Hasta La Gadget!

Well, well, what do we have here? It seems that HTC has taken the necessary steps to ensure that the HDR microphone which has brought unnecessary spotlight (in a negative way) to the company is no longer there to cause any more trouble, as the Taiwanese company has done away with the HDR microphone from the HTC One’s specs sheet, promotional pages as well as official local websites. This happened as part of the fallout of a legal battle between Nokia and the microphone’s supplier, ST Microelectronics, where the latter was meant to produce said microphone just for select Nokia smartphones on an exclusive basis.

Since then, we have reliable information that HTC is working on a microphone of its own, and there will no longer be any more HDR microphone branding used in the smartphone’s marketing materials. Needless to say, current HTC One models remain safe from any potential legal action, as HTC will continue to use STM HDR microphones in their HTC One models until current supplies run out. That means our 32GB HTC One giveaway would feature this microphone from ST Microelectroncs.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia Wants To Patent System That Identifies People Who Leak Their Products, Verizon Galaxy Note II Finally Gets Android 4.1.2 Update,

So, you have been on the lookout for the HTC One for quite some time already, but somehow did not manage to pick one up for yourself for a reason that only you know. What was it that bought you over? Could it be the full metal body, or the breakthrough BlinkFeed, Zoe camera and BoomSound experiences? Well, HTC intends to help those who have been hankering after the new HTC One for a while now by easing your financial burden during the purchase process.

From today onwards until the end of this weekend, customers who pick up a new HTC One and trade in a qualified smartphone are able to be on the receiving end of at least $100, and depending on the smartphone model that you decided to drop off for a trade-in, as much as $375 for your previous device. Known as the HTC “One Phone, One Weekend” offer, it is available from May 2 through May 5, and will be applicable to any HTC One that is picked up via a U.S. carrier, namely AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Cincinnati Bell, or through a national retail store. You might want to get a mophie juice pack to go along with your new purchase, too!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia Wants To Patent System That Identifies People Who Leak Their Products, Verizon Galaxy Note II Finally Gets Android 4.1.2 Update,

HTC has released its Q1 2013 financial results, and as the unaudited figures in April previewed, things didn’t go so well for the One-maker, with quarterly profit slumping dramatically year-on-year. Nonetheless, despite revenues down to just NT$42.8bn ($1.45bn), HTC is adamant that a turnaround is imminent, pegging the HTC One as the company’s savior.

“This was a pivotal quarter for HTC” CEO Peter Chou said of the opening period of 2013. The company had hoped to have the One on sale in as many as 80 countries before the end of March, but component and manufacturing issues meant that customers in only a handful of locations could actually pick up the new phone.

The result is dire revenues, with HTC seeing just NT$8.7bn ($290m) in gross profit, and operating profit diving from NT$5.1bn a year ago to a meager NT$0.04bn ($13.5m) in Q1 2013. That was slightly offset by HTC shaving away at its sales marketing spend, more than halving the amount it spent compared to the previous quarter.

Nonetheless, despite the poor showing, HTC is confident of a turnaround in Q2 2013, now that buyers in more locations can find the One in stores. Revenue for the quarter is expected to be around NT$70bn ($2.4bn), an increase of almost a billion US dollars.

Whether it can achieve that will depend in no small part on how well it can market the One in the face of the coming Samsung Galaxy S 4 onslaught. HTC’s phone does have some advantages, such as its UltraPixel camera giving better low-light performance, but the strength of Samsung’s promotional budget has already been demonstrated in the case of the Galaxy S III. Our review of the HTC One is here, and the phone launched on multiple networks in the UK in mid-April.

HTC pins hopes on Q2 after dire opening quarter is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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The smartphone upgrade season is in full swing and Ubergizmo is joining forces with AT&T to give away an AT&T HTC One Android smartphone with 32GB of internal storage. The smartphone does not come with a plan, but many of you may already be AT&T customers, if not, AT&T would be more than happy to welcome you on their 4G LTE network

By now, you probably have heard of the HTC One, the latest flagship model from HTC. If you have not, please read our full review of the device. You’ll see, it is quite amazing. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Galaxy S4 Review, What A 10,000 iPhone 5 Domino Cascade Looks Like,

The HTC Watch service was first launched in May 2011, where it rolled out alongside the HTC Sensation 4G smartphone. Those were good times for the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, who has since fallen on rather difficult times. The HTC Watch service delivers different kinds of Hollywood movies for rent and download, and for a while it did seem as though the HTC Watch service was not popular enough, hence leading HTC to limit its availability.

Having said that, HTC has confirmed that they will no longer support the HTC Watch in half a dozen countries throughout the European Union from May 15th onwards, and those “lucky half dozen” would include Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. As for subscribers of HTC Watch from the mentioned countries, fret not, you can still download your existing purchases, as the final shutdown will happen on May 31st. HTC mentioned in a press release, “As we continue to deliver new content for HTC Watch, we’ve made the decision to focus our efforts on markets with the highest engagement.” Will there be other countries affected in a future cull, if any?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung’s New DDR3 RAM To Provide PC Like Performance For Mobile Devices, Summer Camp For Adults Wants You To Ditch Your Technology For The Weekend,