Peter Chou is no longer the CEO of HTC. Cher Wang takes over
It’s the end of an era, ladies and gentlemen. Peter Chou, co-founder and long-time CEO of HTC, has given up his position, with Cher Wang set to take over.
Along with Cher Wang and H.T.Cho, Chou founded HTC in 1997 as a contract manufacturer making computers and other electronics for various brands. In 2004, Chou took over as CEO, and under his leadership, HTC developed into a world leader of the smartphone industry. Following years of steady growth, HTC’s fortunes began to wane in 2012 and the company has been struggling to recover ever since.
Peter Chou will stay with the company as “head of the HTC Future Development Lab.”
Peter Chou will be ceding his position to HTC Chairman Cher Wang, but he will stay with the company as “head of the HTC Future Development Lab.”
“As an entrepreneur at heart, I am excited to see so many new opportunities, and I am honoured to accept this opportunity to help shape the next stage of HTC’s development,” said Cher Wang, who highlighted HTC’s connected living products in her statement.
“We pioneered the smartphone industry; now we are applying that thinking to realize the potential of a new generation of connected products and services. The overwhelming response that our virtual reality product, HTC Vive, received earlier this month underlines the importance of these new connected technologies for our future”
Wang has actually taken over many of Chou’s day-to-day responsibilities since 2013. Wang has been handling sales, marketing and supplier relationships, while Chou was in charge of product development and “innovation.” According to HTC, today’s announcement is a mere formalization of a state of facts: “the Board of Directors and executive team agreed that it was now appropriate to formalize that progression.”
Cher Wang
Peter Chou has been a polarizing figure. While he was beloved for his charisma and dedication to HTC, his abrasive style and “shoot from the hip” approach to product development were blamed for the company’s difficulties over the past few years. In a Reuters piece from 2013 that cited “insiders,” Chou was also criticized for his inability to open up and delegate, which allegedly caused many of HTC’s international executives to leave.
Chou’s departure comes at a sensitive for HTC, as it’s gearing up to release its newest flagship on April 10. While the company’s financial results have improved over the past quarters, a lot weighs on the success of the M9.
We’ll be adding more details at we learn them.
Top pros and cons of the HTC One M9
HTC has recently announced it will bring it’s new One M9 smartphone to the masses on April 10th after a slight delay due to software adjustments. This will be their third flagship smartphone in the ‘M’ series, and while they have improved upon a lot of things from their previous M8 smartphone, there are certain things to consider before deciding whether HTC’s latest should be your next device or not. We’ll start off with the negatives of the One M9.
CONS
Camera lacks OIS
Optical Image Stabilization is becoming a standard for top-tier smartphones nowadays, and has been included in flagships since 2013. OIS is a hardware feature in the camera that compensates for shaking of the camera while recording video, giving the user a smoother, more pleasant video experience. Considering the Nexus 5, a $350 phone from 2013, features OIS while HTC’s latest does not, will be a slight turn-off for many. If you’re not big into recording video however, this shouldn’t affect you.
Not water resistant
This is something we thought would be a standard as of last year, with the One M8, Galaxy S5, Xperia Z3 and Moto X all being at least somewhat water resistant. However so far this year neither the One M9 or the Galaxy S6 are water resistant, forcing customers to be extra cautious around rain and other aqueous situations.
Bezels
This one is a matter of design preference, however many are outspoken about how much they dislike the black “HTC bar” below the screen and how the side bezels could be a lot smaller. However, HTC spokesman Jeff Gordon explained awhile back that the black bar is necessary, as “underneath is a huge amount of circuitry, antennae, etc…”. Because of the One’s Boomsound speakers, which take up a great amount of space on the top and bottom of the phone, the black bar is something that has to stay for now.
The uncertainty of the Snapdragon 810 processor
The tale of the Qualcomm’s latest processor, the Snapdragon 810, is an interesting and somewhat mysterious one. Rumors of production problems for the chip started a long time ago, followed by talk that Qualcomm wasn’t quite ready for mass production of the 810 chip. Then, we heard Samsung had opted to use their Exynos CPU instead of the Snapdragon 810, a huge move that will no doubt put a dent in Qualcomm’s dominance. This is undoubtedly because Samsung will make more money using their own processors, but it doesn’t give us confidence knowing they believe their new chip is better than the Snapdragon 810 (which according to benchmark tests, it absolutely is).
