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577 'HTC' stories May 2011 - August 2015
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Claimed leaked photos of HTC Aero/A9, echoing iPhone 6, likely fake

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 25 2015 - 4:15 am PT
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htc-aero-leak

With HTC’s CEO Cher Wang having promised a new “hero product” in October, there have been a series of rumors about a new high-end smartphone variously labelled as the HTC Aero or HTC A9. Little is known at this stage, but a claimed photo of the device is currently doing the rounds – depicting a device bearing a marked resemblance to the iPhone 6.

It’s not impossible it’s genuine. While similar to the iPhone 6, the overall design is also not too dissimilar to the existing HTC One M9. As Tom Maxwell observed recently, the converged designs of modern smartphones is one of the reasons it can be difficult to tell fakes from the real thing.

 

But this photo does seem sketchier than most because it looks exactly like a fake image that appeared yesterday. That one was simply an iPhone 6 photo with the Apple logo replaced by an HTC one and a bit of tinkering with the camera. Given today’s photo appears to show exactly the same design, and is very low-quality, we’re taking it with a rather generous helping of salt.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G4 (unlocked) $420, Free $100 Google Play GC w/ HTC One M9 purchase, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 24 2015 - 12:24 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals

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Brand new LG G4 32GB 4G LTE smartphone (unlocked): $420 shipped (Reg. $550+)

$100 Google Play™ Credit | HTC United States 2015-08-24 14-06-01

HTC is offering a free $100 Google Play gift card with the purchase of an HTC One M9

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Giveaway: Jaybird’s new X2 Bluetooth earbuds are the ultimate workout counterpart ($180 value)

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Canon T5 DSLR w/ 18-55mm lens kit (refurb w/ 1 yr warranty): $250 shipped (Orig. $549)

More new gear from today:

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Daily Deals: JBL Micro II Portable Speaker $15, Mophie 1,300mAh Power Reserve with Lightning $14, more

More deals still alive:

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Beats Studio Wireless headphones: Titanium $230 (Reg. $380), Blue $264 (Reg. $380)

New products & more:samsung-smartthings-hub-new-02

Samsung SmartThings hub comes next month with Amazon Echo-powered voice control support

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Tile announces a new generation of its Bluetooth tracker

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Quick Review: The Conway Electric Extō Dual-USB is the envy of all power strips

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Samsung is showing ads to device owners through push notifications

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 21 2015 - 10:04 am PT
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Not you too, Samsung. After reporting early this month that HTC was sending advertisements to owners of its devices through push notifications, it appears that Samsung is doing something similar.

Android Police is today reporting that owners of Samsung devices have reached out to the site to share with them screenshots of ads appearing in the slide-down menu that includes all their notifications. The ads — one for the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is pictured — appear inside cards that looks just like every other notification. They’re delivered via the Samsung Push Service, a piece of software Samsung pre-installs on its Android devices to send helpful information to device owners. Not exactly helpful this time, though.

We weren’t terribly surprised when HTC started doing this, being in the kind of financial straits they are, but it’s definitely surprising coming from a technology giant like Samsung. The company’s software is already notoriously bloated and known to kill running apps a little too quickly, so this is just another blow for a company that has only just began to produce great phones again after an uninteresting Galaxy S5.

Aside from people just not liking ads in general, much of the frustration here centers around the distrust it creates. While we pay for cable television and still see ads there, it hasn’t become acceptable practice to see ads in and around the gadgets we buy with our hard earned money. Hopefully OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) don’t think they can make it okay.

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Verizon’s HTC One M9 is receiving Android 5.1 tomorrow

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 19 2015 - 7:58 pm PT
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Good news for owners of the HTC One M9 on Verizon: Tomorrow the Taiwanese company is pushing Android Lollipop 5.1 to the flagship device. The news comes straight from Mo Versi, HTC’s VP of Product Management:

[tweet https://twitter.com/moversi/status/634105557234769920 align=’center’]

The update includes all the standard bug fixes and operating systems improvements that are baked into 5.1 — like improved Quick Settings and the new Device Protection tool — as well as a patch for the nasty Stagefright exploit. The 3 and 7 bands have also been activated, useful for when you find yourself roaming internationally.

