HTC's One V handset is due to arrive at Cricket on September 2. As the smallest member of the One range, the phone will be the first HTC phone available at Cricket and also the first to bring Android 4.0 to its customers. The phone will cost $270 and not require any form of contract.
HTC has posted yet another weak quarterly result (pdf) with profits down nearly 58 percent compared to the same period last year. It follows a precipitous plunge in profit of 70 percent that it recorded in Q1 this year, after Samsung’s Galaxy S II overshadowed its 2011 product range. Worryingly for HTC, its new and critically well-received One-series line-up seems to have done little to turn the company around in the face of the Samsung onslaught led by the Galaxy S II and S III.
The entry-level model from HTC's One range is now available from US Cellular. Like the One S and One X, the phone runs on Android 4.0 and has Beats Audio-certified speakers. Unlike them, it doesn't have a 4G radio onboard.
The HTC One V smartphone is now available in Canada at provider Bell. On a three-year contract, the phone won't require any up-front payment, though the required voice and data plan is at least $50 CAD ($50.30). Contract-free, the phone is priced at $300 CAD (about $302).
HTC has forecast a 55 percent jump in revenue for the second quarter of 2012. The upbeat outlook hints at a strong consumer response to its new line of One-series smartphones. The news is a positive sign that it has regained a competitive footing as it seeks to regain lost ground to Samsung and Apple over the past two quarters.
HTC's market challenges have seen it lose more than half of its share of online usage, Chitika found in a new study. Its traffic on Chitika's relatively large ad network has dropped 60 percent in the space of five months, down to 7.3 percent of the total in March. While only representative of Chitika's share, it contrasted with Apple's gain in the same space of time, where it leapt from 46.8 percent in October to 76.9 percent in March.
Spotify on Thursday addressed complaints over its Android app with a new preview version of its remake. The new version is completely remade and designed explicitly to support Android 4.0 phones like the Galaxy Nexus or One X. The UI change brings swipe-based navigation columns, extra-large artist artwork, and a Facebook-style slide-out menu.
Google gave the Chrome for Android beta a major update (Google Play) Tuesday that filled in key gaps in the otherwise advanced browser. Like the stock Android 4.0 browser, Chrome can now ask for the desktop version of a page if the mobile version is either undesirable or doesn't work. Address a feature that's been on iOS devices for years, Google now lets users add bookmarks as shortcuts on the Android home screen.
Google has posted a Chrome 19 beta that answers a common call for fast access to tabs across devices. Signing in on the same Google account both on a desktop and an Android device running Chrome for Android will give either device access to whatever tabs happen to be open on that device at that moment. The approach makes it easy to continue reading an article from an Android phone or to check directions that were just on the desktop.
Thanks to the recent launch of the HTC One V and the work of one resourceful developer over at the XDA Developers forum, owners of the Desire S and Desire HD can port over the ROM from the new phone. The project is a work in progress, but most of the ROM was successfully ported over to the older handsets. The data and voice radios with the new ROM are fully functional for either phone, so users can use it daily.
HTC in an interview Friday said it won't pack in Beats Audio's earbuds or other headphones with at least some of its smartphones from now on. Product executive Martin Fichter briefed CNET that, while the on-device Beats Audio processing would stay, ordinary headphones at most would come in the box with models like the Evo 4G LTE and One series. Customers weren't buying for the headphones and thus didn't justify the extra cost.
HTC's One V on Friday had its first official release in the company's home area of Taiwan. The more affordable of the Android 4.0 lineup is currently on sale through Chungwa Telecom for the equivalent of about $339 off-contract. To mark the occasion, Netbook News has conducted an unboxing as well as some early tests.
HTC’s Q1 2012 unaudited results are in (pdf) and they don’t make pleasant reading. The company has revealed that its profits have slumped a massive 70 percent year-over-year on revenues down 35 percent. The result continues a downward trend that started in the second half of 2011 as the once leading Android smartphone vendor bled sales, largely due to the popularity of Samsung’s 2011 Galaxy line-up.
Later this month, Dropbox plans on launching a promotion giving HTC phone owners with devices that include the HTC Sense 4.0 app 23GB of online storage free for two years. Some industrious individuals found a work around that would let anybody, whether or not they owned such a phone, to leverage the deal. Dropbox has now issued an advisory that it is on to the scheme, and anybody who signed up for the storage in this manner will soon find themselves without it.
HTC on Thursday set out the first launches of the One X, One S, and One V outside of Taiwan. Austria, Germany, and Switzerland will all get the Android 4.0 centerpiece phones on April 2. Prices for the One X, One S, and One V will come in at 599 euros (719 Swiss francs), 499 euros (599 francs), and 299 euros (349 francs).
HTC is nearing the launch of a new dual-SIM smartphone in its native China. The T328w Wind is powered by a Qualcomm 1GHz single core processor and a four-inch 800x480 screen. It will ship with Android 4.0, making it close in some respects to the One V.
The HTC One V had one of its first hands-on tests as a working device on Thursday. Testing the upcoming Telus version, MobileSyrup saw it running much of Android 4.0 and the matching Sense 4.0 quickly despite the single-core, 1GHz Snapdragon. The only change in this early version is the use of Android's stock if improved task switcher and not the 3D one HTC uses on the One S and One X.
The HTC One V may be coming to Virgin Mobile's US branch. Tips to PocketNow early this week had the aluminum unibody Android 4.0 phone coming to the carrier in late spring. It would cost under $200 off-contract on Virgin, making it not just Virgin's most advanced smartphone but also one of its more affordable models.
LG's new L-Style phones are an attempt to bring good-looking design to the mid-range and budget smartphones that normally don't get that treatment. Electronista got the chance to try every model, ranging from the tiny L3 to the more aggressive L5 and L7. Read on to find out how well they fared and a surprise pick for our favorite.
HTC has introduced a wireless streaming adapter, the Media Link HD, and a car stereo accessory that are designed to work with the company's latest smartphones. The device, which received a quick mention at HTC's press conference at Mobile World Congress, enables users to stream video directly from their handset to a TV or other display without using an HDMI cable.
Confirming recent rumors, HTC has introduced the One V to satisfy the market for entry-level Android 4.0 smartphones. The device is smaller than the flagship One X and the midrange One S, bringing the display size down to 3.7 inches with 800x480 resolution, with an aluminum housing and overall design based on the company's existing Legend handset.
The first photos of what is said to be the HTC One X smartphone have been shared online by online. While they differ slightly from the image that surfaced yesterday of allegedly the same phone, the overall shape and design is fairly close. The source also confirmed from a tipster that the phone will have a 4.7-inch touchscreen, eight-megapixel camera, and a microSIM card slot.
The first image of the upcoming HTC One X smartphone has now been shared online by PocketNow. The phone, previously known as the Endeavor and Edge, will be a flagship device, said to be sporting a quad-core Tegra 3 chip and large, 4.7-inch HD touchscreen. It should ship with Android 4.0 onboard and be one of the first to have HTC's Sense 4.0 skin.
HTC has dropped hint that it officially may be announcing five new devices at its Mobile World Congress event on Sunday. The phone maker has popped the silhouette of a handset on its Facebook wall with the number five emblazoned across its screen. Below, HTC offers the cryptic message that "this Sunday you’ll discover something fast."
HTC's One X and One S could be joined by two more phones in a more streamlined lineup if leaks bear results. The One V described by Pocket-lint would be the final name of the Primo and amount to a drop-in replacement for the Rhyme, albeit without the single-gender bias. It would keep the 3.7-inch display, a five-megapixel camera, and a 1GHz processor that would still be just fast enough to record 720p video.