Benchmarks aren’t everything, though. What about real world use? Well, this is where we lose even more confidence in the Snapdragon 810, as a recent thermal picture shows the One M9 heating to almost 140 degrees Fahrenheit next to cooler phones in the same environment. The phone reached these hot temperatures when running benchmarks, meaning it’ll get just as hot when playing intensive games. As of right now, this is heavily affecting battery life of the phone according to BGR. HTC’s Jeff Gordon took to twitter and explained that these results came from phone’s with unfinished software and are not final at all. We’ll have to see later if these overheating issues were the fault of HTC or Qualcomm, and if HTC can fix it with only software adjustments.
This is arguably our biggest fear and “con” for the One M9, as Qualcomm’s CPU will affect many things about the phone. HTC has included a very respectable 2,840 mAh battery in the phone, but that won’t help at all if this overheating problems is producing worse battery results than last year’s One M8.
PROS
Full metal design
Ever since the One M7, HTC has impressed millions with their aluminum metal designs. The One M8 took it a step further with a metal unibody design, meaning the metal connects the front and the back on the sides, rather than just back and front metal plates. The One M9 sports an almost identical design of the M8, but now offering gold colored aluminum on the sides of the device to compliment the silver front and back. It looks gorgeous still after two years of similar designs, and we’re glad they moved the power button to the side of the device for easy access.
Boomsound.
This barely needs explaining. HTC’s trademarked Boomsound stereo dual front-facing speakers is back and better than ever, with the inclusion of Dolby 5.1 surround, giving this phone one of the best entertainment experiences when watching a video or playing a game. It is a fact that these are the best smartphone speakers available.
Micro SD expansion
Something that not many smartphones can brag about is the ability to expand their storage, and the One M9 offers just that. Up to 128 GB can be utilized with an SD card with the One M9.
5 inch screen
Phablets are nice and all, as they provide big screens for people who want the best of a tablet and a phone, but not everybody has big enough hands to even use some of the behemoths that smartphone manufacturers are pumping out, and that’s where HTC saves the day with a compact 5″ flagship screen and 1080p resolution perfect to enjoy any kind of content.
Sense
HTC uses Sense 7 as their software overlay on top of Android Lollipop. It includes their signature Blinkfeed, which is a nice news and updates feed beautifully integrated into their homescreen. New with Sense 7 is the ability to change your phone’s theme, which includes the style of your homescreen icons, wallpapers, clock theme and more. HTC Sense is arguably one of the best looking Android UI’s and HTC has done a great job making it one of the fastest and most fluid Android experiences available.
IR blaster
Not many phones have built-in IR blasters, which allow them to control most nearby televisions. If you’re someone who would like their phone as a universal remote in your home, then the One M9 will surely deliver, as the IR blaster covers the top of the device.
“UH OH”
Life throws a lot of curve balls, and HTC knows that. On Wednesday, the company announced an industry disruptive incentive called UH OH, which gives HTC One M9 customers a 12 month period of time where if they damage their phone or need a new one, either by cracking the screen, receiving water damage or switching carriers, HTC will replace your phone, “hassle-free” when you call them directly, with zero charge. One of the best parts of this program? If you don’t need a replacement during the 12 months, HTC will reward you with $100 toward your next HTC One smartphone. Pretty amazing stuff.
These are our top points about the One M9, please share in the comments if there’s anything more you love or hate about the device.
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HTC enlists Robert Downey Jr. again for more insane commercials
I have said it a million times that HTC’s Achilles Heel is their marketing department. They just don’t seem to have any focus on what they are doing. Sure, Samsung has more money to spend, but their “The Next Big Thing Is Already Here” commercials were clear to the consumer.
Now with the launch of the One M9, HTC has brought back Robert Downey Jr. again. Robert Downey Jr. is a fantastic actor and someone who can bring some attention to the struggling company, but I am not sure this is the way to use him.
Hit the break, watch the videos, and let us know what you think.
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Cheers Steve
Come comment on this article: HTC enlists Robert Downey Jr. again for more insane commercials
The new clips that Robert Downey Jr. made for HTC are… interesting
Back in 2013, HTC gave Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. a boatload of money to become its image, as part of a billion-dollar promotional campaign dubbed Change.
Two years later, not a lot of things have changed (especially if you take that literally and look at the M9), but HTC is still struggling to effectively market its products. And the latest “shorts films” made by Downey for the new M9 probably won’t change that.
To be fair, these are not actual commercials. They are a “series of shorts representing the creative collaboration between Robert Downey Jr., Russell Scott of Jetset Studios, and HTC. Using color as a unifying metaphor, the shorts channel many artistic influences into a narrative that finds Downey and his scene‐partner, Brian Schaeffer, navigating a genre‐bending series of adventures.”