Keep in mind that just because it begins rolling out over-the-air tomorrow, that doesn’t mean you’ll receive it right away. It could take a few days, and just to be sure the update hasn’t reached your device yet you can check for it manually by visiting Settings > About phone > System updates.

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Opinion: Fake HTC leak proves smartphones have become totally commoditized

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 19 2015 - 9:43 am PT
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Vice president of market research firm IDC Bryan Ma speaking to CNBC last week after Samsung’s unveiling of the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+:

If you look at the rest of the Android space, admittedly even the stuff they announced last night, it kinda just blends in with the rest of the market. I don’t know if there was that much that differentiated it from the rest of the pack aside from some minor features. And that’s what’s hitting other players like HTC… It’s really just the case where a lot of these products are becoming a lot of the same thing.

I’m not trying to be a negative nancy here, but to prove Ma’s statements here look no further than the “leak” of a purported new HTC phone that spread around the blogosphere this morning (mockup turned out to be one that popular leaker @evleaks created back in 2013). 6-inch display, 4GB RAM, 3,500mAh battery capacity, water-resistance, extremely thin bezel, similar rear design to every other flagship HTC smartphone from the past few years — nothing outlandish, nothing hard to believe.

And that’s kind of the point. It’s so easy to make up a spec sheet like this out of thin air, and there wouldn’t be many around to doubt that HTC might make another phone with just marginal changes. I could have made up a spec sheet in real-time as I wrote the post about it and mine would’ve been similar to the one that spread around this morning.

Not that this lack of annual user-facing revolutionary hardware changes is a bad thing….
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Mid-range HTC Desire 526 available on Verizon tomorrow, Desire 626 in coming weeks

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 12 2015 - 1:58 pm PT
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We’ve already learned about beleaguered HTC’s plan to introduce several new mid-range Desire smartphones to North America across every major carrier, and since the announcement a month ago they’ve slowly teased out exactly which variants each participating carrier will get. Now we know Verizon Wireless will begin selling the Desire 526 tomorrow and the 626 sometime soon.

The HTC Desire 526 (top right in the above picture) is exclusive to Verizon and features a 4.7-inch qHD display (so, approximately 540p resolution), 8MP rear-facing and 2MP front-facing cameras, a Snapdragon 210 processor, and 1.5GB of RAM. It notably has quite a deep-curved bezel. We don’t know much else about the phone except that it will be available tomorrow in-stores and online for a whopping full retail price of $120. It’s available as both a prepaid and postpaid phone.

The Desire 626 is a bit of a step up from the 526, sporting a larger 5-inch, 720p display, 8MP rear-facing and 5MP front-facing cameras, and a quad-core Snapdragon processor. It also has a 2,000mAh battery and the storage can be increased through the microSD card tray. No information on RAM size, though, or availability and pricing for that matter save for an “in the coming weeks” notice. Like the 526, it will be available to both prepaid and postpaid customers.

Those interested in the Desire 626 should check out our unboxing and hands-on with the device. We don’t have a similar video for the 526, but we can’t imagine the 626 would be that much more expensive, and based on spec sheets alone we’d highly recommend choosing it over the 526.

 

HTC One Max fingerprint sensor data left unsecured for apps to see

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 11 2015 - 3:19 am PT
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A report from FireEye Labs (a security firm) reveals that some smartphones with fingerprint sensors aren’t as secure as we’d like them to be. The one device named specifically was the HTC One Max which was supposed to store fingerprint data in a secure enclave that no one could get to. Turns out, that wasn’t the case and any app could have potentially gained access to the fingerprint data and even recreated a bitmap image of the fingerprints stored. Thankfully, HTC fixed the gaping hole “in all regions” before the report went public.

