HTC posts video of its One unveiling event, get your UltraPixels here

HTC posts video of its One unveiling event, get your UltraPixels here

HTC fans who couldn’t get into the company’s launch events for the One (which is most of them, if we’re honest) don’t have to just imagine what it was like. The company has posted both a full-length stream of its main event in London as well as an abridged, 4.5-minute version that includes slices of the New York City gathering. Either way, viewers will receive more than their fair share of BoomSound, UltraPixels and other SuperlativeNouns. Head past the break for the full presentation, and hit the source for the snack-sized version.

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Source: HTC (YouTube)

HTC One event roundup

HTC One event roundup

For a company whose launch event revolved around a singular device, HTC had a lot on its plate when unveiling the One. After all, the occasion was as much to showcase software as it was hardware. Not to fret — we’ve bundled all the relevant stories in one place so you can relive the event proper, what it’s like to use the One and our conversation with HTC chief Peter Chou. Hop past the break and you’ll have a primer on what to expect on store shelves in roughly a month’s time.

Hands-on posts, interview and the liveblog:

Hardware and availability:

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Verizon won’t carry the HTC One, Droid DNA will have to do for now

Verizon won't carry the HTC One, points to the Droid DNA for now

You may have noticed a conspicuous absence in the US carrier plans for the HTC One. Your eyes didn’t deceive: once again, Verizon is sitting out the primary launch of an HTC flagship. Just why isn’t clear. When asked, Big Red told us it doesn’t comment on its device strategy; an HTC spokesperson pointed to the Droid DNA, saying that there was nothing more to announce at present. As such, it’s tough to know whether or not Verizon will have another specially-built phone as a consolation prize. While it’s hard to complain too vociferously when the carrier already has a 1080p HTC smartphone, those who want the device maker’s latest will have to turn to one of the three other major networks in the near future.

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Visualized: HTC folding and ‘double-dip’ colored cases for the One

Visualized HTC folding and 'doubledip' colored cases for the One

If you’re looking to prop up that incoming HTC One for extended viewing or simply protect it from pavements and other hard surfaces, the company is demoing two different series of cases alongside its new phone. First up, a leather-finish foldable cover will protect corners and edges, with the back folding out to create a horizontal stand for the One. The second option takes a page from the style guide of HTC’s Windows Phone 8X with a two-tone plastic cover. Both end pieces (which are a different color to the main part) are removable and exchangeable, adding another color option to the white and black base units. We’ve also been told that an in-car mount will also be available, but HTC didn’t have pricing on any of the new additions just yet. Some older add-ons were on display as well, including a 6,000mAh Battery Bar, Car Stereo Clip and HDMI kit. Check ’em all out in the gallery below.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

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HTC One vs. Everyone Else: How Does It Stack Up?

Finally here and with the highly touted UltraPixel* camera in tow, HTC’s newest flagship phone is ready to hold its own. Well, on paper, at least. But how does it compare to everyone else’s flagship? More »

HTC One coming to Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T in the US, arriving in UK on EE, Vodafone and O2

Stub HTC One carrier pricing revealed

Now that the HTC One is out in the open, you might be wondering where to get one, right? Fortunately, a number of carriers have stepped up: if you’re in the UK, you’ll find it with LTE on EE “mid-March” for £70 on a 2-year, £41 1GB data plan and at O2 and Vodafone on March 15th, with pricing for the latter two still to come. If you’d prefer an off-contract buy, Clove is selling the 32GB model in black or silver for £425 (plus VAT); pre-orders are open now, with first shipments expected on March 15th.

Stateside, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile will also offer 4G versions of the fresh handset — but none have mentioned pricing or availability, yet. Meanwhile, Canadians will see the One on Bell, Rogers and Telus, and HTC said that that its new flagship would launch in “80 countries over 185 mobile retailers and operators,” making it “the largest rollout ever” for the company. Naturally, we’ll keep you up-to-date with all those dates and prices the instant we lay eyes on them.

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HTC One with superfast 4G – only on EE

19 February 2013. London. EE, the UK’s most advanced digital communications company, today announced it will exclusively launch the new HTC One smartphone with superfast 4G.