There’s RDJ swinging a baseball bat at a chicken. There’s Brian Schaeffer as a merman assaulting RDJ with a fake moon. And there’s a bunch of other weird and wonderful situations. The M9 itself only appears at the end of each clip along the “One Life. Make It Count.” slogan.
Check out the 10-video playlist.
While the artistic value of these shorts may be way above my head, I can’t help thinking that HTC gave RDJ a little too much leeway. Sure, these clips will bring HTC some attention, but HTC is a relatively well-known brand anyway. Perhaps some good old conventional marketing focused on the M9 would have been better for the company at this point?
HTC One M9 to be available in U.S. starting April 10th
HTC announced earlier today that they were launching a new UH OH Protection program to help ease the mind of customers who invest in the new HTC One M9 smartphone. In a webcast announcing this new program, HTC Americas president Jason Mackenzie also took some time to field questions. During this stage of the webcast, he indicated April 10th is the date HTC has targeted to make the HTC One M9 available to U.S. customers.
Unfortunately, Mackenzie did not share any additional details, so it is not entirely clear what “available” might entail. The smartphone is slated to be offered by all of the major carriers. HTC likely hopes the devices are in retail stores and offered online by all of the carriers to compete with Samsung as the date corresponds with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S 6 and Galaxy S 6 edge.
HTC has already had trouble meeting their target release date for the HTC One M9 in Taiwan. They indicated that issue was related to a software glitch that had to be addressed. Mackenzie did spend time discussing reports about overheating issues with the Snapdragon 810 chips. He indicated any concerns had been addressed as HTC would not release a phone that it didn’t think would meet the quality expectations of its customers.
Now that an official with HTC has let a date out of the bag, we should probably see announcements from carriers in the very near future regarding their plans to offer the device.
Come comment on this article: HTC One M9 to be available in U.S. starting April 10th
HTC America had made it official; The HTC One M9 will be available for purchase beginning on April 10.
The HTC One M9 was announced just a few short weeks ago and now it seems we wont have to wait long before we can get our hands one. HTC America today made a live announcement where they stated that the HTC One M9 will be available for purchase here in the States beginning on April 10. This in an interesting date, as it was reported that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will also be released on that same date. Maybe HTC and Samsung decided to coordinate their release dates as they did their announcements.
HTC’s latest flagship will come with 5-inch screen, Snapdragon 810 processor, Adreno 430 GPU, 3 GB of ram and 32 GB of internal storage. For more information regarding the HTC One M9 or to see the official announcement, click on the link below.
Source: HTC One M9 Official Announcement
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U.S. availability for the HTC One M9 begins April 10th
During the company’s “Uh-Oh” presentation this morning, HTC announced that the new One M9 handset would be available in the United States starting April 10th. According to HTC’s Jason Mackenzie, the phone’s availability will vary based on carrier. Also, Mackenzie confirmed that we will not see a Google Play Edition HTC One M9.
The U.S. launch of the HTC One M9 coincides with the global launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which begins the same day. With that said, it’s now clear that HTC wants to compete directly with the best that Samsung has to offer.
Availability in the United States wasn’t the only thing HTC announced at its presentation, though. The company also launch its new Uh-Oh protection plan, which will give users a free one-time replacement if their One M9 or One M8 handsets suffer a broken screen or any water damage. The coverage lasts for the first 12 months of having the device, and all users are automatically signed up for the service upon purchasing the smartphone.
If you’d like to get some more information on HTC’s newest flagship, head to our hands-on and first impressions post here. Now that we know the One M9 is launching in the U.S. on the same day as the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which one will you pick up?
HTC One M9+ arriving in late March-early April says @upleaks
Remember the HTC Hima Ultra rumors that popped up in the run-up to the official launch of the One M9? Well, @upleaks has just revived the rumor, stating that the handset will be heading to market under the HTC One M9+ name tag.
As well as the new name, the leak also says that the M9+ will be made available in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The handset will allegedly make an appearance towards the end of Q1 or possibly in early Q2 this year.
Confirmed：Hima_Ultra will be going to the market as HTC One M9+(not Plus), and I was wrong it will be available in EMEA too…
— @upleaks (@upleaks) March 18, 2015
Although hardware specifications are being kept under wraps, @upleaks suggests that the One M9+ won’t be using the same Snapdragon 810 processing package as the standard One M9. Instead, the handset is said to come equipped with a MediaTek SoC, possibly the company’s flagship MT6795. The MT6795 is a 64-bit octa-core processor, featuring a similar 4x Cortex-A57 + 4xA53 CPU design as the Snapdragon 810, but packing a PowerVR G6200 GPU.
Rumors have previously suggested that the Hima Ultra, or One M9+, will also feature a larger 5.5-inch display, possibly with a QHD (2560×1440) pixel resolution, which would make sense based on the name.
Do you like the sound of the HTC One M9+?
HTC One M9+ to launch in late March or April and won’t be limited to China
We have new information regarding the often rumored HTC One M9+, codenamed Hima_Ultra. For starters, you may have noticed that I have a “+” in the name rather than a “Plus”. Apparently HTC will be using the “+” instead of “Plus”.
If was also reported that it would only be available in China, but thankfully that information was wrong. It will also be available in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Unfortunately no word on the U.S.
As to when, it’s expected to be released at the end of this month or April.
The One M9+ is supposed to have a bigger 5.5 to 6.0-inch display with Quad HD (2560 x 1440) resolution. It’s also expected to have a MediaTek processor, which doesn’t jive with the display specs. I guess we will have to wait and see.
source: @Upleaks
Come comment on this article: HTC One M9+ to launch in late March or April and won’t be limited to China
HTC UH OH program now official, U.S One M9 customers get FREE damage replacement for first 12 months
HTC went ahead and released a presser regarding today’s big announcement. As was previous rumored, HTC has unveiled a new protection plan referred to as UH OH Protection.
All U.S. customers who buy an HTC One M9 will get the UH OH Protection plan at no extra charge. UH OH will provide customers with a Free phone replacement in the event they crack their screen or drop it in water. HTC has found that 69% of people who damaged their phone had done so in the past 12 months. More importantly, 47% of those people repaired their phone and it cost over $100.
Now you might be saying to yourself that you never drop your phone or damage it so you don’t need the program. Well HTC is sweetening this deal by giving those that don’t take advantage of the program $100 off your next HTC One phone.
This is a really nice deal and will give piece of mind to a lot of customers. However, I should note that if you currently pay your carrier for insurance plan, it’s unlikely you will be able to drop it since that also covers a lost or stolen phone. UH OH only covers damaged phones since you will actually be able to send it back to get a replacement.
Full Press Release:
HTC LAUNCHES INDUSTRY-LEADING UH OH PROTECTION WITH THE ALL NEW HTC ONE M9 TO ENSURE THE WORLD’S BEST LOOKING SMARTPHONE STAYS THAT WAY
Innovative program covers cracked screen or water damage for 12 months, or provides $100 off the next HTC One.
Bellevue, WA —March 18, 2015 — Because bad things happen to good smartphones, HTC America Inc. unveils UH OHTMProtection, a new industry-leading initiative that protects U.S. customers who purchase the new HTC One M9 against life’s uh-oh moments. UH OH Protection includes one free replacement within the first 12 months for a cracked screen, water damage or if you decide to switch carriers.
HTC UH OH Protection provides consumers who damage their new HTC One M9 with an untimely fall onto the pavement or into a toilet with a free phone replacement within 12 months of purchase. Consumers who don’t take advantage of UH OH Protection within the first 12 months will receive $100 towards the purchase of a future HTC One.
“With the HTC One M9, we didn’t stop with creating an award-winning smartphone and amazing user experiences. We created an innovative new program that ensures the best phone on the market stays that way,” said Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC Americas. “We want our customers to have the confidence to use their new HTC One and the peace of mind that HTC has your back if something unfortunate happens to it.”
Based on a Google Insights Survey conducted in March 2015 with individuals that had damaged their smartphone:
o 69% of respondents said they have damaged their phone in the past 12 months, and
o 47% of those that have repaired their phone spent $100 or more, while
o 25% are currently using a damaged phone
“While other smartphone companies look at uh-oh moments as a way to profit off of you, we are focused on adding value to owning an HTC One. If you don’t need UH OH Protection, we are going to give you $100 off your next HTC One,” said Mackenzie. “If something does happen, we’re going to take care of you – quickly.”
How UH OH Protection Works
UH OH Protection is automatically provided with HTC One M9, which will be going on sale soon. With a call to HTC Care at 1 (866) 449-8358, an HTC Care team member will arrange to overnight a replacement phone. It is a simple and hassle-free process.
For more information, visit http://www.htc.com/us/uh-oh-protection.
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About HTC
HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC One and Desire lines of smartphones. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). http://www.htc.com
Editor’s Notes
Jason Mackenzie, President of HTC Americas, will be hosting a live Q&A with consumers to share details about the UH OH Protection program on Wednesday, March 18 at 9 a.m. PT. Consumers can submit questions via Twitter to @HTCUSA. The event will be live streamed at http://www.htc.com/us/uh-oh and then archived on YouTube at HTCAmerica.
Come comment on this article: HTC UH OH program now official, U.S One M9 customers get FREE damage replacement for first 12 months
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