Tag Archives: htc

tablets

LEAKED: HTC’s Next-Gen 8.9-Inch Nexus ‘Volantis’ Tablet

HTC-Volantis-tablet

The Nexus 7 tablet is one of the best 7-inch slabs around. It is powered by Google Android OS and has a lot of great features at the price of $199. However, many reports have indicated an 8-inch version of the tablet will launch later this year. While there was no tangible evidence other than the rumors themselves, a new report from Android Police confirms the product might actually be real.

htc-volantis-nexus

The report suggests an 8.9-inch HTC Nexus tablet, powered by a 2048×1440 screen, as well as a Tegra K1 processor, running under a zero-gap aluminum frame. The tablet which goes by the name Volantis is packed with a pair of cameras (3MP front, 8MP rear) that take pictures and videos  just like real life forms. In addition it offers a choice of 16GB/32GB storage, along with 2GB of RAM, a bunch of high-quality stereo speakers, WiFi, Black/White casing, and an optional LTE connectivity aboard.

The tablet will launch later this year starting at $399  for the 16GB flavor.

 

[Android Police]

Mobile

Video: Drop Test Samsung Galaxy S 5 Vs iPhone 5S, VS HTC One M8, Which Stronger

Galaxys5-vs-iphone5s-vs-htconem8

Now that both Samsung and HTC officially released their latest and greatest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S5 and the HTC One M8, it is time to put to a test which of the phones is stronger enough to survive a random drop test. In this following video, the two has been put up to the test alongside Apple’s popular iphone 5S. Can you guess which model has managed to last longer? The answer may well suggest what would be a good investment for your money. As a reminder, the back of iPhone 5S is made of aluminium and glass, while the HTC One M8, is entirely made from a metal alloy and the rear part of Samsung’s Galaxy S5 is made from plastic. Check out the video below to see the result.

[youtube id=”NYgg6RMB6g4″]

General, Mobile

Facebook Introduces Home For Android, Focus on People Not Apps

facebook-home-cover-feed-1

At Menlo Park, California — Facebook announces a family of apps for Android mobile phones (such as HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung GALAXY S III and Samsung GALAXY Note II), called ‘Home.’ The founder and CEO of the popular social network, Mark Zuckerberg, said the company’s goal is to “turn your Android phone into a great social device.” Let’s make it clear, Facebook is NOT building a phone or an operating system, the company is offering a new experience for your mobile devices, where it will focus on people rather than apps.

So how does this all work? First, you have to download the Home app from the Google Play store (available on April 12). Then, you simply glance at your home screen, the place that Facebook defines as a social  “Cover Feed,” and get the latest posts and important updates from the people you care about most. In addition, the Home will send your device different type of notification messages such as calls, events, images, and Facebook status updates.

facebook-home-launcher

Another feature that Facebook has added is the App Launcher, and it’s basically as it sounds, a place where you can find all your favorite Android apps. Only one single swipe from the central home screen itself, and you’re good to go with just about any app you’d like.

Another add-on that Facebook is presenting today, is the“Chat Heads”, a simple and fun development to communicate with friends via Facebook Messages and SMS messages in a more personalized way. This new feature will let you keep chatting no matter what you are doing at the moment, by tapping one of your friend’s Facebook profile pictures, and writing whatever you want to say, inside the pop-up window that will automatically open. Of course it also supports group messaging capabilities, and if you want to to receive a message from one of your colleagues, you either click on the preview message, presented with their photo, or alternatively, swipe away (in case you’re busy) to close immediately all conversations.

HTC-First-Android-Mobile-Phone

Facebook is going to carry out its new plans with a little help from the good friends over at AT&T and HTC. The latter, has just unveiled the HTC First, a 4.3-inch 720p mobile device that boasts a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB RAM, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera / 1.6MP front-facing shooter, along with an LTE mobile network support. The First is set to be available exclusively on AT&T for $99.99, starting April 12 (The company is accepting pre-orders today). The phone will be offered in four different colors and is said to be running with Facebook Home already pre-loaded. 

