All Articles Tagged htc

First up, the highly anticipated HTC Hero is in Android Central’s house, and Casey gives us a look at the decidedly non-Google Android phone and SenseUI, something closer akin to HTC’s previous Windows Mobile powered TouchFLO3D. And we think he likes it:

We believe that you’ll be stunned at how easy it is to use and how polished it all works. If you’re looking from the myTouch 3G or T-Mobile G1, you can’t help but be jealous of the Hero. The UI offers a great experience while still maintaining the same lovely Android and even adds a better browser! We have no hesitation in saying that the HTC Hero is the best Android phone available and after using HTC Sense, will be for quite some time.

Next up, I don’t think we’ve ever mentioned “Motorola” and “competition” to the iPhone in the same paragraph before, but with the introduction of the CLIQ, their first device running Google’s Android OS, do we have to stop chuckling at the mere concept?

Maybe. We often say (okay, Chad often says) that Apple designed the iPhone for RAZR users — the first dead-simple, consumer-friendly smartphone. Well Moto built the RAZR, and now they’ve built MOTOBLUR, a new, hyper-social network focused new layer on top of Android designed to hook the heart of the Twitter/FaceBook generation (yes, Icebike, I campout firmly in the former). And they’ve put it on a G1/Dream-style horizontal slider.

Have they succeeded? Engadget says:

Let’s be very clear: though it fares pretty competitively against the aging crop of Google-powered devices on the market today, the CLIQ isn’t the Android phone to end all Android phones. Then again, it’s not supposed to be — at least, we hope it isn’t — because a smallish HVGA display and an overworked, outmatched MSM7201A core aren’t going to win any believers that haven’t already been won over by HTC’s stable. What the CLIQ does do, though, is lay the groundwork for something better — a Motorola that doesn’t cause eyes to roll, a Motorola that makes aspirational phones that people can want to own again.

One thing’s clear, however. The competition is focusing on the social networks, something Apple’s never been historically good at, and something they may still not quite understand. Is it an achilles heel for the iPhone? Not yet, especially not with the App Store. But there’s no MOTOBLUR or widgets or Synergy in the App Store yet, and likely there won’t be given SDK restrictions. So, Apple, howsabout 4.0?

While reaction to Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 release ranged from “yawn” to “yeesh”, one device, not even given the stage, certainly seems to have stolen the show — HTC’s HD2.

Theories on why Microsoft didn’t see fit to show off, indeed highlight, the HD2 range from friction with HTC over their foray into Google’s Android OS, to an attempt not to show up other partners whose devices look outdated by comparison. That anyone saw it at all was only due to a few HTC reps carrying it around the show. Microsoft’s latest baffling behavior aside, the device itself clearly shows that if they aren’t going to raise their game, HTC will do it for them:

640×800 capacitive, multitouch screen driven by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, complete with Sense UI built in so deeply Microsoft’s interface is all but completely hidden from the end user.

Our sibling site, WMExperts.com, has been following the device since it was known by the code-name Leo, and report that it should be making its way to the US in the first part of 2010.

It’s nice to see some competition, if not from Microsoft itself then from HTC. But it brings a question to mind — will buyers of non-integrated devices end up going by carrier brand (AT&T, Verizon, etc.), OS brand (Android, Windows Mobile/Windows Phone), or manufacturer (HTC, Motorola, LG, Samsung, etc.)? And will that give the unified devices from Apple, BlackBerry, and Palm an easier shot at mindshare?

Someone told Daring Fireball that Apple not only asked Google to remove the multi-touch from the Android/HTC T-Mobile G1 smartphone, but also to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The first part was reported earlier and makes the kind of sense that only tricky mega-corp coopetion can make (iPhone eyeballs are more valuable to Google than the G1’s multi-touch at this point). The second part… not so much. Specifically, Daring Fireball’s source mentioned Apple’s use of the remote buttons on the headset to control media playback as the reason for Google avoiding the jack entirely on the G1. (Note: while this sounds familiar, a Google search didn’t turn up any links for Apple patenting anything associated with such processes, so if anyone can point us towards that info, please let us know in the comments).

