T-Mobile pits the Amaze 4G against the iPhone 4S, Street Fighter style

It’s a common enough argument: my phone is better than your phone. If you’ve got any friends who are particularly attached to their iPhones, you might hear it a lot. T-Mobile’s out to end the debate, and they’re not above using Scott Pilgrim-grade nostalgia to do it. Their latest anti-iPhone commercial pits their current flagship the HTC Amaze 4G against the iPhone 4S in a one-on-one battle to the death to the end of Round 1.

The 90-second ad is mostly about the phones’ respective cameras: both shoot 8 megapixel stills and 1080p video. T-Mobile argues in favor of the Amaze 4G, with arguments about panoramic views, face recognition and sports-friendly burst modes. And 8-bit robot samurai fists. You can probably guess who emerges victorious, but if you’re in suspense, check out the video embedded below:




Even as a rabid Android supporter, it’s hard to deny that the cameras in the iPhone 4 and 4S are impressive. Better than the iPhone? Well.. no. But given the extra features and the lack of iPhone availability on T-Mobile, it’s definitely the best you can get on the carrier.

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HTC Flyer missing from Best Buy online

Could the Flyer be discontinued? It is no longer available for purchase on Best Buy’s website, and the trend may follow with other retailers soon. It has been discounted many times over the past couple months, and may be nearing the end of its shelf-life. Of course, after using the tablet myself – it functions better than many of the current tabs out there.

In one sale the Flyer dipped down to $240 for a brief moment, and that was quite the deal. It may not have appeared for $99.99 like the famed HP TouchPad, but still 50% off. If Best Buy is pulling its inventory, another “Firesale” could be underway soon.
When a tablet is discontinued, the developmental community is bound to worry. The HTC Flyer has many unofficial developers on its side producing some excellent ROMs and kernels. Knowing the Flyer may never see Android 4.0 could be quite the disappointment, but at least developers won’t be waiting on it. It may even give a few the spark to start a something from scratch.
[via Phandroid]

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Apple and HTC wait for trade rulings in patent fight

Apple is not only going after Samsung in numerous markets where patent rulings are concerned, Cupertino, too, has other targets in mind such as HTC as well. A patent fight between Cupertino and the Taiwanese smartphone giant will culminate in this week’s decision from a US trade agency, where a result in Apple’s favor might eventually lead to a ban on imports of select HTC devices. The International Trade Commission commission will be announcing tomorrow as to whether HTC infringed patents owned by Apple.
Of course, who are we to say that the decision might end up otherwise, and life goes on as normal for HTC in the US, while Apple executives seethe and gnash their teeth, wondering why can’t the rest of the world see their point of view? All in all, the commission’s job is to step forward and confirm whether they agree with a judge’s finding that cleared Apple of claims it infringed some HTC patents.Who do you think will emerge the victor between the two?

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HTC Throwing “Chill With Us” Party In Hollywood, CA – Open To The Public!

HTC is throwing another one of their famous meet-up parties in beautiful Hollywood, CA this Wednesday, December 14th at the Lexington Social House. Simply titled, “Chill With Us,” HTC throws these parties just about every year as a way of giving back and having a good time with the fans that helped make them a success. There will be free food, drinks and plenty of schmoozing. Here’s what HTC had to say on their Facebook page:

…on a wintery night and enjoy the very best in sound and sight.
We’ll be hosting a party at the Lexington Social House with bites and cocktails for all.
And, of course, there will be the latest HTC phones on display for those of you with dreams of megapixels dancing in your heads
RSVP in the upper right and plan to bring friends.
Ages 18 and up

Doors open at 7pm. There is no entry fee and all HTC asks is you RSVP on their Facebook page if you plan on attending. I went last year and had an awesome time meeting new Android peeps from around the So Cal area. Anyone plan on making the trip this year?
[Facebook]

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HTC Amaze 4G software update rolling out today

Anyone with a stock HTC Amaze 4G should be getting an over the air software update this week. According to T-Mobile the update is rolling out now and should begin hitting handsets soon. It’s not Ice Cream Sandwich but we’ll take what we can get, especially since there are bug fixes and even WiFi calling now too.

