While sales of the 'vanilla' One M9 aren't going at all as well as HTC had hoped, the Taiwanese company is keeping itself busy by launching various limited edition versions of its flagship smartphone. Not long ago we saw a 24ct gold model in celebration of the UEFA Champions League football tournament, and today the One M9 INK has been made official.
This is a model that's inspired by body art, and was made in cooperation with British tattooist Cally-Jo and British fashion model Jourdan Dunn.
Cally-Jo has created the design of the tattoo-like engraving that's featured on the back of this limited edition release, while Jourdan Dunn will head the promotional campaign for it.
The 'tattoo' is made up of a few symbols: an eye (because it represents "strength and sincerity"), a hand (for "protection and positivity"), leaves (which apparently "show a blossom of creativity"), and the sun and moon (which represent "balance and harmony").
Unfortunately no pricing has been announced yet for the HTC One M9 INK limited edition. It's also unclear whether its release and associated promo campaign will be restricted to the UK or not. If you want to register your interest for the device, make sure you head to the Source link below.
HTC has launched a new campaign dubbed HTC INK to offer limited edition One M9 smartphones. By teaming up with the supermodel Jourdan Dunn, the Taiwanese company will offer custom-designed engravings inspired from tattoos.
Jourdan has collaborated with the Cally-Jo Apothecary, a celebrity tattoo artist, to come up with a new design. One of their first design has been shared already with a rather vague explanation.
The open hand and eye symbolize the need for protection and strength while still being open and approachable in personality and style. The natural leaf elements and patterns around the outside of each visual reflect the growth in creativity that Jourdan is feeling at this time, and the sun and moon together represent balance and harmony in her character.
HTC plans to offer limited edition HTC INK One M9 units with unique designs engraved by hind. HTC INK project is yet to specify if it is a one time, seasonal thing or will be an ongoing like Apple’s Project Red that aims to aid in fighting aids in Africa.
For those who plan to get a limited edition unit, do have a look at our HTC One M9 review for the technical aspects of the device.
HTC released its earnings report for Q1 2015. The Taiwanese manufacturer posted a quarterly net profit of $11.8 million from $1.36 billion of revenue.
The company’s revenue grew by a quarter from the same period last year. HTC attributed the revenue bump to “tailored portfolios for individual markets and targeted marketing efforts.”
HTC deemed the launch of the One M9 and One M9+ during the quarter as successful. The partnerships with Under Armour and Valve in fitness products and virtual reality respectively were also noted.
Gross margins for the past quarter were 19.7%. That’s less than the 21% for the same period a year ago.
Going forward, HTC expects revenue in the range of $1.5 billion to $1.67 billion. Gross profit margin is expected to range between 23% and 23.5%.
Overall, the next quarter will be really important for HTC. Q2 will be the first period of full availability for HTC One M9.
Android Auto is perhaps one of the most interesting undertakings to bring the power of your smartphone straight to your car's dashboard. The technology goes far beyond a simple screen sharing app and offers a custom, tailor-made interface and functions, developed particularly for in-car use.
Eager early adopters of the new technology, however, have been reporting a lot of problems with compatibility. A lot of recent handsets, like the Galaxy S6, were struggling to connect with Android Auto, but luckily Google has wasted no time in addressing the issue.
The latest version of Google Play Services brings a fix for the connection problems. As far as we can tell from the release notes, the update should also cover devices such as the HTC One M8 and M9,Moto X, a lot of Nexus devices, as well as the already mentioned Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. But the list is probably longer and seeing how Android Auto is still very much in its infancy, other bugs are also expected.
So, if you are among the early adopters of the new tech and have already sprung for a compatible car stereo, be sure to check for the update and keep a close eye on Google Play Services, as more improvements and fixes are sure to come.
Also, be sure to report back with any additional info on Android Auto compatibility and problems, based on your experience.
HTC has announced three new smartphones in the Indian market. The first is the very new HTC One M9+ that was revealed very recently. The M9+ is the bigger brother of the M9 and has a larger 5.2-inch Quad HD display, fingerprint sensor on the front, and 20 megapixel rear camera with Duo Camera feature. It also runs on the new 64-bit MediaTek Helio X10 processor with an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU clocked at 2.2GHz and has a 2,840mAh battery. Other than that the two phones are similar.
