HTC officially announces the HTC Butterfly 2, a HTC One M8 with plastic surgery
Imagine a HTC One M8, and now cover it in plastic instead of aluminium. Voila: you now have the freshly announced HTC Butterfly 2. While this might well seem like an over-exaggeration, this is actually literally the case. Like the One M8, the Butterfly 2 has a 5-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, 2GB RAM and available in 16GB and 32GB variants. The Butterfly 2 even incorporates the One M8′s iconic Duo Camera which enables users to create some striking – and adjustable – snaps with HTC‘s latest gimmick.
In fact, apart from the plastic exterior, the only other differentiating factor of the Butterfly 2 is that it has only been announced for the South Asia region; the last time a Butterfly device was sold elsewhere, it was known as the HTC Droid DNA. There’s no word on how much the Butterfly 2 will end up costing, but presumably trading in aluminium for plastic would cut down the costs marginally. Perhaps interestingly, HTC has specified that the Butterfly 2 is IPX5 and IPX7 water resistant, something I believe was absent from the One M8′s official stat sheet (although it showed itself to have some native water resistance anyway).
What do you think about the HTC Butterfly 2? Is this a device that you would be interested in? Let us know your thoughts.
Source: HTC Blog (1), (2)
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HTC announces extremely limited HTC One M8 Phunk Studio Edition
HTC on Thursday announced a very limited edition of its HTC One M8 smartphone. Called the Phunk Studio Edition, it will be offered in a run of only 64 devices and launch on August 14 as part of a campaign. Phunk, a Singapore-based “contemporary art and design collective”, is slated to celebrate its 20th anniversary… Read more »
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HTC One M8 Max could boast Snapdragon 805, 5.9-inch display
When critics pick of what the HTC One M8 is lacking, one of them is not the screen, but HTC seem to think that a bigger screen is what is desired by users, so are working on a device called the HTC One M8 Max that will feature a 5.9-inch screen. The device follows the… Read more »
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Bose may be HTC’s next audio partner, will try and minimize bezel on the next One
A common complaint of the HTC One M8 smartphone is that it doesn’t make the best use of its front design. While many phones are moving towards almost non-existent bezels around the display, including the top and bottom, the One M8 had a hideously large black bar that seemed to take up space for no reason at all. While HTC says the bar was there for a reason, if they want to continue to compete in the increasingly competitive market for flagship devices, they need to cut down on those bezels. Rumour has it that HTC has already started on that front, and that Bose may be HTC’s next audio partner that will help in trying to minimize the iconic BoomSound speakers that have adorned HTC smartphones for some time now.
Naturally, if the BoomSound speakers were smaller, that would in turn allow for the phone to be smaller overall, or if HTC choses, make the screen bigger without affecting the overall size of the devices. And who better to go to than Bose, masters of getting big sound out of very small things. It must be said that HTC has most recently been working with Harman/Kardon for the One M8, so we’ll have to see how this one plays out. If true though, the next HTC flagship is definitely going to be one for the audiophiles.
What do you think about HTC teaming up with Bose to improve the next HTC One? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.
Source: TKTech via Phone Arena
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Accessory of the Day: HTC M8 Dot View Case (43% OFF)
Looking to protect that beautiful new HTC One M8 you recently picked up? Why not wrap that sweet little thing in the official Dot View Case? Not only does it cover the front and backside of your handset it also allows for some handy functionality as well. Indeed, you can get some quick at-a-glance information… Read more »
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A new HTC One M8 may be announced on August 19th, but it might not be the phone you’re Expecting
It became known earlier this week that HTC has scheduled an event in New York City that sounds a lot like an announcement for a new device. We’ve heard very little about new devices that might be coming from HTC so soon after the mid-year, but that hasn’t stopped people speculating that HTC could be announcing the rumoured HTC Nexus 8 tablet. Despite the fact that Google Nexus devices have more recently been announced by Google themselves, a leaked image from Verizon‘s website might hold a more substantial answer to that mystery: a HTC One M8 running Windows.
HTC hasn’t dabbled in Windows Phones for some time now, but it has a long association with the mobile platform. And with the HTC One M8 spearheading the way back into the black for the Taiwanese manufacturer, it’s almost a win-win for HTC and Microsoft to be releasing one of the best and most popular phones on the market with the fledgling operating system onboard. It’s expected that this Windows One M8 will make its appearance at the aforementioned HTC event, and we’d be surprised to see any Android announcements at the event.
What do you think about a HTC One M8 running Windows? Do you think this will be announced on August 19th, or something else will be? Let us know your thoughts.
