With Verizon’s DROID DNA searing eyeballs and driving grown Android fans to tears, HTC lovers outside of the US have been eagerly anticipating the global edition of the 5-inch 1080p phone. That’s looking like it might be nearing, if a leaked promo shot of the HTC Deluxe – the international version of the DNA – courtesy of arch insider evleaks is anything to go by; the device is obviously free of Verizon branding, but it also lacks any indication of whether it will be a 3G or 4G device outside of the US.
Instead, there’s just a WiFi network signal, not a 3G or 4G status indicator in the notification bar. While Verizon’s LTE coverage is increasingly complete, 4G networks in Europe are less comprehensive, and there are several different bands in use which can make creating a single phone to satisfy all carrier needs frustrating.
Still, given the flagship allure of the Deluxe/DNA, we’d be very surprised if there wasn’t an LTE version for at least some locations. HTC already provides UK carrier EE with a 4G model – the HTC One XL – and has been cagey about the potential of a One X+ LTE version, telling us back at the smartphone’s launch that there were no current plans for adding 4G to its abilities.
That could well be because the next EE 4G HTC will be the Deluxe, and that’s not a prospect we would necessarily argue with. In addition to the 5-inch Full HD display there’s a quadcore Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, and cameras tuned for the sort of photos phones are called upon to capture: f/2.0 on the back for improved low-light performance, and an 88-degree wide angle lens on the front for fitting more people into group shots.
When, exactly, HTC will come clean with the global version of the DROID DNA is still a mystery; in the US, it will hit shelves on November 21. More details in our hands-on and in the video below.
Dish has edged one step closer to its distant goal of having a 4G LTE network to call its own, receiving approval for its AWS-4 (40MHz) wireless spectrum standards by the 3GPP group. Dish used the announcement to air a few issues, including sending a plea to the FCC to get a move on and officially green light the frequency for use. The would-be wireless provider also sounded off on Sprint, which is asking the FCC to crop some of Dish’s spectrum and add it to the H Block, making it a more attractive acquisition when auctioned off. If the FCC were to grant Sprint’s request, Dish wouldn’t just lose airwaves, but the slow approval process would start anew with altered specifications. Unfortunately for the satellite TV outfit, Sprint is far from the only potential competitor trying to delay Dish’s network — in fact, none seem particularly willing to welcome the new guy without some serious hazing.
CDMA-based Cricket has announced its first LTE smartphones, launching the Optimus Regard this week, while that rather popular Samsung Galaxy S III will shake hands with the carrier’s new 4G network on November 23rd. The Optimus Regard features a 1.2GHz processor, Android 4.0, 3.5-inch screen and 5-megapixel camera, with that humble spec sheet setting you back $250. Meanwhile, a few weeks later, Samsung’s flagship will land priced at $550 off-contract. Cricket is offering both devices on its new Double Data plan that offers (for now, at least) double the monthly data allowance of its 3G plans. The $50 plan nets your 2GB of data, while $60 gets 5GB and $70 will offer 10GB of data. If you’re mildly tempted by either the Galaxy S III or the humbler (cheaper) Optimus can read up on the full offering at the sources below.
While AT&T might not be up to the pace that Verizon is currently holding when it comes to 4G LTE rollouts, the company is still delivering the faster service to more people, and that’s all that really matters. AT&T has launched its 4G LTE network in eight cities today, most of which are big markets.
AT&T has flipped the switch on its 4G LTE in big cities such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Denver, Colorado; Louisville, Kentucky; and Orlando, Florida. They also launched it smaller, but populous cities like York, Pennsylvania; Tacoma, Washington; Annapolis, Maryland; and Provo, Utah. Out of the bunch, Denver is the most populous city with around 620,000 people.
While AT&T’s biggest competitor, Verizon, may be at the point where it’s past rolling out LTE to the larger cities (and thus, moving onto the smaller areas in between), it’s nice that AT&T is continuously working on rolling out its own LTE to the denser cities. The company plans to blanket 300 million people with 4G LTE service by 2014.
If you’re one of the unlucky ones who upgraded to 4G LTE phone from AT&T, but don’t have the faster service in your area, it’ll just be a matter of time before AT&T gets around to you. In fact, it’ll only be a couple more years until both AT&T and Verizon will have blanketed its entire 3G network with LTE.