The E9+ will be the cheaper variant of the M9+. It has a larger 5.5-inch Quad HD display, 3GB RAM, 20 megapixel camera on the back but without the Duo Camera, UltraPixel front camera, and BoomSound speakers with Dolby Audio. It has 16GB internal storage as opposed to the 32GB on the M9+ and the Xelio X10 processor is clocked at 2.0GHz instead of 2.2GHz. The battery is 2,800mAh. Another difference between the two is that while the M9+ is made entirely out of metal, the E9+ has plastic on the back but a metal frame around the side.
The Desire 326G has a 4.5-inch HD display, quad-core processor (unspecified), 1GB RAM, 8GB memory with microSD support, 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front camera, and 2,000mAh battery. The Desire 326G will have dual SIM support.
The HTC M9+ is priced at Rs. 52,500 ($842). The price of the other two phones hasn't been announced yet. The M9+ comes with HTC's Uh-Oh Protection in India. All three will be available starting next month.
U.S. customers of the One M9 should thank their lucky stars for HTC’s Uh Oh guarantee, which provides a replacement device should your device bite the dust within your first year of ownership. iFixit recently tore the phone open and found that it was darn near impossible to repair.
iFixit started by unboxing the phone, when it noticed that there was already a large scratch on the screen, in addition to a dead pixel, which is pretty strange. The teardown experts found that HTC used screws instead of glue to keep the case together this time, which made it easier to pry open. However, once inside, iFixit said said HTC continued to glue the motherboard directly to the battery, making it super difficult to replace either should one go bad.
“We complained last year, and we have to complain again this year,” iFixit said. “A lithium-ion battery is a consumable—it’s only good for a limited number of charge cycles before it starts to lose capacity and needs to be replaced. Burying the battery so deeply within the device signs its death certificate the day of its manufacturing birth.”
The site ultimately gave the One M9 a repairability score of 2/10, the same as last year’s score, and blamed that on the motherboard/battery glue issue, a difficult-to-replace display and “intense adhesives [that] make many components difficult, and even dangerous, to remove and replace.”
With April 1 in our rear view mirror we don't doubt the legitimacy of new announcements, but this one had us raising our eyebrows. HTC revamped its 2014 flagship with a new camera and chipset and dubbed it the HTC One M8s.
The updated design keeps the dual-camera, but moves up to a 13MP sensor with 28mm lens and f/2.0 aperture. The video recording should be capped at 1080p@30fps (it's as high as the chipset can go), though we're not seeing an official confirmation just yet. The front-facing camera is a 5MP shooter with 1080p video capture.
As for the chipset, it's a Snapdragon 615. An octa-core processor with all Cortex-A53 cores, but half of them at a higher clockspeed for a sort-of big.LITTLE arrangement. There's also 2GB of RAM and Adreno 405 graphics. Going by Galaxy A7 results (which is also powered by the S615) we can expect a big drop in gaming performance compared to the HTC One (M8). At least the CPU is a 64-bit one.
The rest of the phone is pretty much the same, essentially the HTC One (M8 Eye) with a different chipset. The Eye had a limited availability though. Anyway, this means a metal unibody, 5" 1080p screen and stereo speakers on the front. The storage is available only in 16GB and the battery is slightly bigger at 2,840mAh, matching the One M9.
The HTC One M8s is launching in the UK first at £380, close to the current price of the original HTC One (M8) model and well below the new HTC One M9. Other European countries will get the One M8s as well, but it's not clear if it will leave the old continent.
Considering the similarities in design, how will this impact One M9 sales? The price difference is pretty steep and the one major downside is the slower chipset. As for the old One (M8), that one will most likely get phased out.
AT&T begins taking orders for the HTC One M9 at midnight in just few hours. All orders placed until 1PM CT will ship the same day, while the rest will be fulfilled within the days after tomorrow.
AT&T offers the HTC One M9 for $199.99 with a 2-year contract. AT&T Next payment plans are available too - Next 24 has it on $23.64/month, Next 15 - for $29.55, and Next 12 is at $35.45. The contract free price of the HTC One M9 32GB at AT&T is $708.99.
AT&T One M9 sales open at 12:01AM ET tomorrow, Friday, March 27, and if you are fast you can have it in less than 24 hours. The HTC One M9 in-store availability will kick off April 10 nationwide.
T-Mobile US will be launching its sales campaign for the HTC One M9 tomorrow, too, only it's only taking pre-orders. The first batch of the One M9 will include only Gunmetal Gray and Gold on Silver paintjobs.