Other smartphones have long used the 3.5mm headphone jack, and since the G1 is hardly a media powerhouse (it doesn’t even include a built-in video app), there’s little reason to believe HTC couldn’t have included a non-remote, standard 3.5mm jack.

(Aside: Our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, has managed to confirm that both the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and Pearl both make use of some type of headset based media control, so there we go…)

Chris Ziegler over at Engadget Mobile weighs in, calling the entire Apple/Google story from VentureBeat FUD, and the sourcing on the 3.5mm piece sketchy, and while admittedly an unnamed Android source, absent corroboration, doesn’t pass the traditional media test, here’s the other thing:

HTC seems to love the ExtUSB in lieu of 3.5mm headset jack. It’s not just the G1, but an increasing array of their smartphones that are — and will be according to the 2009 HTC roadmap that was leaked — abandoning 3.5mm for the ExtUSB.

So, we’re not sold on this story yet, how about you? Does it seem likely Apple talked Google out of a 3.5mm jack, or that HTC just plain doesn’t like them and never considered it?

Confession: My secret, innermost desire for the iPhone 3G was a 420p display. I knew Apple wouldn’t do it yet — there was nothing in their simultaneously released SDK to support any other resolutions — but still… I wants-ded it!

Imagine my fanboy chagrin, then, when HTC goes and not only makes a device in exactly the same dimensions as the iPhone 3G (obvious much?), but slaps a monstrous 800×480 display on the beast! (Not to mention a 5(!) megapixel camera)

The HTC Touch HD (which we’re pretty sure means “Hi Dieter!” — see the afore-linked WMExperts for why…) represents the next expansion of HTC’s Touch brand — something spread so thin Asus’ Eee marketeers are wincing. It may seem questionable to show the HD off this early (it’s not expected to land until 2009, and doesn’t even seem to support US 3G frequencies yet) since, frankly, who’s not gonna put off Osbourne-ing a Touch, Touch Duo, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro, etc. when this baby’s around the bend, but we’re guessing the announcement was aimed more at Apple’s gut than any potential customers’ wallet.

And in that regard — ouch!

Sure, it doesn’t have the Apple/iPod ecosystem behind it and it’s still using TouchFLo 3D to try to hide the UE (user exasperation) that is Windows Mobile 6.1, and multiple layers of OS are never a Good Thing, but this is the first iClone that’s actually got us worried.

Apple, you’ve got almost four months until Macworld 09, and we’ve got three newly urgent words for you: iPhone HD, b’okay?

This one is for our very own Dieter Bohn… For those of you who do not know, and it pains me to say this, Dieter loves his Windows Mobile.

It seems like the tables have turned here for this edition of “Send in the iClones”. I suppose it is only fair that we as iPhone owners have the tables turned on us sometimes. What we have here is called iPhoneFLO. It is a simple theme you can use if you have Summerboard on your Jailbroken iPhone. To find it go into the installer.app and search for iPhoneFLO. Be sure to have Summerboard installed as well, which can also be installed via the installer.app.

For more information please visit our section of the forums devoted to Jailbreaking. Anyone going to give this a shot and Jailbrake simply for this theme?

[Via MobilityToday & IntoMobile]

One thing the FCC is really good at: unknowingly or “accidentally” leaking information about heavily anticipated, top-secret technology. At the very least, you gotta love them for that. There latest misstep? Leaking the size of the fabled HTC Dream, which you may remember as the world’s first Android device. Yeap, that Android.