The HTC One will be available on EE’s superfast 4G service via the EE online shop, EE telesales and EE retail stores from mid-March. It will be available across a range of 4GEE price plans, and is just £69.99 on a £41 per month 24 month package, with users receiving 1GB of mobile data, as well as unlimited UK calls and texts.

Paul Jevons, Director of Products and Devices, EE, said: “We’re delighted to be the only operator to offer the HTC One enabled with 4G from launch. This handset delivers an incredible mobile experience when matched with EE’s superfast 4G network – allowing customers to
make the most out of their HTC One when on the move.”

In addition to superfast speeds and EE services, customers with an HTC One smartphone on a 4GEE price plan will also benefit from:

· EE Film – the UK film service that features 2-for-1 on cinema tickets

· A discount on EE superfast fibre broadband – so they can get blistering download speeds at home and on the move

· Fast track customer service by dialling ’33’ from their handset

The HTC One will also be available on the UK’s largest 3G network from Orange and T-Mobile across a range of plans including £69.99 on a £36 per month, 24 month plan.

Further information on the HTC One, including full details of EE’s price plans and pre-order* will be made available in due course on www.ee.co.uk/shop.

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Source: Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Clove UK

With The HTC One Launch, HTC Tries Apple Tactics To Challenge Samsung’s Android Dominance

htc3

HTC unveiled its newest flagship phone, the HTC One at a special press event in NYC and London today, and the drastically different design marks a departure from a strategy of trying to beat other Android OEMs (read: Samsung) at their own game. Instead, HTC looks to be taking cues from Apple to better compete, in more ways than one.

HTC’s newest Android smartphone has a physical design that can’t help but be compared to the iPhone 5. There’s aluminum all over the place (it’s a unibody chassis with chamfered edges), it comes in both white and black, and a rounded rectangle look that’s sure to remind iPhone 5 owners of their own hardware. It even has the iPhone 4′s external wireless, edge-running antenna. And the emphasis this time around wasn’t on specs, speeds and technical details, but on features and software: HTC’s tacit acknowledgement that a fight over who can build the best Android hardware isn’t one it can win against Samsung. Consumers have to perceive these devices as operating in different categories, with HTC doing something Samsung can’t or won’t.

The central piece of the HTC event today was all about what the One is that all other Android phones aren’t. That’s why HTC put its “BoomSound” front-facing speaker system on display, highlighted the Ultrapixel camera with its low-light capabilities, and showed off the Sense 5 UI with its BlinkFeed automatic, live-updating content feeds. That’s why it emphasized content partners, another page out of Apple’s book. In many ways, HTC’s event was more like the introduction of a new mobile OS than an iteration on an Android smartphone design. The company has put a strong focus on software at previous device launches, but here it seemed even more concerned with making this about OS skin updates.

HTC also downplayed the internals, which surprisingly aren’t as leading-edge as they could be. The screen was a big tentpole of the presentation, but that’s another Apple tactic, since it impacts user experience in a much more direct manner than internals. And the quad-core Snapdragon 600 chipset is new, but not the top-of-the-line model. 2GB of RAM is essentially table stakes, and 32 or 64GB of internal flash storage is nothing to write home about. It did bring up design directors, however, to discuss what went into the creation of its software and hardware, and showed videos highlighting technical innovations like the UltraPixel camera sensor and body design, all Apple-style moves.

This isn’t about competing against Apple or Samsung, it’s about fielding a great phone.

It’s pretty clear that HTC’s strategy here isn’t to build a better Android smartphone than Samsung and beat it that way. That’s arguably what the entire HTC One line has been until now: essentially a different but similar approach to the Galaxy strategy. Now, we get a back-to-basics simplified naming scheme, a physical case that better approximates Apple’s high-market industrial design, and an emphasis on user experience and software, instead of crowing loud and long about the spec race that has been popular among Android OEMs int the past.

This is a pivotal launch for HTC: It needs to be seen by consumers in non-relative terms to Samsung in order to stand out, since it hasn’t been able to succeed when lumped in with the general mass of Android OEM device-makers. To accomplish that it has to stand apart, and there’s no better example of a smartphone-maker that’s been able to do that than Apple. But carving out a niche in the face of the ascendant Samsung will prove difficult without Apple’s first-mover advantage, so while HTC’s strategy is arguably bold, by no means does it guarantee success.

