HTC cranks out Android handsets like candy corn – and we love that. The only downside to this, however, is that each new leak has us drooling before the last leak even has time to become a real product.
Our salivary glands were just warming up for the HTC Incredible and the HTC Legend, but now we’ve got the HTC Scorpion (possibly codenamed “Olympian”) to dream about. According to the very-latest of leaks, this thing might pack a scorchingly fast 1.5 Ghz processor and the as-of-yet unreleased Android v2.2.
There isn’t much to be said about a few in-the-flesh images leaked about a device we’ve all heard of other than the confirmation of a few things. To start, it looks identical to renders seen in the past, and the images depicted in HTC’s handset line-up which was leaked back in early December.
This is the so-called HTC Incredible running on Verizon. It has a Snapdragon CPU with 256RAM and a bold and beautiful screen a la the Nexus One. Interestingly, it has two rear LED flashes and appears to be clad in a red backplate which reminds me of butterscotch pudding although a video, now unavailable, shows it is really red.
Click through for a UI shot. Also, can I just say that I am more in love with Android every time I see it? It just seems fresh.
HTC’s no stranger to stuffing ridiculous mechanisms into smartphones. I mean, have you seen the HTC Tilt — or better yet, the HTC Universal? Looks like they’re at it again, if this just unearthed patent is any indication.
Patience is a virtue, but as tech fanatics who lap up the latest in hardware and software, we’ve not enirely familiar with that concept. So when we heard that it could take up to a few days for the Nexus One Android OTA update, it was a little disheartening. We want it now! And thanks to some clever folks over at Android Forums, we can get it right this moment. It just takes some simple tinkering and you should be good to go.
When it comes to leaks in the gadget world, when it rains, it pours. In just shy of 20 days, the HTC Supersonic — an absolute beast of a phone — went from non-existent to exhaustively detailed and fully photographed.
Whether you’ve missed a screenshot or two or just had no idea the Supersonic existed, don’t sweat it – we’ve got your back. Hop behind the jump, where we’ve rounded up all the details that have leaked thus far on what is quite possibly one of the most exciting Android handsets yet.
Considering that the much heralded Nexus One is being sold as a pure Android experience by Google themselves, it wasn’t at all surprising to see that it didn’t sport HTC’s oh-so-awesome Android interface overhaul, Sense.
Surprising? No. Disappointing? A bit. The 2.1 build of Android that the Nexus One runs is pretty dang solid – but in the end, we’re still longing for Sense. Looks like we might be in luck.
When it comes to touchscreens, you just can’t beat the feeling of a nice, high-quality capacitive screen. If you’ve been using an iPhone, Motorola Droid, or any one of many capacitive smartphones made in the past few years, try to hunt down one with a resistive screen; the difference is almost shocking. Touches to a capacitive touchscreen are registered with the lightest tap, while moving things around on a resistive screen requires you to press down so hard that people probably think you’re angry at it.
Of course, resistive screens have their benefits; namely, they play friendly with styluses. As predictive text gets better, this isn’t too big of a deal for English speakers – we only have so many characters to deal with. But for the many languages of the world in which there are simply too many characters to squeeze into any sort of usable user interface, character recognition is the only option. As a result, a stylus — and thus a resistive screen — is a must. HTC wants to combine the best of both worlds, and have just launched a stylus that plays friendly with capacitive screens.
Remember that leaked Android 2.1 ROM for the GSM HTC Hero from a few days ago? Looks like there was more to it than meets the eye. Tucked deep inside the ROM was a list of around 20 Android-based handset codenames, nearly all of which have never been seen.
Here it is, the HTC HD2 dissection. You knew someone was going to do it. After all, it is the hotest Winmo phone ever constructed. Click through for about 7.5 seconds of enjoyment as you skim the rest of the pics.
Another day, another Android phone. I believe we will soon come to a day when Android phones will be looked at with the same jaundiced eye as, say, the latest LG Chocolate, but since that day hasn’t come, I’ll share a few observations with Verizon’s new $99 Hero-alike, the Eris.
The Eris is basically a mini Hero. It’s slightly thinner and clad in all black and but the Sense UI is in place and all of the things that made the Hero great – responsive OS, apps, and social networking connectivity – are here. One thing lacking, however, is the “latest” version of Android with its superior navigation application and multi-touch.