Pre-orders open at 6:00 AM PT. The One M9 costs $0 upfront and $27.08 for 24 months. Those who pre-ordered the HTC One M9 via T-Mobile will get it a few days earlier than retail premiere on April 10, but the magenta carrier didn't specify how early exactly.
If you are interested in the HTC One M9 - you may want to check our in-depth review right here.
Three has joined the list of carriers in the UK that offer pre-orders for the HTC One (M9). The phone is available starting at £39 a month with an upfront cost of £19.
For the price you can get 1GB of 4G data and unlimited calls and SMS. There are also 2GB 4G data and unlimited 4G data options for £42 and £47 per month but the £19 upfront cost for the device remains.
The HTC One (M9) can be had in either Silver/Rose gold and Gunmetal Gray.
And if you weren't familiar yet the HTC One (M9) can also be pre-ordered in Gold from EE UK, fromVodafone UK, O2 UK and also through Carphone Warehouse with deals from O2, Vodafone and EE.
BARCELONA -- HTC's Peter Chou wants his One family of smartphones to be the Range Rovers of the mobile world.
That's not to say Chou -- who on Friday stepped down as HTC's chief executive to take over the company's development of future products -- has any desire to turn his flagship smartphone line into a selection of rugged, all-terrain devices. Rather, he wants to establish a distinct look that makes an HTC One phone immediately recognizable, just as the Range Rover's iconic traits have done for the vehicle throughout the years.
"Sometimes, like in the car industry, you need to keep some of your signature DNA," Chou said during a 30-minute interview at the Mobile World Congress trade show earlier this month. "Smartphones sometimes are moving too fast, and not really creating a timeless piece of design."
Coming up with an enduring design is exactly what HTC set out to do with the One M9, the latest version of its premium smartphone, which bears more than a striking resemblance to its predecessor, the One M8. The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer is betting that consumers still like the metal-clad body enough -- along with some under-the-hood improvements -- to give the One family a second look. The One M9 hits the market later this month.
"The response has been overwhelming, people like our design," Chou said.
But critics and hardcore HTC fans may be disappointed by the lack of significant change in aesthetics from a company known for its design chops. "A very similar overall design means the One M9 is much more of an evolution of an existing breed, rather than a new species altogether," said CNET editor Andrew Hoyle.
The One M9 still features an all-aluminum body, which has been slightly tweaked for a better grip. The smartphone has the familiar face with the large "forehead" and "chin" above and below the display, allowing for the front-facing "Boomsound" speakers. In addition to the gunmetal color, HTC offers new colors including a silver-and-gold version that Chou said was modeled after similarly two-toned luxury watches.
HTC's Peter Chou at the company's Mobile World Congress press conference.Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Similar to the design of many cars and watches, creating a consistent look is what will help the HTC brand stand out over time, Chou said. ThinkMovado's minimalist watch face, or the classicPorsche sports car design. He complimented rival Apple for keeping the overall look of the iPhone similar over time. Apple takes the unusual route of making more-significant design changes every other year, in the meantime opting to polish an existing device with better specifications and new features under the "S" name. The iPhone 5, for example, was followed by the iPhone 5S and then the iPhone 6.
HTC, however, isn't Apple.
"I am not sure I buy the 'signature mark,'" said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Kantar WorldPanel. HTC may have played its hand already with the introduction of a unibody metal smartphone three years ago, she added.
HTC's choice to make modest improvements to the body of the M9 also comes as Samsung Electronics made drastic improvements to the design of the Galaxy S6, and its more unique sibling, the curvy Galaxy S6 Edge. Samsung ditched the plastic material in favor of a metal frame and glass on the front and back, creating an eye-catching new smartphone.
Chou said he hadn't had a chance to check out Samsung's new smartphones and declined to comment on them.
While HTC's smartphones are critically lauded, the company's market presence pales relative to Apple or Samsung. HTC held just 1.6 percent of the global market in 2014, down from 2.2 percent in 2013 and a peak of 8.8 percent in 2011, according to IDC.
The shortfall hasn't been with the quality of HTC's smartphones, but its inability to be heard over the trumpeting of louder marketing campaigns from deeper-pocketed rivals.
"Just like in any commodity, it's about the marketing, not the technical features," said Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner.
Chou, ever the design-fixated executive, believes he can build up HTC's brand through the consistent look and feel of its products, but he couldn't help taking a shot at his rivals.
"You just need to keep on your own DNA and your own design," he said. "It took us a long time to build that instead of some copycat."
