Let’s face it, the last few years haven’t exactly been easy for HTC. While 2011 was awful, 2012 certainly looked a bit more optimistic and ended on a high note with the release of the HTC Droid DNA and HTC Butterfly.

Now it is 2013, and that begs the question – can HTC regain lost glory with the release of its next generation HTC One handset?

HTC One – What We Know

The HTC One, aka HTC M7, isn’t exactly a well kept secret. We’ve seen leaked photos, benchmarks and just about everything under the sun. In fact, today’s HTC event might only bring us confirmation of the handset and nothing else new, considering just how much has been leaked already.

Okay, so what kind of firepower does the HTC One pack? More than likely, we are looking at a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. Other specs include 32GB of storage, 13MP rear-cam, 2MP front cam and a 2,300 mAh battery. As for the display, a 5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display will grace the device.

There is no denying that these specs are solid, but is it enough?

HTC One – Tough Competition Ahead

HTC has arguably always done a good job when it comes to aesthetics. They have solid phones that have very pleasing designs, whether you like other aspects like HTC Sense or not.

Phone designs don’t seem to be the company’s problem. Their problem is that they have ran into pretty serious competition that tends to hog the spotlight and push them aside. Unfortunately, 2013 doesn’t seem to be any different.

With continued rumors of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the recently unveiled LG Optimus G Pro, the HTC One might have a hard time standing out. Let’s also not forget about the strong hype surronding the Sony Xperia Z and ZL.

HTC One – Confusion in the Name

Competition might not be the only problem for the HTC One, marketing confusion could also lend to the struggle. While I think the name HTC One sounds fitting enough, it has been used by quite a few HTC models already.

When an average consumer goes to the store, will they understand that the HTC One is BETTER than the HTC One X? Good advertising through television and other sources can certainly help remove some of that confusion, but nonetheless it could be an issue.

HTC One – Standing Out

The big question is whether or not HTC can get past the confusion of the name, the mixed reputation of their Sense UI and find a way to stand out above the competition. That’s a tough question to answer.

Even if the HTC One looks suspiciously like what would happen if the Blackberry Z10 and iPhone 5 had a baby, it’s a sexy handset. Knowing HTC, it will also be solid when it comes to build quality, and the specs are pretty cutting-edge, even if not utilizing next-gen Qualcomm or Nvidia chips.

But what does HTC have that can make it stand out against Apple, Samsung or even LG? These brands have more marketing power and plenty of hype on their side, but ultimately I think that HTC has what it takes with the HTC One to make a fairly big splash. The groundwork is laid, now it comes down to presentation. HTC needs to deliver a great — no epic  – show today.

They need to get the press excited, and by extension get the online readers buzzing about it as well. From there, they need to be very aggressive about marketing.

If HTC can do that, all while bringing the phone out far enough ahead of the Optimus G Pro, Galaxy S4 and next iPhone – they have a shot. Even with the Galaxy S4 around the corner, there are many HTC fans (and former fans) out there that truly want the HTC One to be everything we hope it is, and these folks would be more than willing to purchase the One, if HTC can sell it to them with enough passion and conviction.

Even if the HTC One is a homerun for HTC, will it instantly recover the company? No, even the recent success of the Nokia Lumia line hasn’t completely turned Nokia around, but it has helped them get back on the right path. Now is the time for HTC’s star to shine bright, or to dim out for good. Your call HTC.

What do you think, can the HTC One and the company’s other offerings in 2013 help set the company back on the path to a comeback or is to late for HTC to regain what has been lost?

The post Can HTC Reclaim What Has Been Lost with the HTC One? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The official Google Android Developers blog has recently published a requirement that all manufacturers include the default Holo theme in their Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) devices. It goes something like this:

Android 4.0 showcases the Holo theme family, further refined since its debut in Android 3.0. [...] In Android 4.0, Holo is different. We’ve made the inclusion of the unmodified Holo theme family a compatibility requirement for devices running Android 4.0 and forward. If the device has Android Market it will have the Holo themes as they were originally designed.

Translating these statements from Googlese, it means that if manufacturers won’t comply to this requirement of inclusion of this compulsory Holo theming as default. In its turn, it means that instead of their own, quite incompatible with Android 4.0 theming (think about Samsung’s TouchWiz, HTC’s Sense UI, and others) such “fragmented” devices either won’t get a license for official Android 4.0, or at least won’t get access to Google’s Android Market and Google Apps. Or both.

There’s a plenty of discussion of how third-party app developers can still do well making their apps based either on Holo framework, or, with some streamlining, on modified 3rd party “theming” of a Sence UI sort. My take on these long-winded arguments about how good and useful 3rd party theming would be if based on Holo are totally missing the point. Google just takes the fight with fragmentation of their Android ecosystem to the birthplace of this fragmentation: device manufacturers and carriers. Sure,  official Android Developers goes as far as this:

“We have no desire to restrict manufacturers from building their own themed experience across their devices. In fact we’ve gone further to make this even easier. In Android 4.0’s API (level 14) we’ve added a new public theme family to complement the Holo family introduced in Android 3.0: DeviceDefault. DeviceDefault themes are aliases for the device’s native look and feel. The DeviceDefault theme family and widget style family offer ways for developers to target the device’s native theme with all customizations intact.