Update: Facebook rolled out a new update to its iOS app, pushing Home’s most favorite feature, the Chatheads, to your iPhone and iPad devices. To get it, you’ll need to download Facebook version 6.0 from the Apple App Store, and doing so will let you see what your Facebook friends are up to, get notes when friends are sharing comments and likes within your posts, text and chat with Chatheads UI experience all over your screen board. Download link is here [iTunes].

[youtube id=”Lep_DSmSRwE”]

[Facebook]

CES, Mobile, Phones

Why New Breed of 4G Smartphones Emerges at ICES

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A new breed of smartphones has emerged at the ICES (International Consumer Electronics Show) recently. In this giant gadget manufacturer meet that was portrayed as an amazing event as per the live reports from the event, a race of smartphones made a mark. This was an event where a lot of gadgets were on display, produced by different manufacturers all round the globe. The gadgets that were put on display in the event ranged everything from the head mounted headphones to a variety of amazing phones and computers.

But the same event also carried some bad and frustrating news for the customers of Sprint and AT&T who established a cutting edge for 4G smartphones in the previous year. So, the real problem vests with the fact that this phone will soon be outdated. When it came to tapping into the all new and faster fourth generation networks, Sprint Nextel and AT&T Mobility were the first two companies to have unveiled some of the first league of smartphones.

This new class of smartphones that emerged at the ICES may be an attempt to stand against its potential contemporaries. Over the time, launching 4G network from Sprint is continuously being talked about. And the talks had been doing rounds since the successful launch of the previous one, way back in 2008. This followed the launch of its premier phone, HTC’s Evo 4G in the preceding year. In the meanwhile, it was AT&T that begun adding the short, impressive yet a powerful word “4G” to almost all its smartphones names recently.

But the progress does not take a backseat here! AT&T and Sprint, two of the largest U.S. cellular carriers are actually working hard to get another 4G system on the front. LTE (Long Term Evolution) will be an additional thing to the two mobile carrier giants. This was made available so that it can compete with the wireless version of Verizon that was launched almost a year back.

If T-Mobile USA is to be believed then it has 4G that stands quite similar to the old 4G service of AT&T but the talks about the plans for the 4G LTE deployment is still pending. It’s unclear how AT&T and Sprint will be able to explain to their customers more on the investments they have made in order to have one of the most talked about technology. This seems unclear also because both AT&T and Sprint have earlier exhausted the usage of 4G in marketing.

Last year, it was at the CES where Verizon hosted two high profile news conferences and also went into operating huge sales promotion booth so that the official launch of its 4G network receives promotion too. On the contrary, things this year appeared different since it was visible how the company managed to keep a low profile at the most talked about event.

AT&T announced eight of the new LTE products at CES that included the smartphones and tablets. Now the first LTE based windows phone better known as Lumia 900 is expected to arrive in March. Before the announcement of the break-up of T-mobile, the first ever 4G LTE phones for AT&T already hit the stores in November, last year.

Sprint at the CES announced three new and amazing gadgets that included Samsung phones, a portable wireless hotspot and Galaxy Nexus that is a product of Samsung & Google partnership. It’s expected that Sprint’s new 4G LTE network will surpass its older versions with the elimination of slower 4G network too.

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This is a guest post by Emily Steves, who is associated with various internet security related companies as their freelance and staff writer. She has been linked with some of the best web media companies and offers various ways for internet solutions. She excels in writing articles related to internet security, internet plans, comcast deals, etc. 

tablets

HTC’s 10.1-inch Android Jetstream LTE Tablet Officially Gets The AT&T Treatment

We’re not quite sure why HTC even bothers. With a whopping price of $849 and a specs lineup that includes a 10.1-inch WXGA touchscreen, 1.5GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor, a front 1.3 MP/rear 8MP cameras, Android 3.1 OS and a microSD slot, this all HTC Jetstream tablet, which is AT&T’s first LTE / HSPA+ slate package, seems a bit useless, considering the cheap solutions available on the market nowadays such as Apple’s iPad, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, HP’s TouchPad and many hundreds more. Not to mention you have to sign up for a two-years contract, but that’s the only part of the story which sounds reasonable to us. If you’re still interested, by the way, hop after the break to read the full PR announcement along with the complete list of specs.

