New HTC 10 (aka One M10) video teaser released; smartphone tipped to boast BoomSound audio technology

[Representative Image] An attendee tests the new HTC One during a launch event in New York, February 19, 2013.Reuters

HTC has rolled out a new video teaser a week ahead of the official unveiling of the company's flagship smartphone HTC 10 (aka One M10) April 12.

In the 39-second clip, HTC claims the company is obsessed with sound quality and promises fans that the upcoming device will offer flawless and high fidelity audio through BoomSound technology, which is said to be superior compared to all the previous flagship phones.

"Not all music is created equal. Hi-res audio so every note is crystal clear. You'll hear it. 4/12 #powerof10," HTC said on Twitter.

HTC 10: What we know so far

Going by the six teasers released so far, HTC 10 is confirmed to boast chamfered metal frame around the edges, dual-lens camera, BoomSound audio technology and two back-lit capacitive buttons with physical home button, which in all probability will double up as a fingerprint-based unlock button. 

Also read: New HTC 10 (aka One M10) teaser reveals key display features

As far as other features are concerned, it is said to feature 5.2-inch super LCD 5-based QHD (2560x1440p) screen, Android Marshmallow OS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core SoC (System-on-Chip), 4GB RAM, 64GB/128GB with option for expansion via micro SD card and a 3,000mAh battery.

New HTC 10 (aka One M10) video teaser released; smartphone tipped to boast ultimate BoomSound audio technologyHTC via Twitter

It is expected to come packed with 12MP Sony IMX377 camera featuring 1.55mm lens, laser autofocus and PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus) and Samsung's 5MP UltraPixel (s5k4e6) snapper on the front.

Also read: HTC One M10 teaser hints phone may come with chamfered metal frame

With just seven days left before the official launch, HTC is certain to release a few more teasers. Watch this space for more updates.

Source: New HTC 10 (aka One M10) video teaser released; smartphone tipped to boast BoomSound audio technology

Samsung Reportedly To Launch Foldable Smartphones In 2017

Samsung Developing Foldable Phablet With 7-Inch OLED Display

The foldable smartphone that Samsung's been working on for the last few years could become a reality soon.

The report takes note of that Samsung's foldable gadget would be a folded form of 5-inch smartphone, and would turn into a 7-inch tablet when it is opened or unfolded. The manufacturer could introduce a device with a display that physically folds to the market as early as 2017, Korean publication ET News reported Friday. "We are planning on mass-production and release of this product by discussing with our partners". Samsung introduced its first flexible display smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Round, as a market prototype in October 2013. They have started working on the Foldable Smartphone technology since 3 years, knowing that the smartphone markets are slowing down and they need something new and fresh to bring a momentum in the market.

Samsung, as always, has not comment on rumours about possible this new release, so we will just have to wait and see if there is any truth behind these latest rumours. Back in 2013 Samsung posted a concept video demonstrating what a foldable smartphone/tablet might look like.

It seems that Chang-hoon was speaking about a foldable device which it had patented in January, 2016.

Yet, ETNews claims spoke with a Samsung source familiar with the foldable device.

Microsoft (finally) turns every Xbox One into a dev kit todayMicrosoft is taking the open source command line, Linux, to its latest operating system , the Windows 10. It is believed that the feature will be added through the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update .

Source: Samsung Reportedly To Launch Foldable Smartphones In 2017

Around 1 Million PCs Installed Windows 10 Each Day Last Month

With the release of the new Windows 10 Mobile OS, Microsoft is now trying to innovate many trends in the market and it seems that it will most likely succeed, by releasing Windows 10 Mobile OS on the older Nokia Lumia smartphones. Now Microsoft has revealed that the same feature is coming to the desktop. The one and only device that has failed Microsoft until now is its smartphones. The display of the Lumia 650 is a decent 5-inch AMOLED panel running at a resolution of 720 by 1280 pixels.

The rollout of the upcoming devices could happen as early as June 2016 if indeed Microsoft will start providing the next big Windows 10 update at the start of summer season.

"We're going to do some cool things with phones, but this year phones are an important part of our family but not the tip of the spear", he added.

Net Applications' Windows 10 growth last month was 25% larger than the gains in February and the fourth largest since the operating system's mid-2015 debut.

The final blow to Windows 10 as a competitive mobile platform probably came when HERE Maps announced that it will pull its app from Windows store and remove support for Windows 10 and Windows 8 phone apps from 29 March. But there was no mention of the Windows Phone, as the presenters simply chose to avoid it.

