Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Android Authority

Android Authority


Samsung getting aggressive in Silicon Valley!

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 02:27 AM PST

samsung-ces logoSamsung is busy expanding its presence in Silicon Valley as the company sees the location as “the epicenter of disruptive forces.” The comment is probably referring to Apple and as the battle between the two companies escalates, Samsung wants to make sure it has staff and facilities in Apple’s backyard.

Its aggressive expansion into Silicon Valley includes the recent opening of a new innovation center in Menlo Park, Calif and the bold plan to build a huge new semiconductor campus. The new campus will have a very distinctive design which has one goal: to compete with Apple’s proposed spaceship-like campus and gain the title of Silicon Valley’s most distinctive architectural landmark.

By increasing its footprint in Silicon Valley, Samsung will be able to compete with Apple for the same employees and investments, a move which the company sees as necessary because in the past most of its innovation was done in Korea. Now it wants to reach out to “global hot spots” and “tap into global innovation efforts.”

Due to the legal battles between Apple and Samsung and the claims of copying and imitating, the Samsung brand isn’t known for innovation. Some think Samsung’s strength is in watching others pioneer new technologies and then quickly clone them. This is a little unfair in that while lots has been said about Samsung copying the design of the iPhone, it is Samsung who has led the way with larger screen smartphones and new niches like the Samsung Galaxy note range. In fact it was due to market pressures created by Samsung that Apple was forced to release the bigger screened iPhone 5, something the company had long resisted.

The sheer size and complexity of Samsung, which makes a whole range of products from microwave ovens to TVs, means that  investors and innovators from Silicon Valley have struggled to break into the company’s insular culture. Coupled with the fact that until recently it was larger a Korean-centric business, any third party wanting to partner with the electronic giant had a hard time rubbing shoulders with the right people. The expansion in Silicon Valley should help alleviate these problem.

Is Samsung being underhanded by building in Apple’s back yard? Will the Korean giant lure away some of Apple’s employees and third party investors?

Acer unveils the Liquid E1 and Liquid Z2 before MWC; they’re coming to Europe

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 01:58 AM PST

Acer, the handset maker that doesn’t get too much love from us because they don’t really make flagship smartphones, has just announced two new devices. The first is one we’ve already heard about, it’s called the Liquid E1. In short, it’s a 4.5 inch qHD Android smartphone with no front facing buttons that should land in Europe pretty soon for just a hair under 250 Euros. It has a dual core 1 GHz processor and a 5 megapixel camera.

The other phone, the Liquid Z2, is the phone we haven’t heard about. It’s a 3.5 inch HVGA device that should cost about 130 Euros. Both of these devices will be available in single SIM and dual SIM versions.

Should you buy either of these handsets? That’s hard to say without having had a chance to play with them, but we’ll just give you the advice we give our friends and family: If you’re on a tight budget, hit the second hand market. Do you have any idea how much a used Galaxy S2 is going to cost once the Galaxy S4 hits store shelves? And if you’re really anal about buying a new phone, then make sure you get one from a brand you can trust.

Samsung comes to mind. HTC too.

We expect to see plenty of low and midrange phones at Mobile World Congress next week. Samsung’s already announced the Galaxy Fame and Galaxy Young, LG showed off the sequel to their L series, which means the only real players left are Huawei and ZTE. Both of them showed off fairly high end devices at CES last month, so it only makes sense for them to go a bit downmarket during the show.

SwiftKey 4 drops the beta tag, is now available in the Play Store for $1.99

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 01:24 AM PST

Last month I did something I thought I’d never do, I bought an Android smartphone that wasn’t a Nexus. For those of you following me on Twitter (@WhatTheBit), you know that the phone in question was a Galaxy Note II. I’ve fallen head over heels in love with it, but man, Samsung can’t make a keyboard to save their lives. One of the first things I did was ask my friends which keyboard to install, and all of them said the same thing: SwiftKey.

The trial version of SwiftKey has been living on my phone for a few weeks now, and today I decided to just buy it because version 4 hit the Google Play Store. The guys behind SwiftKey also dropped the price, so now it’s just $1.99 instead of the regular $3.99.

What’s so awesome about SwiftKey? Where would you like me to begin? The predictive text engine is outstanding. And with this new version there’s something we’ve written about before called “Flow“. It’s essentially SwiftKey’s version of Swype. I’ve been using “Flow” for less than an hour, but it’s already become my new favorite way of inputting text.

