HTC

HTC’s financial bright spot last year came in the form of the One A9. However, the device was ultimately not able to make up for the declines that occurred the rest of the year. Ultimately, HTC’s revenue dropped 35% when compared to 2014.

Expand
Expanding
Close

In an effort to get customers entirely absorbed into their ecoystem in one fell swoop, HTC and Under Armor have today announced HealthBox. Although it may sound like the brand-name for some kind of nutritious lunch, it is in fact a system which ties together a smart scale, fitness band and heart-rate monitor with a smartphone app…

Expand
Expanding
Close

In 2015, the smartphone or, more specifically, the Android smartphone market reached tipping point. What you can get for your money now compared to 12 months ago is pretty astounding. It started with the sub $300 Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 in March, and ended with the $100 BLU phone equipped with a full HD screen. With 2016 almost here, we’re right in the thick of a race to the bottom, and the price drops are being driven primarily by Chinese companies.

If 2016 is the going to be the year of anything, it’ll be the year more western consumers will be handing over their hard-earned cash for something designed and made in China. These are the companies to watch:

Expand
Expanding
Close

A German court recently granted an injunction against HTC, and could lead to the Taiwanese manufacturer’s smartphones being taken off shelves in Germany. It’s not exactly the good news HTC was hoping for following a troubled year of slipping market share, dropping revenue and the lukewarm market response to its devices.

Wall Street Journal reports that a patent licensing firm named Acacia Research Group LLC won a lawsuit on November 27 which granted it an injunction against HTC smartphone sales through the country’s biggest telecommunications provider. HTC smartphones sold by Deutsche Telekom are expected to be pulled by the end of this month, although the manufacturer will be appealing to try to overturn the decision. HTC is understandably disappointed by the ruling, and is working with DT to ‘minimize disruption’ to its customers …

Expand
Expanding
Close

HTC has taken something of a new direction recently — following the likes of Huawei and OnePlus — in delivering premium-looking smartphones with mid-range prices. Its latest phone, the One A9 aims to deliver a flagship experience at a lower price. Its upcoming One X9 is likely to be a slight step down from that, but more importantly, it’s a step up and possibly step away from its plastic-body Desire range…

Expand
Expanding
Close

With Android Marshmallow having been announced more than two months ago, and released on new devices last month, now’s the time when Android owners start getting anxious about when they might see the latest version on their devices.

Most manufacturers have already announced that they will be rolling out Android 6.0. Some, like Motorola, have already started pushing it to customers while HTC was the first to launch a non-Nexus device with Android Marshmallow pre-loaded out of the box. For those with existing HTC phones, that won’t come as any comfort at all, but what might is a roadmap leaked by LlabTooFeR which shows which HTC phones are getting a taste of Marshmallow, and when the manufacturer has planned to push the updates…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Rumors surrounding HTC’s Android Wear smartwatch have been few and far between, but now notoriously reliable Twitter leakster Evan Blass has shared some detail. In a tweet this evening, Blass stated that HTC will launch its “One” Android Wear smartwatch this coming February.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Black Friday is upon us, and that means deals galore. As we mentioned in our gameplan for Apple buyers, though, the biggest “don’t” of Black Friday is to actually go to a physical store. To keep you in the comfort of your home today, we’ve pulled together all of the best deals for Google and Android fans — and all it takes is clicking a few buttons to have these products at your doorstep in a matter of days. Keep reading for the best Google-y Black Friday deals of 2015…
Expand
Expanding
Close

We can’t escape Black Friday, it’s all over social media and the blogosphere. But what we can do is hopefully make it a little easier for you to find the best deals. This list won’t include any old Android phones that are discounted. There are plenty out there which we wouldn’t touch even if we’re shopping for a bargain. Instead, this list is only populated with devices we’d recommend buying and are now even better value for money than they’ve ever been.

Here are some of the best deals on great Android smartphones that we know of:

Expand
Expanding
Close

UploadVR reports that Magic Leap has poached Jeff Gattis, the global marketing head of HTC’s Vive, a virtual reality headset expected to ship by the end of the year.

Comments made by Gattis add fuel to speculation that Magic Leap’s own VR headset is close to launch, but also suggest that it is significantly more advanced than the HTC product he’s been pushing for the past eight months … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

It seems HTC isn’t quite done this year, as the One X9 looks to be close to a launch sometime sin the near future. As we suspected when rumored (unbelievable) specs were published, it’s not going to be competing with the next year’s flagships, but is built to compete with large mid-tier Android phones…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Update: A new leak corroborates the front design of the A9, although the back makes it look a lot like the Huawei Nexus 6P. Image at the bottom of this post.

Having recently launched the iPhone-lookalike One A9, HTC looks set to release yet another One-series phone. A leaked press image on Weibo suggests that HTC will be releasing a new phone with BoomSound speakers in tow. The One X9 poster uses typically vague strap lines like ‘pursuit of brilliance’ and ‘packed with city smarts’, right in line with what we expect from most manufacturers. Given its in English (and assuming it’s genuine) it hints at a launch in English-speaking markets…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Following the revelation that Android 6.0 Marshmallow is currently running on just 0.3 percent of devices, the update appears to have started rolling out to at least one more device this evening. According to a handful of postings on the XDA Developer forums, the Google Play Edition HTC One M8 has started receiving Android 6.0.

Expand
Expanding
Close

HTC’s launch of the One A9 has caught the attention of many. The company insists that the latest mid-tier device isn’t an iPhone copy, despite the fact that — from almost every angle — it looks like one. Having spent time with it, we agree in many ways. Even if it is, the very fact it runs Android 6.0 is a big enough differentiating factor. Still, the Taiwanese manufacturer isn’t helping itself by releasing its latest advertising campaign.

The latest full length ad, named ‘Be Brilliant’ has a clear message: Be Different. Sound familiar?

Expand
Expanding
Close

Discussing Q3 net losses equivalent to $139M – amounting to a painful 23.1% of revenues – HTC has given up on trying to predict its financial future. According to a tweet by the WSJ‘s Eva Dou, the company refused to give any Q4 guidance during today’s earnings call, and said that it will not be doing so for future quarters.

While the loss isn’t as bad as the $265M it made in the previous quarter thanks to ruthless cost-cutting measures, revenues are down and the loss as a percentage of revenue is up – leading some to question whether the company has a future … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Unfortunately I don’t have too much to add on the experience of the HTC One A9 first look I posted last week. A TL;DR is that it looks a lot like an iPhone but nevertheless is a solid usable device with very respectable features at a very reasonable (although temporary) $399 price. The downsides are that it isn’t top-of-line specs, camera is just good (but not great), and of course HTC Sense and all the carrier garbage is still going to likely be on the phone you get (unless you opt for the unlocked version).

But really the One A9 is breaking new ground for HTC…
Expand
Expanding
Close