Android and Me

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HTC: We’re going to focus on thinness, not battery life Posted: 19 Apr 2012 04:31 PM PDT When it comes to the future of mobile devices from HTC, thin is in. Over the course of the past year or so, HTC has been conducting market research to help them set their vision for the future. Results from HTC’s survey shows that consumers care more about thinness of the device than they do about battery life. As a result of the survey, HTC removed plans it had to release 3,000+ mAh battery-toting devices from their product roadmap. Instead, beginning with the One series of devices, HTC is upping their focus on thin form factors, which generally shed user-replaceable batteries. None of HTC’s 2012 revealed smartphones to date have allowed users to remove the battery plate and replace the battery. HTC will focus its battery life efforts on improvements in battery technology, and increase efforts on software enhancements that are geared at battery life, similar to what Motorola has done with its Smart Actions program. Whether or not HTC’s focus on form factor over battery life will get them back in the game remains to be seen. As we move more and more into LTE-territory, battery life becomes much more important. Most devices out there that run on the super fast LTE networks barely make it through a full work day without needing to be plugged in. What do you guys think? Do you value thinness and form factor over battery life, or would you accept a slightly thicker device that provided 24 hours of battery life?

Spotify for Android gets a much-needed overhaul Posted: 19 Apr 2012 07:12 AM PDT Spotify for Android has gotten a massive and much-needed UI overhaul. The Spotify overhaul is actually pretty awesome. Spotify has fully embraced Google’s Holo UI interface, making Spotify’s new beta a pleasure to use. Spotify also feels a bit speedier, with pages rendering more quickly and no noticeable lag when switching between panes. I’ve spent a good part of the morning with Spotify, and have been pleased with the overall experience. Spotify’s high price point aside, the Spotify application was one of the main reasons I stopped using the service, so it’s good to see Spotify taking consumer complaints seriously after 6 months of not updating their application. Of course, to be able to listen to Spotify on your mobile device, you’ll have to spring for a $10 per month premium Spotify subscription, though you can sign up for a 30 day free trial on Spotify’s site. If you’d like to give the new Spotify application a go, head over to Spotify’s preview site to download. Be sure your settings allow for installation of non-Play applications. If you do check out the the beta version of Spotify, let us know your initial impressions of the UI overhaul in the comments. Update: Thanks for the corrections, all. Happy to admit I goofed and mis-read Spotify’s email. Good to know the holo theme does work on Gingerbread.

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