We’ve seen a few different Android devices that seem to be VZW-bound over the last few weeks, but Verizon hasn’t said anything about the handsets or platform until now. The company has a webcast scheduled for later today but released a preemptive press release that outlines the basics.
Verizon and Google have formed a strategic partnership that will “leverage the Verizon Wireless network and the best of the Android open platform to deliver leading-edge mobile applications, services and devices.” Apparently the new dream team has plans that involve co-developing several Android-based devices that will come pre-loaded with innovative applications from not only Verizon, but also 3rd-party developers.
Aaaand the rumor mill nails it again. Confirming rumors from a few weeks back, Verizon has just announced that their big, beautiful Windows Mobile 6.5 handset, the HTC Imagio, will be launching on the same day as 6.5 itself: October 6th.
It was written that a great Hero would rise from the East. He would be clothed in the sun and his unique user-interface would redefine the user experience for countless fans of social networking and his majesty would reign over all over Android phones forever. That Hero is here, and he’s on Sprint.
I love the Hero, even in the form that the phone took in Sprint’s able hands. While the comparisons to another Sprint phone will be rampant, I’m here to tell you that this isn’t the Palm Pre and that this phone is my favorite phone, other than the phone that starts with “i” and rhymes with iPhone. The Hero, in this incarnation, is a perfect mix of form and function.
First, for an earlier look at the Hero drop over here for my original review.
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HTC’s naming conventions are kind of funny. I was almost hoping that after the Hero they’d call this the HTC Ninjastar or the HTC Hobo, but sadly it ended up being the Tattoo. The Tattoo runs the Sense UI, which is great++ and it has a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headset jack, and MicroSD memory slot.
The phone will be available in Europe in October and, as we all well know, may or may not come to our shores in some form or the other in the next few weeks. Full PR after the jump.
When Sprint announced plans to carry the HTC Hero this morning, they had a bit of a surprise (albeit one that had already been rumored) in store: it looked totally different than the Hero we’d come to know and love.
The once square edges have been rounded out, and the jutting chin that has been a signature across HTC’s Android lineup thus far has been dropped entirely. Some loved the new look; others responded as if the new HTC Hero had insulted their family and razed their house to the ground. So lets settle this once and for all (as scientifically as is possible in a blog post on the Internet): it’s poll time.
Which HTC Hero do you prefer: the original, Chintastic Hero, or Sprint’s shaved down edition?
Today, HTC officially announced the Touch2 with Windows Mobile 6.5 that includes My Phone and Windows Marketplace for Mobile. HTC was skimp on specs, but we do know that the Touch2 will have TouchFLO and a slew of Google products pre-installed. And the new IE Mobile supports Flash. If you’re into that sort of thing, which we suspect you are. The Touch2 launches on October 6 with availability spreading to the rest of Europe and Asia in Q4.
The HTC Hero is undoubtedly the best looking Android device. Don’t even try to argue with that fact. But the CDMA-variant of the Hero might be radically different. So much, that I’m not sure if I dig it. Right now the Internet is aflutter with ohs and ahs about the redesigned phone, but I think it looks like a cheap, Chinese redesign. Who knows, maybe it will grow on me. There doesn’t seem to be solid proof that this version of the phone will be available on Sprint or Verizon though and could be headed to a different market. IDK, maybe I do like it. [080.net via EngMobile]
{democracy:66}
I do believe this is a first: not only has someone at Vietnamese mobile site Tinh Té managed to get their hands on an HTC Click before it’s even official, but it looks like they’ve had it for long enough to laser etch a bunch of crazy crap onto the back. Fortunately for us, they’re not just sitting around basking in the exclusive warmth of their unreleased phone. Instead, they were nice enough to give the Click a 5-minute video rundown.
Last time we saw the HTC Hero grace the labs of the FCC with its presence, it was swimming chin deep in GSM 850/1900Mhz territory – otherwise known as AT&T’s turf. Things got interesting when, just a few weeks later, a product page for a Sprint-branded HTC Hero popped up. Sprint and AT&T use two totally different radio technologies; where was this one’s FCC entry?
