Android 4.4 for the HTC One Almost Here! Sense 6 Spotted on Graph. – Device Updates
Device Updates is coming at you in this Monday night. We didn’t have much this week. Everyone with an HTC One will be happy to hear that Android 4.4 is right around the corner. We will let you know when carriers start rolling it out.
Device Updates
Android 4.4 for HTC One waint for certification
Other HTC devices show up on update graph as well as Sense 6
Rumor: Nexus line coming to an end in 2015?
If true, this may be sad for many, but according to @eldarmurtazin on Twitter, Google will be killing off the Nexus line by next year in favor of Google Play Edition devices.
The Nexus program has been around since January 2010 when the HTC Nexus One was announced. All Nexus devices have been pure Google Android, with no custom skin on top of them. Highlights of the Nexus program have been that the devices have “usually” been unlocked, were “usually” sold directly by Google and have been the first to receive software updates.
While it may seem this is the natural progression, killing off the Nexus line once phones started shipping with stock firmware, in my opinion, I don’t think that Google is ready to kill it just yet.
One thing that people have praised the Nexus program for is that it has offered the choice of an off-contract at a reasonable price. Besides the Moto G, which isn’t in the same class as the Nexus 5, there is no GPE device that is that inexpensive. The HTC One is $599 from the Play Store and the Samsung Galaxy S4 is even more expensive at $649. Besides the only GPE tablet, LG’s G Pad 8.3, and the Moto G, there are no reasonably priced GPE devices.
Devices like the Moto X have proved that selling a cheaper device is possible, but who knows if Samsung, Sony and HTC will ever release a high-end GPE device that is also relatively inexpensive.
With comments from Android director of engineering Dave Burke (from the August 2013 article from The Verge) that states they’re “halo” devices meant to educate the rest of the ecosystem, I’m not sure I believe the death of the program.
“Basically what Nexus allows us to do is set the standard … [we can] demonstrate how Android runs and hopefully influence other device manufacturers to take what we’ve done and do even better,” he said in that interview.
There was also another reason for its existence, that Google needs hardware on which it can develop Android and Burke said “as an engineering team creating a mobile platform — we can’t do that in the abstract. We need to do it on a real device that we’re carrying with us.”
Well, anything is possible, but only time will tell if Google is putting an end to the Nexus. That being said… where’s that new Nexus 10?
via Twitter
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HTC M8 to Have On-Screen Buttons Instead of Capacitive Buttons
The HTC M8 has gotten its fair share of leaked information the past couple months, and leak king, evleaks, has been on top of a lot of those leaks. The passed couple days the leak junky gave us two pieces of wallpaper straight out of the HTC M8 gallery, which are colorful little pieces of eye candy. Now we are getting word that the successor of the HTC One will finally ditch those capacitive buttons that have graced every HTC phone since the beginning, and they will jump onto the on-screen button bandwagon.
M8 will be the first HTC device with on-screen buttons.
— @evleaks (@evleaks) January 27, 2014
Evleaks doing what he does best, and he is usually spot on. I remember last year when he dropped the very first image of the original HTC One, and a lot of us didn’t believe it. Something about the design just didn’t scream HTC, but we soon came to find out that it was the design, and ended up being the best designed phone of 2013. Anyways, let us know your thoughts about this information. Glad to see the capacitive buttons go away?
Source: evleaks
Android 4.4 KitKat update for HTC One hits U.S. carrier labs, certification expected next week
HTC took to the Twitterverse Thursday to announce that One owners in the U.S. should be seeing the update to the latest and greatest version of Android soon.
The company said that the final KitKat software has entered carrier labs for final testing and certification is expected next week.
The unlocked, developer and Google Play edition’s of the One have already received the update.
Over at the software update page, it also indicates that the KitKat updates for the AT&T HTC One mini and Sprint and Verizon HTC One max are in the integration phase, the Verizon HTC Droid DNA is in the certification phase and the Virgin Mobile HTC Desire 601 is in the integration phase.
For more information about the KitKat updates, check out the source links below.
The post Android 4.4 KitKat update for HTC One hits U.S. carrier labs, certification expected next week appeared first on AndroidGuys.
LlabTooFer breaks down the likely update schedule for HTC Devices, confirms existence of Sense 6.0
If you’re an owner of a HTC device, but you don’t own a HTC One, you’re probably feeling a little left out at the moment. While HTC has done a pretty good job sticking to their word and getting Android KitKat out to the HTC One in around 90 days, the Taiwanese manufacturer has stayed pretty quiet on what the update status of its other devices are (unless you own a HTC One X/X+; sorry!). So while HTC is busily tinkering behind closed doors, it turns to HTC guru, LlabTooFer, to appease the masses with a suggested update schedule for HTC Devices.
According to the schedule above, HTC’s second line of devices like the One Max and One Mini should be receiving Android 4.4.2 around this time as well, and HTC’s overseas devices like the Butterfly and Butterfly S will have to wait a little longer, most likely March or April for the Android 4.4.2 update.