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FireEye shared images they managed to gain access to inside the HTC One Max, and cropped them to protect the identity of the owners. What you see to the left is just a small portion of someone’s fingerprint. Data obtained through the One Max’s supposedly ‘secure’ enclave. If there’s one small comfort to be taken from this, it’s that the HTC One Max isn’t the most popular phone around, and by now, it’s also relatively old. What’s more, HTC told The Verge that the flaw was only present in the HTC One Max, and doesn’t effect any of its other phones or devices.

While the One Max is the only device specifically named in the vulnerability report, the company does suggest devices from other manufacturers suffer(ed) with the same issue. What’s more, another issue present in a number of devices was a vulnerability which could potentially allow any app to interrupt the fingerprint scanning process as a user was using the sensor. If taken advantage of, this would see software with the ability to take fingerprint data as it’s being read, in real-time.

All devices mentioned (including the Galaxy S5) and others hinted at, have all be locked down since the vulnerability was discovered. When it comes to fingerprint data, we like to think that the information is being treated with paramount focus. Once someone gets your fingerprint data, there’s not a lot you can do about it. You can’t change it like a PIN, password or pattern.

HTC is now effectively worthless following stock dive

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 10 2015 - 6:52 am PT
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HTC‘s stock has taken such a dive in recent months that, this morning, the company’s market value is now less than the cash it has on hand. In its most recent earnings, the Taiwanese manufacturer stated that it had NT$47.2 billion (New Taiwanese Dollar) cash. Today, its market price dropped to NT$47 billion, effectively making the company worthless to shareholders.

Originally reported by Bloomberg, this is a pretty damning turn of events for HTC. One analyst from Sinopac Financial Holdings stated that “HTC’s cash is the only asset of value to shareholders.” So its other assets like buildings and factories are worth nothing. What’s more, investors clearly aren’t confident in the future of the company either. A feeling perhaps based on this year’s flagship model, the HTC One M9, being just a modest upgrade to last year’s all-metal smartphone. And also the fact that now, lesser-known Chinese manufacturers are on the rise and capable of producing competitive smartphones at much lower prices.

HTC’s approach to dealing with this almost-collapse is to cut costs by focussing on the high end of the market where margins are higher. It’s a bold move, and one that might backfire for the company. Especially if the next few flagship devices continue to lose out heavily to the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy series. In my mind, the solution would be to ensure it has fewer items in its inventory and ensure supply doesn’t massively outweigh demand like it does currently.

How this turns out for HTC isn’t something easily predicted, but right now, it’s not looking so good for the company that once churned out hits like the popular Evo handset in 2010.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG Optimus Exceed 2 $15, Canon T5 w/ lens kit (refurb) $252, HTC One M9 (unlocked) $380, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 6 2015 - 12:36 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

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Verizon Wireless Prepaid LG Optimus Exceed 2: $15 (Reg. $70)

Canon’s refurbished T5 DSLR w/ 18-55mm lens kit is on sale for $252 shipped (Orig. $549)

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Refurb HTC One M9 32GB flash 4G LTE (unlocked): $380 shipped (Reg. $500+) | eBay

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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB (unlocked): $370 shipped (Reg. $700) | eBay

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Acer 15-inch Chromebook 1.5GHz/4GB/32GB SSD: $270 shipped (Reg. $350)

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Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked): $480 shipped (Reg. $800) | eBay

More new gear from today:

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Sony Headphones: Bluetooth over-ears $95 (Orig. $150), Extra Bass w/ mic (refurb) $25 (Orig. $118), more

  • Games/Apps: Pokemon X/Y $30, $100 PlayStation credit for $90, Motocross Elite goes free, more
  • Daily Deals: TurtleCell iPhone 5/5s headphone case $25, Mpow Bluetooth 4.0 Receiver $20, more
  • Harman Kardon HKTS9 5.1-channel Surround Sound System w/ Subwoofer: $190 shipped (Orig. $600)
  • TigerVPN Lite Lifetime Subscription: $29 (Orig. $790)

More deals still alive:

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Two Philips Hue connected light bulbs (multiple styles) for $100 shipped (~$120 value)

New products & more:

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Bang & Olufsen brings it all together with new whole home audio capabilities for existing products

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Review: Sony’s RX100 IV is the best compact photo/video camera that money can buy (Video)

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DJI reveals a new Phantom 3 for beginner pilots loaded with specs

 

Best Buy offering HTC’s RE camera accessory for $100 (Reg. $200)

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 27 2015 - 2:56 pm PT
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Best Buy is offering HTC’s RE camera accessory for $99.99, down from its normal list price of $200. The $99.99 price point is the lowest we’ve seen since during a Black Friday deal when supply was very constrained. For those unfamiliar, the RE camera is a GoPro-like device that records point of view video, but does not have any sort of viewfinder.


