Hasta La Gadget!

HTC has revealed Best Deals, a new smartphone-based deals service promising time-limited discount shopping directly on your Android or Windows Phone 8 handset. Making its debut on the HTC One X+ and the Windows Phone 8X and 8X by HTC, Best Deals will be available initially in the UK, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, with over 1,7000 offers from LivingSocial, Trip Advisor, and more.

Qype Deals and Offerum are also contributing offers, with local sorting so that users will be able to sift through cheaper meals, massaging, and the inevitable waxing and hair treatments, that are nearest to them. However, HTC says that there will also be deals on the company’s own products and accessories, though exactly what they’ll be is unclear.

Other sorting options will include popularity, the size of the discount, the price, and when the deal expires. Each can be reviewed, bookmarked, or shared; it’s not clear whether, if you share a deal with a non-HTC Best Deals user, they’ll see the same offer, but it seems likely.

In addition to the 8X and 8S, and the One X+, the HTC One X and One S will also get Best Deals in a subsequent firmware update. HTC hasn’t said when that new firmware will arrive.

At launch, twelve deal providers are involved with the app. HTC says it’s working on adding more to that list, as well as introducing new categories. Partnerships with mobile operators are also on the cards.

HTC Best Deals revealed: Bargains sucked to your smartphone is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The new HTC One X+ has landed on the SlashGear test bench, and with HTC so especially proud of the performance tune-up its given its Android flagship, we were keen to see how it fared. Day-to-day speed we’ll have to test awhile ahead of our full review, but some early benchmarks should help identify where the Tegra 3 smartphone has been particularly polished. Plus, with the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for Samsung’s unlocked Galaxy S III dropping in the UK just earlier today, it seemed rude not to run some comparative scores.

Compared to the One X we reviewed back in April, HTC’s new top-end Android phone steps up to the latest version of Tegra 3, a quadcore running at 1.7GHz. It’s paired with 1GB of RAM and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4+; our review model is European-spec, which means no LTE.

We focused on some basic benchmarking tools most Android users are familiar with. First up, Quadrant Standard, which tests CPU, I/O, and 3D graphics performance; next SunSpider, a test of browser JavaScript performance, which gives a good idea of how web surfing compares to other phones, tablets, and even desktops; then Qualcomm’s Vellamo, which focuses on mobile web performance, examining HTML5 crunching abilities and CPU subsystem performance; and finally, AnTuTu, which looks at CPU, GPU, RAM, and I/O performance.

In Quadrant, the One X+ pulled ahead with a score of 6068, over 800 points more than the Galaxy S III, at 5207. The HTC did particularly well in the CPU and I/O subcategories, though the Samsung did much better in memory performance and 3D graphics. HTC’s phone put in a better showing in SunSpider, too, scoring 1082.2ms (lower is better) against the Samsung’s 1215.4ms. Neither managed to quite match the results we saw from the iPhone 5, however, which nipped underneath the 1,000ms boundary with a score of 914.7ms.

Quadrant and SunSpider benchmarks:

As for Vellamo, the scores here were mixed. In the HTML5 side of testing, the One X+ did better, edging ahead with 1894 against the Galaxy S III’s 1615. However, the tables were turned in the Metal tests, with the One X+ managing 491 against the Galaxy S III’s 558.

Vellamo benchmarks:

Finally, AnTuTu. The HTC pulled ahead once more, though again not in all of the categories. In total, it scored 12,945, besting the Samsung in CPU, RAM, and I/O testing. The Galaxy S III, however, scored 12,082 overall, with better performance in the GPU category.

Synthetic tests of smartphone performance don’t tell anywhere near the full story; you can’t say from benchmark results whether a phone will necessarily lag in multitasking, or suffer frustrating pauses in keyboard responsiveness or when trying to open up a well-stocked inbox. They’re a good indicator of the raw potential of the smartphone, however: what well-written apps will be able to call upon to achieve great performance.

We’ll be running the One X+ through real-world testing ahead of the full SlashGear review, but already HTC’s new powerhouse has shown its mettle.

HTC One X+ benchmarked vs Jelly Bean Galaxy S III: Fight! is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The folks at NVIDIA have made it clear that their biggest effort yet in the smartphone space will indeed by the HTC One X+, complete with a monster Tegra 3 quad-core processor and LTE capabilities with AT&T. This device will be the first 4G LTE-capable device working with the Tegra 3, and this version of the Tegra 3 comes in at 1.7GHz per each of its four main cores. Of course there’s always that hidden fifth core – the ninja core, as some call it – made to handle low power-needs tasks and keep your battery life surprisingly long.

Though we’ve seen the HTC One X working with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 in an earlier iteration of both pieces of hardware, this new HTC handset brings the functionality to AT&T’s 4G LTE network. It’s important to note here that the HTC One X already on AT&T works with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor under the hood while the international version has the Tegra 3. With the HTC One X+, you’ve got the Tegra 3 matched with LTE – again, for the first time ever.

This piece of hardware has NVIDIA noting that it’s “67% faster than the HTC One X LTE” – and we’ll certainly be checking that claim once the device is in our hands for review. NVIDIA also notes that this device will have up to 50% (6 hours) more talk time attached to it than its AT&T predecessor and the whole experience will be swifter all around. The addition of the NVIDIA processor also allows the user to access the NVIDIA TegraZone for optimized games galore!

Have a peek at our review of the original HTC One X, comparison and review of the HTC One X LTE, and our hands-on with the HTC One X+, and stay tuned for our full review of the One X+ as well. We’ve also got a feature entitled HTC One X hands-on with Tegra 3 gaming if you’d like to take a glance. Coming up soon! Take a glance at the timeline below to learn more about the One X+ as well, and get pumped about it coming to AT&T for you soon!

