Plastic HTC ‘M8 Ace’ aims at Galaxy S5 with same specs, lower price
HTC may have poked fun at its competitors’ plastic flagship devices in the past, but it looks like the Taiwanese company will soon be offering one as well. And no, we’re not talking about the Butterfly line here. According to a reliable source of ours, HTC’s upcoming “M8 Ace” — which was teased by @evleaks earlier this month (as pictured above) — will actually feature a plastic unibody instead of aluminum. Additionally, the M8 Ace will apparently pack almost identical specs as the Galaxy S5, including a 5-inch 1080p display plus a 2.5GHz, quad-core Snapdragon 801 SoC. But here’s the twist: HTC’s phone will be much more affordable, which could pose a huge threat to Samsung if true.
What remains to be seen is whether the M8 Ace will also get the M8′s Duo Camera feature. According to an earlier rumor by Chinese site TMTpost, a phone matching our source’s aforementioned description could launch next month for as cheap as CN¥3,000 (about $480) unsubsidized, which would be quite attractive; though we’ll have to wait and see what the camera situation is.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC
The man behind HTC’s hardware design is leaving the company
If you’ve used any HTC device in the last five years, chances are you’ve witnessed Scott Croyle’s handiwork first-hand. Unfortunately, his time at the company is coming to an end as HTC has confirmed that Croyle is moving on to other to-be-determined projects. Croyle, who joined the company in 2008 as part of the One & Co acquisition, has been directly involved with building HTC’s flagship devices ever since. Now, he’ll be handing over the baton of responsibility to Jonah Becker, who’s been Croyle’s right-hand man in the studio. The move will be a gradual transition, as we’re told that he will stick around in a consulting role for a while to finish up his projects (M9 anyone?).
In related news, HTC’s head of Sense’s user experience, Drew Bamford, will now head up the HTC Creative Labs in addition to his other duties, and will report directly to CEO Peter Chou.
Croyle’s departure comes at a turbulent time for HTC, which has seen quite a few employees and executives leave the company in the past year. Since design comes early in a phone’s development process, it’s quite likely that HTC’s upcoming wearable, as well as next year’s flagship device, are both on Croyle’s list of projects to finish. If this is the case, we’ll continue to enjoy his craftsmanship for the immediate future, but the longer-term is still a big unknown; does Becker have the same vision for HTC’s design after 2015, or will the company go in a new direction?
We reached out to an HTC spokesperson, who provided us with a few pieces of information regarding the situation.
“HTC remains at the forefront of smartphone innovation. Scott Croyle will be focusing on special projects and dedicated on next generation developments.”
“HTC continues to invest in talent and recruitment as part of our broader human resources strategy to ensure the continued strength of our company’s organizational structure. To achieve our long-term goals as a business and return maximum value to our shareholders, these are necessary steps to drive ongoing innovation, ensure our ability to create strong products like the HTC One (M8), and forge strong customer relationships that solidify our future.Drew Bamford is experienced and talented leader at HTC with solid track records in leading and building our user experience team. Effective immediately, in addition to his current duties in product development and user experience, Drew will lead HTC Creative Labs and focus on innovative new products and user experience strategies. HTC is proud of its employees and has a track record of hiring the best and brightest.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC
Via: The Verge
[VIDEO] UI Performance test between the HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5 is the test that we all want to See
The battle between Samsung and HTC flagship smartphones was first ignited between the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the original HTC One. Now, the battle has moved onto the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One M8, and the competition between the two is no less fierce. While the Galaxy S5 is predictably selling like hotcakes, the real question that Android buffs everywhere want answered is which device is definitively the best? Well, if we’re talking about performance and multitasking, Chris Nacca has put together yet another video as a UI performance test between the HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5; check out the video below:
As with Chris’ previous video comparing the Nexus 5 and Galaxy S5, the One M8 and the Galaxy S5 are very evenly matched when opening apps for the first time, however, the real difference becomes very obvious when trying to multitask. The One M8 is far quicker than the Galaxy S5 with the Samsung device even looking laggy when trying to multitask quickly. Probably even more notable for those choosing between the One M8 and Nexus 5 is that the One M8′s multitasking menu looks far more useful based on the demo in this video. The real moral of the story, however, is that while the Samsung Galaxy S5 is on paper a faster device, its UI performance is still inferior to that of the HTC One M8.
Sense 6.0: 1, TouchWiz: 0
What do you think about the UI performance of both these devices? Are you surprised by the findings, or is this pretty much what you expected? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Source: YouTube
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HTC’s Droid DNA gets a bite of KitKat on April 24th
Don’t worry, Droid DNA fans — HTC may have given the One series its first batch of Android 4.4 KitKat upgrades, but it still has plenty of love for Verizon’s late 2012 flagship. The phone maker’s Mo Versi now expects the DNA to get an over-the-air update to Google’s newer OS (and the Sense 5.5 interface) starting on April 24th. That’s weeks later than what HTC anticipated back in the fall, but it’s still proof that the company is committed to supporting more than just its latest and greatest devices.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, Verizon
Source: Mo Versi (Twitter)
Verizon rumored to offer HTC One M8 Mini
Notorious leaker @evleaks has taken to Twitter to reveal that Verizon are going to offer the HTC One M8 Mini on their network. It’s not quite clear if the device will be exclusive to Verizon or will be offered on other networks, but if the leak is true the HTC One M8 Mini will be hitting Verizon.
HTC One M8 mini going to Verizon.
— @evleaks (@evleaks) April 22, 2014
The rumoured HTC One M8 Mini is expected to have a 4.5-inch screen size and will only feature one camera on the back, as opposed to the bigger brother dual camera. HTC will give the M8 Mini the same 4.4 KitKat and Sense 6.0 version of software.