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Four new budget Android devices now available from T-Mobile online & in-stores

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 22 2015 - 11:32 am PT
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Grand Prime

Grand Prime

As previously announced, T-Mobile today is releasing a handful of new mid-range smartphones today. Hot on the heels of unveiling its new Advanced Messaging platform, the carrier also confirmed that five new Android devices are coming. Those devices are: the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, the Kyocera Hyrdro WAVE, the Alcatel Onetouch Pixi 7 tablet, the HTC Desire 626s, and the Samsung Galaxy Core Prime.


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HTC One M9+ heading to Europe soon

Avatar for Cam Bunton Jul 16 2015 - 5:28 am PT
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M9Plus_Silver-970-80HTC has confirmed that its HTC One M9+ (the boosted version of the regular M9) will be heading to Europe soon. Initially, the smartphone was only available to buy in China.

For now, that’s all the detail we have. HTC is yet to confirm which specific countries it’ll be available in, or which carriers will be selling the M9+.

To say that initial reaction to the HTC One M9 was muted would be something of an overstatement. In many ways, the One M9+ is the phone we all hoped the regular M9 would be. It features a 5.2-inch QHD (2560×1440) display, a fingerprint scanner and 20MP Duo Camera covered with sapphire crystal glass. Unlike the M9, it doesn’t use the Snapdragon 810 chip, instead opting to go with the 2.2GHz MediaTek helio X10 with 3GB RAM. It also offers expandable storage via MicroSD on top of the internal 32GB flash drive. It’s got everything any spec-hungry consumer could possibly want.

Sadly, there’s still no mention of when (or if) the phone might make it across to the States. HTC has recently announced that it is partnering with multiple U.S. carriers to launch a handful of mid-range, budget-friendly smartphones. Although that helps the manufacturer boost its presence in the American market, it’ll do little to comfort those who really wanted to buy the M9+.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: HTC One M9 (unlocked) $400, 2nd gen Moto X (unlocked), $290, Prime Day deals, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jul 15 2015 - 12:35 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

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Refurb HTC One M9 32GB flash 4G LTE (AT&T unlocked): $400 shipped (Reg. $500+) | eBay

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Motorola Moto X 2nd generation (unlocked) 16GB: $290 shipped (Reg. $500) | Amazon

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Amazon Prime Day hub: all of the best deals from Amazon’s huge 20th Birthday sale

 

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FreedomPop LG Nexus 5 refurb w/ 500 SMS, 200 min, 500MB data: $150 shipped (Reg. $500) | Sam’s Club

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Review: SanDisk’s new Connect Wireless Stick is one of the easiest ways to expand your iPhone’s storage

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Small States: A-Lamp Design fashions charming lights for your home from US materials, multiple giveaways

More new gear from today:

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Aukey 40W/8A 5-Port USB Desktop Charger $14 Prime shipped (Reg. $20)

More deals still alive:

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Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-inch Internal SSD $90 shipped (Orig. $140)

New products & more:

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The Lumos Helmet provides the technology needed to bike safely

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This transforming Optimus Prime LEGO build might be one of the most impressive yet

 

To the surprise of nobody, HTC losses mount in Q2

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jul 6 2015 - 8:03 am PT
1 Comment

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As predicted by the company itself, Android device manufacturer HTC today reported bleak earnings results for the April through June period. For the three month period, the Taiwan-based company lost NT$8.03 billion after tax and operating costs are taken into consideration. HTC reported profits during the prior four quarters, but apparently those couldn’t hold, likely due to lackluster demand for the One M9. Today’s reported losses spread out over the company’s shares come out to an approximate NT$9.70 ($0.3) per share. Revenue for the quarter was NT$33 billion.