If you don’t have any problems with the keyboard you already have on your phone, then you probably haven’t even made it this far down the article. If you’re curious to try out SwiftKey, then there’s a free trial waiting for you. What’s the harm in giving it a go?

It’s kind of sad that companies like Google haven’t nailed the predictive text problem, but then again it is a bit more difficult on Android since screen sizes vary so widely. Imagine how hard it must be to make a keyboard that works just as well on the 5.5 inch Galaxy Note II as it does on the 4.3 inch HTC One S.

Thankfully, SwiftKey knows how.

Telecommunications regulator reveals who won a 4G license in the UK

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 01:10 AM PST

Ofcom-4GSince EE officially launched its 4G service in ten UK cities back in October 2012, the other mobile network operators have been desperate for the UK government to finish the bidding competition to see who else gets to run a 4G network. At the same time the UK government was keen to get as many entrants as possible so that it could raise lots of money from the auctioning of the airwaves.

Ofcom, the UK telecommunications regulator, has now released the results. The winners are Everything Everywhere, Hutchison 3G UK (Three), Niche Spectrum Ventures (a BT subsidiary), Telefonica, and Vodafone. EE will use the extra frequencies it got to expand its network. Although EE, a joint venture between T-Mobile and Orange, launched first in the UK it has struggled to attract users. As a result the operator cut its prices in January.

Now that the licenses have been granted the mobile operators can start to deploy their networks. Ofcom anticipates that the eventual 4G coverage will be better than the existing 3G services. Telefónica, which was awarded one of the 800 MHz lots, has an obligation attached to its license to provide a mobile broadband service for indoor reception to at least 98% of the UK population by the end of 2017 at the latest.

For the government the downside was that the auction only raised £2.34bn from which was less than expected and much less than the £22bn raised from the 3G auction in 2000. The highest bidder was Vodafone which bid £791m for fives blocks of the spectrum. A total of 250 MHz of spectrum was auctioned in two separate bands – 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz. According to Ofcom, “this is equivalent to two-thirds of the radio frequencies currently used by wireless devices such as tablets, smartphones and laptops.”

What do you think? Are you looking forward to the new 4G services? Have you tried EE already? Any good?

Sony’s my Xperia phone tracking app now available for select Xperia devices

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 11:50 PM PST

My Xperia

Not all cases of a lost or stolen phone end with a happy ending like this one. Luckily for Xperia smartphone owners, Sony has announced last month that it'll be introducing its own security and phone tracking service called my Xperia.

While the service has officially gone live for users in Nordic countries, those outside the region don't have to feel left out, as the leaked my Xperia app can be downloaded and installed by all Xperia owners – regardless of the location. However, it looks like the app will only run on devices running at least Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

As shared by Xperia Blog, you can grab a copy of the file here. Don't forget to tick the "Unknown Sources" in the Security settings on your phone to ensure that the installation can go through.

My Xperia lets you find your device with a sound alert or show its whereabouts on a map. You can also delete data and files remotely, as well as locking the phone should you experience the misfortune of losing it. Let us below know how the security app runs on your Xperia handset.

Three UK’s Xperia T gets Jelly Bean update

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 10:28 PM PST

xperia t 600

After Sony made Jelly Bean official for the Xperia T earlier in the month, it didn't take long for mobile operators in the UK to start rolling out the software update to the handset. Following O2, Three has announced on its Twitter page that it's now ready to serve Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean to its customers.

It seems that the Jelly Bean update won't be available to download via OTA, which means you have to use the latest version of Sony PC companion software to fetch and install the file. You'll want to make sure that the there's an ample amount of battery juice left in your phone before installing the update and backup all important data and files.

Aside from bringing the buttery smooth Jelly Bean to your Xperia T, Sony has also included some new features and enhancements. You'll get a new User Interface, up to 7 homescreens, improved camera app, and more.

Check Three's website right here for the full instruction. Let us know how it goes in the comments below.

HTC One vs HTC One X+ [video]

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 07:51 PM PST

 htc-one-vs-htc-one-x-plus-front[aa]

With the HTC One now official after months of speculation, it is time to see how much HTC has evolved over the past year, and exactly how much did HTC's One line has evolved since its most recent member has been released.