Update: There’s a “sneak peek” video, courtesy of HotHardware, so check it out after the jump.

[AT&T]

Continue reading HTC’s 10.1-inch Android Jetstream LTE Tablet Officially Gets The AT&T Treatment →

tablets

HTC Flyer Officially Live Across Europe

While already available for a purchase throughout the US, HTC’s 7-inch Android 2.4 tablet has finally been given its official release dates across Europe. According to HTC’s PR report, released recently, the 1.5GHz device is supposed to start selling today, with prices topping out at  £480 (€499) for the WiFi-only 16GB version or £600 (€649) for the 3G-enabled 32GB flavor. And If you happen to have big hands for your size or are determined to get an HTC Flyer just for the sake of painting, you’ll find a cool stylus pen within the bundle (also known as the Magic Pen) – given by the company, free of charge . Hit the break to read the full PR message.

 

Continue reading HTC Flyer Officially Live Across Europe →

tablets

HTC’s EVO View 4G Tablet Officially Breaks Cover

We must welcome the rain of tablets that falls down on us so that the seed will grow. And the way it looks right now I think it’ll really take off. For instance, take a look at HTC’s latest and greatest 4G Evo View tablet, which has finally turned official with a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 multi-touchscreen display, WiMAX radio,  a 1.5GHz processor, and a microSD card slot. Has any of you ever thought of it this way? probably not. But it’s here, live and kicking’, and will be offered housing 32GB of storage and duo cameras on the back (5MP) and up front (1.3MP). At this point, we’re still waiting to hear details of pricing and availability, and it remains to become accessible somewhere, hopefully, this summer via Sprint’s 4G network. And it’s Honeycomb by the way. Hit the jump for the full specs, along with PR blurbs.

 

Continue reading HTC’s EVO View 4G Tablet Officially Breaks Cover →

tablets

HTC Flyer 7-inch Android 2.4 Tablet With 1.5GHz CPU Debuts

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Today at MWC in Barcelona, HTC officially announced the Flyer, an Android-based tablet with a 7-inch 1024 x 600 pixel resolution capacitive touchscreen display and a 1.5GHz single-core processor on board. Titles aside, the Flyer will reportedly ship in Q2 2011 with an Android 2.4 platform (AKA: Gingerbread), alongside a 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and another one, at 5 megapixels, attached to the back. Moreover, the good looking aluminum unibody tablet offers inbuilt Wifi connectivity, paired with a 4000mAh battery pack, Bluetooth 3.0, a microSD card reader, HDMI out, a micro USB hub and DLNA support. No prices available at the moment, but the Full PR is somewhere down the road.

Update1: Also, make sure to stop by and check out the two “first-look” Flyer tablet videos we’ve just added after the break.

Update2: Not sure I like this all “pressure sensitive” thing, It feels a bit dubious. That said, the Flyer does seem to include a stylus pen for taking onscreen notes, or playing back audio recordings from the time a note was written.

Update3: What’s this? Looks like Amazon.de has just listed HTC’s latest and greatest Flyer tablet at €669, which means a little more than 700 US Dollars. Expensive, isn’t it?

Update4: And just in case you were wondering, HTC’s WiFi-only Flyer tablet is set to be released Stateside somewhere “this spring”. And while prices remain vague at the moment, the 7-incher is said to run exclusively via Best Buy’s nationwide retail stores, while others may join the selling later on.

Update5: HTC has just posted a Flyer demo video that seems to demonstrate the level of qualities the tablet has to offer. Check it out after the break (3rd video).