The great 4G race is upon us and two of America’s major contestants are working on expanding their respective reach. In an effort to extend its existing lead, LTE frontrunner Verizon announced that it will light up Butte, Montana; Mount Vernon, Illinois; Grand Junction, Colorado; Rock Springs, Wyoming and several parts of Southern Arizona on November 15th. Not to be outdone by Big Red, Sprint also announced plans to serve up fresh baked LTE to nine new territories, including Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oakland, California; Fort Smith, Arkansas and Bloomington, Indiana. Swing by the source links below for a complete list of future red and yellow LTE recipients.
Beautiful screen, crisp hardware, superlative specifications: if ever a smartphone deserved Google’s Nexus branding, the DROID DNA by HTC is probably it. Announced on the same day that LG’s Nexus 4 went on sale, the HTC DNA is so impressive a phone that its looming, 5-inch presence even managed to overshadow Google’s dire performance with Play store stability as eager Nexus buyers tried to secure a new phone. It’s a sign that HTC is taking the smartphone segment as seriously as it really needs to, not only iterating on what’s out there today but leading with new, compelling features in an appealing package. So appealing, in fact, that it’s hard to escape the feeling that the DNA, not LG’s handset, should’ve been the new Nexus.
The Nexus program has always been about pushing the envelope in mobile. That started out purely in hardware terms, with the original Nexus One acting as a shove for manufacturers to wade into the specifications arms-race. In handsets since, Google has used each iteration to frame its ambitions with Android, in terms of what it believes should be standards in software, hardware, services, and features. So, the LG Nexus 4, Google’s latest collaboration, adds wireless charging for one, the search giant’s theme-du-jour.
HTC has given the DROID DNA wireless charging. It has the high-resolution cameras – back and front, the latter ideal for the Google+ video hangouts Google has been pushing of late, what with its wide angle 88-degree lens – and top-tier processor of the Nexus 4, and the 2GB of RAM, and the gamut of sensors. It has a display that not only uses Super LCD, like the Nexus 4, but which blows its resolution out of the water with a Full HD panel, double the 720p LG opted for. There’s NFC, for Google Wallet. Even Google and LG’s decision to limit internal storage and leave out a microSD card slot has been mimicked, with Google hoping the cloud will drift in to take the place of local files.
In fact, there are only really two points of divergence from Google’s current Nexus strategy and HTC’s approach with the DROID DNA – well, three if you count Sense, but then it’s an HTC-branded Android phone, and so Sense (for better or worse) is a given. First is on-screen buttons, or their absence, with HTC insisting on keeping its dedicated keys for system navigation. That’s something Google has been trying to push for a couple of Nexus generations now, but it’s something OEMs (when they’re not being coerced with Nexus branding, that is) seem reluctant to accept.
DROID DNA by HTC hands-on:
The second, and more important, is price, and it’s here that Google and HTC’s approaches may have proved incompatible for Nexus purposes. The LG Nexus 4 is distinguished in no small part by its affordability in SIM-free state, and at $299 sans-contract it actually matches some handsets sold with the shackles of a 24-month contract. Google’s ambition is to drive off-contract adoption (just as it tried – and failed – with the first Nexus, because either the market, or the carriers, or consumers, or most likely all three, weren’t ready) and further relegate the operators to the role of dumb-pipe, and for that it needs a handset that’s startling in its affordability.
In contrast, the HTC DNA is unlikely to be a cheap phone, at least not SIM-free. True, Verizon is hitting the $199.99 price point, but that’s a subsidized figure: it relies on the carrier recouping its initial outlay on your shiny new phone with an overflowing wallet-full of cash on calls, messaging, and data each month over a two year period. That expectation, plus HTC’s desperation what with its own dire financial straits, has undoubtedly prompted a more competitive subsidy, with an eye on the longer-term that an off-contract phone simply can’t match.
“Google needed a cheap Nexus, a device as network-agnostic as possible”
Here, then, is where HTC and Google’s ambitions diverge most significantly. Google needs a cheap Nexus, a device as network-agnostic as possible. That’s why it left out LTE, after all – because supporting each individual flavor of 4G means tying yourself to a handful of carriers, and the necessary testing and approval for each – and why operator offers in each country where the Nexus 4 is being sold feels like an afterthought.