Source: PCMag via TechCrunch
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HTC to face a tough time in Q3 considering other big players are about to showcase their smartphone offerings
HTC really can’t catch a break. They’ve been facing financial loses for a long time now and have finally managed to turn profit in Q2 this year, their first profit since Q2 2013. It seemed like their financial situation is getting better, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. HTC One (M8) boosted their… Read more »
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European HTC One M8 Android 4.4.3 update rolling out
For those that thought HTC had forgotten about the European HTC One M8 devices after delivering the Android 4.4.3 update to U.S unlocked and developer edition devices, HTC have finally begun rolling out the update across the pond. The new Android 4.4.3 update is beginning to hit unlocked HTC One M8′s as we speak, bringing… Read more »
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IRL: Taking HTC’s One M8 for a test drive
The original HTC One was one of my favorite smartphones from 2013, but it was easy to see why you’d pass it up in favor of an archrival like Samsung’s Galaxy S4 — it just didn’t have the battery life, camera quality or expansion to keep up. Fast-forward to 2014 and it’s a different story. Most of those headache-inducing flaws have been fixed in the new One; indeed, my colleague Brad Molen suggested it was an all-around better device. But is that enough to avoid a twinge of buyer’s remorse, especially with the Galaxy S5 and Sony’s Xperia Z2 upping the ante? I spent a few weeks with the new One to find out whether I’d still be pining for features from those other devices.
I certainly didn’t miss the designs of other phones. Simply put, the newer One has the best construction I’ve seen on a handset in some time. As much as I like the iPhone 5s’ precious-feeling body, it doesn’t have the solidity or eye-catching looks of HTC’s handset. It exudes quality compared to the GS5′s thin plastic shell, and it’s certainly more tolerant of abuse than the glass-backed Z2. Yes, the One is a bit too tall and slippery, but I got used to that over time. It honestly feels like more a labor of love from passionate users — which it is — than the product of a committee. Oh, and if you’re wondering about color choices? I prefer the gunmetal-gray hue, but the gold model (really, rose gold) is just subtle enough that I wasn’t self-conscious about using it in public. The grainy matte texture also makes it a tad easier to hold than the gray variant.
There are a few pleasant surprises under the hood, too. The One has more than enough battery life to keep up with my weekend routine, which involves a deluge of Instagram photos and Twitter conversations. More often than not, I had to fight to get the battery below the halfway mark after several hours of heavy use; almost every other recent phone I’ve used runs perilously low under similar conditions. And while people might malign the camera (sometimes for the right reasons), it’s generally better-suited to my uses than some alternatives. I tend to take a lot of low-light and macro photos, and the One rarely let me down where some phones I’ve tried (particularly the GS4 and Galaxy Note 3) produced dark, blurry messes. HTC’s sensor still tends to blow out highlights in daylight photography, but not often enough to sour the experience.
It might sound like I’m fawning over the One, but there were a few quirks that got on my nerves. The keyboard would occasionally become insensitive while I was typing and would need a bit of cajoling to respond again — this was consistent across several devices I tried, so it’s clear there’s a bug. And HTC desperately, desperately needs to improve the camera resolution. I could often work around it by framing my shots carefully, but I sorely missed the ability to crop detailed images from tiny portions of full-size photos. For the next One, I’d like to see HTC accept its competitive reality and increase the rear camera resolution beyond four megapixels, even if it means giving up some of that vaunted light sensitivity.
As such, I found myself missing the cameras from other phones, particularly the iPhone 5s or LG’s G3 (both of which strike a good balance between resolution and low-light ability) and newer Lumias like the 1020 or Icon (which sacrifice very little). However, the omission wasn’t enough to make me regret trying the One. The G3 and next iPhone would undoubtedly prove tempting, but I’d be more than happy to stick with HTC’s hardware for a couple of years.
We’ve shared our experience with the HTC One M8, and now it’s time for you to share yours. Head over to our product database to write your own review — and be sure to join the forum discussion to share your experiences with fellow users!
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC
How to instantly speed up the Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 & LG G3
Hidden deep in Android, following the KitKat 4.4 release, is a feature that can be enabled to instantly speed up your Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One M8, LG G3, and pretty much any Android device that supports KitKat.
It’s called ART, and that stands for Android Runtime, which is the successor to the Dalvik system currently used since Android’s inception. ART uses what Google calls an ‘ahead of time’ compiler as opposed to Dalvik’s ‘just in time’. Dalvik worked by converting each app on the fly when it was called upon to be launched. ART on the other hand converts it during installation, ultimately resulting in a larger app file size, but meaning the app launches pretty much instantly. The result? The device is quicker and battery life is improved.
So how do you do it?
The new ART runtime system isn’t enabled by default in Android 4.4 KitKat so you’ll need to head into the hidden ‘Developer Options’ menu in the Settings to access it. To enable the hidden ‘Developer Options’ go into Settings > About Phone > Build number and Tap the build number 7 times. Once there, go to ‘Select Runtime’ and change the selection from ‘Dalvik’ to ‘ART’.
You’ll have to reboot after changing the setting and you may have to wait a few minutes whilst ART does its thing in the background converting all your installed apps, but once the progress meter is done you’re good to go.
Whilst ART provides increased speed and improved battery life, you may find that not all Apps are 100% compatible; however since Android L has been released with the developer preview, the chances of finding an incompatible App has greatly reduced.
Drop us a comment and let us know if you’ve noticed a speed improvement on your device.
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