The HTC One M8 Mini is expected to land in May, and it seems Verizon will be seeing the device on their network first.
The post Verizon rumored to offer HTC One M8 Mini appeared first on AndroidGuys.
HTC One (M8) Dot View case hacked to show more notifications
The HTC One (M8) was released with a very unique cover called Dot View which contains a bunch of tiny holes in the front allowing a user to view limited information from their device by simply double tapping on the front.
Traditionally, the information the user could view was limited to weather, missed calls, time, and any incoming messages.
However, Shen Ye has managed to open up the Dot View case to show more notifications when using the case. He posted a picture earlier today showing his HTC One (M8) protected by Dot View with a notification from Twitter.
Whilst he’s yet to share any information about how he managed to achieve this, and if it relies on root access or a hacked APK file, Shen Ye did say “Sense already hooks into social networking APIs, it shouldn’t be hard to get DotView to show those notifications.” It does therefore appear that it’s pretty easy to achieve, and consequently we’ll hopefully see something released into the wild pretty soon.
SOURCE: +Shen Ye
The post HTC One (M8) Dot View case hacked to show more notifications appeared first on AndroidGuys.
HTC-made Nexus 8 reportedly coming this summer
When it comes to producing affordable Nexus tablets, Google’s on a roll — and it’s looking to take advantage of that momentum. After partnering with ASUS on a 7-inch tablet each of the last two summers, the software giant is now reportedly working with HTC on an 8-inch version slated to launch in the third quarter of this year. The report comes to us from hit-and-miss DigiTimes, which tells us that Google is switching to HTC because it wants to push a new design, and ASUS is more interested in selling tablets and phones under its own brand instead.
Unless you count the Google Play edition of the LG G Pad 8.3, this will be Google’s first time offering a Nexus Android experience on an eight-inch tablet, and will be HTC’s first shot at designing a device for the series since the Nexus One. It’s also an interesting move by the Taiwanese company, which has recently expressed interest in penetrating more segments of the market in the hopes of getting its products in more hands. Of course, DigiTimes explains that Google may not be as aggressive in selling the Nexus 8 as it was with previous tablets; apparently the previous versions did well enough to encourage Android’s penetration into the tablet market, and Nexus slates simply don’t have as significant an influence as they once had.
Since I/O takes place the last week of the second quarter, it’s uncertain if Google would use that opportunity to announce the device and officially release it later, but that’s part of the magic of the show — there’s always a surprise or two.
Filed under: Tablets, Wireless, Mobile, HTC, Google
Via: PhoneArena
Source: DigiTimes
HTC Nexus 8 rumors heating up again, points to Q3 release
For quite awhile now, we’ve heard rumors regarding the upcoming Nexus 8 tablet from Google. Not only that, but we continue to hear rumors regarding HTC being the manufacturer of the device.
According to sources from the unnamed “upstream supply chain”, Google will partner with HTC for their new Nexus tablet, the Nexus 8. The tablet will reportedly launch in Q3, which coincides with most other rumors on this topic.
While HTC making a Nexus tablet would be incredible for users, many have strong doubts. In the past, Nexus devices of all kinds have been very budget-friendly. Though not necessarily a bad thing, these devices cut corners in the hardware department. Most are soft-touch plastic, and don’t have many outstanding features, hardware-wise. The way HTC has been losing money, could they really take the chance to invest in a tablet that most likely won’t make a huge profit? Probably not, but only time will tell.
Source: DigiTimes
The post HTC Nexus 8 rumors heating up again, points to Q3 release appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Entry-level HTC Desire 210 to be revealed soon in India
In spite of releasing a great high-end smartphone last year, HTC is still in a financial trouble. The main reason for this is that they focussed only on the high-end market with the HTC One, HTC One Max and the HTC One Mini. They lost focus of the entry-level and mid-range market which is a formidable source of cash-flow. But looks like HTC won’t be repeating the same mistake this year. They’ve already announced a great device in the mid-level price range, the HTC Desire 816. We’ve learnt from BGR India that HTC Desire 210, an entry-level Android smartphone will be revealed shortly in an “exclusive preview” press event which is to be held in India.
According to the report, the Desire 210 will feature a 4-inch WVGA screen, a 1.2GHz dual-core MT6572 processor from MediaTek, a 5MP camera and a VGA front-facing camera. It could be released with a price tag of INR 8,990 ($150). With the said specifications and price, the HTC Desire 210 will compete directly with best-sellers such as Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 and Sony Xperia E1 Dual.
Source: BGR India
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HTC poaches Samsung Galaxy marketing guru, looking for “The Next Big Thing”
HTC‘s marketing in the past year has been wildly hit and miss; the slightly absurd Here’s To Change campaign featuring Robert Downey Jr. was met with very mixed opinions though its HTC Technical Translations videos seemed to be a lot more popular. Either way, HTC is probably planning to really break through with their own marketing and to that end, they’ve hired Samsung‘s former Chief Marketing Officer, Paul Golden, the man who proclaims he “created and launched the highly successful Galaxy brand for Samsung”.
Golden was reportedly hired by HTC very recently and will serve as an adviser to HTC chairman, Cher Wang. Wang has previously said that “We just have to communicate well with our customers… I believe if we can communicate better, we will do better,” which is a sentiment we can all agree with, though it can be said that Samsung’s communication and marketing is generally extremely vague. Regardless, we look forward to what could be a resurgence in HTC marketing and hopefully a brighter future for the Taiwanese manufacturer.
What do you think about HTC’s acquisition of Paul Golden? Do you think he can really help HTC’s position in the market? Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments.
Source: Bloomberg via engadget
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