Hasta La Gadget!

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.

Speaking to Walt Mossberg at D11 this morning, Google’s Sundar Pichai offered glorious news for anyone who loves the HTC One but craves an untouched Android experience: he confirmed that there is indeed a stock Android 4.2.2 version of the flagship device One coming, and it will be fully unlocked for T-Mobile and AT&T at the solid price of $599. It’ll go on sale in the Google Play Store on June 26th, the same date as its $649 counterpart, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 stock edition. The new version of the device — which will be sold in the US initially — will come SIM-unlocked, with an unlocked bootloader and 32GB storage. In terms of radios, it will offer quadband LTE (700/850/AWS/1900), triband HSPA+ (850/1900/2100) and the usual quadband GSM / EDGE. Sadly, this means that T-Mobile users will enjoy LTE and EDGE, but won’t be able to take advantage of AWS on the 3G side.

There is some give and take involved with such a device, of course; since it’s pure stock, Sense-specific features (BlinkFeed, Zoe and so on) won’t be included, since they aren’t optimized to work on vanilla Android. Still, we’re quite excited to see companies like HTC and Samsung embrace the “Nexus experience” and offer choice to its users, and we’re hoping this is just the beginning of a new trend.

Update: HTC confirmed to us that the Google Edition will retain the same two-button setup, and they’ll have the same functions as before: short press of Home for Home, long press for Google Now and double tap for Recent Apps. The back button will also remain the same, and the black menu bar that plagues third-party apps that haven’t complied with Google’s design specifications isn’t going anywhere. We were also told that Beats Audio will still be integrated into the device as a hardware optimization, but the visual indicator — currently found in the status bar on the original One — won’t be there.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC, Google, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Source: HTC

A blue HTC One is expected to be released along with the legendary red HTC One.

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Rumors about a Nexus-ified HTC One have been circulating for quite some time, and even though our hopes were dashed of a possible unveiling at Google I/O earlier this month, it sadly didn’t happen, as Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 ended up receiving all the glory. No surprise, though, as Samsung and Google have been close the past fews years.

According to Pocket-lint, sources are saying that an HTC One Google Edition will be coming to the market, but availability will be extremely slim, hinting to the possibility that it could be a Limited Edition device as well. Exact numbers haven’t been said, but approximately a mere 1% of total HTC One sales so far will be Google Edition.

If that’s true, that means that only around 50,000 HTC One Google Edition devices will be made up, seeing as how HTC recently announced that they sold five million units since the phone’s release. 50,000 units may seem like quite a bit, but considering that anyone in the US would have a crack at buying one, the odds of getting one for yourself would be extremely slim.

Earlier this month, HTC denied that they were working on a “Nexus Edition” One device, but there’s obviously a lot that can be looked through in the company’s statement. They only mention a Nexus device, meaning that they don’t have plans to build a successor to the Nexus 4. What they didn’t mention, however, was a Google Edition of the phone, similar to the Galaxy S 4 that we saw at Google I/O.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with HTC’s new Sense UI 5.0, but many Android users love a stock experience, and other than rooting your phone and installing a custom or stock ROM, there’s no way to get that on most Android devices, as many manufacturers put their own twist on the user interface. Hopefully HTC will provide an option that gets us stock Android on the One.

HTC One Google Edition tipped for limited availability is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.