Hasta La Gadget!

While the HTC One is facing much anticipation ahead of its launch in more regions, its price tags may not be everyone’s cup of tea; but judging by the above leak, it looks like Peter Chou’s willing to spare a couple of notable features for a more affordable model. According to last week’s filing on China’s TENAA database, the back of this 606w takes design cues from the China-only One SU (especially around the camera), but flip it around and you’ll notice what appears to be a pair of front-facing stereo speakers (aka BoomSound as it’s marketed as for the One), as well as the same dual soft key implementation on the company’s latest flagship.

The rest of this Android 4.1.2 phone is a bit of a mix: there’s a 4.5-inch 960 x 540 display, a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, an 8-megapixel main camera (so not UltraPixel), a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera, WCDMA radio and microSD expansion. It’s easy to see how these specs are carefully crafted to avoid directly clashing with the recently launched E1 (603e) as well: lesser front-facing camera but better processor and display here (presumably). And no, this is clearly not the rumored M4. As always, we’ll keep an eye out for the 606w’s official announcement.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Via: PhoneArena

Source: TENAA

While the Chinese variants of the HTC One won’t be formally introduced until April 24th, we’ve managed to get our hands on its cousin device: the 603e that sports a similar earpiece design as the One, but without the front-facing BoomSound stereo loudspeakers. The retail name of this dual-SIM (WCDMA 900/2100 and GSM 900/1800/1900) device is actually E1, and HTC pitches it as an affordable Android 4.1 (with Sense 4+) phone with a 2.1-megapixel f/2.0 wide front-facing camera — likely identical to HTC One’s, judging by our own comparison — along with beautification features and the company’s much publicized ImageChip technology. But the real selling point of the E1 is its role in HTC’s new e-commerce strategy in China: while you can get hold of one at an authorized HTC store, HTC’s Chinese “eShop” throws in custom options for the built-in storage (8 or 16GB), main camera (five or eight megapixels, both with only 720p video capture) and one of the six body colors plus patterns. Choosing the top spec combo will also get you a special red body interior.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Source: HTC eShop (China), HTC China

After selling 7.19 million phones in China last year, Xiaomi is now one step closer to world domination with a new device that’ll take it to new territories: the Xiaomi Phone 2S (or MI-2S). As the name and look (pictured left) suggest, this is pretty much the same device as the 4.3-inch Xiaomi Phone 2, except it comes with Qualcomm’s newer Snapdragon 600 quad-core chip clocked at 1.7GHz, plus a beefed up camera of 13-megapixel resolution (with F2.2 aperture) on the 32GB model. The 16GB 2S, on the other hand, gets the same old 8-megapixel F2.0 imager. The rest of the hardware is the same old: 2GB RAM, 2,000mAH removable battery, 720p IPS display, dual-mic noise cancellation, 2-megapixel front-facing camera and WCDMA 850/1900/2100MHz radio (there’s also a CDMA version for China Telecom).

Unlike the previous launch, the 16GB flavor of this phone is already in stock on the day of announcement and is ready for purchase in China today for ¥1,999 or about $320 unsubsidized. Actually, strike that — apparently the first lot of 200,000 units promptly sold out (likely thanks to scalpers). Luckily, Xiaomi is finally tapping into the Hong Kong market via its xiaomi.hk website starting April 23rd, so chances are genuine buyers in Hong Kong won’t have to compete against the machines from mainland China; and Taiwan customers will also be able to buy a 2S from either local carrier Far Eastone towards the end of this month, or from xiaomi.tw starting next month. No word on the availability of the 32GB model just yet, but it’s already priced at ¥2,299 or about $370 unsubsidized.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: Engadget Chinese (2S), (2A)

Source: Xiaomi (2S), (2A)

Forty years ago today, senior Motorola engineer Marty Cooper made one very important phone call. From midtown Manhattan, Marty called Joel Engel, then the head of rival research department Bell Labs. When Joel picked up, Marty uttered something rather unexpected: “Joel, this is Marty. I’m calling you from a cellphone, a real handheld portable cellphone.” More »

HTC’s Status may not have been a tremendous hit, but it looks like Facebook hasn’t severed its ties with the smartphone maker just yet. According to TechCrunch and New York Times sources, April 4th’s “Come See Our New Home on Android” event is set to feature an HTC smartphone with a custom, Facebook-centric OS. It’s perhaps the next best thing to a phone designed and manufactured by Facebook, but instead, HTC will be tasked with creating the hardware. The integration is expected to run deep, however — when you power on the device, a Facebook home screen is what you’ll see first. Additionally, the device’s camera and messaging apps will default to Facebook, according to the New York Times report. Hardware specifications have yet to be revealed, but software will clearly be the focus here. Tune in at 1PM EST next Thursday for our liveblog, direct from Facebook HQ.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, HTC, Facebook

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Source: The New York Times, TechCrunch