HTC One A9 leaked press renders confirm iPhone-esque design, multiple colors

Hot on the heels of today’s leaked blurry photo, alleged press images of the upcoming HTC One A9 made the rounds on Twitter, courtesy of @evleaks. The renders showcase the device in six different colors and confirm its iPhone-esque design.

HTC One A9 will be available in Acid Gold, Opal Silver, Deep Garnet, Carbon Gray, Rose Gold, and Cast Iron when it goes official. The smartphone scheduled to debut next week, on September 29.

Previously rumored specs of the One A9 include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable memory, 13MP main camera with OIS, 4MP front-facing snapper, and Android Marshmallow. A 5” 1080p AMOLED display and 2,150mAh battery are also said to be on board.

Source

HTC One A9 price leaked by European retailer

HTC is gearing up to release a new phone by the end of the year. We already have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the device when it comes to hardware, but a new leak could reveal how much the company plans to charge for the rumored HTC One A9.

Dutch retailer Centralpoint accidentally flipped the switch on a page for the new smartphone on Friday. The HTC One A9 will allegedly cost €584, though that price goes up to €706 with taxes. That puts the phone in flagship territory when it comes to price, though it may not offer the hardware to match.

We’re expecting the One A9 to pack a 5-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 617 chip, a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 4 UltraPixel in front, a 2150mAh battery, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage with microSD support. It could also offer a fingerprint reader and feature in metal design with six different color options.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with these specs. They should still make for a perfectly good smartphone. We just hope HTC is planning to charge a little less for the One A9 as a result. Price the device at around $400 or less and it could be a real hit.

Of course it’s possible this new leak isn’t accurate. The information has already been pulled, which could mean it was just a placeholder for the actual listing. Then again, it’s possible the page is correct. The One A9 isn’t expected to launch until November, so it could be a few more months before we get an official announcement for this long-rumored HTC smartphone

HTC A9 (Aero) and Butterfly 3 may be outed at September 29 event

The last time HTC teased a smartphone unveiling event, we assumed it would be for the much-rumored A9 (codenamed Aero), which is supposed to be the ailing Taiwanese manufacturer's next high-end offering. Instead, the 'big' reveal yesterday was the decidedly mid-range Desire 728. And so the A9 still isn't official.

That could all change on September 29, however. HTC has started sending press invites for an event on that day, which will happen in its native Taiwan.

The invite mentions something along the lines of "dual flagships", which means we may in fact see not one, but two smartphones getting unveiled on that occasion.

Taiwanese media speculation has it that the Butterfly 3 will certainly make its debut, and it might be joined by the ever-elusive A9. That's not a given, though, as we may also see anM9+ with an enhanced camera. This is an intriguing prospect since absolutely nothing about such a device has been leaked so far. It's now rumored to get optical image stabilization and faster focusing.

As for the Butterfly 3, it's expected to hit stores in Taiwan sometime in October for around TWD 20,900 ($637 or €570 at the current exchange rates). This price would be in line with that of its predecessor, the Butterfly 2. The Butterfly 3 should make its way to Japan too.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

HTC is no longer part of the TWSE 50 stock index in Taiwan

HTC is no longer part of the TWSE 50 stock index in Taiwan. Going forward, the troubled Taiwanese manufacturer will be part of the Mid-Cap 100 Index. The latter is smaller and features 100 companies, compared to 50 in the TWSE 50 index.

A decline in the sales of high-end smartphones, including HTC One M9 has caused the manufacturer’s market cap to tumble. HTC has seen its shares drop by roughly two thirds over the past several months.

In order to deal with its financial woes, HTC has opted to sell its Shanghai factory, as well as cut 15% of its workforce worldwide. The company is also trying to diversify its product portfolio by venturing into virtual reality with the Vive headset, as well as fitness trackers in partnership with Under Armour.

The removal from the TWSE 50 index might cause the HTC stock price to drop further, because foreign investors are not keen on investing in stocks out of the aforementioned main index. Currently, HTC’s market capitalization is lower than its cash deposits.

Via

HTC Desire 728 debuts in China with MediaTek MT6753 chipset on board

HTC quietly introduced the affordable Desire 728 phablet in China. The dual-SIM device is available in two color schemes - white and gold, or black and gray.

The Desire 728 packs 64-bit MediaTek 728 chipset with 1.3GHz octa-core CPU and 2GB of RAM. The rest of the device’s specs include 16GB of expandable memory, 5.5” 720p IPS LCD display, BoomSound stereo speakers, 13MP main camera, and 5MP front-facing unit.

Connectivity options of the smartphone include Cat. 4 LTE among others. HTC Desire 728 boots Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with HTC China Sense on top.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

Asus considering acquisition of struggling HTC

Just days after HTC's stock tanked following the company's revised outlook for Q2 2015, Reuters is reporting that Asus is considering purchasing the struggling Taiwanese company.

"Our chairman has chatted about the topic internally," said Asustek's Chief Financial Officer David Chang. "Still, the chances of an actual takeover are not big as Asustek is a company that has depended on organic growth."

As you might already know, HTC's latest One M9 flagship Android smartphone has failed to impress the customers - last month, there were reports that the company is cutting component orders for the device by 30%. In damage control mode, HTC has now promised to out a new "hero product" later this year.

Via

HTC unveils One M9 INK limited edition inspired by body art

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.

Source

HTC to launch a mid-range smartphone in India in Q3 2015

Just days after Xiaomi announced its first made for India smartphone, the Mi4i, HTC has said that it is preparing to launch a handset which is designed keeping Indian consumers in mind. The device will be launched in India in the third quarter of the year.

"We have a third-quarter plan for our global launch in India to introduce a device which is specifically designed for the Indian consumer," said HTC's CFO and president of global sales Chia-Lin Chang. The smartphone, which will be priced somewhere between INR 15,000 ($237) and INR 20,000 ($316), will be made available in other markets around the world at a later date.

"Indian market is something that teaches us about new trends, which is always helpful. If we are able to serve Indian market well with the right strategy, we will be able to serve the global market well," Chang said.

Via

HTC Butterfly 3 has its specs leaked by a benchmark

HTC should launch the Butterfly 3 in the second half of this year, according to past rumors. The device may be exclusive to certain Asian markets, but it will be an interesting offering nevertheless - through specs if nothing else. Previously, we have heard that three color options will be offered in Japan.

And now we get a pretty complete list of specs for the Butterfly 3, thanks to a benchmark listing. Someone in possession of a prototype ran CompuBench, and that lists the most important hardware details for all devices that get put through the paces.

So, the HTC Butterfly 3 apparently runs Android 5.0.2 Lollipop at the moment, and it has a 5.1-inch (and not 5.2" as rumored at one point) QHD touchscreen, a 20 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 13 MP front snapper, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of built-in storage.

Running things will be Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 SoC, coming with a CPU with 1.9 GHz maximum clock speed. It will be an octa-core part in a big.LITTLE configuration, with four Cortex-A57 high-performance cores, and four Cortex-A53 power-saving ones.

We still don't know anything about the design of the Butterfly 3, but its predecessors were all made out of plastic, so the same could happen once more.

Source | Via

HTC Desire 626G+ gets announced for India

Today HTC has unveiled a new smartphone for the Indian market. It's called HTC Desire 626G+ and all appearances point toward it being just a regional variant of the Desire 626 - which HTC launched in its home market of Taiwan back in February.

As you may have inferred from the Desire branding, this is a midrange offering, not a flagship device (HTC has, however, announced one of those too earlier today).

The Desire 626G+ comes with a 5-inch 720p touchscreen, a 1.7 GHz octa-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage (expandable via microSD), a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP selfie unit, and a 2,000 mAh battery.

The phone has dual-SIM support, no 4G LTE though - it tops out at 21Mbps HSPA. That's basically the biggest difference between this and the Desire 626, which does have LTE capabilities. The exact chipset isn't named in HTC's documents, but it's probably the MediaTek MT6752 - based on the CPU frequency and the fact that the Desire 626 uses this SoC.

As for software, you get HTC Sense on top of Android, but the exact version employed is unclear. Again, if we go by the Desire 626, it should be Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

HTC has decided to price the Desire 626G+ at INR 16,900, which right now means $271 or €250. That's quite a bit more than what the Desire 626 goes for in Taiwan - namely around $190. Anyway, the new handset will be offered in two color versions, Blue Lagoon and White Birch. It should become available in India in the near future.

Source

HTC One M9+ with 5.2" QHD screen, duo camera unveiled

Since the MWC 2015, HTC has been caught in the whirlwind of rumors and badly kept secrets about the One M9+ as well as the two One E9 variants. Today the Taiwanese handset market has formally launched the new One M9+ at a press event held in Beijing, China.

The One M9+ features a 5.2” QHD (1440 x2560 pixels) display and runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense 7 on top of it. It packs 32GB built-in storage and has a 20MP rear f/2.2 camera with secondary lens on the top for depth-sensing. For the selfie enthusiasts, there is a UltraPixel camera in the front.

One major highlight of this smartphone is the 2.2GHz MediaTek MT6795T chipset armed with an octa-core CPU and 3GB RAM.

HTC BoomSound speakers with Dolby Surround sound support come on the front along with a home button like fingerprint sensor integrating support for the AliPay payment system in China. There is no clarity on whether the One M9+ if sold outside China will bear fingerprint sensor.

By default, the One M9+ offers a 2840 mAh battery to power the smartphone. HTC will introduce the phone in three color options - Gunmetal grey, Amber Gold, and Silver Gold color options.

Source

Android 5.1 Lollipop is now seeding to HTC One (M8) GPE

Android 5.1 Lollipop is now seeding to HTC One (M8) Google Play Edition. The new firmware is seeding to the device over-the-air.

The update is a tad larger than 244MB. It brings a host of bug fixes and improvements to the smartphone headed by beefed up security and HD voice support.

Other Android 5.1 goodies include the ability control paired Bluetooth devices from Quick Settings. Users can also join Wi-Fi networks in similar fashion.

The new firmware will begin seeding to the smartphone in batches. If you are an owner of a Google Play Edition HTC One (M8), head over to your device’s settings to check if the update is available.

Via

New HTC One M9+ images surface ahead of tomorrow's unveiling

The HTC One M9+ will finally be announced tomorrow at a special event in China, according to previously leaked promo materials.

In the meantime however, we're treated to a couple of new images depicting the upcoming smartphone. This may actually be the last M9+ leak before the unveiling, for what it's worth.

 
HTC One M9+

This device has been in the news for many weeks now, through a lot of rumors and leaks, and we've already seen it from all possible angles. It should come with a 5.2-inch QHD touchscreen, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of expandable built-in storage.

Chipset-wise, we might see two different solutions - MediaTek's MT6795 for Asian markets, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 for other countries across the world.

Anyway, everything should become clear in less than 24 hours.

Source

Peter Chou steps down as HTC CEO, Cher Wang takes over

Peter Chou, co-founder and CEO of HTC, has stepped down from his position as the CEO. He will be replaced by Cher Wang, co-founder and chairperson of the company.

Chou will remain at HTC and will start a new role as the head of the HTC Future Development Lab, a new division of the company responsible for coming up with new products.

While Chou has headed the company through some tough times, he's more of a product person, and as such, it is no surprise seeing him head a product division. Cher, meanwhile, has already been actively involved in managing the company and is better suited for the role of the CEO.

Source

HTC “Uh-oh” will be a broken phone replacement service

HTC’s upcoming big announcement will include a broken phone replacement service. Dubbed “Uh-oh,” the upcoming solution will take the already available HTC Advantage to a whole new level.

The Taiwanese manufacturer’s new service will provide “a full year of protection for your smartphone, including device replacement. Unlike HTC Advantage that covered only broken glass, the new offering will also include water damage.

“Uh-oh” customers will also be covered in case they switch their wireless carrier within the first year of having their device. HTC is also said to include “up to $100” towards a new HTC One device with the program in a bid to retain customers.

We don’t know which HTC devices will “Uh-oh” support. HTC One M9 is all but certain to be the first smartphone to be offered with the program.

We will be covering HTC’s event live tomorrow. Be sure to tune in to find out what the company has in store.

Source

HTC US is promising big news tomorrow

HTC definitely captured a lot of attention at this year's MWC. Now the Taiwanese tech giant needs to strike while the iron is hot and capitalize on the hype its new One M9 flagship generated. This is presumably what is going on in the US branch at the moment.

An announcement event will be held in Seattle tomorrow, March 18 and HTC is promising "big news". The event is entitled "HTC Uh-Oh Teaser" and it will most likely be the venue at which the company officially announces the release on the One M9 in the US.

The event, however, might not be so straightforward as HTC America's president Jason Mackenzie has led us to believe. In a couple of Tweets he talks about a "big surprise" about the One M9 in the US. This has led to a lot of speculations. Perhaps HTC still has a few tricks up its sleeve and has saved some news for after MWC.

Rumors have been floating around about a QHD display option for the One M9, which would definitely appeal to a lot of users and broaden the market. Or perhaps the One M9 will come with an exclusive accessory and perhaps, even a new trade-in program for the new flagship, similar to the alleged Apple endeavor we talked about earlier.

But we can't really be certain until the event takes place, tomorrow. If you are interested in what HTC has cooked-up, you can follow along with the live stream below.

There are still 20 or so hours to the presentation and until then all we can do is guess and ponder. What do you think HTC's "big news" will be?

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3

Initial HTC One M9 batch delayed due to software issues

HTC's latest flagship is already up for preorder in a few countries, including the UK and Germany, but naturally, the all-metal unibody smartphone was set to debut first in its home market.

A few days ago we reported that the first batch of units was going to be dispatched to eager users today, March 16, but sadly, HTC has missed the deadline. According to various reports, the Taiwanese manufacturer has delayed the release because of an urgent software update the handset must receive before launch.

How urgent you ask? Well, one rumor states that the alleged software bug may cause a boot failure on the One M9, so, naturally, HTC has opted to address the issue before launch. Whether or not this is true, is hard to tell, but it is a fact that the company has missed its March 16 home market shipping date. Some impatient customers, who have already payed for the flagship are reporting that the official statement they are receiving are for a delay of a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

So, really, at this point the release date is Taiwan has been changed to "as soon as possible". Now, while this is probably going to affect the upcoming 64GB version of the handset on the home market as well, hopefully the setback won't push the shipment date for EU markets, which is currently set for some time around the end of the month.

Hopefully, this whole ordeal turns out to be the better course of action and doesn't end up disappointing eager fans.

Source

source 2: gsmarena.com

HOW TO ROOT HTC CHACHA

So friends we welcome you for the tutorials of HTC CHACHA and we can able to install custom recoverys os cwm....
I have spent 4 hours today attempting to get root on my HTC Chacha. I’ve spent many more hours in the past trying this, too, and today I finally got it.

The most important move in all of this is getting into the bootloader. Firstly you must turn fastboot off – and this is done through the normal OS – by selecting Menu->Settings->Power->Fastboot (ensure this is unticked). To get into the bootloader, from now on, do this – power off the phone. Next, hold down the “volume down” button while pressing the power button. You will get a boot screen that looks like the following:

My HTC Chacha Boot Screen Before Unlocking

You will note that my phone (bought from Amazon in the UK) has S-On.

I tried everything I could think of. I downloaded a goldcard making application but could never make it work. Nothing was successful until I found this post: http://www.computertechplace.com/unlock-and-root-htc-chacha/.

In case it is deleted I will reproduce parts of it here as it was exactly what I went through to unlock and root my phone.

Backing Up

Needless to say you should back up your phone. Why? Because the next stage will result in your phone being wiped and returned to factory default stage. I didn’t realise this and lost all my data. You can be smarter than me.

Follow HTC’s Bootloader Unlock Steps

Go to http://htcdev.com/bootloader/. You will have to register an account on the website with an e-mail address, username, and password. Next – you choose the device type you want to unlock.

Select the Device Type (HTC Chacha) from HTC's Website

Follow the instructions. It will start with (probably) flashing a new version of HBOOT onto your phone.

I had a problem with this as the application would fail to connect to the bootloader from Windows 7 64-bit. The solution to this was found at http://community.htc.com/na/htc-forums/android/f/17/p/2467/9719.aspx and required one to go to the start button, type “Device Manager”<enter>, under Other Devices there was an “Android Device” – right click on that and select “Update Driver Software…”, select “Browse my computer for driver software”, select “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”, and select “My HTC”, click “Next”. Now re-run the HTC HBOOT application again.

After a successful HBOOT upgrade the boot screen looks like this:

HTC Chacha Bootloader After Unlocking

Just continue following the instructions given. Eventually you’ll receive an e-mail with a key to use in the process.

If you successfully follow the instructions you’ll end up with a bootloader screen that looks like the following:

Boot Screen After Following All The HTC Bootloader Unlock Instructions

Getting Root

Now you need to get root. To do this you can use something called “ZergRush” (apparently named after the game Starcraft). This gets temporary root on the phone which is used to then install “su”. I downloaded a first version which didn’t have the necessary zergRush utility. I then found the one I needed and here is a magnet (torrent) link magnet:?xt=urn:btih:F8E51F8557F49C26A76B191F04763CAC1F33AED6&dn=DooMLoRD_v4_ROOT-zergRush-busybox-su.zip&tr=udp%3a//tracker.openbittorrent.com%3a80/announce link to DooMLoRD_v4_ROOT-zergRush-busybox-su.zip. It was a matter of extracting the zip and running the batch file (although I did each step manually).