Surprisingly, it looks like it’s going to be a wee bit shorter and a wee bit skinnier than the iPhone 3G. However, it is expected to be thicker than the iPhone given its inclusion of a full QWERTY keyboard in some way, shape, or form. Even though we are the iPhone blog, we give credit where credit is due: HTC must’ve done a helluva job making the Dream a bit smaller than the iPhone. I guess the Dream is making no secret about going after the iPhone

Now about that big slow fatty Blackberry Bold…

Read

Not evil twin to theiPhoneBlog.com Week in Review, not an invasion by Fake Steve, This Week in Smart Phone Schadenfreude brings you all the feel-better news you need about the smartphone world outside Apple’s current media dominator. (Who knew there was such a world? We were just as surprised! Inelegant, interface challenged, keyboardy, crashy, single-touchy place — best not to linger…). Join us as we mock review the big news from last week at our sister sites. Everybody loves sibling rivalry!

In this week’s edition: Nothing. Seriously. It’s like there’s some event on Monday that’s blotted out the smartphone sun…

(Okay, fine, maybe there’s some small something or other we can dig up. Hit the read link…)

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Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the first ever live demo of Google’s new Android platform… and it’s on the iPhone!

[Er... That's the HTC Dream.]

What? Sigh. Okay.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s a proof of concept. Maybe it’s because of the Diamond. Maybe it’s just a hormone thing. But does all the innovation have to lead back to Cupertino these days? Does it?

So, another week, another iClone, and more specifically another HTC iClone. (At least they’re giving RIM a run for their Bold, Thunder, Storm money for the official iClone volume title…)

Still, it’s nice to see Android. As I mentioned in the Top 5 Things the iPhone Could Learn From the Competition, the cloud looks to be the future, and Google currently owns the cloud. Never mind their CEO is on Apple’s board of directors (he reportedly recuses himself from iPhone discussions to avoid a conflict of interest), the industry needs the drive Google can provide, even if they wrap it up in a horribly derivative package for now.

Check out the video after after the break!

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[Note: This a a Wait-A-Thon post! Comment on this post -- or any post tagged "Wait-a-Thon" -- for your chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card! Note that you must post with a valid and real email address so we can send you your prize -- no switching!]

No need for double-takes. You didn’t click the wrong link. Just breath, dig deeply, and stick with me for a moment. Yes, you really are still reading the iPhone blog.

For a 1.0 device, the iPhone knocked the ball — if not out of the park — soundly into the fence, and sent a complacent industry fumbling and flurrying to catch it. But no device, not even from Apple, could get everything perfect the first time at bat. Now, I’ve pretty much staked my turf here by playfully poking a little bit of fun at the competition but, truth be known, when they’re not wasting their time on iClones every platform and handset has some great — even killer — features to recommend it. In that spirit, here’s my top 5 list of what Apple should seriously consider stealing… er… learning from the competition if they want to hit a home run with 2.0 and beyond…

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[Note: This a a Wait-A-Thon post! Comment on this post -- or any post tagged "Wait-a-Thon" -- for your chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card!]

Usually we wait for This Week in Smartphone Schadenfreude to mock review the competition (such as it is), but if they bring the hype, we’ll bring the satire, special-edition style.

Samsung, Nokia (yeah, I’d forgotten about them as well…), and RIM (and RIM) have already sent in their iClones, and now it’s HTCs turn to make mid-2008 look like early 2007 all over again… Ludites and gentlemen, the HTC Touch Diamond.

(At least I think it’s the Diamond, they’ve pre-announced like 100 different Touch trademarks lately, so it could be the Pro or the Cruise or even the Cubic Zirconium for all I can tell…)

Speaking of 2007, as we all know when Steve Jobs took the stage at Macworld and pulled the iPhone from his pocket, it’s form factor was exactly like every other Palm, RIM, and WinMob device out there, with a tiny screen, application independent tic-tactile keyboard, always unstylish stylus, and and OS and interface straight out of 2001.

Wait, no it wasn’t. El Jobso unveiled a revolutionary new device with a giant, hi-res screen, multi-touch input, and an interface the likes of which the industry had never seen before. But they (and we) have certainly seen it since — reflected funhouse mirror-like in almost every signature device from every company released post-iPhone.

Read on!

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