Some may argue that a much better suited comparison would pit the HTC One against the HTC Droid DNA, but don't worry, we've also got you covered if that is the case. Myself, I find that the Droid DNA / J Butterfly actually borders the fine line between a phablet and a smartphone and that HTC's latest high-end smartphone, was the HTC One X+, the upgraded version of the first exponent of a new wave of smartphones coming from the Taiwanese manufacturer.

So, is the HTC One a significant improvement over the HTC One X+? Join us as we find out by going through the following equally important sections: Display, Design & Build quality, Internal Hardware and Android Version & Software tweaks.

Display

The HTC One X+ uses the exact same display used by the HTC One X, namely a 4.7-inch Super LCD2 panel that runs at a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and measures a PPI density of 312. Plenty argue that this was the best smartphone display for the most part of 2012.

In the other corner, the HTC One also features a 4.7-inch display, but this one is using the Super LCD3 technology and runs at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD, 1080p, they all mean the same thing). In terms of PPI ratios, the HTC One is the new king, with an impressive result of 468.

While no significant improvements were made to the color accuracy and brightness / contrast levels (remember that the One X+ already featured a great display), the panel on the HTC One is much crisper than that of the HTC One X+, even when you don't use a microscope to check out the display's content.

htc-one-vs-htc-one-x-plus-side[aa]

Verdict: The HTC One wins this round thanks to its fullHD native resolution.

Design and Build Quality

The HTC One X+ uses the same chassis as the HTC One X, a polycarbonate body with rounded corners that's both a joy to watch and to handle.

The One X+ measures 134.4 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm (5.29 x 2.75 x 0.35 in) and weighs in at 135g (4.76oz). It’s quite a robust, compact and beautiful smartphone!

The HTC One offers an aluminum curved back and much more aggressive corners, with only slightly rounded corners. Official measurements are 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm and 143g, so, from the looks of it, our contenders are both equally compact.

While the HTC One X+ features three navigational buttons at the bottom, the HTC One makes due with just two capacitive buttons. The HTC One features a speaker grill on both the upper and the lower bezel, but we'll cover the stereo speakers in the next section.

Verdict: The HTC One X+ and HTC One speak slightly different design languages, but they are both great looking devices.

htc-one-right-far[aa]

Internal Hardware

CPU, GPU and RAM

The HTC One is the first smartphone announced to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC, basically an overclocked version of the Snapdragon S4 Pro. This means that powering the HTC One packs a 1.7GHz quad-core Krait processor and an overclocked Adreno 320 GPU.

The overclocked Tegra 3 SoC (1.7Ghz Cortex A9 CPU and Nvidia ULP GPU) that can be found inside the HTC One X+ is also a fast processor, it is no match for the Snapdragon 600. Additionally, the HTC One features 2GB of RAM, while the One X+ has only 1GB of RAM.

Internal Storage

The HTC One X+ is available in both 32GB and 64GB versions, with the same internal storage options being available for the HTC One as well. None of these allow for expandable storage via a microSD card slot, which is a shame to say the least.

Cameras and Speakers

The HTC One is a smartphone that just speaks multimedia. The dual speakers are accompanied by a Beats headphone amplifier, while the camera system is unique and promises to be revolutionary.

HTC has invented the term UltraPixel to define a 4-megapixel camera that has bigger pixels capable of getting more light and therefore to produce better photo and video, especially in low light conditions. The 2.1MP camera on the front is not as interesting, but should suffice for the occasional video conference.

The HTC One X+ is not nearly as impressive, featuring a mono speaker, an 8MP primary camera and a 1.6MP secondary camera.

UltraPixel-sensor

Battery

The HTC One and the HTC One X+ are similarly equipped when it comes to battery capacity: the HTC One uses a 2300 mAh battery, while the One X+ makes due with just 2100 mAh. In theory, both smartphones should provide similar battery life as the HTC One is more power-hungry.

Verdict: The HTC One beats the HTC One X+ in almost every department except for storage, meaning that the former is the winner.

Android Version and Software Tweaks

The HTC One X+ runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and uses HTC's Sense 4+ UI, while the HTC One runs Android: 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, overlaid with a new revamp of the Sense UI, called the New Sense.

Several improvements have been made to the design of the UI with the New Sense, with HTC also bringing new features such as the BlinkFeed – a live home screen that displays a stream of events similar to a home screen of a Windows Phone 8 smartphone – and HTC Zoe, a proprietary camera app / network that lets you improve and share your photos and videos.