Putting ClockworkMod Recovery On

I had to put the clockworkmod recovery application on manually. The ClockworkMod application can be installed from the Marketplace but it won’t install the recovery part because the Chacha isn’t a recognised device. You can install it manually and to do so you need to obtain PH06img.zip from somewhere (I got it from a link from this postwhich linked to http://hotfile.com/dl/141532628/1438b2d/PH06img.zip.html. However I suggest you try this magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1CDE3E990246F017B9148FF1D97DB3F3A2D1B658&dn=PH06img.zip&tr=udp%3a//tracker.openbittorrent.com%3a80/announcetorrent magnet link.

One you have this zip file you need to extract “recover.img” from it. Then put your phone into the bootloader, select “fastboot”, and plug in the USB cable.

Next run the following command from your Android SDK toolkit: fastboot flash recovery c:\temp\recovery.img (or wherever you put the recovery.img file).

All done! You can now get into clockworkmod recovery!

CyanogenMod 7.2.0

Next I visited the xdadevelopers thread on mods for the HTC ChaCha. I downloaded the CyanogenMod mod (release number 20120201-0150) and copied it to my sdcard root – then restarted in clockworkmod recovery (making a backup first, of course) and installed CyanogenMod. I also downloaded the google apps from the same forum thread – and used clockworkmod recovery to install this zip file, too.

My HTC ChaCha Running CyanogenMod 7.2.0

Finally! A dialer that doesn’t crash my phone! That’s the second time I had to move to CyanogenMod to escape HTC’s atrocious and dysfunctional software development (on the Desire Z the messaging service took minutes to send messages, on the ChaCha the dialer would always crash).

CyanogenMod Details on HTC ChaCha Phone

Links

I almost wish I found these earlier:

• xdadevelopers thread titled “Official Unlock via HTCdev!”

Thanks

Thanks to: http://kindredcone.com/2012/04/26/how-to-root-htc-chacha-install-custom-recovery-guide/ who have liked this article so much they are re-using the images of my phone.

I’m pleased that by going to the effort of documenting what I did I am making life a little bit easier for others.

Update 2012-07-30

I’m now using CyanogenMod ROM build from 2012-07-24 which is available at (torrent) magnet link magnet:?xt=urn:btih:825E19D3E67E6630CB2C5D604E748131B6BE0F61&dn=CM-chacha-7.2-20120724-1056.zip. It’s also available from the link at the xda-developers thread. The below screenshot shows the Settings -> About Phone screen for this ROM.

How to Root & Install Custom Recovery in HTC Chacha [Tutorial]

How to Root & Install Custom Recovery in HTC Chacha [Tutorial]

Once of the greatest phone for the social networking which floats in the smart phone world is the innovation from HTC. The HTC Chacha is no doubt one of the best devices to have dedicated integration of Facebook to make the experience of social networking a unique and incredible one. In this particular post, we have come up with the steps to root your HTC Chacha in the recovery mode to install any custom. So lets head on to the important instruction and prerequisites before heading on to the steps to install custom recovery on your HTC Chacha.

Disclaimer: Rooting the device will void the warranty and just in case any damage or error occurs to your device while attempting the problem, shall not be head over to this website in any manner. The steps and tutorials published on this website is best to our knowledge and hence it is recommended to readers and users to attempt the procedure at their own risk.

Pre Requisistes:

Before proceeding to the installation procedure, it is important to ensure that you take the back up of all the important data like SMS, emails, files and other precious data being stored in the internal or external memory of your device in order to avoid any lose of data while attempting the procedure.

Steps to Root your HTC Chacha:

Step1: Firstly you need to download the CWM recovery package and also theSuper user file on your system. Post to this connect your HTC Chacha and importthe file on the external memory of your phone.

Step 2: Now disconnect the device and head on to settings. You need to disable the fast boot for which you need to go to settings>>>Power>>>Fast Boot and then turn it off. After this you need to press the Volume Down + Power button to bring your device in the HBoot option.

Step 3: Now the device will automatically scan the PH06IMG.zip and will start the installation process. Once it is done press the Volume Up key and then start the flashing process and then manually reboot the device. Once your HTC device gets reboot, you again need to turn it off to bring it into the HBOOT mode. For this you need to press Volume Down key + Power button at the same instance.

Step 4: Once you reach to the HBOOT, you device will scan for the PH06IMG.zip, which it place in the external memory. Now enter into therecovery mode by pressing the power button and Volume key.

Step 5: Now select the zip file which you imported having the name, “su-2.3.6.1-ef-signed.zip”. Select this file and press Yes to confirm the installation. It wil take few seconds and then the device will automatically reboot. That’s it you have now successfully rooted the device to install the super user on your HTC Chacha.

In case if you find any issues while attempting the process then please do consultwith use to get your problem addressed properly.