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HTC One M9 Developer Edition receiving Android 5.1 OTA update

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jul 3 2015 - 1:09 pm PT
1 Comment

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HTC’s bootloader-unlocked version of its flagship One M9, the One M9 Developer Edition, is reportedly receiving its update to Android 5.1 Lollipop. The update isn’t yet reflected in the ROM list on HTC’s website, but AndroidCentral has been able to pull it and commenters are indicating it’s arriving on their units, too.
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HTC’s new ads have the One M9 winning three ‘blind test’ battles (Video)

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jul 3 2015 - 8:50 am PT
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Battle of the smartphones blind test – Selfie - YouTube 2015-07-03 10-47-14

HTC is really struggling to sell its One M9 flagship, and personally, I don’t think that today’s new ads are going to help it very much. The company has released three new spots to show off some features of the One M9—selfies, sound, and speed—through “blind test” videos, comparing the handset to the iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6. Of course, the M9 wins in all three tests…
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New comScore U.S. data shows continuing decline in Android market share

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jul 2 2015 - 3:30 pm PT
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Screen Shot 2015-07-02 at 3.17.50 PM

comScore today released its report on United States smartphone subscriber market share for the three month period ending in May. The report, released monthly, tracks the rankings of the top smartphone OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and operating systems by consumer adoption. Month-to-month fluctuations in market share aren’t typically major, but they can provide a look at how companies’ new flagship smartphones are doing.


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HTC One M9 Gold Edition shown off in new video with model Kelly Brook

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jul 2 2015 - 11:47 am PT
1 Comment

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Kelly Brook is an English model. The HTC One M9 Gold Edition is a limited release One M9 for the UK market. Together they create…something. We’re not sure exactly what, though. The company is promoting the new phone with a video featuring Brook getting showered in gold paint and while it’s a cool video that many will no doubt appreciate, it’s not immediately obvious how the ad is actually trying to sell the device.


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AT&T’s HTC Desire Eye getting Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA starting today

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 30 2015 - 7:36 am PT
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Owners of the super-selfie-shooting HTC Desire Eye on AT&T are about to throw a party. HTC’s Mo Versi has announced on Twitter today that the phone received technical approval yesterday and that the rollout of its OTA to Android 5.0 is to start rolling out today.

I actually own an HTC Desire Eye, and I have yet to see the update hit my device. It’s rolling out in stages over the next couple of days, though, so it probably won’t be long. In other Lollipop news today, Sprint’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge seem to be getting Android 5.1.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Moto 360 $155-$185, ASUS ZenWatch $150, Monoprice Action Camera $60, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 26 2015 - 12:46 pm PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

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Motorola Moto 360 Android Wear watches: $150–$180 + $5 shipping (Reg. $250+) | Woot

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Asus ZenWatch silver/rose gold/brown: $150 shipped (Reg. $200) | Best Buy

Monoprice MHD 2.0 1080p Action Camera: $60 shipped (Reg. $90)

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Sprint HTC Desire 510 no-contract smartphone: $50 shipped (Reg. $100) | Best Buy

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Samsung Galaxy Alpha 32GB unlocked new: $230 shipped (Reg. $300) | eBay

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Save $50 on any Dell Outlet Home Chromebook 11 through Sunday, June 28th w/ code “CHROMEBOOK$50“

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Amazon’s Treasure Truck brings daily deals to the streets

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Giveaway: Grovemade’s latest wooden creation provides a luxurious home for your Magic TrackPad

More new gear from today:

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Daily Deals: Canon Multifunction Laser Printer $95, Insignia 65-inch LED 1080p HDTV $700, more

More deals still alive:

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LG 49-inch 4K 60Hz Smart LED UHDTV: $600 shipped (Reg. $900)

New products & more:

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LEGO unveils the highly detailed new Ferrari F40 Creator series set

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E3: