Hasta La Gadget!

Nokia has lashed out at HTC over the 8X and 8S, dismissing the new “signature” Windows Phone 8 handsets as rebrands that are lacking in innovation. “Instead of changing a product name, we’re changing the game with benefits like PureView, nav & wireless charging” Nokia executive vice president of sales and marketing Chris Weber tweeted shortly after HTC revealed its new line-up. “It takes more than matching color to match the innovation of the Lumia 920.”

The tension has seemingly been prompted by HTC’s deal with Microsoft to brand the 8X and 8S as the “signature Windows Phones.” Microsoft will use HTC’s handsets for its promotional material and advertising around Windows Phone 8, and CEO Steve Ballmer appeared on-stage at today’s event to wax lyrical about how the smartphones embodied the updated platform.

That’s a position many expected Nokia to automatically assume at Microsoft’s right hand, given the Finnish company has entirely committed to Windows Phone and is even paid by the software firm to subsidize development and marketing.

Although HTC has undoubtedly put plenty of effort into the slick designs of the 8X and 8S, the software experience is more off-the-shelf. The company confirmed to us that, bar a homescreen clock Live Tile, there’ll be none of the custom apps or HTC Hub content found on the original HTC Windows Phone 7 models. Nokia, in contrast, has a suite of exclusive apps, including Nokia Music and Nokia Transport.

Those questions are apparently enough to leave Nokia confident that its phones remain ahead of the game. “Happy to add a new Signature to the Windows Phone ecosystem” Weber suggested, “behind the Lumia 920.”

Nokia slaps HTC with Windows Phone 8 innovation snub is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

HTC is making a two-pronged attack on Windows Phone 8, and while it may not match up to the specs on its new flagship, the Windows Phone 8S by HTC (yes, that’s the official moniker) has some charm all of its own. The screen is a pretty underwhelming Gorilla Glass-coated 4-inch WVGA LCD, with a similarly middleweight 5-megapixel camera peering out from the other side. Given that it’s looking to be priced closer to the One V than the One S, we’re not all that surprised. The phone itself is a good-looking slab, thanks to the breezy color schemes and while the build is certainly solid enough, we’d be hard-pressed to put it in league with the 8X, which felt at home in our hand from the start. The 8S is cocooned in a matte plastic finish, arriving in four different color options — depending on carrier and territory.

The two-tone color scheme, aside from a few color licks around the lens and ear piece, keeps the second color limited to the bottom edge and the detachable cap. This offers access to the microSD slot (upgrading the built-in 4GB of storage up to 32GB), but like the 8X, no access to the battery. Yep, these new Windows Phones look nothing like HTC’s One series, and while the same design studio is responsible, this time, it took its inspiration from Microsoft’s tile interface. There’s a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon S4 processor inside, but the phone wasn’t quite ready to be put completely through its paces. While the software was still locked down, you can take a video tour — and read more of our hardware impressions — after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone 8S by HTC hands-on: a bright Windows phone that holds promise (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Windows Phone 8S by HTC hands-on: a bright Windows phone that holds promise (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

HTC Windows Phone 8S on the right in white and red

At its NYC event today, HTC released two phones running on Microsoft Windows Phone 8. Among them is the HTC Windows Phone 8S, which is a middle-market device intended for first-time smartphone buyers and those looking to get into Windows Phone without purchasing a high-end device. Windows Phone 7 always had a plethora of devices that weren’t high-end, but were very nice, and the HTC Windows Phone One S carries that banner.  (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC Windows Phone 8X preview, HTC Windows Phone 8 X officially announced,

It’s easy to make a flagship phone: simply throw the works at your drawing board. Harder, though, is crafting a midrange phone on a relative budget, and that’s where the Windows Phone 8S by HTC comes in. The second device in the company’s new line-up, the Microsoft-powered 8S is the culmination of some tough decisions on HTC’s part, around whether the target audience will appreciate Beats Audio or photography more. Read on for our first impressions.

In some ways, the 8S is arguably a more impressive design than the larger 8X. HTC’s choice of color schemes – black/white, grey/yellow, red/orange, and blue/purple – are eye-catching and, with the matte-finish to the plastic, draw your fingers in to touch them. The grey/yellow has something distinctively sneaker-like about its vivid yellow and putty grey; HTC says it’s counting on the Beats Audio cachet to win appeal in the youth market, but it’s the hues themselves that are most attractive.

While the exterior may be distinctive, what’s inside is less unusual. Altogether more pedestrian than the 8X, the 8S pairs its 4-inch WVGA display with a 1GHz dualcore Snapdragon S4 chipset and 512MB of RAM; it also has just 4GB of internal storage, but HTC has sensibly thrown in a microSD card slot. Pull off the brightly colored end-cap – which, as in HTC devices of old, doubles as the antenna – and there’s the SIM and memory card slots.

Windows Phone 8S by HTC hands-on:

Unfortunately there are compromises to be made elsewhere. The rear camera runs to 5-megapixels, an understandable figure given the positioning of the phone, but despite Microsoft’s emphasis on Skype integration in Windows Phone 8, HTC hasn’t equipped the 8S with a front-facing camera. The company tells us that it doesn’t expect video calling to be a particularly popular activity among the target audience.

That audience will get Beats Audio but not to the same extent as on the 8X. No twin amp magic here, individually driving speaker and headphone socket, with instead just the DSP we’ve seen on previous HTC phones that’s specially tuned to suit Beats headphones. Since Microsoft is playing it coy with Windows Phone 8, pre-official launch, we weren’t able to dig through the 8S to see exactly how well it performs, something which will have to wait until review units drop.

A price tag expected to come in at around the HTC One V point and the option of LTE in North America – if not Europe, at least according to the current plans – could still see the Windows Phone 8S by HTC carve out a niche for itself. Its certainly already found some favor among carriers: HTC tells us that over 100 operators in 37 countries have picked the 8S up. It will stand out on shelves, certainly, but Microsoft will need to put all its heft behind Windows Phone 8 if HTC’s midranger is to succeed.

Windows Phone 8S by HTC Hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.