HTC

Years after Android hit store shelves and even after the lengthy and sometimes arduous update process has been detailed, HTC releases a new infographic taking a look at the whole process from beginning to end.

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While the world may be looking at Samsung with loving eyes thanks to the wild success of the Galaxy line, I wouldn’t call 2013 the year of the Samsung. Instead, I’m prepared to give that title to the folks at Motorola with a dose of LG on the side. There’s little question that Motorola roared back this year with the Moto X and the Moto G just boosted their game at the very end of the year. That’s not to say LG didn’t have a great year, but with the success and great reviews of the Nexus 5 comes disappointing sales of their flagship the LG G2.

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To say that 2013 has been an interesting year in the world of Android would be putting it mildly, but has it really been a banner year? The release of Android-oriented products like Google Glass, Google Hangouts/revamp of Google+ and the beginnings of Google Retail led the way for a whole new approach for Google to take on the competition.

As we look back at the Android-based smartphones that launched in 2013, there isn’t any one handset that truly stands out as a market revolution. Instead, 2013 saw improvements and innovation on existing brands and lines that were already incredibly popular. For example, the Galaxy S 4 which kicks off our list below didn’t really raise the bar over the Galaxy S III in a truly big way, but it did improve on an already market-leading experience from the Galaxy S III.

So without further adieu, here are the 9to5Google’s top Android smartphone picks for 2013:
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When I wrote for Fortune in 2010 that inexpensive hardware would allow Android to ‘take over the world’, the concept of smartphones that were priced only slightly above feature phones was just starting to take hold.  Fast forward three years and Android has by some accounts cleared 80% of the world smartphone market. The low end of that Android spectrum, with the exception of a few mediocre handsets (LG’s Optimus line comes to mind), has been, frankly, a mess.

Today there is a truly great, inexpensive Android phone that costs less than $200 unsubsidized, and it is made by Google’s Motorola division.  I’ve tested the Moto G for the past week and a half and I love it. It could easily replace any high end handset on a day to day basis in terms of speed and functionality. The one caveat being the camera is mediocre, but still functional.

I’ll rundown the specs, but the important thing to consider is the price and positioning of Google (and believe me, this is a Google phone, not an old Motorola one).

The $179/$199 8GB/16GB Motorola G comes with a 4.5-inch 720P display, which isn’t the best by any means, but it also isn’t far from the best out there. I’ve argued for awhile that you can’t hardly make out the difference between 720P and 1080P on a display without some very close inspection. Even those with sub 20/20 vision don’t notice much day to day.

The G  has a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor which falls along the same lines: Not the best, but not far from it. It is a little heavier than what I’d now expect from a 4.5-inch display phone, but that heft is largely because of the all day 2,070 mAh battery.

This thing looks and behaves like a flagship Nexus phone…from last year – all the way down to the hardly-touched Android 4.3 interface. Motorola has promised some form of 4.4 Kitkat by the end of next month. With the veracity that they’ve been updating their Moto X handsets, I have little doubt that it will get done.

But what does this all mean? Why this phone at this price? Why now? 
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Via its official Twitter account, HTC USA has just announced that the unlocked and developer editions of its HTC One are now receiving the Android 4.4 KitKat update with Sense 5.5 on top (via Android Central). HTC says the rollout starts today, so it may take a few days for it to hit your respective phone, so be sure to remain patient.

HTC One Unlocked and Developer Edition owners – your Kit Kat roll out starts today! Let us know your favorite new additions. #KitKat #HTCOne

— HTC USA (@HTCUSA) November 29, 2013

As far as what’s new in Sense 5.5, we saw some new features in the update when screenshots leaked last month. Changes included some new camera modes, as well as the ability to easily turn off BlinkFeed.

It’s a good sign to see these two models getting updated relatively quickly, as it means that the US carrier variants shouldn’t be too far behind. 
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Oh Google, you’re so good sometimes when you let the world know that the HTC One Google Play edition isn’t the only device receiving KitKat today. According to the +Android page on Google+, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition is also beginning its Android 4.4 KitKat rollout.

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HTC’s holiday specials on the “top-rated” HTC One are kicking into gear with special offers for Sprint and Verizon customers. That’s not to say they are the best deals around, a title Amazon current holds if the HTC One is on your radar this week.

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HTC’s trend of Android update transparency continued yesterday with hints that Android 4.4 KitKat will arrive stateside on the HTC One before the end of January. In response to a customer inquiry, HTC’s @htcusa account responded “In North America, we plan to deliver Kit Kat (including Sense 5.5) to HTC One customers by the end of January.”

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As Verizon unveiled their shiny new concept store at Mall of America today, the company “accidentally” leaked the upcoming pricing of the HTC One Max. According to Nick Gray at HTC Source who was in attendance at the event, the image was displayed on a “massive interactive touch-screen” that featured both the device and the price.

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A newly leaked set of details courtesy of Twitter tipster @evleaks is hinting at what’s under the hood of the upcoming HTC M8. All things considered, there’s nothing earth-shattering or surprising about the device thus far with a rumored 5″ 1080p display, Android 4.4 KitKat onboard and powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor.