HTC, though, desperately needs a device that will see the company taken seriously again. A phone that can stand against the best from Samsung, and LG, and Motorola, and even Apple, and not immediately be relegated to the also-ran category. Once, the company was synonymous with Android phones; in the past 12-18 months, however, it has dwindled to a shadow of its former glories.
It’s too early to say whether the DROID DNA will achieve all that, though on a specs basis (an important element, though not the only one) it’s off to a promising start. If there’s a drawback to be found, though, it’s likely to be the software side of the equation: one of the reason Google’s Nexus devices have grown in popularity among users, particularly those heavily invested in Android, is because they’re first in line for OS updates. The DNA runs an older version out of the box, Android 4.1, and by saddling it with Sense, HTC has introduced further delay into the upgrade process.
Right now, that delay seems inevitable. If HTC can use the early access Google has promised to new versions of Android for key OEMs, and give supporting existing devices with timely updates the same degree of priority as it does pushing out new phones, it could do what so far Samsung, LG, and the others have failed to achieve. That is, create its own take on the Nexus program, delivering the latest and greatest in hardware with the latest and greatest in software, maintaining its unique brand in Sense without also demanding a compromise on software freshness from users. That’s the way to build brand loyalty and relevance, and they’re the two factors that could yank HTC from its current downward spiral. The answer’s simple: just make the DROID DNA a Nexus in all but name.
Verizon is committed to get their 4G LTE blanketed over most of the United States, claiming they’ll cover their entire 3G network with 4G by mid-2013. Today, the carrier has announced that they’ll be lighting up more cities with 4G LTE on November 15, proving that they’re serious about their goal.
If you’re currently a Verizon customer are still stuck on 3G because you don’t yet have 4G LTE coverage in your area, hold tight. Verizon will eventually get to you, but in the meantime, the carrier will be launching LTE service in tons of new cities on Thursday. Most are smaller cities in Missouri and Wyoming, with a few other random spots in the US.
There’s honestly too many cities and towns to name, but some notable locations include Lake of the Ozarks,Missouri; Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Rock Springs/Green River, Wyoming; as well as several cities in southern Arizona. Other areas include Grand Junction, Colorado; Butte, Montana; and Kingdom City, Missouri.
We should expect more of these rollouts during the next few months up until mid-2013 when Verizon expects to cover its entire 3G network with 4G LTE. In the meantime, AT&T is still trying to catch up, and they say their 4G LTE network will cover around 300 million people by 2014. To compare, Verizon’s 4G network already covers over 260 million people.
The stakes are high, and HTC is getting serious. Verizon’s new DROID DNA by HTC is the company’s most feature-packed phone to-date, not to mention arguably the most impressive device on Verizon’s LTE network, starting with a Super LCD 2 display that may well spoil you for all other smartphones. 5-inches and 1080p HD resolution, paired with one of the fastest processors around; read on for our first impressions of the DROID DNA by HTC.
440ppi on a mobile device display is just plain crazy, but it’s the sort of crazy we could fast get used to. The DROID DNA’s 1920 x 1080 screen is not only incredibly smooth, crisp, and bright, but has incredibly broad viewing angles and minimal bezel. That helps keep the DNA relatively compact, though of course with a 5-inch panel it’s hardly going to be a small device. Still, the curved edges help blend the front with the sides, and mask some of the bulk. The “microgrill” edges are meant to remind you of a Lamborghini grille, but more importantly they’re easily gripped, as is the soft-touch rubberized back.
Under the hood there’s the 1.5GHz quadcore Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor and 2GB of RAM, just as we saw on the HTC J Butterfly in Japan. Android 4.1 moves incredibly smoothly, with no lag evident, and while we’ll be waiting on benchmarks, we’ve a feeling the HTC will be near the top of its game. HTC also equips the DROID DNA with a 2,020 mAh battery, though with a Full HD display we’re not entirely sure how long that will last, despite HTC and Verizon’s confidence.