A very similar update was just pushed out for the HTC Sensation 4G so we were already expecting this for the Amaze. Now that it is finally starting to roll out here are a few of the improvements and bug fixes as outlined by T-Mobile and HTC:
New Features
–IMS Wi-Fi Calling
–Google Music
Improvements
–Improvements to Bluetooth connection
–Clock widget not updating with time zone change
–Improvement to Twitter and Peep application
–Improved Wi-Fi connection
WiFi calling and Google Music are probably the two big ones although we’ve been able to download Google Music for some time already. Many users of HTC Sense UI have reported problems with the clock and weather widget not updating correctly so it also seems they’ve fixed that small issue too. Nothing major here but it’s nice to see HTC keeping up with software updates and improvements. Now all we need is that sweet and frozen Ice Cream Sandwich and we’ll all be Amazed.

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HTC Sense 3.0 update to hit older phones

The HTC Sense user interface experience is something that is better for you to experience for yourself, than to rely on wordsmiths conjuring up adjectives while singing its praises and merits. After all, with Android being an open platform, it makes perfect sense for phone manufacturers to tweak the operating system with their own take in terms of interactivity – Samsung has their TouchWiz UI, so why not HTC with their vaunted Sense? It seems that HTC’s Sense 3.0 update is being prepared for a port over to older HTC handsets, the HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD in particular, letting you enjoy an enhanced unlock display, newer widgets, and the ability to access settings control directly from the notification bar among others.
At the moment, only unlocked HTC handsets in the UK will be on the receiving end of this update, although we would not be too far off the mark to say that HTC is working to deliver HTC Sense 3.0 to branded handsets across the rest of Europe and in the US in due time.

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Long-lost HTC Merge appears in Verizon holiday ad

Well there’s something we didn’t expect to see. You might remember the HTC Merge from early this year, when it was announced in February and briefly stopped by the FCC with Verizon bands. While a few regional carriers picked up the QWERTY phone, its debut on Big Red has been long delayed -until now. The folks at AllTechEverything spotted the phone at the bottom of a Verizon Christmas tree in a recent ad, alongside the Samsung DROID CHARGE and the LG Revolution.

This isn’t a confirmation by any means – it could simply be a mistake on the part of the advertising team. In any case the Merge is quite outdated at this point, as it’s essentially a slightly updated version of the G2 with a Sense suite. Just to refresh your memory, the Merge comes with an 800Mhz processor, a 3.8-inch 840 x 480 LCD screen and Android 2.2 Froyo. Assuming the Verizon release is imminent, it might be upgraded to Gingerbread and it might not; AT&T released the brand new Samsung DoubleTime running 2.2, after all.
The phone in the ad is yours for $49.99, and comes with two free Merges to boot. That’s an impressive deal for families, if you can actually find somewhere to redeem it – the ad in question was found in North Carolina. It might be worth considering if you live in a non-LTE area and don’t feel like upgrading to the similar Samsung Stratosphere for $50 more. But once the Motorola DROID 4 is released, probably some time between now and Christmas, it’ll be hard to reccomend any other QWERTY phone on Verizon’s lineup.
[via Android Central]

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HTC Desire HD Getting Android 2.3.5 and HTC Sense 3.0

The HTC Desire HD may no longer be the most powerful smartphone in HTC’s stable of Androids but it’s still quite capable. It has gotten an upgrade to Android 2.3.5 and a more recent version of Sense, 3.0 (the most recent is 3.5). Users around the world with unbranded handsets are receiving the upgrade and we can’t imagine carrier-branded handsets will be too far off. If you have an unbranded handset be sure to check for it at your earliest convenience.

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HTC Sensation Software Update Rolling Out Now – Brings Bug Fixes And Improved Battery Life

A much welcomed (and long overdue) OTA update is rolling out for HTC Sensation 4G users on T-Mobile. The update will address a few issues the device has been experiencing since it’s release a few months ago. T-Mobile and HTC are promising both stability and improved battery life with a few “minor” improvements like an improved Trace dictionary, more responsive screen, smoother icons, and an improved WiFi connection.
The update will bring users up to software version 1.50.531.1 and Android version 2.3.4. If you haven’t yet been prompted on your device, you can “pull” the update by jumping into your phone’s Settings > About Phone > HTC Software Updates > Check Now. Let us know in the comments if you’ve received your updates and if you notice any other improvements (or bugs). Good luck!
Thanks, Marcus!
[T-Mobile Support]

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Rumor: HTC EVO View 4G Getting Honeycomb Before the End of the Year

While the HTC Flyer’s Honeycomb upgrade is rolling out across Europe right now, the United States wasn’t given any rollout date other than “soon”. We have Sprint and T-Mobile with their own versions of the flyer and one of those networks (hint: they like the color yellow) may be getting it sooner than we anticipated.

