Sunday, April 15, 2012

Update - 261



Posted: 20 Mar 2012 04:03 PM PDT
sprint-event-htc-nyc-invite
Sprint and HTC have sent us an invitation to a press event on April 4 in New York City. The invitation does not reveal what the two companies plan on unveiling, but we have a feeling that a Sprint-branded HTC One X (which is rumored to launch on June 10th) will be making an appearance. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and HTC President Jason Mackenzie will be present, so we’re expecting an event that’s on par with the EVO 4G unveiling (which took place in New York City two years ago).
We are planning on attending, so stay tuned for our event coverage, hands-on pictures, videos and initial impressions of Sprint’s newest HTC device. Do you think Sprint will be keeping the EVO brand alive or will they give in and release the new phone as an HTC One?


Posted: 20 Mar 2012 03:27 PM PDT
htc_mog
The last time we talked about an HTC streaming music service, the rumor was that HTC would launch a Spotify competitor and leverage Beats CEO, Jimmy Iovine (who also serves as Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M) to secure contracts with various music labels to get the streaming music service off the ground. Today things have changed with rumors circulating that HTC has, or will soon, acquire MOG, which was one of the pioneering music streaming services when it was founded in 2005.
For those who don’t know, MOG is a subscription based streaming music service similar to Spotify with 14 million songs in its database. Subscribers can stream MOG through a browser, or dedicated Android or iOS application, with the ability to create customized artist playlists (similar to Pandora channels) with a control bar which balances the music selection between “Artist Only” and “Similar Artist.”
Since MOG has never been a huge player in the streaming music segment (the current Android install base ranges from 500,000 to 1,000,000), we assume that HTC has some pretty drastic plans to transform the service. HTC will most likely integrate MOG into the Beats brand and create a modified streaming music service which would deliver a basic free MOG subscription to HTC customers – similar to the value-added deal HTC made with Dropbox which gives HTC One customers 25GB of online storage.
We’ll have to wait for official confirmation of the acquisition from HTC before we know what will become of MOG. Do you think this is a good move for HTC? Would a free MOG subscription be a good incentive for consumers to consider purchasing HTC devices?


Posted: 20 Mar 2012 07:29 AM PDT
samsung_wireless_charging
Wireless charging isn’t anything new for Android, but the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III may be the first device to include the feature right out of the box. DDaily is reporting that Samsung is working on its own patented wireless charging system for the Samsung Galaxy S III, which uses a magnetic induction wireless charging system that is able to charge the device even when it is 1-2 meters away from the charging station.
While many Android OEMs and major accessory makers have shown support for the Qi wireless charging standard, Samsung’s move towards their own system may actually be a good thing for the future of wireless charging since Samsung’s technology allows for multiple devices to charge simultaneously without the need to be placed directly on the charging station.
According to the report, Samsung still has not decided if the wireless charging station will be included with every purchase of the Samsung Galaxy S III. We’re not sure how much Samsung would charge for its proprietary charging station, but we can’t imagine it would be any more expensive than the Touch Stone wireless charging kit for the Palm Pre which was originally priced at $70.
We don’t expect the Samsung Galaxy S III rumors to die down any time soon, but built-in wireless charging certainly seems doable in this day and age. If the Samsung Galaxy S III does come with this new feature, how many of you would be willing to pay a little extra for Samsung’s wireless charging station?


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