Update6: HTC confirms Flyer tablet will get Honeycomb sometime this year or so. Hopefully. According to the company’s Twitter account it “will be offering a Honeycomb upgrade when it’s made available.” A bit vague, especially when it comes to launching dates, but still good enough to give us all a ray of hope.

Update7: And looks like the HTC Flyer has finally made it into the UK market with pre-order prices starting at a whopping £600 (about $985) at Carphone Warehouse. This amount will grant you a 7-inch tablet device, powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm CPU, 32GB of storage, 3G connectivity and Android Gingerbread running on top. Did someone say expensive?

Update8: And if you’re looking for more reasonable prices, US retailer Best Buy is said to begin selling the Flyer on April 24th with a $499 starting price and all the good things we’ve already talked about, running on board. Regretfully, It’ll ship with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), but we’re told an Honeycomb upgrade is something we should all look for.

Continue reading HTC Flyer 7-inch Android 2.4 Tablet With 1.5GHz CPU Debuts →

tablets

Is That HTC’s Next Android 2.3 Flyer Tablet?

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Well, according to several reliable Amobil sources it probably is, and most importantly, designed to include a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 chip along with a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal flash storage, dual webcams (1.3MP on the back and a 5MP up front), HDMI output, 3G connectivity and DLNA support. And while there’s no official confirmation yet, nor any info about price or availability, the general feeling upon this upcoming/speculated device is pretty positive overall, and that we’re only few months away from seeing it out on the market, running Google’s Android 2.3 OS under the hood and preloaded with HTC’s Sense UI platform on board. In addition, there are other rumors about a larger, faster 10-inch LTE slate hitting the streets in the second half of the year, but that just seems too early to report.

Applications, Mobile, News, Operating Systems, Phones

Google's Nexus One Officially Announced With Android 2.1 Preloaded Inside

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So Google has finally launched the most anticipated Nexus One, and if you happen to live in one of the following 4 countries – the US, UK, Singapore or Hong Kong – you can get it right away from Google’s website, priced at $529.99 without a contract or merely $179 including a T-Mobile two year plan (in the US). Other people will have to wait at least until Spring 2010, when it believes that Google will be adding more countries to its smartphone lineup. The phone itself is an HTC brand, coming with a 3.7-inch 800×480 AMOLED display, which regretfully doesn’t support multi-touch at the moment, although Google says it’s not an hardware issue but a software tweak and it’d consider adding screen gestures capabilities in the future. Besides that, you get a fast 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor,paired with a 5 megapixels camera including an integrated LED flash that can shoot MPEG-4 video and have it uploaded directly to Youtube. Additionally, this 11.5mm thick device has a built-in compass, GPS, WiFi, A2DP stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, a multicolored LED under the trackball, an accelerometer for landscape view and two mics, positioned on front, for complete noise cancellation. It runs all common frequencies and compatible with HSDPA 7.2Mbps, UMTS Band 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900), HSUPA 2Mbps and of course, GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz). The 1400mAH battery inside is claimed to provide 5 hours of 3G browsing and 7 hours of 3G talk time, while storage wise, you receive only 512MB of internal flash along with a 4GB micro SD card, expandable up to 32GB. See the full specs here.

Moving forward with the details, the Nexus One packs Google’s “latest greatest” Android 2.1 platform – also known as Eclair – which crams some nifty stuff inside, like the voice recognition feature that works throughout the entire UI and activates almost any feature in the phone. That way, you can use your voice to write SMS messages and notes (speech-to-text), or tell the Google Earth search engine where should it go. Other than that, Google has implemented a Cooliris technology into the Nexus One gallery app, so you get 3D visualization whenever looking at images in landscape mode. It has a lot of widgets to offer, such as weather and news RSS, and the smartphone’s homescreen customization is interactive and houses 5 panels to store your apps and shortcuts. Stay tuned. Video is right after the break.