[via NVIDIA]

NVIDIA sings Tegra 3 praises for HTC One X+ with LTE is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

After its annus horribilis of 2011, HTC‘s year is looking considerably better. A solid reception to the One series and a potentially key deal to be the face of Windows Phone 8 – seized right under Nokia’s nose, no less – is the dressing around hardware that is finally compelling: attractive, competitively priced, not embarrassed in specifications. Now, with the HTC One X+, there are signs that HTC is addressing its last big blot on the score-sheet: cloud services.

I’ve been a vocal critic of HTC’s cloud strategy in the past. The company had a head-start on mobile device sync, on remotely accessing a smartphone from the browser, of streaming video, of cloud gaming; it frittered each advantage away, either leaving them to wallow with little promotion and even less love, or seemingly forgot it had them altogether. “Quietly blundering” was the HTC strategy, culminating in the bizarrely handled axing of HTCSense.com services altogether.

“Any company squandering a potential advantage deserves to be scolded”

But it’s not vitriol for vitriol’s own sake. In a market where Apple and Samsung have so definitively raised their game – and aren’t averse to combining competition on the shelves with some back-stabbing in the courtroom – any company that squanders any potential advantage deserves to be scolded.

HTC is now taking tentative steps back into the cloud. HTC Sense 4+, which debuts on the new One X+ flagship, reboots Sense online with “Get Started” – a way to easily configure your phone without having to actually paw and swipe at it. It’s front and center in the initial setup wizard and – as one of the few obvious changes in Sense 4+ – something HTC appears to be focusing on.

It’s very early days. Right now, “Get Started” is just that: a starting point for new Android users. You can set up your new device online – choose wallpaper, homescreen layout, and apps to download from Google Play – but you can’t then backup any changes you make on the phone itself. The sync is all one-way, a starting point (and a reset point) though there’s no real ongoing reason to keep visiting the online tool.

“HTC could play on the geeky anticipation felt while waiting for a new toy”

Nonetheless, I’m cautiously admiring of the new strategy. From what we’ve seen so far it’s being built out in recognition of HTC’s target audience: fresh smartphone users excited about their first device. The “set it up while you wait for it” approach could be a strong marketing point, playing on the geeky anticipation people feel when they’re waiting for a new toy. “Don’t just watch out the window for the mailman,” HTC should be telling people, “make your phone your own before it’s even in your hands.”

Sense online, in its old form, could’ve been a sticking point for HTC users. The value-add it brought should’ve been something HTC played on: don’t jump ship to iPhone, or another Android OEM, because then you lose out on contacts sync, on remote backup, on phone tracking and remote control in the comfort of your browser. Given the success of iCloud (and the persistent rumors that Samsung is developing its own, ahem, homage with S Cloud), HTC would be foolish not to revisit that strategy with Sense online 2.0.

HTC needs to be careful as it’s being expansive. Just as it needs to maintain sight of its “Hero Device” strategy, it also needs to deliver pitch-perfect cloud services. A 25GB DropBox bundle isn’t enough any more; users want holistic, integrated experiences they can’t get elsewhere. Apple has shown us that you needn’t throw the world at your audience, that it’s enough to give them a few core gems that are easily grasped and have clear value. Now, HTC needs to start looking at more than just one device after the next, and frame its line-up with a portfolio of cloud services that bring context and value users understand.

More on the HTC One X+ and Sense 4+ in our full hands-on

Is HTC finally making Sense? is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Back in January of 2012 a message was released by HTC’s UK chief Phil Robertson that made it clear how the manufacturer would be limiting the amount of devices they’d release in 2012 – what happened to that promise? The words relayed back then made it seem as though HTC would be going Apple’s way with a strategy that focused on a single phone – or perhaps a small collection of phones – that would be supported in ways that simply are not allowed by a strategy that includes phone after phone released in tight succession. This was an amazing opportunity for HTC – what happened?

Today HTC announced three more new phones, two of them part of the HTC One series – the HTC One X+, VX, and Windows Phone 8X – revealed earlier internationally, here coming to AT&T for the first time. The HTC One X+ is essentially a boosted version of the HTC One X, the One VX is essentially the equivalent of the One V, and the Windows Phone is a whole new device. Each of these devices look and feel nice, but they’re heartbreakers, each one of them – not in their quality, but in that they represent additional frays from the single device strategy.

“We had a fantastic year, with 65% growth year on year in the UK. But in Q4 we delivered a lot more products than in the past. Now we want to create more of a ‘hero’ approach. We make great phones, but it is hard to do that when the portfolio is spread too much. … So 2012 is about giving our customers something special. We need to make sure we do not go so far down the line that we segment our products by launching lots of different SKUs.” – Robertson

The closest we’ve gotten to a hero strategy as it was described earlier this year was the HTC One series as it stood in its first set of three, the HTC One X, V, and S. Then came the HTC EVO 4G LTE and the DROID Incredible 4G LTE and the whole show went down the drain. It should be clear why this happened – Sprint has the “EVO” brand that HTC relies on for sales on that carrier, the same being true of Verizon with both the “DROID” and “Incredible” brand names.

HTC has a hero strategy in place that’s different for each carrier. If they’d release one device – or even three devices like they did at the start of the One series, they’d have the power that not just Apple has with their iPhone, Samsung and their Galaxy S III and their Galaxy Note series as well. Make one phone and the money will flow.

What happened to the HTC Hero Device strategy? is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.