Well, the rumors are true: HTC has just announced that it has begun testing the “displaying of a limited number of promotions” to users of the BlinkFeed app in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Taiwan, and China. If results are good, the pilot will roll-out to more countries over time.
The HTC One mini 2 has officially been announced. This compact smartphone takes on a similar design when compared to the One (M8), but in a smaller form-factor. It’s definitely an upgrade over the previous One mini, but with its size comes downgraded specifications.
The HTC One mini 2 packs a quad-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4.5-inch 720p display, 16GB of storage (with an expandable SD card slot), and a a 2,100mAh battery. You’re also getting the same 5-megapixel front-facing camera, a 13-megapixel rear shooter, and HTC’s famous BoomSound speakers.
One of the biggest changes HTC introduced with its Sense 5.0 software was BlinkFeed, which the company touted as a “personal live stream right on the home screen.” The feature was either loved or hated by many customers and reviewers, and it looks like HTC will be accommodating those who hate it with the upcoming Sense 5.5 update. Android Revolution HD has gotten ahold of several supposed screenshots of HTC’s Sense 5.5 update and if they are to be believed, there will now be a toggle on the homescreen to turn BlinkFeed on or off.
Also believed to be coming in Sense 5.5 are some new camera features. The leaked screenshots show two new shooting modes: Panorama+ and Dual Capture. It’s not entirely clear what these two modes will offer, but I imagine that Dual Capture will allow you to take pictures with the front and rear facing shooters at the same time, similar to what Samsung already offers.
Aside from those changes, Sense 5.5 doesn’t appear to be all that different from 5.0, with the task switcher showing bigger preview windows and some new emojis being available.