Update1: And looks like Adobe is now jumping on Google’s bandwagon by demoing its Flash 10.1 beta on a Nexus One superphone. Check it out after the break.

Update2: Well, what do you know, the European version of Nexus One, apparently supports multitouch capabilities out-of-the-box, while US devices don’t. We’re not so sure why, but as someone suggested, the trigger for the abyssal differences might be the fact that Apple has a US Patent on multitouch which doesn’t apply on European countries. Maybe. Google says it’s carefully reviewing this issue at the moment.

Update3: Different from what has been reported, Google’s Nexus One seems to be incompatible with “n” draft wireless connectivityand official specs state it supports only 802.11b/g WiFi frequencies. We’ll have more about this soon.

Update4: You knew it had to happen sooner or later, did you? No? then get this – iFixit guys have taken Google’s Nexus One on a mission and disassembled it into small pieces of technology craft. See the results here and after the break.

Update5: We’ve added two more stunning videos right after the break, in which you can watch Nexus One’s manufacturing process with stress tests such as bending, slamming, dropping, and cracking, all over the place. A must see creation!

Update6: Turns out Google now has live person phone support in case your Nexus One has problems that need to be solved. It’s 888-48NEXUS (63987) and said to work from 07:00am to 10:00pm PST. Right now the line will handle only status and shipping issues while tech problems can find answer via Google’s support forums, FAQs pages, email support and HTC/ T-Mobile customer care departments.

Continue reading Google's Nexus One Officially Announced With Android 2.1 Preloaded Inside →

Audio, Events, Internet, Mobile, News, Operating Systems, Phones

T-Mobile G1: First HTC Dream G1 Android Powered Phone Introduced

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The T-Mobile G1 event was definitely a game changer, to how the mobile phone and the Internet have merged to bring us innovative solutions in one device, the kind that can provide Email, Maps, Calendar, instant messaging, Contacts, Search engine and Media player, all together in one strong Open Source platform that will be able to compete those lavish smartphone handsets, with a fair and affordable price. As the clock pointed at 10:30 AM (East time), a group of distinguish representatives from companies like Deutsche Telecom, T-Mobile, HTC and Google were gathered on one small New York stage, to announce the long-awaited HTC Dream, powered with Google’s Android operating system, to be available in T-Mobile stores and dealers on October 27th, for merely $179, subjunctive to a two year contract – $25/month deal, including unlimited internet access plus a certain amount of messaging package, or $35/month deal with unlimited internet access and unlimited messages to send.

The new phone, also known as the G1, is equipped with a quadband GSM HSDPA 1700/2100, a stunning flip-out 3-inch 320 x 480 HVGA touchscreen, a full QWERTY keyboard to make it easier when you type-in a web address or any other online form, a 3.2MP camera with auto focus, a microSD card extension (1GB microSD card included, supports up to 8GB card), GPS navigation system, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. The continuous collaboration with Mountain View brings a smooth multitasking UI, packed with many Google apps, such as Gmail, GTalk IM, Google Maps, digital compass, integrated Traffic view / Street View, Google calender and last but not least, Google’s search engine, assimilated inside the built-in browser. In addition, you get more applications pre-loaded, like Android Market, which is equivalent to Apple’s App Store, Amazon’s MP3 store, allowing to download from 6 million DRM-free tracks (starting at 89 cents), YouTube and many other third-party goodies onboard. The unit comes with a designated Search Button that lets you work across the entire interface and search any application you want. Thus, you can look for your friends in the contact list or search for a special occasion within your calender, etc. Regretfully, it doesn’t support the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, nor A2DP stereo Bluetooth, but you can expect to see them in future versions. Sized at 4.60” x 2.16” x 0.62”, the G1’s battery provides up to 5 hours of speech or 130 hours in standby mode and potential buyers will be able to choose between black, white or brown flavors, when the phone goes live, in early November.

Checkout the videos after the break. For more images you can click in here.

[via Android Community]

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