, with a similar software experience and battery life.

The HTC 10 will be available from April 2016 in three stunning color combinations: Carbon Grey, Glacier Silver and Topaz Gold.

In the U.S., HTC 10 will be available across multiple wireless providers including Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile, which will announce colors, availability and pricing. In addition, HTC will be offering an Unlocked edition on http://www.HTC.com, which will be compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile networks and will be available for pre-orders beginning today, April 12, with shipping in early May. The Unlocked edition from HTC.com comes in Glacier Silver and Carbon Gray, and cost $699. It also comes with UH OH Protection, which includes one replacement at no charge within the first 12 months of ownership for a cracked screen or water damage.

HTC 10 shakes up the idea of BoomSound

BoomSound is dead. Long live BoomSound!

Superior audio quality is one of those things HTC has focused on with their phones for a long time now. A couple of years back the name BoomSound came out as the name for HTC’s impressive front-facing speaker system that developed a reputation for blowing the competition out of the water. With a new design and the inclusion of a front fingerprint sensor, those BoomSound speakers aren’t making a comeback in the HTC 10.

Instead, the company has refocused BoomSound to refer to the way HTC delivers quality audio in both the speakers and the headphone jack, and BoomSound Hi-Fi edition was born. HTC has been teasing this as “the best BoomSound yet” with few details. Here’s what you need to know.

Front-facing BoomSound speakers may be dead, but the spirit of BoomSound lives on.

Front-facing BoomSound speakers may be dead, but the spirit of BoomSound lives on both in the ability to play 24-bit audio and the inclusion of stereo Hi-Fi phone speakers with a separate tweeter and woofer. If the audio you’re playing isn’t natively 24-bit, HTC’s software will upscale it for you and deliver something a little better than you were expecting when you pressed play.

HTC’s old Beats Audio partnership and BoomSound audio profile systems have been replaces with a Personal Audio Profile, which HTC claims will enhance your audio experience by dynamically adjusting sound frequencies for each ear. This is so you can hear the music “the way that the artist intended” according to HTC, with precious few details on how this actually happens on the phone. We’ll find out soon enough!

If you’re not planning on using the speakers much, HTC’s combination of a high-quality headphone amp and some truly impressive in-box earbuds will get you the rest of the way to audio fun times. We’ll be putting all of HTC’s audio claims through their individual paces soon enough, but in the mean time hit us up in the comments with your thoughts on a return to delivering an audio-focused phone from HTC.

These are the HTC 10 colors

Surprise! It’s the same colors everyone else is using right now.

On paper it looks like HTC has really knocked one out of the part with the HTC 10. Camera quality is highly rated, speakers seem to be excellent despite not being entirely front-facing anymore, and the design takes the best of HTC’s past and present to make something unique. There’s a lot to like here, but only if it’s available in the color you’re going to be happy looking at for a while.

Here’s what’s happening with the HTC 10 colors, for most of us. Are you ready? It’s Carbon Grey, Glacier Silver, and Topaz Gold.

• Carbon Grey is very similar to the dark metal we saw with the HTC One M9 and HTC One A9, and like those phones the finish tends to be a bit of a fingerprint magnet.
• Glacier Silver looks like classic HTC One M7 stylings, with a glossy white front in some regions and a glossy black front in others.
• Topaz Gold is a muted gold back with a glossy white face, appealing to those who need a splash of color in their lives.
• OK, one more. If you’re on KDDI in Japan, you’ll be able to pick up an HTC 10 in a sweet Camellia Red. (It’s possible we may see that color branch out at some point, but just in case we probably should lay siege to our local retailers until they do so.)

So far there’s been nothing official about any other colors, but since HTC has a history of dropping beautiful colored versions as exclusives it’s not impossible to see this short list of available colors grow over the year. In the mean time, drop a note in the comments with your color preference!