HTC One vs One X, One X+: what’s changed?

HTC One vs One X, One X what's changed

Not everyone likes burying their head in a pile of spreadsheets, but that’s how we get our kicks. It hasn’t made us rich or successful like Paul DePodesta, but at least we get the satisfaction of bringing you HTC’s latest vital statistics. We’ve put the innards of HTC’s One side-by-side with last year’s flagships so you can see just what’s changed from year-to-year. Oh, and before you go apoplectic with rage — the company’s magical new imaging technology means that the One’s 4-megapixel sensor isn’t the slap in the face with a wet fish you’d assume it to be.

HTC One HTC One X+ HTC One X
Price (on contract) $199 32GB (conf.) / $299 64GB (tbc) Varied Varied
Processor 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.7GHz Quad-Core NVIDIA Tegra 3 1.5GHz Quad-Core T3 (Global) / 1.5GHz Dual-Core S4 (LTE)
Memory 2GB 1GB 1GB
Display 4.7-inch Super LCD 3 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 4.7-inch Super LCD 2
Resolution 1,920 × 1,080 1,280 x 720 1,280 x 720
Glass Gorilla Glass 2 Gorilla Glass 2 Gorilla Glass
Pixel Density 468ppi 312ppi 312ppi
Storage 32GB / 64GB 64GB 32GB (Global) / 16GB (LTE)
Primary camera Ultrapixel camera, 4-megapixel* BSI f/2.0 AF 8-megapixel BSI f/2.0 AF 8-megapixel BSI f/2.0 AF
Secondary camera 2.1-megapixel 1.6-megapixel 1.3-megapixel
Video recording 1080p with HDR up to 28fps, 720p at 60fps 1080p Rear, 720 Front 1080p Rear, 720 Front
Cellular GSM / GPRS / EDGE, WCDMA / UMTS / HSPA+, LTE GSM / GPRS / EDGE, WCDMA / UMTS / HSPA+, LTE (some) GSM / GPRS / EDGE, WCDMA / UMTS / HSPA+, LTE (some)
WiFi 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n 802.11 a/b/g/n 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0 with apt-X 4.0 with apt-X 4.0 with apt-X
Orientation GPS / A-GPS /GLONASS GPS / A-GPS /GLONASS GPS / A-GPS
Navigation Gyroscope / Digital Compass Gyroscope / Digital Compass Gyroscope / Digital Compass
Connectivity NFC / DLNA NFC / DLNA NFC / DLNA
SIM standard micro-SIM micro-SIM micro-SIM
Battery 2,300mAh 2,100mAh 1,800mAh
Weight 143 grams 135 grams 130 grams
Dimensions 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm 134.36 x 69.9 x 8.9mm 134.6 x 69.9 x 8.9mm
Colors Silver / Black (tbc) Black White / Gray

* Calm down, spec fans. You can find an explanation of HTC’s whizzy-new imaging technology here.

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HTC One imaging in depth: UltraPixel camera and Zoe Share

HTC One imaging in depth UltraPixel camera and Zoe Share

Saying that the HTC One has piqued our interest is an understatement. The handset, which was announced today in London and New York, combines ultra-refined design with a uniquely tweaked Android experience, something we’ve covered in our hardware and software posts. Still, it’s the UltraPixel camera that’s raising the most eyebrows. We briefly played with the shooter and witnessed the new Zoe functionality first hand. It’s clear that HTC is making a bold move with the imaging technology used on this phone, but what does it really mean in terms of specs and performance? Let’s dive into the nitty gritty after the break.

HTC picked the word UltraPixel to brand its latest camera, just like Nokia coined the term PureView for its devices last year. The idea behind UltraPixels is to combine a physically large sensor with big pixels capable of gathering more light. With the HTC One, the company chose a 1/3-inch BSI sensor with 2µm pixels which absorb 330 percent more photons than the 1.1µm pixels typically found in modern handsets. This is combined with a fast 28mm f/2.0 autofocus lens similar to what’s available on the One X, but slightly recessed for protection. Better yet, this shooter features optical image stabilization (OIS) just like the Lumia 920 — it’s able to compensate for motion in 2 axes (pitch and yaw) up to 2,000 times per second. With big 2µm pixels (that’s Fujifilm X10 territory), a fast f/2.0 lens (vs. f/2.4 on the iPhone 5 and f/2.6 on the Galaxy S III) and OIS, the HTC One is poised to excel at low-light photography. A single LED flash is provided for those extremely dark circumstances.

