HTC Corporation

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mF0j02SuFw&feature=channel_video_title]

At the Beats Audio event in London, HTC unveiled the Sensation XL this afternoon — a massive device packing Beats audio. The XL name is definitely not exaggerating, seeing as the device features a whopping 4.7-inch display (you really see how big it is after the break). The device also ships with Beats Audio embedded and urBeats headphones, like its Sensation XE brethren.

Full specs for the device include a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm processor, Android 2.3.5 w/ Sense 3.5, 16 GB of internal memory, a 4.7-inch display (800 x 480), 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and 1600 mAH battery.

The Sensation XL lands in Europe sometime in November.  Check out Engadget’s hands-on after the break:

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The fine folks over at Android Police have discovered that many HTC devices have a huge security hole due to a recent Android update. The results are pretty shocking, and HTC has no one to blame but themselves. In a recent update, HTC included a set of logging tools that logs users email accounts, last known network and GPS connection, phone numbers that have been recently dialed, encoded SMS data (probably can be decoded), and system logs.

Okay so HTC logs all of this, what’s the big deal? The big deal is that any app that requests android.permission.INTERNET can get their hands on this information. Phones include the Thunderbolt, Evo 4G, Evo 3D, and more.

As of now, the only way to patch this hole is to root your device and remove /system/app/HtcLoggers.apk. If you’re not rooted, stay away from sketchy apps. As Android Police points out, even a high-quality app could still get their hands on this information. Android Police has all of the technical details.

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As noted on 9to5toys.com, Best Buy is selling the Virgin/Sprint LG Optimus V Android Smartphone for $100 without a plan. (Why?)  Yes, that means you can buy the Android 2.2 phone with 2GB of memory, GPS, Bluetooth and forgo the plan altogether.  Think of it as a cheap Galaxy Player for the kids.  But it is even better with Virgins simple, cheap all you can eat data plans.

I’ve used this phone and I like it a lot.  It doesn’t play Flash video, has a small 320×480 screen (Think iPhone 3GS), and doesn’t have a front side camera for video chatting, but it is very solid. It has a great GPS, makes calls well and Apps switch and open fast, in part because Virgin doesn’t do overlays.  I’ve recommended it to friends and family who have feature phones and want to step up to Smartphones without increasing their monthly costs.  In fact, many actually lower their costs by going on Virgin Mobile’s $25-$35/month all you can eat data/text and 300 minute plans.

But, at $99 without a plan, it is the first solid Android device in the US to break the $99 price point.  This trend may be more important than the next Galaxy or HTC 720P Androids or iPhones because it will get many more people on the mobile Internet.

Think about it. Where is the growth in the market? The latest Nielsen Data says that only 50-60% of Americans have Smartphones.  The other 40% could probably afford to get this device instead of their current feature phone without taking much of a hit on their monthly costs.  In fact, with the economy uncertain, a lot of post paid customers might want to chop their monthly bill in half with this little guy.
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So the war continues… Motorola has been around for quite a long time, so it’s no secret they have a pretty big patent portfolio. During a keynote at the Oppenhimer Technology & Commmunications conference Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha had this to say regarding their pool of patents:

I would bring up IP as a very important for differentiation (among Android vendors). We have a very large IP portfolio, and I think in the long term, as things settle down, you will see a meaningful difference in positions of many different Android players. Both, in terms of avoidance of royalties, as well as potentially being able to collect royalties. And that will make a big difference to people who have very strong IP positions.

To sum it up Jha and company may plan to collect royalties from other Android handset manufacturers like HTC, Samsung, etc.

Houston, we have a problem.

(TechCrunch, via Unwired View)

AT&T announced today that the HTC Status, or “Facebook Phone”, is going to be available July 17th for $49, on a 2 year contract (minimum $15 data plan). For those who can’t get enough of Facebook, the Status is available for pre-order today. The phone packs a designated Facebook button, QWERTY keyboard, 5-megapixel camera, and runs Android 2.3. Best Buy will be running a special promotion, offering an exclusive mauve color. For the younger crowd who can’t get enough of Facebook, this could be a great phone — and especially for the price tag. Hit up the press release after the break.

via BGR

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HTC announced via Facebook that they will be unlocking the bootloader on the global HTC Sensation at first, and then the HTC Sensation 4G on T-mobile and HTC EVO 3D on Sprint shortly after. An update will go out in August to prepare the three devices for the unlocking, but another update will go out in September to unlock the bootloader completely. HTC says more phones will come soon after. Check out HTC’s, and its CEO’s, comments below:

We’re thrilled to announce today that software updates to support bootloader unlocking will begin rolling out in August for the global HTC Sensation, followed by the HTC Sensation 4G on T-Mobile USA and the HTC EVO 3D on Sprint. We’re in the testing phase for the unlocking capability now, and we expect it to be fully operational by early September for devices that have received the software updates. We’ll continue rolling out the unlocking capability over time to other devices as part of maintenance releases and new shipments.

Peter Chou, HTC CEO:
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It is pretty desperate times over at Nokia which has lost significant amounts of its market cap Since new CEO Stephen Elop announced plummeting numbers for most of its Symbian Smartphones and dumbphone handsets earlier this week.  What does one expect when the CEO publicly executes its flagship Symbian product with nothing to replace it for almost a year?

The company is now worth $25B and Microsoft is said to be trying to by the mobile phone division for somewhere around $19B.  Nokia-Siemens and its other businesses would likely remain independent.

For Microsoft and Nokia, it seems like a pretty cozy deal.  Microsoft goes from building OSes to building experiences end to end, like Apple, RIM and HP.  Just like PlaysforSure->Zune

But what about Microsoft’s other partners in Windows Phone 7?  Samsung, who has created arguably the best WP7 device in the Focus, HTC who has a broad range of Windows Phone 7 devices, Acer and other players would be left out in the cold.  They won’t use WP7 when Microsoft is making hardware through its Nokia subsidy (again, just like Zune).  You can’t compete against the company that makes your software.

They’d all probably double down on Android at that point.  In fact, just reading the tea leaves now might have executives at those companies scaling back their Windows Phone 7 R&D.

A floundering Nokia tied up with Microsoft could be the best thing to happen to Android yet.

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Before it got pulled, TechHog showed off a picture of what they said was a Nexus 3 device that was to be made by HTC.  HTC obviously was the maker of the original Nexus One and has a pretty strong relationship with Google, even if it pays Microsoft patent fees for every Android device it ships.

Interestingly, the device above doesn’t have any permanent front facing buttons, much like the Honeycomb tablets that are being produced right now.

It stands to reason that software-only buttons will make their way down to phones in the next version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich, which will combine the Honeycomb tablet versions of the Tablet OS and the Gingerbread phone versions.  Ice Cream sandwich is due later this year and Andy Rubin claimed that a Ice Cream Sandwich reference device was in the works before Christmas.

Is this it?

Techhog says the images were pulled at the request of an outside petitioner, though it isn’t clear who it is.  Google and HTC are obvious suspects.
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While it isn’t officially official, HTC’s CEO Peter Chou has come out and said it would unlock all of its phone’s bootloaders.

Quote from HTC CEO Peter Chou: “There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we’ve listened. Today, I’m confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience.”

It will be interesting to see how the carriers react to this.  The Sprints and T-Mobiles likely will be ok with this (they carry the Nexus S afterall) but Verizon and AT&T?  That’s another story.  GDGT is awaiting clarity on those and other issues.  Expect a Press release from HTC soon.

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