Just take it with a grain of salt. The real importance is: nolo Holo — nolo ICS to you.

The post Holo Everywhere appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Here’s a bit of what HTC has to say on the three:

HTC Desire S
As a successor to the popular and award-winning HTC Desire, the new HTC Desire S blends stunning design with power and speed. Inspired by the HTC Legend smartphone’s aluminium design, the HTC Desire S is sculpted out of a single block of aluminum making it feel solid and natural in your hand. With Qualcomm’s new 1GHz Snapdragon MSM8255 processor, the HTC Desire S offers snappy performance and power. It offers dual front and back cameras, High-Definition video recording and the 3.7-inch WVGA display presents multimedia content brilliantly.

HTC Wildfire S
Building on the popularity of the HTC Wildfire smartphone, the HTC Wildfire S smartphone is an affordable, compact and playful device that packs a powerful smartphone experience. It enables people to maintain and build connections and friendships through popular sites like Facebook, as well as through voice and text messaging. You can instantly tag your friends in photos before posting them on Facebook, or share your latest discoveries from the Android™ Market at the touch of a button.

HTC Wildfire S is one of HTC’s smallest phones ever – measuring just 10.13cm long and 5.94cm wide – and boasts a distinctive 3.2 inch, HVGA display.

Celebrate your individuality and choose from a wide variety of colors including black, purple and white. The phone’s home screen is fully customizable with your favorite apps, widgets and content, while a 5-megapixel color camera with auto focus, expandable microSD memory and support for a variety of audio and video formats make a great all-around multimedia device that slips easily into any pocket.

HTC Incredible S
The alluring HTC Incredible S smartphone combines cutting-edge design with a premium mobile experience for those who dare to be different. Showing what can be achieved when engineers and designers work together to raise the bar for mobile phone design, the HTC Incredible S smartphone features a stunning, contoured body that highlights the internal hardware components of the device. Capturing and viewing video in crystal clear High-Definition has never been so easy and a bright 4-inch WVGA Super LCD display and stereo surround sound bring a vibrant cinematic experience to the palm of your hand.

HTC Incredible S also takes high quality pictures with its 8-megapixel camera with dual flash, and it easily enables videos, photos and music to be shared from the handset direct to a TV using DLNA technology. Thanks to the HTC Incredible S’s front facing camera and video call functionality, users will constantly be able to chat with their friends face-to-face.

The post HTC Unviles Desire S, Wildfire S and Incredible S appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

This comes ahead of the Mobile World Congress that’s set to take place next month. The pics were snapped in a Taipei subway station and the yet-unnamed device looks quite a bit like the old Nexus One, except without the little trackball thing in the bottom.

What we can see is a front-facing camera (complete with chrome ring) near the earpiece and an obvious installation of Google Android. Yes, HTC is dabbling in Windows Phone 7 these days too, but The Googs is still HTC’s bff, at least in the short term.

If this is the same buttonless HTC phone that was seen in the other leak, then it’ll likely have the same Droid Incredible-styled backplate too. Not that I’m complaining. It gave the phone a distinct personality, don’t you think?

[Mobile01]

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This would effectively miss the LTE rollout with Verizon Wireless, which is currently set to happen before the end of the year. At the same time, HTC has not confirmed who its initial LTE partner will be in the United States either. AT&T is planning to do the LTE thing about halfway through 2011; that timing would be closer to HTC’s timetable.

Considering how proud HTC was to launch the first 4G (WiMAX) phone in the United States with the HTC Evo 4G through Sprint, I’m thinking they’d want to be the first with LTE in our part of the world too. Interestingly, HTC is not saying whether the first LTE handset will be an Android or Windows Phone device.

Speaking of Windows Phone 7, HTC head honcho Peter Chou said that the company’s first WP7 device will not have the “complete Sense experience” that we enjoy on its Android phones. The “HTC experience” will come over time, partly because of Microsoft’s UI restrictions. Until I get a real taste of vanilla WP7, I’ll reserve judgement on what a Sense’d version of it should look like.

The post First LTE smartphone from HTC scheduled for 2011 release appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

As much as I like having a large touchscreen for movie-watching and web-surfing, I’m stil partial to devices with hardware keyboards. That’s partly why the Lexikon is a little more appealing, thanks to its (slide-out?) QWERTY keyboard, along with the 3.8-inch WVGA display.

Other specs include the 512MB RAM, MSM7630 chipset (800Mhz), Froyo, 5MP camera, HTC Sense 1.6, and 4GB of internal memory. It’s like getting the HTC Droid Incredible, but with a hardware keyboard.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the only “good” phones you could find with Verizon were those messaging phones with V CAST integration. Subscribers with Big Red saw greener pastures with the iPhone on AT&T, yearning for something better. And then the DROID invasion began and things have looked great since. The Lexikon looks pretty good to me.

