HTC Jetstream Gets Permaroot and CWM Recovery

It’s been a long time coming for the HTC Jetstream but the job has finally been done. XDA user DooMLoRD has made public a permanent root and recovery method for the HTC Jetstream meaning ROMs will be on their way. The development community was next to dead without these things and now that they’re here things should nice and fruitful before too long. Head over to XDA for the download links and full instructions and be careful not to blame others if something goes wrong with your phone. [Thanks Josh!]

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Nielsen: Samsung, Motorola and HTC Top Five in Recent Smartphone Market Share

Nielsen’s ringing in with their end-of-the-year lists of top brands, companies and web destinations. One that caught our eye, of course, was the smartphone manufacturer chart.
They pulled data from the months of August 2011 through October 2011. This isn’t overall OEM market share but gives an idea of the trends that were developing leading into the holiday season.

At the top of the chart was Apple taking up 29% of the sales throughout this period, but HTC is not far behind with 21%. RIM, surprisingly, is sitting at 17%, ahead of Samsung and Motorola who both have 11% each.
It would be nice to get an idea of how these numbers stacked up through Christmas but those numbers will make their way to the forefront soon enough. To see more figures (such as top web brands and top destinations for watching online video) visit Nielsen’s site here.

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HTC Makes All Handsets Released Since September 2011 Unlockable

It turns out the HTC Rezound wasn’t an anomly when it was discovered that HTC’s official bootloader unlock tool worked with little effort. HTC has updated the page to announce that all handsets released since September of this year are now unlockable via the method provided at HTCDev.com.

“All HTC Android devices launched after September 2011 are unlockable. The website will be updated accordingly to reflect this in the coming weeks. We continue to work on models launched prior to September 2011, please check back often for the status of older devices.”

[HTCDev via AndroidCentral]

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Though Unlisted, HTC Rezound Unlockable via HTCDev Tools

You won’t find it listed among the likes of the T-Mobile myTouch 4G and HTC View 4G, but the tools available via HTCDev.com are apparently capable of unlocking the bootloader of the HTC Rezound as well. It’s as easy as heading over to the site and following the same instructions that unlock any other listed HTC device.
Since there has been no official mention of the Rezound chances are HTC did not intentionally provide these capabilities. In the event that the manufacturer decides to remove support for the Beats Audio handset, those wishing to forego the bootloader by official means should act quickly.
[via DroidLife]

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HTCDev.com Adds Unlock Support for T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide, HTC EVO View 4G

Those of you who aren’t keen on using community-developed tools to unlock their HTC devices’ bootloaders have been graced with a great program by HTC. They officially allow you to unlock your bootloader in a safe way, though it may void your warranty as they will know which phones have been unlocked through their tool.
Two new devices join the party today as T-Mobile’s MyTouch 4G Slide and the HTC EVO View 4G (Sprint’s version of the HTC Flyer) are now able to be unlocked. Be sure you know the risks of unlocking your bootloader and it would help if you had a good idea of why you want to unlock it before you go ahead and do that. Head to HTCDev.com to get started. [via The Verge]

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HTC Evo View 4G and Mytouch 4G Slide Now Officially Unlockable From HTC

Two new HTC devices have found themselves a part of the official bootloader unlocked family of devices by way of HTC’s developer site, HTCDev.com. The Evo View 4G (Sprint’s version of the Flyer) along with the T-Mobile MyTouch Slide 4G were the newest additions to the list. The Evo View 4G more specifically, has been making its way around the internet as the center of more than a few “fire sales” offering the device at a deeply discounted price.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, having an unlocked bootloader means you can generally tinker around a little more with the software of your device, adding things like root access and/or installing custom ROMs. While, HTC provides the unlocking for specific devices, not everything will be covered under warranty, should something go awry. Of course, there are always the unofficial methods of unlocking a device but it’s nice to see HTC putting in the effort.
[HTCDev via AndroidPolice]

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HTC Super Tool Promises To Root A Variety Of Phones

If you have a rather recent HTC phone, the manufacturer allows you to unlock its bootloader the official way; the procedure might involve a lot of steps and, in the end, you are achieving root on your device with the price of officially voiding your warranty.

Not that any severe tampering will not void your warranty, but why let the manufacturer know about it, right? The HTC Super Tool from XDA Developers promises to root a variety of HTC-phones, including the EVO 4G, 3D, Shift, Inspire, Sensation, Incredible, Amaze and more. If you're techy and interested in having total control over your phone by cracking it open, check out the source link for more details, including the fact that there's currently no functioning S-OFF, but is planned for future releases. As usual, bold and italic word of warning is due when tampering with your phone!