Verdict: The New Sense brings some useful features, so the HTC One takes this round as well.

Conclusion

There's no doubt about it: the HTC One is a much better phone than the HTC One X+. The HTC One is faster, uses a new and sleek user interface and comes with dual speakers as well as an improved camera.

The HTC One is a true and worthy successor to the critically acclaimed HTC One line of flagship Android smartphones. Do you guys feel the same?

App Review: Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 07:27 PM PST

Return to Ravenhearst Most games on the Google Play Store are pretty simple. Level based games with a simple premise for people who only want to play a few minutes at a time. Thankfully, more and more games are being released that are more of a gaming experience and less of a time wasting flash game. Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst is one of these. Of course, if you’d rather watch than read, our video review is at the bottom.

Game Play

Return to Ravenhearst plays like an old school puzzle or sleuth game. To move around, players tap on the screen in the direction they want to go. The next screen will load in the new position. So there is no real movement, but more slideshow. Each screen has a number of things that players can interact with. As the player progresses through the game, back pedaling to an earlier part to solve an old obstacle happens quite consistently.

Game play is driven by two events. There are scavenger hunt mini games where players find 12 to 16 items on a list and are then rewarded with an item for their inventory. To play into that wheelhouse, the entire game itself is a giant puzzle that is solved with the items earned from these mini games. Players can also earn inventory items by seeing them on the ground.

Between the scavenger hunts and the whole game being a puzzle, there is always something to do. Clues lay strewn about everywhere as do inventory items. If you have trouble figuring out what to do next, there is a hint system that will give you clues as to what to do next. This sounds cheap, but the clues aren’t as obvious as one would think. There is also a game log that will describe everything that’s happened so gamers can keep up with what they found.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics and sound in Return to Ravenhearst are actually pretty good. In terms of graphics, it’s nothing ground breaking but everything is very crisp and clear. Adding to that, there are portions of the game where an object also happens to be melted into another object and the developers did a great job making everything melt together. Scavenger hunts is the best example of this, as practically nothing just pops out. Inventory items in Return to Ravenhearst blend right into the background, so it’s never really obvious what you’re supposed to pick up.

The sound compliments the game play and graphics very well. Almost everything that can be interacted with has its own sound effects and there is always a creepy music playing in the background. Along with the dark setting and the graphics, Return to Ravenhearst is a truly creeptastic experience. Not enough to cause nightmares, but enough that you’ll be able to get into it when playing in a dark, quiet room. After all, atmosphere is everything when playing games!

Replay Value

Return to Ravenhearst is a long game that will take a long time to complete. Unlike many games on the Google Play Store, which feature easy, quick levels, Return to Ravenhearst is one big long game. Much like a console or PC game. Once you start, you can save but it’s pretty much a straight run from beginning to end. This means that once it’s done, there really isn’t an incentive to play again.

About the only reason why this game could be played multiple times is the time factor. Each run through is timed so players could play again to see how fast they can accomplish it. One of the mechanisms that plays into this is that whenever you get a hint on an inventory item, it adds 30 minutes onto your time. So if you’re going on a quick run through, it’s best to memorize that stuff because it’ll cost you. Other than this, once you get through the game, you’re pretty much done with it.

Return to Ravenhearst Overall Value

When it’s all added up, the game is a good buy. You’re not getting some repetitive, simple, level by level game that you’ll get tired of in a few minutes. Don’t get us wrong, there is repetition in Return to Ravenhearst, but because of the game play between those events, there is enough space between them to where they don’t feel so tedious.

It also happens to be a difficult game. Objects, clues, and scavenger hunts are strewn about everywhere. Thanks to the above average graphics and design done by Big Fish Games, they’re still rather difficult to find. More than once you’re going to find an object by accidentally clicking on the screen. In the first 10 minutes of the game, without a guide open to help you, you’re going to miss something.

Perhaps Return to Ravenhearst’s biggest feature is its atmosphere. The game play,  graphics, sound, and everything just wraps up into a whole experience that fans of this genre will enjoy. There is a free version in the Google Play Store that’s a demo to try it out, but we feel it’s worth the $1.99.

If you’re thinking of trying Return to Ravenhearst, you can find it in the Google Play Store here.