This is still two-factor authentication. If you can log in to a business service, on your phone or on a PC you're using your phone to sign in to, just by looking at your phone, you don't have to type in a security code, or wait for an authentication message to turn up. The Lumia acquisition did not help matters and the company later acknowledged that it was a mistake. The device will reportedly run on an Intel Atom x3 processor with 4 GB RAM and 64 or 128 GB storage options, however, there is no report yet whether the storage will be expandable or not.

Saving a few bucks on a smartphone doesn't mean you have to give up selfies. Microsoft recently released a Twitter chatbot called Tay that used artificial intelligence to respond to communications from Twitter users. Microsoft laid off much of the workforce that joined through the deal and slashed the number of handset models it sells.

Source: Around 1 Million PCs Installed Windows 10 Each Day Last Month

Samsung foldable smartphone could launch next year, according to rumours

Samsung's long-rumoured foldable smartphone could be coming out in 2017, according to reports.

Korean technology site ETNews, who cite industry insiders, said the device will look like a regular 5-inch smartphone, slightly smaller than the new Samsung Galaxy S7.

Once unfolded, the device's screen will expand to seven inches, the size of a small tablet.

It's not clear what the phone will look like or how the folding action will work, but it's no secret that Samsung and its competitors have been working on flexible screen technology for years.

Samsung also filed a patent in March for a phone with a 'rollable' screen, which can expand by being pulled up by the user like a window blind.

A flexible phone has been slated for imminent release for the last couple of years, so it's important to take this latest rumour with a pinch of salt.

However, a launch next year would make sense - the smartphone market is slowing down after a decade of explosive growth, and new devices are increasingly similar to their predecessors.

Concerned that the limits of what can be done with a palm-sized rectangular phone are being reached, tech companies are looking for the next big thing.

Bringing out a foldable phone would shake things up and put Samsung at the front of the pack, leading a number of technology analysts to believe it could release the device in the next year.

Samsung doesn't comment on rumours relating to its upcoming releases, so we may have to wait for more leaks to see if this one holds any water.

Source: Samsung foldable smartphone could launch next year, according to rumours

Smartphone survival test: Swapping my iPhone 6s for a $200 Android handset

Four years ago, I called it quits with the Android smartphone platform. I was, shall we say, frustrated with the state of software/hardware stability and application quality relative to the price of phones you could buy from Apple at the time.

I saw no reason to spend $600+ on a Android device when I could spend about the same money on an iPhone, and get a better quality experience overall. Two years ago, I re-evaluated my position and came to the same conclusion -- I wanted nothing to do with Google's smartphone platform.

In those four years I've gone through several iPhones. A 5, a 5S, a 6, and now a 6S. I've enjoyed using all of them, but I've paid a considerable premium for owning Apple products.

I've migrated between models not so much because I have needed to, but because as a technology writer, keeping up with these things is a cost of doing business.

But as a private citizen, if I did not have an outlet for writing about these things, I am not sure if I could justify the expense every year of replacing my smartphone at full retail non-contract pricing.

It's still a good chunk of change even if I do get partial trade-in value, which is usually around half of what I paid for it a year earlier. Although the trend seems to be much lower trade-in valuation, year after year.

My last purchase, an unlocked 128GB iPhone 6S, ran me about $900. That's a lot of money. Even a 64GB or 32GB model would have run me about $700 or so.

While I have no desire to replace my 6S with the recently-released iPhone SE -- as from a technology perspective, they have the same innards -- the release of this "lower-cost" device has gotten me thinking about upgrade cycles and whether or not I want to continue on this path of going to the latest and greatest iPhone indefinitely.

The burning question is thus: Does it really makes sense to be spending this kind of money when perfectly viable alternatives exist for significantly less?

I also do not want to get caught in the trap of being a technology writer that is permanently stuck in a "well if it was junky and problematic before, it's still crap" mindset and having a stale perspective on Android that would negatively impact my credibility as an authority on the subject.

Four years is a long time in the technology space, And it's time I started looking at Android again.

There are a number of reasons why I want to do this. First and foremost is understanding what is happening in the manufacturing space from Chinese companies that are now releasing high-quality products for much less money than what Apple is charging for iPhones.

Some of these products have not landed in a big way on American shores yet as far as retail presence, or have only gotten a small amount of exposure through online sales. But this is only temporary as these firms shore up more and more distribution and carrier relationships.

Still, one thing is to analyze the state of the industry. Another is to use the products themselves in real-world scenarios.