Source: XDA Developers

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HTC and their retailers win relief from IPCom

It looks like HTC’s streak of bad luck might only be a short term thing. Just yesterday we reported that patent firm IPCom sued about 100 retailers for continuing to sell HTC’s products even after the deadline, and in an effort to protect their products and their retailers went back to the courts to seek some form of relief.

According to the TaiwanEconomicNews, it seems that HTC was successful in seeking relief and the German courts have since issued an injunction against IPCom, basically telling them to stop harassing HTC’s retailers with lawsuits. We guess with the courts favoring HTC in this particular case, it seems that their workaround of IPCom’s patents must have been satisfactory enough for the court, even if IPCom doesn’t seem to think so.
Of course this could have gone the opposite direction. As we mentioned yesterday, HTC was liable for penalty if they were found guilty of contravening the court’s orders. The fine would have cost HTC €250,000 each time they were found guilty.

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HTC Fireball, LG Spectrum could be Verizon’s first LTE world phones

Americans get a lot of cool stuff before the rest of the world, but phones that play nice with international networks is not one of them. Verizon customers in particular have a lot of frustration to deal with, since the CDMA network is totally useless almost everywhere else in the world. There are a smattering of globally operable phones on Verizon, including the DROID 2 Global, DROID 3 and the Incredible 2. But so far there haven’t been any global-ready smartphones that take advantage of Verizon’s LTE network. According to some leaked internal documentation from Droid Life, that may soon change with phones from HTC and LG.

We’ve heard rumors of both these phones before: the HTC Fireball was spotted in Verizon’s apparently leaky computer system, and shots of the LG Spectrum (AKA the LG Revolution 2) make it look like a revised version of AT&T’s Nitro HD. Both of the phones were marked as “global” in the above Verizon listings. That’s great news for global travelers who use Verizon in the United States, as none of the recent high-profile smartphone releases on the network have featured global connectivity, with the exception of the iPhone 4S. And who wants to embarrass themselves while traveling?
There’s no news on when these phones will become available, but if they’re in the system it’s probably a matter of less than three months. Expect more information at CES in about three weeks, with hands-on photos and videos from Android Community if we’re lucky. Keep in mind that “global” doesn’t mean “unlocked”: Verizon’ world phones still incur significant roaming charges, and many international travelers simply opt to buy a cheap phone and a prepaid SIM card for the duration of their travels.

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Improve your Android device’s display resolution

Ever wondered how you wished your Android-powered smartphone would have a higher pixel count for its display? Well, those who own a rooted Android smartphone, you can “force” the resolution of your handset’s display to be different compared to what it came with, thanks to an app known as LCD Resolution. Bear in mind that you are unable to cram in more pixels than the original count, as that would be impossible, but you can improve the resolution with this particular program. For best results, a high resolution display Android device would work best, such as the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note, the HTC Rezound, or the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I would presume that folks who mirror video from their smartphone to a HDTV will find this useful.

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HTC EVO View Honeycomb update now available

Though Best Buy recently pulled their HTC Flyer from their online store, the “Now” network’s EVO View 4G – essentially the same device – has an Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) update available for download. It will be pushed to devices tomorrow, but can be easily downloaded and updated today. Honeycomb brings some much needed features to the EVO View 4G, and the most noticeable being the new “Notifications” menu.

Honeycomb is really the bridge from Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Features from both combine to make Google’s new OS, and only the strongest survived. My personal favorite is the new “Recent Applications” menu icon; if would have been a shame if it was left out.
EVO View 4G owners won’t look back on their previous OS, as Honeycomb is meant to be much more tablet friendly. For those of you wanting this update right now, navigate through “Settings > System Updates > HTC Software Update > Check Now” on your device; it should start right up. Those of you have gone through with the update, let us know if it requires a data wipe – that could really help out the community when preparing to update.
[via Phandroid]

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HTC Sensation Android 4.0 ROM Leaks, teases Sense UI on ICS

While developers have been going crazy porting and working on ROM’s for all devices to get a taste of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich today we have something even better. This appears to be a full Android 4.0 ROM for the Sensation XE that was leaked to the public. Developers have already ported this to the regular HTC Sensation and it seems to be working great. This also gives us our first glace at what to expect with HTC’s Sense UI on Ice Cream Sandwich — more of the same sadly.