We’re pretty sure you’ve noticed the giant elephant in the room by now — the lack of any mention of pixel count. That large sensor packs just four megapixels (!) and while anyone who knows digital photography understands that’s plenty, it’s still a daring move in a market driven by the megapixel myth. We’ll take four million 2µm pixels over eight million 1.1µm pixels any day, but we think it’s going be an uphill battle for HTC to educate the average consumer. The HTC One packs a new image signal processor (ISP) called ImageChip 2, which enables continuous autofocus in less than 200ms, and provides real-time lens compensation plus noise reduction. It also supports 1080p HDR video recording at near 30fps and 720p at 60fps with a dynamic range of about 84dB. The ISP implements a buffered capture cycle with pre- and post-shutter recording, for functionality similar to Scalado’s Rewind / Remove, Nokia’s Smart Shot, Samsung’s Best Face and BlackBerry’s Time Shift.

All this camera technology culminates with one particularly cool feature: Zoe. Named after the Greek word “life” and hinting at old zoetropes, this feature captures a 3-second 1080p 30fps H.264 video clip along with a 16:9 2688×1520 JPEG picture each time the shutter button is pressed. In burst mode, the HTC One is capable of taking 4-5 full-size stills per second while recording 1080p video. The resulting 3-second clips become animated thumbnails for your photos in the gallery. When you’re ready to share your memories, smart content editing, cutting and sequencing software is used to create and upload a Zoe — a professional-like highlight reel with images, clips, effects and music that remixes your content on the fly, complete with theme and music track synchronization. There are six themes and six music tracks to choose from, and you’re given the option to deselect photos or videos. Once uploaded, the result can be shared via Zoe Share, which generates a standard URL that’s valid for 30 days — think of it as Vine on steroids, but less permanent.

In addition the the main shooter, the HTC One comes equipped with a 2.1 megapixel front-facing module with f/2.0 wide-angle (88-degree) optics that supports 1080p video capture. Dual HDR microphones provide distortion-free stereo audio recording in a wide variety of conditions, including loud venues. Unfortunately, our time with the UltraPixel camera was too short to formulate a solid opinion, but based on our experience so far, HTC’s latest shooter is poised to delight both shutterbugs and casual users alike. On thing’s for sure: we can’t wait to take the company’s latest imaging flagship for a spin.

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HTC One software hands-on: Sense 5, BlinkFeed, Sense TV and new Sync Manager

HTC One software handson Sense 5, BlinkFeed, Sense TV and new Sync Manager

Now that you’re done drooling over the HTC One‘s shiny body, let’s take a look at the phone’s generous bundle of software features. Sense 5 on Android 4.1.2 is quite possibly the boldest step HTC’s ever taken in terms of Android interface, in the hopes of offering a radically simple experience out of the box. First off, the phone comes with just two soft keys: Back and Home. You can still access the app-switching page by double-tapping the Home key, but instead of the old 3D interface with dozens of app cards, you’ll now only get a grid of nine app cards to keep things simple. And like before, simply flick the cards up to dismiss the corresponding apps. Read on for more and our hands-on video.

By default, there will only be two home screen panels out of the box: a “BlinkFeed” page and a classic Android home screen on the right. Yes, just two panels, as HTC found out that 80 percent of users have three panels or less, and surprisingly, 35 percent of the same group use just one panel! But fret not, as power users can always add more. Similarly, the app tray is set to a leaner 3 x 4 grid by default (which we found to be rather pleasing to the eye), but you can also switch back to the usual 4 x 5 version for nostalgia’s sake.