HTC iPhOne – 5-and-a-half lawsuit-free lessons picked up from Apple

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 07:25 PM PST

htc-sense-5-blinkfeed-1

The HTC One has been unveiled a few hours ago and in the meantime we covered most of its ins and outs. It's a great Android handset, hopefully the kind of device HTC needs to get back on its feet. But how many times since seeing the press photo leaks did you think the HTC One looks very much like an iPhone, and specifically an iPhone 5?

Is this HTC's iPhOne? This time around Apple will not sue, because the two companies have long laid down their patent warfare. In fact, they have signed a multi-year licensing deal which means that HTC can use certain iPhone and iOS features without fearing another lawsuit coming – and HTC wasn't doing that great in the winning-in-court-against Apple department.

With that in mind, we have noticed various elements that suggest HTC has picked up a few lessons from Apple when it comes to making, branding and launching new products, so let's check them out.

High-end design

Standing out in the Android universe where a new handset is launched every few months to capture the mind of the public is very difficult, so design should be very important for all OEMs.

Sure there are exceptions, just remember the disappointment related to the Galaxy S3's design at launch, but the device still went on to sell over 40 million units and counting.

It finally looks like HTC is ready to play in the big leagues with a handset that screams “high-end” when it comes to design. There’s no plastic here, as company has emphasized the various design features of the handset, focusing on the "full metal" unibody, the "zero gap construction," and the slim profile.

iphone-5-build-quality

But looking at the handset from the front, and from the distance, its clearly resembling the iPhone 5, although the One is bigger. Not to mention those chamfered edges.

However, the One is slightly bigger and thicker, and when looking at the handset's back, one would immediately spot the curved back.

When performing the iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 drop tests we noticed the former's durability thanks to its build quality. Is HTC going for the same kind of build quality?

What's that patent?

Since we did mention the all-metal aluminum unibody – which prevents users from replacing the battery – we will move on to antennas next.

As we already know, starting with the iPhone 4, the iOS phone's antennas are on the outside. But Apple has just obtained another patent (U.S. Patent No. 8,373,610) that describes microslot antennas that embedded in metal. Future iPhones could make use of the technology, but until then the HTC One may be one of the first handsets to use it, although there's nothing that confirms it.

The Next Web mentions the fact that the "company has been a able to use 12 years of R&D to incorporate all its antennae into the metal, using a complex system of patented technologies to automatically utilize antennae not obscured by your hand when you use it." But what patents are we talking about? Is Apple's latest patent also included?

Apple-patent-8373610-drawing-001

Image Credit: AppleInsider

 

Less buttons is more button presses, silly!

For some reason, HTC decided to drop one button – the multitasking one – from the One. The handset has a big HTC logo between the back and home buttons. These are capacitive buttons, not physical buttons, which are kept in place, so one has to wonder why HTC didn't eliminate them altogether.

How is that related to the iPhone? Well, by dropping a button HTC had to come out with a different button press order for the Home button so that the phone can offer the same functionality as any other Android device.

You'll have to press twice the Home key to enable multitasking, while a long press on the same button will bring Google Now to life. If that doesn't ring a bell then we'll tell you that's how you do multitasking on the iPhone and how your bring Siri out of her hiding place and into action.

Not a hardware race, a features one

The HTC One is ready to blow some of its competitors out of the water when it comes to the first benchmarks, but HTC is not in a hardware race with its competitors, or at least not anymore.

In case that sounds like something Apple would say on stage during a new iOS device's launch, at least indirectly by highlighting features rather than mentioning specs, then you'd be right and that's what HTC has done throughout the event

Display downgrade/upgrade?

The display falls into that category but at the same time, not necessarily. It's a 4.7-inch display instead of the 5-inch you'd expect – considering that all the other Full HD phones out there competing with the HTC One have 5-inch displays, the HTC Butterfly / Droid DNA included. So HTC did not feel tempted to go to 5-inch with this one.

htc-one-left[aa]

But at the same time, by maintaining the 4.7-inch display and using a Full HD resolution, it managed to surpass everyone else when it comes to Pixel Per Inch (PPI) density. Whether or not it wanted to do it, HTC did apply here Apple's Retina Display strategy of the iPhone 4: keep the screen size in place but increase the number of pixels. And the HTC One will marginally beat every 5-inch Full HD display out there.

How about some sound?