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A quick public service reminder for all you Sprint fans this morning as the HTC One Max hits store shelves this morning beginning at $149. Unfortunately, the surprise $149 price tag is for new customers only with existing Sprint subscribers forking over $249 for the chance to own HTC’s newest One device.

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Although no official launch date has been given for HTC’s new phablet, a Best Buy webpage suggests the HTC One Max will be available on Friday. It is priced at $249 with a two-year contract, and is available now for pre-order.

The device was officially announced a month ago, though we had a pretty good idea what to expect as long ago as July … 
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As I come up on a week of use with the LG Nexus 5, a few things become clear:

1. Tradeoffs were made to get this phone to $349. After some thought, I probably would have made the same decisions if $349 was my target price.
2. I hate carrier and manufacturer ‘improvements’ more than ever. Having a ‘pure Google‘ phone is liberating.
3. This will likely be my main Android phone for the next the year.
4. This won’t be a best seller, even if it should be because it is the best value phone we’ll see all year.

How did I draw these conclusions? Start the week ago flashback sequence…

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Even as HTC promises that next-year will see the return of lower cost handsets in an attempt to boost their fledgling business, the flagship successor to the One is also on the horizon. A tweet by @evleaks teases the HTC M8 for AT&T “unsurprisingly destined for AT&T, among others.” In a response to a secondary inquiry about a potential Verizon offering, the Twitter tipster responds that all four carriers should see a release by the end of the first quarter next year. Considering that all four national carriers carry the HTC One right now, it’s not inconceivable to think that the same will happen for its successor.

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The photographic qualities leave a lot to be desired, but if the Chinese forum Baidu is to be believed, this is the casing for HTC’s successor to the HTC One, codenamed the M8 (the HTC One was codenamed M7).

The hole above the camera is believed to be for a fingerprint sensor, already found in the HTC One Max. The rumor mill says the specs will be a Snapdragon 800 CPU with 3GB of RAM. Generally-reliable source @evleaks says it will be the first handset to run Sense 6.0 … 
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Poor HTC, they just can’t catch a financial break as the company warned its fourth quarter revenue will fall up to 15 percent below analyst estimates. The company briefed investors earlier today as it struggles to increase its estimated 2.6 percent of the global smartphone market.

HTC says they will look at releasing a broader product line, including more low-cost handsets as it aims for higher profitability into next year. “We’re looking at broader products in this quarter…we aim for higher volume into 2014 that will give better profitability,” company financial chief Chialin Chang said in the briefing, referring to more affordable smartphones. That move would be a sharp turnaround from HTC’s previous strategy of attempting to capture 20 percent of the high-end smartphone market in China.

Let’s be honest about HTC’s future and say that among other problems are marketing misfires that have cost the company mindshare. “Perhaps in the past we have not marketed ourselves that well,” Ben Ho, HTC’s chief of marketing, told Reuters in an October interview.

Is there anyone who ran out to purchase a HTC device based on the fact that Robert Downey Jr was peddling their products? I mean a tinfoil catamaran doesn’t exactly strike me as a winning formula for increasing sales. Ho would not rule out an increase to the marketing budget however, currently set around $1 billion. “We are in the process of tightening up and revamping a lot of things that we used to do.”

Unfortunately with the fourth quarter not looking to make things any better, HTC will need to explore more than just low-cost handset sales to try to win back the hearts and minds of customers flocking to Samsung products in droves. I’m not quite sure Iron Man is up to the challenge.

via Reuters

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has retained its title as winner of the highly-regarded Which? UK consumer association battery-life tests, despite competition from newer handsets. The S4 achieved call times 37 percent greater than its nearest rival, the HTC One. The results in web use were far closer, but the Samsung S4 took the lead there too.

The Galaxy S4 also won back in June, but retained its title in the face of new competition from the latest iPhones and an updated Nokia Lumia. Android handsets took the top three slots in call times, and the top four in web use …

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With Android 4.4 KitKat finally officially announced, many users now begin the agonizing process of waiting for their device to receive the update. As we are all well aware off, it can take a long time for Android updates to make their way to the majority of users. Things have started to improve recently, however, and with the release of Android 4.4, several manufacturers have already announced their upgrade plans. Here’s a running list of devices already confirmed to get the udpate along with release dates:
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Google, Samsung, and several other Android handset manufacturers are being sued by Rockstar, a consortium backed by Android competitors Microsoft and Apple, over alleged infringement of several search patents acquired by Rockstar from Nortel in 2011. Last year HTC reached a ten-year agreement with Apple as part of a patent infringement settlement. That deal would result in both companies licensing existing and future patents from one another, but it seems that agreement does not apply in this case.

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Photo: ibtimes.com

Samsung has beaten its earlier forecasts for both revenue and profit in Q3, reporting new records for both at $9.56B profit on revenues of $55.59B.

Samsung had earlier reported that it had sold more than 40 million Galaxy S4 handsets in the first six months, but advised today that most of its mobile growth was in lower-end models, while high-end growth is slowing … 
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