Now, BlinkFeed. This is simply a Flipboard-like tile interface that sits permanently on the main home page. Created in collaboration with Mobiles Republic, this tool pulls in content from various publications and social networks (Twitter, Plurk, LinkedIn, Flickr, Zoe Share and more), as well as your calendar and TV shows from the TV app (more on that later). You won’t be seeing emails here, as HTC positions BlinkFeed as a place for more ambient info rather than critical updates. Regardless, the feed can be customized to suit your needs, though the first version won’t let you add custom RSS feeds just yet. On a related note, an SDK will be provided for developers to let their apps publish to the BlinkFeed. As you’d expect, fresh content automatically comes in from the top, and it does so every two hours over mobile data, but more frequently over WiFi. Either way, HTC’s conducted many tests and is pretty confident that battery life won’t be a big issue here. The good news is that should you eventually find this feature slightly stale, you can disable BlinkFeed altogether and just have the plain old Android home screens.

Visually, Sense 5 benefits from a new choice of font — Roboto, in a specific weight — along with a simpler keyboard with little gap between keys (but performance unaffected, of course) and cleaner widgets (though the classic HTC flip clock widget is still available). Likewise, the new music player has received an interface redesign, as well as a visualizer and automatic lyrics scroller. Here’s hoping that HTC will eventually add a vocal suppressing feature to satisfy the karaoke freak inside you.

HTC One software handson Sense 5, BlinkFeed, Sense TV and new Sync Manager

Continuing the multimedia theme we have the Sense TV app on the HTC One, which is actually a Peel-powered universal remote software that combines a good-looking electronic program guide with the IR blaster embedded within the phone’s power button. At launch, the app will support all major US cable services along with Hulu integration, whereas the UK will get some love from the likes of Virgin Media, Sky, Freesat and Freeview. We’ve heard that other regions will provide similar EPG support for the One’s Sense TV app, so keep an eye out for your local announcements. Alas, there’s no Netflix support at launch, but we assume HTC is still working on that end.

The TV app’s interface needs little explanation, and it’ll come with a huge library of remote control IR codes to ensure maximum compatibility with your TV or set-top box. Once the app is activated, you can access the basic controls and recent channels in the notification tray, and you can even use the controls on the lock screen. The best part of this is that you can set to have upcoming episodes of your favorite TV shows to show up in BlinkFeed as a reminder. Pretty neat for couch potatoes, huh?

Now, here are a couple of software features that help new owners set up their HTC devices. The first one is HTC Get Started which, if you haven’t seen it work with the One X+ already, lets you set up your phone from the web on your desktop. After all, it’s probably easier to type out your credentials for your various email and social network accounts using the desktop keyboard and display. Additionally, the service also lets you configure your feeds, apps, sounds (including an MP3 ringtone trimmer), bookmarks, wallpapers and lock screens; so this is quite a nice improvement from the existing version of Get Started.

The second feature to support new users is a beefed up version of the HTC Sync Manager. Where previously you could only transfer iOS contacts to an HTC device over Bluetooth, now you can use the new Sync Manager to grab your various types of iOS content: contacts, calendar, pictures, DRM-free videos and DRM-free music. The trick? This is actually done via iTunes, so you’ll need to make sure it has the latest backup of your iOS device before you start the migration. Sadly, there’s no way to sync text messages and matching apps across the two rival platforms just yet, but it’s probably just a matter of time.

Things are more straightforward with Android-to-Android migration: with phones as old as HTC devices carrying Sense 3.6, you can directly transfer the same set of data plus text messages, bookmarks and a bunch of Android settings directly from one to another, all done without going through the Sync Manager; whereas older Android devices can still only transfer contacts over Bluetooth like the good old days.

Once you get the ball rolling, you can use the cloud backup feature in Sense 5 to dump an encrypted backup on either Dropbox or Sina Vdisk (in China, where Dropbox is blocked), and these are tied to either a Facebook account or a Sina account (since Facebook is also blocked in China), so in the future you can restore by simply logging in using either credentials. Here’s what you can back up: BlinkFeed, TV, home screen layout (including folders), accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Exchange and Hotmail), user dictionary, alarm clocks, widgets, apps (sans data) and over 150 system settings. Pictures and videos aren’t included, as HTC believes that many users already use other methods to back them up, which is fair enough.

To summarize, this is certainly a generous and much improved package HTC is offering with the One, but in case you missed it, do also check out Zoe in our HTC One camera post. That’s the real wow factor of the show.

Mat Smith contributed to this report.

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