[ Droid Life]

The post HTC Lexikon adds QWERTY to Droid Incredible appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The HTC Desire HD has been unveiled today, and it appears to be a slightly upgraded EVO 4G that will be for European and Asian markets.

The specs are nearly identical to the EVO 4G, with a 4.3-inch display, 8MP camera, dual flash, 720p HD video recording, and all the other bells and whistles but adding 50% more storage and memory. It will be available in Europe and Asia next month, but no North American release has been announced. For more exciting news, check the HTC Desire Z.

The post HTC Desire HD (EVO 4G upgraded) unveiled appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Well, sort of. Not really. There’s an announcement that came out this week about the three new plans, but Rogers isn’t exactly forthcoming with what these plans will entail. Instead, they’re just saying it’s part of the “Social View” feature.  My suspicions lead me to believe that these services are available somewhere already, and many people are using it, it’s just called Android.

In short, the Rogers “Social View” is a pre-installed feature on select smartphones that will bring together “your contacts’ updates from popular social networks. It also includes a display of recent traditional communications such as texts, calls and instant messages from your contacts.”  Does that sound familiar to you? It should. It’s the same philosophy that seems to be happening with phones like the Palm Pre and Microsoft Kin. On the Rogers front, it seems to be treading in the same territory as HTC Sense, Motorola MOTOBLUR, and Sony Ericsson TimeScape.

The three new plans are called Unlimited Social Addict Plan, Unlimited Socialite Plan, and Unlimited Social Master Plan. So, they’re all unlimited, but in different ways? That’s some strange naming scheme you have, Rogers, are you trying to pull a fast one on us?

The phones that this “new service” is built into are the LG Eve, HTC Magic, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, and up and coming Motorola Quench and Acer Liquid E.

The post Rogers announces three new “Social View” plans, no details appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

HTC Incredible, aka Incredible

Your search for a super powerful smartphone on a reliable network just may be coming to an end. This announcement comes completely out of left field, but it seems that the sultry HTC Incredible will be making its way to Verizon by the end of the month. To match up with its stablemates, the phone is changing names to the Droid Incredible by HTC.

This way, the “Droid” naming scheme can remain intact over at Verizon Wireless for all of its Google Android smartphones. You already have the Motorola Droid and the Droid Eris, so why not throw in the Droid Incredible too.

On paper, the Droid Incredible is exactly that: incredible. You can expect a large 3.7-inch WVGA OLED capacitive touchscreen display to go along with the peppy 1GHz Snapdragon QSG8650 processor. It’ll be powered by Android 2.1 with the HTC Sense UI being laid on top of it. Rounding out the feature set are an 8MP camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

Verizon hasn’t come forward with pricing information yet, but a pre-order page has been set up for the Droid Incredible by HTC. They say it’s coming soon and the “next chapter in the Droid saga begins April 29th.” That’s in two weeks!

The post Verizon picks up HTC Incredible, rebrands it as Droid Incredible appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The HTC HD2 will be on T-Mobile USA starting March 24th - Photo: Flickr

Taiwan-based HTC Corporation brought the HD2 to the shores of North America just a few months after it was available in Europe and Hong Kong. An announcement of its unveiling was reported to us for March 16th, that date has come, and the successor to the HTC Touch HD is officially coming to T-Mobile March 24.

With the HTC HD2 being a pioneer of sorts. It was the first Windows Mobile phone with a touch interface and the second smart phone with the 1GHZ Snap Dragon processor, which makes it incredibly fast. The question is why is a smartphone that is known to have a few bugs in it, for starters a camera defect on some units, now a part of T-Mobile’s product line? It hasn’t received an upgrade to Windows Mobile 7 yet. You’re going to have to deal with the older and chunkier Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system perhaps indefinitely.

Some companies expand their product mix downwards wanting a share of middle income consumers that will buy the new phone. Not too different from Marriott’s more “affordable” line of Hotels. Not every phone on the market can be a Nexus One.

But HTC HD2 cannot be denied one compliment, and that being it is one handsome looking smart phone. This is what makes it a Shakespearean tragedy. All the personality in the world with its specimen of glass, plastic and aluminum surface but doomed because of its lack of OS updates. It’s quite a large one too, and you’re most definitely going to need both hands free while operating it – keeping your coffee hand a little busier than usual.

T-Mobile just announced pricing and a release date (March 24th), it comes with a charger, micro USB cable, headset and memory card, and at $200 (on a two-year plan) the HD2 might be your phone of choice. But different strokes for different folks. If the HTC Sense user interface is what you’re after this could be your phone, and that alone might just make it an enjoyable experience for you.

The post HTC HD2 confirmed for T-Mobile – perhaps a little too late? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.