While this was mostly expected, there are a few surprises in the document, including the fact that the Desire 601 will be receiving Android 4.4.2 and that the HTC One will be receiving an update to Sense 6.0 in “late summer/autumn”. This is probably the first time that Sense 6.0 has been mentioned, apart from rumours the HTC One 2 would be the first device with the new UI. While having the schedule is all well and good, LlabTooFer is quick to remind us that this schedule is provisional and can change at any time, so don’t get too disappointed if an update ends up being late. Well, not too disappointed anyway.
What do you think about this update schedule for HTC Devices: are there any surprises in there for you? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: LlabTooFer
HTC One will get KitKat certification in the US next week
Eighty-four days. That’s how long it’s been since HTC announced its intent to bring Android 4.4 KitKat to all North American versions of the One within 90 days. With just six days left to go on the countdown, HTC just tweeted on its US account that the final software has finally entered the hallowed carrier labs for testing and will be certified (and, we hope, rolled out) sometime next week. Of course, the process is now essentially under the control of individual mobile operators, so let’s hope that they don’t make liars out of HTC — we’ve had Wednesday circled on our Sense calendars for quite some time now.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile
Source: HTC (Twitter)
Android 4.4 KitKat Ready for the US HTC One
HTC One users. Get ready to break yourself a piece of that KitKat bar. Android 4.4 is about ready to be sent out to all HTC One users, on all US carriers. According to HTC’s Twitter page, the Android 4.4 update is ready, but awaiting certification. It shouldn’t take too long to get that certification, so expect the update to start rolling out in the next couple weeks as promised by HTC.
Source: HTC
Android 4.4.2 for HTC One arrives in the hands of French carrier SFR, rolls out in February
HTC One owners have been patiently waiting for their update to Android KitKat for some time now, buoyed by the release of Android 4.4.2 for the Google Play edition of their device, but to no avail as the airwaves went silent over the Holiday Season. Thankfully, the airwaves are starting up again as French carrier, SFR, has gone on record saying that Android 4.4.2 for HTC One has arrived in their hands, but won’t be rolling out till the first half of February.
This is mostly in line, give or take a week, with the promise that HTC made when Android 4.4 KitKat was first announced which was that the HTC One would receive Android 4.4 within 90 days of the announcement. Obviously, this won’t be completely successful unless the roll-out is completed on a global scale but it looks like it will be a colossal effort if HTC is going to roll out the update within the 90 days, though perhaps we should be giving HTC a break seeing as it’s gone through so much the last few months.
Despite their financial toils, do you have more faith in HTC now that they have delivered Android 4.4.2 for HTC One as they promised? Let us know what you think.
Source: SFR via Android Ice Cream Sandwich
[RUMOUR] HTC apparently readying a larger HTC One for March. HINT: It’s not the HTC One Max
HTC has done quite a few questionable things in the last few months, in my personal opinion. While struggling mightily on the financial front, HTC continued to pump out unusual projects like solid gold HTC Ones and a giant HTC One Max whose focus was cloudy at best. A new rumour today that is coming out of Bloomberg is yet another venture which I think belongs in the same category as the previous two cases. This new report says that HTC is readying a larger HTC One for release in March, and no, they aren’t referring to the HTC One Max that has already been released. The report is actually saying this HTC One variant will inflate the screen size of the HTC One from 4.7-inches to 5-inches.
I’m assuming this means that this larger HTC One will supercede the current HTC One as the report also states that the overall design of the 5-inch One will still resemble the original device. While there’s no information on whether HTC will bump up the specifications of this new device, it is quoted that larger HTC One will have something called a ‘twin-sensor’ real-facing camera which will presumably work favourably with HTC’s existing UltraPixel technology.
As I said before, this new HTC One device is hard to swallow; it’s not that the HTC One was a bad device, in fact it was arguably the best device for the first half of 2013, some say even the whole of 2013. It’s more the fact that HTC is sticking with the design of its tried and true award winning device, which in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, but it does ironically go against HTC’s own innovation mantra of “Here’s To Change”. This device might end up selling moderately well, but it’s not going to save HTC, which is the saddest thing of all. And with a release in March, it’s going to be going up against the new Samsung Galaxy S5 in the sales charts. Uh oh…
What do you think about this rumour: is HTC going in the wrong direction with its development efforts? Let us know what you think about this larger HTC One rumour.
Source: Bloomberg via TechCrunch
Daily Roundup: Google’s smart contact lens, President Obama on the NSA and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Rumored HTC One sequel
Bloomberg sources claim that the follow-up to the HTC One, the M8, will be released in late March. Click on through for more information about the launch and its rumored double-camera setup.
Google’s smart contact lens
Google’s developing a smart contact lens that can measure glucose levels from your tears, offering diabetics a pain-free way to keep tabs on their health. Click through for more information.
Citation for driving with Glass dismissed
Google Glass early-adopter Cecilia Abadie received her second ticket for wearing the headset while driving, but this time it was dismissed because there was no evidence she was operating Glass during transit. Follow the link for the whole story.
President Obama speaks out on surveillance
In a speech today, President Obama addressed concerns surrounding the NSA’s data collection and surveillance programs. While the NSA won’t stop gathering private information anytime soon, Obama is putting a few restrictions in place to prevent governmental abuse. Click the link for all the details.
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