Hasta La Gadget!

The update to Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean on both the HTC One and the HTC Butterfly (international version of the DROID DNA, that is), has been a long time coming. Today it’s appeared only on some international models of the HTC One with a bit of a boost to Sense 5.0 as well (without the name change) – and the aesthetic changes are what’s heading the pack. While we’re expecting this change to hit carrier models in the near future, right this minute it’s just popping up on a select few models across the sea.

Several relatively minor changes have been made to the user interface here with Android 4.2.2 coming to the HTC One – and to the Butterfly in a similar manor, we must expect soon. The first of these is the addition of an option to change what happens when you hold down the Home button in the lower right of the HTC One’s front panel – now instead of only being able to access Google Now, you’ll be able to set a long-press to access the long-lost “menu” key.

The app drawer and dock have been updated to allow the dock to be made bare, and for icons to stick to the drawer even when they’re also pushed to the dock. “Daydream” has been added, this being the screensaver oddity found in stock Android 4.2.2 for docking, charging, or whatever else you want to have it appear during.

This update adds the ability to work with Android-native sound profiles – aka EQS or equalizer controls. These controls can be found by tapping one’s EQS icon in the upper right corner of the notifications menu.

Finally you’ll now be able to show the battery level with a percentage indicator next to your battery icon – this is accessible under settings, power, show battery level.

All of this will be accessible by HTC One users without carrier ties in the near future, while the amount of time between here and the carrier-tied updates is at the moment completely unknown. We’ll continue to explore and let you know if anything else fantastically different pops up between here and your own update – stay tuned!

VIA Android Revolution, @Androidcreature

HTC One Android 4.2.2 (with Sense 5.0) update detailed is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While the HTC One appears as a Google Edition and rumors persist of a Verizon model popping up soon, an image has appeared today that suggests an “M4″ model might not be far behind. While the HTC One is part of a hero smartphone strategy that has HTC fulfilling their aim to centralize their aim in one ideal design, the M4 has appeared in system code and here, today, as a fully realized model – albeit in a blurry photo, too.

The similarities between this smaller machine and the original HTC One – if this photo ends up being legitimate – begin with the units basic look. You’ve still got one large glass pane up front, silver speaker grilles above and below, and the back, HTC, home button arrangement. The display has been suggested to be coming in at a slightly more conservative size than the HTC One’s, here at 4.3-inches with 720p resolution.

This machine has been tipped to be coming with a plastic rim, speaker grilles that are a bit less wide than the original, and another “UltraPixel” camera on the back. This release would continue to work with the newest version of HTC’s Sense user interface and would have a processor of unknown made and power under the hood.

And the image certainly does seem to be too good to be true, doesn’t it? It’s quite possible that we’re looking at a collection of hand-crafted forgeries here, just as possible as it is that the entire image has been photoshopped and amped-up from previous releases.

Also appearing in this photo is a massive Sony device rumored earlier this year as an oversized “Togari” model, complete with 1080p display at 6.44-inches. This machine has an aesthetic not unlike that of the Sony XPERIA Z, mind you, but its ultra-thinness does seem a bit suspect.

Then there’s that massive Nokia device in the background. While it could just as easily be a sort of flattened-out HTC Windows Phone 8X, it’s suggested by the leakster himself that it’s a 1080p Lumia from Nokia. This image also suggests that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 will be allowing a third column of live tiles in the near future – getting closer, and closer, and closer to icons the size of those on other operating systems.

VIA: Engadget
SOURCE: Dahny El Perro

HTC M4 “HTC One mini” leaked aside 1080p Nokia Lumia and oversized Sony is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Current HTC One owners might be pleased to know that if you want a stock Android experience, HTC is looking for a way to provide that to you.

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Next month Google will be releasing two new “Google Edition” smartphones that carry their original brand names, the HTC One and the Samsung GALAXY S 4. As the draw to these devices here in 2013 is based at least in part to the hardware manufacturers’ own software editions and modifications, Google’s releases come with both positive and negative values to them compared to their carrier or “Developer” editions. As the HTC One with “Nexus user experience” is introduced this week, we’ve taken a look at what users will gain – and what they’ll lose.

Sense

The original HTC One works with HTC’s newest “Sense” user interface – this comes with features like BlinkFeed, a full-page news reader experience. The original HTC Sense camera user interface was (and is) also a large selling point for the HTC One, this including features like HTC Zoe, Highlights, and the “living gallery”. That includes the Sense picture gallery interface too, mind you.

Everything on a visual level added by HTC for the HTC One with Sense does not appear on the HTC One Google Edition. That’s not to say the device couldn’t be hacked and these things added back in, but that’d defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?

Camera

While you’ll not be getting the HTC Sense camera software experience here with the HTC One Google Edition, you’ll still be working with “UltraPixels”. As the “UltraPixel Sensor” is a hardware component, it’ll still be present here in the Google Edition of the device. You’ll still be picking up “UltraPixels” that are 2.0 micrometers large.

The Google Edition also includes the HTC ImageChip, the f/2.0 Aperture, and the same lens, as well as the Optical Image Stabilizer. The question remains whether the resulting photos – same size, though they may be – will be as high quality as the standard HTC One. Testing this will also be difficult due to the fact that there won’t be a control situation – adding the HTC Sense camera software to the Google Edition would simply turn it back into the standard edition of the phone.

HDR Video will not be included on the Google Edition, as that is another HTC Sense software element. At the moment it would seem that 1080p video support remains good to go.

Beats Audio and Boomsound

The hardware remains the same – you’ll still have two forward-facing speakers that’ll be just as loud as they were on any other edition of the device. The difference is in the software. HTC has confirmed that this effectively means that there wont be any Beats Audio indicator in your status bar, but that you’ll still be getting the benefits of Beats Audio on the hardware end.

IR-Blaster for Remote Control

While the built-in “TV” app will no longer be there as it is in the standard edition of the HTC One, the infrared hardware will still be built-in. This is a transmitter (and receiver) appearing under the power button of the HTC One. If you’ve got the right app, you can control your television, stereo, or whatever other odd devices you’ve got around that still work with infrared control technology.

The big difference here is that because Android has no native apps that utilize IR-Blasters, you’ll have to head to Google Play to download one. And there are plenty of them out there, that’s for certain.

UPDATE: We’re now hearing conflicting reports on how the IR-Blaster will be (or wont be) in play. As Android doesn’t have native apps – and no native support of – infrared technology, it would seem that users will have to retro-fit HTC’s drivers to make it all function – or whip up some of their own. That is, unless Android 4.3 adds this functionality, of course.

Hardware Buttons

The HTC One with Nexus experience will function the same as the original with its two button set-up below its display. This means that a short press of the Home button will bring a user Home, a long press will bring up Google Now, and a double-tap will show Recent Apps. The Back button still just goes back.

As a side note: as it is with all Android devices that continue to be released with hardware buttons, apps that have not updated to Google’s design specifications will continue to show the black bar. This is the same button bar that appears on devices like the Nexus 4 and Galaxy Nexus due to their lack of hardware buttons up front.

HTC One Google Edition: what you gain and what you lose is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today the Google Edition of the HTC One has been announced by the head of Android, Sundar Pichai. This announcement was made during the D11 conference in which this Google head spoke to Walt Mossberg about Android, Chrome, and all things Google software. The HTC One Google Edition follows in the footsteps of the Samsung GALAXY S 4 Google Edition which was announced a Google I/O 2013, and both devices will be available in late June.

The official launch date of the HTC One straight from Google is June 26th, while its off-contract price will be $599 USD. That’s unlocked as well, opening the door for hackers and developers to create custom user interfaces and interact with the deepest innards of the phone and its software. Google Play will be selling “Nexus” devices now aside two Google Edition smartphones, this being a first for the company.

“A special edition of the new HTC One running stock Android will be exclusively available through the Google Play store in the United States starting on June 26th. This edition pairs the all-metal unibody design, low-light capabilities of the UltraPixel camera and dual front-facing stereo speakers of the new HTC One with the stock version of the latest Android software, Jelly Bean 4.2.2.” – HTC

It’s apparent now that Google is willing to work with the top companies in the environment to not just bring forth a pure Android experience, but to allow these companies to retain their brand power as well. Though much of the Samsung GALAXY S 4′s user experience is based on the software Samsung pushes with it, the “GALAXY” name remains strong with or without the details – Google appears to believe the same to be true about HTC and the HTC One.

This HTC One will be launched with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean without any software additions by HTC. This will be separate from the SIM unlocked and Developer Edition phones direct from HTC, and pricing will be slightly different based on edition. The “Nexus Experience” aka “Google Edition” of the HTC One will cost $599 USD, while the SIM Unlocked phone straight from HTC will also cost that same amount.

The Developer Edition costs just a bit more straight from HTC because of its slightly larger internal storage size, that being 64GB instead of the 32GB of the Nexus Experience phone. These devices all work with HSPA/WCDMA, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, and LTE.

SOURCE: HTC

HTC One Google Edition made official with “Nexus User Experience” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.