LlabTooFeR on Twitter, an account known for reliably leaking many HTC handset details, has come out to give a little smidgen of confirmation to the super-sketchy rumors we saw about HTC-made Nexus devices earlier this week. While it’s not surprising for HTC to be making some Nexus devices in one sense (they were Google’s first Nexus partner, after all), it’s interesting considering Google’s new buddy-buddy relationship with Huawei…
Update: HTC has sent a note to investors refuting rumors that it will spin-off the Vive to a separate company owned wholly by Cher Wang.
“Recent media reports in Taiwan, such as by United Evening News, stating that Cher Wang is planning to spin off HTC’s VR operations into an independent entity that will be wholly owned by Wang is incorrect.
HTC will continue to develop our VR business to further maximize
value for shareholders.”
A report from Focus Taiwan this morning claims that HTC is seriously considering, even planning, to spin-off its virtual reality efforts in to a separate independent company. If HTC goes ahead with the plans, it could mean we’ll eventually start seeing headsets like the Vive launch without HTC’s branding on them…
On the heels of showing off a second development kit at CES last week, HTC has announced that pre-orders for the Vive will officially start on February 29th. The price of the virtual reality headset will also be announced closer to the date and shipping is still scheduled for sometime in April.
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.
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…
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:
HTC has finally launched the long-rumored One X9 in China, and it boasts some pretty decent specs in a package which costs 2399 Yuan, or roughly $370 USD when converted. There’s very little revealed about the device that we didn’t already know, and we’re unsure if/when the phone will be launched in the US or other international markets.
Like the One A9, the latest smartphone from HTC features an all-metal body, but with a separate pill-shaped panel housing the camera on the back. The manufacturer claims it takes over 300 hours of work and more than 50 individual processes to make the unibody metal chassis. The company is also keen to boast the return of capacitive buttons on the front panel, which avoids the virtual buttons onscreen taking up valuable display real estate.
With the One X9 and One A9 both featuring premium all-metal build, and being obvious mid-tier devices, it’s clear HTC is moving away from its insistence on releasing plastic devices in the mid-range market. Whether or not this means the death of the Desire range is yet to be seen. It seems an obvious move given the rise of cheaper metal alternatives from manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi and BLU.
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 …
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…
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…
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.
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:
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…
HTC has kicked off its special 24-hour holiday deals today, offering up to 30% off all of its products. Customers who order phones or accessories from HTC’s official online store can get either 15%, 20% or 30% discount, depending on how much they spend. As you’d expect, the more you spend, the more discount you get. Here’s how it breaks down:
Spend $650 or more and get 30% off your order
Spend $400 or more and get 20% off your order
Spend $200 or more and get 15% off your order
As an example, you’d get about $100 off the $499 list price for the newly released One A9. Buy it together with the $180 Desire 626 and you’ll break the $650 barrier and receive a discount of just over $200, practically giving you the Desire 626 for free.
There are no special all CAPS codes to copy and paste at checkout. Add items to your basket as usual — anytime before midnight Pacific tonight, November 1oth — and you’ll get any qualifying discount added automatically. The deal is valid between 9pm Pacific last night and 11:59 Pacific tonight, and applies to any order up to $2000 before shipping and taxes. Orders have to be shipped to a valid address in the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia.
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…
HTC has announced that its latest device, the One A9, is now officially available to buy in stores and online. The phone comes in Opal Silver, Carbon Gray, Deep Garnet and Topaz Gold and can be purchased direct from HTC, AT&T or Sprint, and is also available as an unlocked international version on Amazon.
The smartphone has caused a little controversy since being announced just a few weeks ago. Many think it looks too much like an iPhone and HTC did itself no favors with the 1984-inspired advertisement. Still, the phone sounds promising enough, even if it is more expensive than we’d like.
The $400 (for a limited time) handset has a full HD 5-inch AMOLED display which HTC claims is bright, even in sunlight. It’s equipped with a fast fingerprint scanner, and is coated in 2.5D edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass. Inside, there’s an octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor with 3GB and 32GB internal storage. Because it runs Marshmallow 6.0, you can use the expandable storage for more than just storing media. You can extend storage up to 2TB via MicroSD and us it to store app data too. Other key specs include a 13MP camera with sapphire cover lens, 1080p video and autofocus on the back and a front facing UltraPixel camera.
If you’re dead set on getting HTC’s latest phone, you have a few purchasing options. You can buy it from AT&T for $99 on a two-year plan, or $17.34 on the Next 30 plan. On Sprint, the phone is $0 up front and $20 per month on a two-year lease. On Amazon, there are several unlocked international models available. The 16GB phones cost $488.90, while the 32GB ones are $529. HTC’s site still lists the phone as available on pre-order for $399, but that price will be upped to $499 shortly.
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?
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).
When HTC originally unveiled the One A9 last week it announced a price of $399 in the Untied States, but with denotation saying it was a “Limited time, promotional offer.” This evening, the company has come out and confirmed that the price of the device will increase sooner rather than later.
HTC said in a statement that regional sales teams have the ability to set prices independently of other areas, hence why the device is so much cheaper here in the United States than in Europe. As far as that “limited time, promotional offer” goes, HTC says the sale will end on November 7th. At that time, the price of the A9 will increase to $499.99 in the United States.
“The cost of the HTC One A9 is the same worldwide to all distributors and operator partners. For end consumers, HTC’s sales regions are given the freedom to set prices and promotions as they see fit for local market needs. The One A9 price in the US is a very limited-time promotional offer for that region’s online store, as well as select HTC-only franchise stores. The offer is a special promotional pre-sale and is expected to conclude once the One A9 is available on-shelf at major retail and distributor partners.
After the promotional pre-sale offer ends, the new price in the US at htc.com will be $499.99 beginning 12:01 a.m. on 11/7.”
You can read our early thoughts on the HTC One A9 here and decide if it’s worth the money for you.
I’ve had the HTC One A9 in my hands for a few days but didn’t want to give my initial thoughts until the Taiwanese smartphone maker pushed an update fix to the Android 6.0 phones yesterday.
I’ll get the obvious out of the way right off the bat: Yes, for better or worse, it looks like an iPhone 6. Sure, HTC invented the antenna strips with the M7 a few years ago and there are significant differences like the size (5-inches, halfway between the iPhone and iPhone Plus models) camera placement at the center top as opposed to corner and oval fingerprint reader instead of Apple’s circle. But the rounded edges speaker grill, colors and other design tweaks look way too much like the iPhone.
In fact, I’ve mistaken the A9 for my iPhone on a few occasions over the past few days and the A9 is black and my iPhone is white/silver! The iPhone resemblance is a big bummer because HTC has long taken pride in their distinctive, if not overly-heavy, phone designs.
Now that that’s out of the way, there are plenty of things to like about the new One A9, including the size as I mentioned before being right in between the two iPhone models. For me, 5 inch screens is the sweet spot, no question. HTC has removed most of everything else around the screen so this is really a svelte phone. The curves feel great in the hand, the buttons are placed perfectly. The power button has a distinct feel so you won’t mistakenly hit it when you are trying to turn up the volume.