Even if it wanted to, it wouldn't been able to increase the size of that display because it decided to offer two front-facing speakers for some serious BoomSound, and to place them on top and beneath the display. Is this an Apple-like sound-related play? With the iPhone 5, Apple also focused on the sound by introducing redesigned headphones. HTC came up with a way to improve sound on those occasions where you don't want to use a headset.

UltraPixel-ing the camera

The HTC comes with a 4-megapixel main shooter that has UltraPixels (which is just a marketing naming gimmick) capable of allowing in more light and therefore of offering better pictures. That's way lower than what the competition has – 8- to 13-megapixel cameras – but HTC is not afraid to call out the megapixels race between handset maker. Sure, HTC has been in that race itself, but it's ready to focus on quality than on hardware only.

That's something Apple would say and do, after all it didn't really keep up the megapixels pace with its own iPhones. From a different point of view though, HTC is more and more interested in offering an improved camera experience to HTC One buyers, something it started with the previous One models.

Processor and RAM size do not matter

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 is quite fast according to benchmarks, even if it's not the very latest model in town, something you'd expect of every Android OEM's flagship device. But did it get mentioned during the event? What about RAM?

When it comes to processors, Apple never mentions actual characteristics, although it always highlights the overall performance of the new SoCs found aboard the devices it introduces, focusing on speed and graphics. Nor does it say how much RAM is found in its iOS devices.

htc-one-quadrant-benchmark-test-1

Granted, HTC has revealed those details in press materials and on its website, unlike Apple, who doesn't officially acknowledge them even after the event is over

Branding is king

Apple creates strong, remberable product names, introducing with some product launches new names for devices, features or components. Some of them get stuck in the vocabulary of buyers, creating more publicity for the company, while others don't.

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Let's look only at iPhone-related product names: iPhone, iOS, iSight (camera,) Siri (virtual assistant,) Lighting (new charging cable.)

In case you followed closely HTC's One presentation, you may have seen various new names emerge, which could help HTC further down the road. We've seen One, Sense (strangely not called HTC Sense 5 on stage,) UltraPixel, Zoe, BoomSound or BlinkFast.

These are not correspondents to the Apple products I named before, but HTC's marketing department is definitely trying a few Apple-like moves here. It remains to see which names will actually stick.

Content is… also king

In addition to smartphone functions, smartphones can do a lot of other things, all related to digital content, whether it's about consumption or creation.

HTC-One-UltraPixel-Camera-samples-2

HTC emphasized today the importance of that content via its new HTC Sense feature called BlinkFeed, a portal to news and social networks. How is this Apple-like?

Well HTC focused on its own software that can highlight what third-parties have to offer in terms of content. It even invited a third-party representative on stage to talk about their content – in this case ESPN's president of global customer sales and marketing Ed Erhardt – to talk about its content.

Granted though, HTC's initiative isn't completely comparable to Apple way of presenting new iOS apps during media events, because Sense is not an OS for which developers are creating such new apps. But it’s sure looks like a sales page from Apple's keynotes playbook.

Worth noting is that HTC did not mention Google, Android or the Google Play Store at all during the event. In fact, from the looks of it, you would have thought that Sense is the OS that's being sold together with all its new features, right alongside the HTC One.

Selling the package?

During an Apple event, the company manages to present the package in such a way that in the following weeks millions of sales are registered. Will HTC experience great HTC One sales in the coming month? That remains to be seen, especially since the Galaxy S4 will be unveiled soon.

But HTC at least tried to sell the package in an Apple-like way on stage. It had the show, it focused on the user experience and on the unique features of the smartphone, it involved third party partners, and it even had videos highlighting various HTC One characteristics. Not that there’s a patent on how to do these things.

htc-sense-5-blinkfeed-2

That's the half lesson it can borrow from Apple. It’s not quite a full lesson, because it’s yet to sell the HTC One in an iPhone-like – or even Galaxy S3-like – manner.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Did HTC copy Apple today? You could say that some iPhone/iOS features and/or technologies may have been intentionally or unintentionally used, Not that Apple is suing this time around. Although Apple could never sue HTC for also borrowing marketing and/or presentation guidelines. Again, not that Apple is suing this time around.

Overall it was a good presentation, the HTC One is a great product, one that you'll certainly enjoy in case you want to buy it.