This ROM comes to us courtesy of XDA Developers and has already become hugely popular in just a few short hours since being released earlier today. Based from the leaked Android 4.0.1 build for the Sensation XE it currently has HTC Sense UI 3.5 but we may see 4.0 from HTC at release. The changes being seen could very well change once final but for now it’s a good start — for those that like Sense of course. I personally love my Vanilla whether it’s Gingerbread, Honeycomb, or Ice Cream Sandwich but that’s just me.
Being an early leak there are a few bugs and users cant set wallpaper from settings, battery life is quite terrible (although tips are available on the first post) and that is all currently being listed but I’m sure there are a few more bugs somewhere. At first glance nothing really looks different. I personally love the visual changes with ICS so I’m a little sad to see them staying so similar here. You’ll notice this does feature Face Unlock, the new ICS font, menu, and more but either way Sense is still Sense.
If getting some semi-official ICS on your Sensation is of any interest make sure you follow all the directions provided by the developers at XDA and proceed with caution. This being an extremely early leak, and for the XE makes the possibility for issues bigger than usual. Many comments are saying it works great so give it a run and let us know what you think.

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HTC finishes workaround for avoiding Apple patent ruling

Generally when a company loses a patent litigation case against Apple, it doesn’t look at the loss as a win. HTC is still saying that the loss to Apple in a recent patent litigation case was a win because the courts only found one instance of infringement out of ten Apple claims. The ruling would have resulted in a ban on the import of some HTC products to the US.

Bloomberg reports that HTC has already neatly skirted the patent ban with a new workaround that is already finished. The import ban wouldn’t have gone into effect until April 2012 so HTC is ready to go with the ban behind it. HTC’s CEO said that the infringing tech was rarely used hinting that the workaround was easy to build.
HTC CEO Peter Chou said, “It’s actually quite rarely used.” I wonder if there will be as many patent cases in the mobile phone and tablet world next year as there have been this year. I don’t see this sort of legal battle stopping, do you?
[via SlashGear]

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HTC and Google comment on US Apple patent loss – Andy Rubin “optimistic” about the future

HTC’s boss Peter Chou and Android top man Andy Rubin have both gone on the record regarding the recent high-profile patent loss to Apple, which had some excitable people claiming HTC’s phones could be banned from sale in the US.
That won’t happen. Chou says the infringing feature has already been removed, while Rubin is pleased that the ruling only covers user interface touches rather than anything deep within Android itself.
Rubin said:
“The majority of these patents [in Apple's complaint against HTC] were claimed in the operating system itself, but actually in this case what was allowed… is some user interface feature of an application, not the operating system itself, so that’s why I’m very optimistic in basically my desire to achieve patent peace on the overall platform.”

He has in his hand a piece of paper…

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Apple shouts, ITC jumps: HTC imports banned by April 2012

In a blow for Android, not to mention the free market, innovation and common sense, the United States International Trade commission has ruled in Apple’s favor in its case against HTC’s Android devices. Certain devices, not currently articulated, will be illegal to import into the United States as of April 19, 2012. The two companies may reach a patent settlement, or President Obama may veto the order.

Apple brought forth its case based on several patents, but the one that it won the patent case one is a system level patent, according to The Verge. The injunction will go to the desk of President Obama, who will have sixty days to veto the motion or sign it. (He’s a Blackberry guy, so we’ll call him neutral in this case.) Vetos against an ITC decision are rare, but something tells me that this case will receive particular attention.
What happens now? Normally when two large companies come to blows over patents, a licensing deal is hammered out before it actually stops sales or imports. And that may indeed happen – but if anyone is poised to buck the trend in patent litigation, it’s Apple. The company refused to settle with Samsung in their Australian patent case, forcing a long and drawn out system of appeals.
It was revealed in the recent autobiography of late apple co-founder Steve Jobs that he was furious over perceived theft of intellectual property in Android, and declared that he would “spend my last dying breath if I need to…I’m going to destroy Android because it’s a stolen product.” Apple’s non-cooperative and litigious actions in Australia and Germany seem to be in line with that imperative. Apple eventually lost the Australian case on appeal, and Samsung’s tablets are once again on sale down under.