All of the headline stuff from HTC’s latest devices gets wrapped up in the DNA. There’s a wide-angle front facing camera which, thanks to an 88-degree lens, means more people can fit in frame at once, perfect for those at-arms-length shots. Not one but two Beats Audio amplifiers are included – separately powering the headphone jack and the DNA’s speaker – and there’s simultaneous video and photo capture too. New to the DROID line is wireless charging (though the wireless charging plate itself is optional, at $59.99), which should help keep the DNA’s battery topped up while it’s sitting idle on your desk.
It’s not a clean sweep, however. As with other recent handsets, both Android and Windows Phone, HTC has opted for fixed internal storage only: there’s no microSD card slot to expand it. That means you’re stuck with the 16GB HTC deems sufficient, and which – after apps and the rest – there’s only 11GB free for the user. Yes, the cloud is increasingly delivering our media and sweeping the content we create off our phones and into the ether, but it’s still a short-sighted decision considering the segment positioning. HTC tells us there’s no current plan for a 32GB model or larger.
Whether HTC Sense 4+ is a positive or a negative depends on your comfort level with the company’s customized interface. It’s certainly cohesive in its well-matured state, and it pulls the DROID DNA in line with HTC’s other phones, but there are plenty of people who prefer pure Android (and the timely updates that usually promises).
HTC has had a tough few quarters, struggling to raise itself above the mass of Samsung Android devices and Apple’s perpetually popular iPhone, and the company needs a stand-out product that it can legitimately describe as a flagship. It certainly has that in the DROID DNA, with hardware that has beaten Samsung’s AMOLEDs to the Full HD punch, and wrapped up in a sleek, high-quality design.
What HTC needs to convince us is that the aftersales support is just as impressive as the out-of-the-box experience. If it insists on using Sense, then it has an obligation to deliver timely Android updates rather than let existing users languish on older versions as it struggles to balance the custom interface with the pace of Google’s innovation.
Still, there’s plenty to like about the DROID DNA, and we’ll be putting the new Verizon smartphone through its paces for the full SlashGear review. The DROID DNA itself will go on sale at $200 with a new, two-year agreement on November 21.
While Orange and T-Mobile love child EE has been doling out 4G to its clients for a bit now, rivals like O2 and Vodafone have been waiting for the chance just to bid on spectrum. Ofcom just announced tentative dates for the process, along with a combined minimum price of £1.3 billion — after saying earlier that the delay was the carriers’ own fault. Operators will submit their applications by December 11th, start bidding in early January and be informed if they were successful or not by March. Fees will then be paid and licenses granted, and Ofcom figures that 4G services will start to roll out from the successful bidders between May and June of next year. You’ll then be able to enjoy five to seven times the speed of your current connection — provided you haven’t already jumped ship, of course.
LTE services across UK carriers are likely to launch in May or June 2013, regulator Ofcom has confirmed, setting dates for the 4G spectrum auction as well as reserve prices totaling £1.3bn. The application process will begin on December 11, with bidding itself starting in January and, Ofcom warns, potentially lasting for “a number of weeks” until winners – and costs – are confirmed by the end of March.
Ofcom has apparently developed a special auction tool for participants to use, with all bids submitted electronically. Depending on how long the bidding process takes, the final prices and list of winners will be settled in either February or March, with licenses granted as soon as buyers stump up the fees.
According to Ofcom’s rules, exactly which of the bands each interested party will be able to bid on will depend on how many “points” they hold, calculated based on the size of the deposit they make initially. Meanwhile, there are limits to how much of the spectrum any one organization can hold, with a number of complex lists and provisos [pdf link] as to what combination comprises a “maximum” holding.
The 800MHz and 2.6GHz frequencies – freed up by the switch-off of analog TV signals – will be used for high-speed LTE service, with Vodafone, O2, and Three all expected to follow combo-carrier EE in launching a 4G data network. However, the various services won’t be entirely compatible: EE’s 4G, for instance, uses the 1.8GHz band, after the carrier’s decision to reuse its existing spectrum holding rather than wait for new acquisitions in next year’s auction.
That may cause some confusion as to which devices will work on which network, as UK users have grown used to being able to take out a 3G SIM from one phone and have it work in another, assuming both are not network-locked.
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