What's the bad thing about the whole thing? Maybe the fact that HTC needs to learn a few other lessons as well, including dialing down the number of leaks and rumors preceding an event, and actually releasing the device sooner after being announced. Maybe HTC should find its own way of creating impressive product announcements ready to bring back to the company lost customers, and ways of keeping up the buzz for more than just a few more months after the device launches.

The ugly is yet to come – and hopefully it won't be here for a long time – and it concerns HTC's profitability. The HTC One may indeed be a make or break product, so HTC'd better sell millions upon millions of Ones in the following quarters. But it won't be easy in this current Android environment against the likes of Xperia Z, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 3 or Motorola/Google X Phone, and that's just naming its most important Android rivals.

What would Apple make of all this? If these were medieval times, Lord Apple would surely enjoy making peace with a rival Knight like HTC only to see it rise stronger and attack some Sir Samsung. Is this what Apple is doing, settling with HTC so the Taiwanese could claim back some lost ground in the Android environment, and maybe start hurting Samsung's bottom line and share in the process by using some of Apple's tech?

T-Mobile takes the GoSmart prepaid brand nationwide, unlimited everything for $35

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 07:09 PM PST

America’s wireless market is strange. I say this as someone who used to live in America, but now lives in Europe. For reasons I don’t quite understand, you folks in America pay the same amount of money per month if you buy a phone either with a contract or without one. Here in Europe, you can get just about any phone you want for free, but you have to pay more per month. On the flip side, you can pay the full price for you phone upfront, but then you’re left with a drastically cheaper monthly bill. Phone contracts are, in simplest terms, a loan that’s given to you by an operator.

Prepaid is another thing I don’t quite get. America doesn’t really have “prepaid”, at least how I recognize the prepaid business model. In Europe, you put money on a SIM card, and then you use it until it runs out. In America, you pay a bill every month, regardless of your usage. Stop paying your bill and you stop getting service. That’s just strange to me, but whatever, I know I can’t change the way things work over there.

All that background information brings us to today’s news. T-Mobile has just announced that they’re taking their “GoSmart” prepaid brand nationwide. For $30 per month you get unlimited talk and text. Add $5 and you get unlimited EDGE. Add another $10 on top of that ($45 total) and you get unlimited EDGE and 5 GB of 3G data. You have to bring your own phone to their network, of course.

Should you sign up? Ehhh, sorry to say this, but T-Mobile’s network isn’t as good as AT&T’s network. You can get a prepaid SIM that uses AT&T’s network from Straight Talk. They charge the same $45 per month for unlimited everything. I have several friends back home in Texas who swear by the service, so I have no problem recommending it to you guys.

Android and Me

Android and Me


Hands-on with the HTC One

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 10:30 AM PST

It’s official, the HTC One is the latest Android phone from HTC and the company has high hopes that it will give them a competitive edge over Apple and Samsung. We got to spend some quality time with the HTC One in New York City and we came away thoroughly impressed. Specs wise, the HTC [...]

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$100 reasons to swap your old phone for the HTC One

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 08:15 AM PST

If you like what you saw from HTC today and you are thinking about getting the One, then go pre-register for HTC’s $100 trade in offer. The limited promotion promises a pre-paid Visa card worth either $100 or the trade-in value of your old phone – whichever's greater. All you have to do is...

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HTC One raises the bar for Android smartphones

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 07:30 AM PST

Today HTC announced its next flagship smartphone, the new HTC One. I was lucky enough to spend a brief 48 hours with the device and I can say with confidence that HTC has delivered one of the best Android phones I have ever seen. HTC has already sold me on the device, but they will [...]

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Is NVIDIA’s Phoenix reference smartphone platform a good sign for the company?

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 06:00 AM PST

Recent years have taught us that NVIDIA is a company that likes to brag about how many design wins their chips are racking up, but there was no mention of any OEM partners with today’s announcement of Tegra 4i — their first mobile processor with an integrated LTE modem. Instead of...

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NVIDIA reveals Tegra 4i chip with integrated LTE, positions chip as a Snapdragon slayer

Posted: 19 Feb 2013 06:00 AM PST

Today NVIDIA revealed its first mobile processor with a fully integrated 4G LTE modem, the NVIDIA Tegra 4i, which finally places them on an even playing field with Qualcomm. The Tegra line of chips have been successful in capturing a good chuck on the Android tablet market, but the lack of an...

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