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Verizon System Shows HTC Fireball, Details Unknown

If a Verizon inventory screens are to be believed (and they usually are quite trustworthy), a new 4G LTE device is coming our way courtesy of HTC. The HTC Fireball has appeared in the carrier’s computer system without even the slightest hint as to what it could be. The best we can do is speculate on the Fireball’s model number ADR6410L, which falls between the ADR6425 and ADR6400. With consideration to this fact, it is possible that the Fireball will be a mid-range device with hardware that falls between the range of those two devices. Otherwise we can gain little info other than the assumption that Verizon plans to release the device sometime in the future.
[via DroidLife]

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HTC Elite flagship phone rumored for AT&T in April

If you’re still drooling over early leaks for the HTC Edge and HTC Ville, prepare to shift your desire to another device entirely. BGR quotes anonymous insiders saying that the HTC Elite, an EVO/Titan-style flagship device for the company, will launch in April of 2012 on AT&T. “Elite” may be a codename for the device, with “HTC Congressional” serving as the final release name. The senator from Taiwan has the floor.

The source didn’t have any specification information for the Elite, though they did mention a 4.7-inch LTE Window Phone for AT&T set to debut in February. If the Elite is indeed a flagship, it would have a large 720p screen, possibly Super AMOLED, and either a dual-core or quad-core processor of at least 1.2Ghz. Beats Audio is almost a given for a high-end HTC Android phone, and the Elite would probably be the first phone in the US to receive HTC Sense UI 4, the comapny’s Ice Cream Sandwich version of its Android customized build. If it’s coming to AT&T at a high price point, LTE seems probable.
All this is speculation at the moment, but HTC’s business trends indicate a Sensation-style headline platform is due for 2012, and this could be it. The Elite may find its way to other markets under similar branding – indeed, the HTC Edge could be the very same device, since AT&T has a habit of renaming phones for their network to give the illusion of exclusivity (see the LG Nitro HD, AKA the Optimus LTE). BGR also reports that HTC will be releasing fewer total phones in 2012, focusing on better individual products in the wake of some depressing earnings reports and bleak Q1 2012 forecasts.

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HTC Desire S getting Android 2.3.5, Sense 3.0 update in India

HTC has started rolling out much awaited Android 2.3.5 update for Desire S users in India. This update also brings the Sense 3.0 UI to Desire S. It is available OTA, so you will soon get a notification on your device to download and install the update.
If you have HTC Desire S, you can go to Settings>> About Phone>> Software Update to check the update manually. Although announced on December 15 by HTC India on its official Facebook page, users have started getting it today only.
Update build number – 2.15.720.3
Do let us know about your experience after the update in the comments.

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Browser Face-Off: iPhone 4S, Galaxy Nexus, Rezound, Razr and Galaxy S II Compared [Videos]

As a long time Android user since the G1 days, I have to say having a choppy browser has been one of the areas that has really irked me about Android devices. Watching all those smug iPhone users with their super fluid browser, scrolling up and down, in and out, I have to admit — I was jealous. Now, with this new generation of dual-core superphones, you would expect all the browsers, across all devices to be nice, smooth and silky, right? Wrong.
If you’re sitting on an upgrade, on the fence about which new device to get, maybe this collection of videos from our very own Android Forums member, Medion, will help push you over the edge. Who comes out on top? Who’s cuisine reigns supreme? As a reference, we’re including the iPhone 4S because… c’mon — it’s damn smooth.
Apple iPhone 4S


Galaxy Nexus


Samsung Galaxy S II


Motorola Droid RAZR


HTC Rezound

After watching these videos, have they possibly changed your mind at all on a future purchase? Granted, there are other factors that influence value like camera and manufacturer UI’s. But when it comes to browsers, I can tell you I’m seeing things in a whole new light. I’m talking to you, Rezound. Get your choppiness together.
[Via AndroidForums]

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HTC Thunderbolt OTA Update Coming Soon – Includes Bug Fixes and New Radio Version

Verizon is getting ready to push out a new OTA (over-the-air) update for the first 4G LTE device to hit the carrier — the HTC Thunderbolt. This will bring the T-Bolt up to software version 2.11.605.9, which contains the usual bug fixes and even a new baseband version. Improved radios are always fun. Other notable changes of the 36MB update include:

• Resolved issue with contact ringtones
• Improvements to notification volume
• Updated local streaming playback mechanism when network connection is not available
• Updated Twitter API for Peep/FriendStream
• Clock app included in All App list
• Improvements in Exchange ActiveSync

No word yet on exactly when Verizon plans to push the update to devices but it wont hurt to manually check for it yourself by jumping into your Settings > Software Update > Check Now. Let us know if anyone receives it!
[Via AndroidPolice]

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