So I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. I'm leaving my iPhone 6S on the shelf for a month, and will use an inexpensive Android smartphone instead.

For this "Smartphone Survival Test" I've picked out a several Chinese-made Android devices which cost between $200 and $400 and have similar specifications. I'm going to alternate between them so that I get a representative sample and one device does not disproportionately set the tone of my experience. These phones are:

ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser ($200)

Huawei Honor 5X ($200)

OnePlus X ($250)

Lenovo ZUK Z1 ($250-$300)

ZTE Axon Pro ($399)

I am also going to use for the most part the same exact core applications that I use on the iPhone. These are:

Microsoft Outlook

Skype for Business

Gmail

Google Maps

Yelp

Instagram

Facebook

RadarScope

YouFood

Google Chrome

Google News

Google Voice

Plume for Twitter

The only apps that differ between the iOS and Android platforms are my Twitter client (on iOS I use Tweetbot) and my web browser (I normally use Safari).

So what am I hoping to accomplish with this? Well, I think if it ends up that I can use an inexpensive Android device interchangeably with iOS without significant migration pain or loss of functionality, it will have been deemed a success.

I'm also hoping that if certain things do arise as far as usability issues or scenarios that I did not anticipate, I'll be able to document and work around them -- and if I can't, these will be documented as well.

In any case, let us begin the Smartphone Survival Test, week one.

Have you migrated from iOS to an inexpensive Android device recently? Talk Back and Let Me Know.

Source: Smartphone survival test: Swapping my iPhone 6s for a $200 Android handset

Samsung is Reportedly Planning to Release a Foldable Smartphone/Tablet Next Year

Samsung is planning to bring its foldable smartphone/tablet concept to life next year, reports ETNews. The device will be a 5-inch smartphone when closed and will open to a 7-inch tablet.

Mass production of the foldable displays are said to begin by the end of this year with sales of the new smartphone/tablet beginning next year.

Industries are expecting that Foldable Smartphones will create new momentum in Smartphone markets that are somewhat slowing down. Just like how a large cellphone like a size of a brick has become smaller and how normal flip-phone has become a Smartphone, industries are expecting that Foldable Smartphone will create new innovation in Smartphone markets. It is heard that Samsung Electronics has been preparing for Foldable Smartphones since 3 years ago because it knew that Smartphone markets were slowing down.

"Development of Foldable OLED is taking place according to our plan." said Director Lee Chang-hoon of Samsung Display at performance co nference call that took place in January. "We are planning on mass-production and release of this product by discussing with our partners."

Back in 2013 Samsung posted a concept video demonstrating what a foldable smartphone/tablet might look like.

Take a look at the video below...

Read More

Source: Samsung is Reportedly Planning to Release a Foldable Smartphone/Tablet Next Year

HTC 10 release closing in as two models revealed

There's not too long to go until the official launch of HTC's upcoming flagship, although there have been so many leaks that we pretty much know what to expect. Now there's another sign that the HTC 10 release is closing in. Two models have been revealed as the phone has just passed through the FCC regulatory body.

The HTC 10 launch event takes place on April 12 and rumors about the phone have been bountiful. We've seen plenty of leaks about specs and more, and there was also a recent price leak that suggested there might be three variants of the HTC 10 aka HTC One M10. We have to remember that nothing has been confirmed at this point, but the fact that the device has now received FCC certification means it could be available very shortly after the official announcement.

Previous rumors suggested the HTC 10 release in Taiwan would be on April 15th. However, an earlier leak hinted a US release for the device in the week of May 9th, although as with other rumors this is unconfirmed. The FCC spot is interesting as two model numbers are disclosed, the 2PS6200 and the 2PS6500. Alas the documentation doesn't clarify the differences between them but it could be varying network band support.

As HTC has asked the regulatory body to withhold information disclosure to the public, there are no images of the device to be had from the filing. However, there have already been plenty of leaked renders and photos so we have an idea already. As far as specs are concerned it's thought the phone will have a Snapdragon 820 processor, 5.1-inch Super LCD 5 display with Quad HD resolution, and 4GB of RAM.

In just over a week we'll have all of the official specifications, and hopefully at the same event the HTC 10 release date will also be confirmed. Stay tuned for more as we'll bring you the news as it comes in. Are you keenly waiting for the HTC 10?

Source: FCC (1) (2)Via: GSMArena

Read more about: HTC   Mobile Phones  

Source: HTC 10 release closing in as two models revealed