HTC was not shy about using words like “reinvent” and “new standard” when introducing its new HTC One smartphone. “Although smartphones are one of the main ways we stay in touch with the people and information we care about, conventional designs have failed to keep pace with how people are actually using them,” said HTC CEO Peter Chou.
The new Android 4.2 phone is designed to push information to users instead of requiring them to constantly open apps and shift between them. The company calls the uber-app HTC BlinkFeed and says it will deliver a personalized stream of content from HTC’s news, sports and entertainment content partners.
Users will get to see that content on a 4.7-inch, full HD screen. The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, and it does seem to live up to its “new standard” moniker in the hardware department: it is made entirely of aluminum, its speakers are strips that run vertically alongside the display, and its camera uses “ultrapixels.” HTC says an ultrapixel is about twice the size of a standard megapixel and lets in about 300% more light. So more pictures can be taken without a flash.
Speaking of pictures, HTC has tried to raise the bar here as well. ‘Zoe’ is the company’s name for its technology that will simultaneously snap a high resolution photo and a 3-second video. It will take a couple more clicks to share the Zoe across social media sites.
Recognizing that more and more of us watch television with the remote in one hand and a smartphone in the other, HTC has combined those functionalities. HTC Sense accesses the cloud to show users what’s on TV and let them control many set-top boxes with their smartphones.
The LTE-ready HTC One is coming to AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile USA, and to 182 other carriers around the world. HTC says the U.S. carriers could have the phone as early as next month, so by the end of the second quarter it should be clear whether HTC has a winner on its hands. The company was an early beneficiary of the smartphone revolution, but last year Asian rivals Samsung, ZTE, Huawei and Sony all sold more Android smartphones than HTC. Now the company wants the world to know it’s back in a big way.
“Clearly, the introduction of One will help HTC to differentiate its brand from the typical Android identity,” said Julian Jest, Research Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. “Although the device is powered by Android OS, it is highly distinguishable from the “Android mass” in terms of both usability and elegance of design.”
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