Sprint is rumored to be getting the upgrade before year’s end, a great turnaround time if this turns out to be true. We won’t be mad if this doesn’t turn out to be true since HTC never gave a specific time window themselves but we’ll be all the more joyous if we can get to New Year’s Eve with a piece of Honeycomb on this 7 inch device. [via Sprint Feed]

Related articles

• T-Mobile G2x Gingerbread update goes live again, HTC Radar 4G and HD7 get software patches too (tech-gadget.co.in)

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HTC sees massive monthly sales dip, down 30% in November

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC today announced its monthly sales figures for November, posting financials that highlighted a 30% drop in sales from October, and 20% down on the same period in 2010.
The world’s fourth biggest smartphone manufacturer reported consolidated sales for November dropped to T$30.94 billion ($1.03 billion) from T$38.48 billion ($1.27 billion) a year ago and T$44.11 billion ($1.46 billion) in October 2011.
In November, HTC revised its revenue estimates in the fourth quarter, warning investors that increased competition in the smartphone market and a hostile economic climate would affect revenues. The company slashed estimates by as much as 23% as sales slowed quarter-on-quarter for the first time in two years.
It’s a stark contrast to HTC’s sales performance earlier in the year; in August sales peaked at $1.56 billion, an increase of 83.3% year on year. It was a new monthly sales record for the company, which also saw it announce plans to acquire mobile service provider Dashwire for $18.5 million.
The Android and Windows Phone device maker posted a small increase on its June sales, which stood at T$45.05 billion ($1.55 billion), with sales reaching T$24.61 billion a year earlier.
Strong sales from Apple and Samsung led HTC to predict its fourth-quarter revenue would be the same as it was in 2010, reaching around $3.4 billion. It previously issued guidance that it would see sales upwards of $4 billion.
Today’s filing will do little to reassure HTC investors after the company’s share price yesterday plummeted to a 17-month low ahead of a potential device ban in the U.S as a result of a legal fight against Apple. The Cupertino-based company continues to squeeze HTC over its device designs but is also eating into its sales following the release of the iPhone 4S.

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New Carrier IQ Class Action Lawsuit Sues More OEMs, Carriers

As accusations of fouplay within Carrier IQ have turned up due to research work done by Trevor Eckhart – who exposed the company for collecting user information that may be violating the Federal Wiretap Act – some lawsuits shortly followed.
One early class action lawsuit targeted HTC, Samsung and Carrier IQ. A new one filed by three lawfirms in a joint effort is targeted at HTC, Samsung, Apple, Motorola, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile. Strangely enough, Carrier IQ itself isn’t being sued in this particular instance.

Carrier IQ has not been hit with a formal federal investigation yet but these lawsuits and pressure from government bodies all add nicely to a hopeful investigation sometime in the future.
Carrier IQ has admitted that their application may appear to be logging information that should be kept private, but they say it’s a byproduct of trying to send information to carriers and OEMs that is actually useful to helping them improve wireless service.
Saying it is one thing and proving it is another, though. Hopefully more of these lawsuits turn up and a big, bright spotlight will be put on the carriers and OEMs who use this service in order to put immense pressure on Carrier IQ to fully and accurately show what information really is or isn’t being transmitted from our phones.

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6-year-old HTC Universal gets Ice Cream Sandwich port

A few days ago I joked with my fellow Android Community writers that I’d like to see Ice Cream Sandwich ported to the Atari 2600, so I could use it to run an Atari 2600 emulator. That hasn’t happened, but in terms of wow factor, the latest ICS port isn’t that far off. The HTC Universal, the Taiwanese company’s gigantic flipping QWERTY Windows Mobile megadevice from 2005, has been given a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich via (where else?) the XDA Developers forum. The port is based off of CyanogenMod 9, the ICS version of the most popular custom Android ROM.

If you’ve been following the mobile tech world for a while, you may have drooled over the HTC Universal way back when, just like I did. (Not that I could do much more than drool, being in high school at the time.) Naturally the Windows Mobile hardware isn’t ideal for running the modern version of Android – at 64 or 128 megabytes of RAM, compared to the 25gMB of the original G1 and a full gigabyte for the Galaxy Nexus. Like other Windows Mobile ports, this one has to be initiated from the MicroSD card.
After some tweaking by creator “notime2d8″, the image seems to work well enough, if slowly. Not surprising, since the entire system is running off of RAM and using a 528Mhz ARM processor. If you’re lucky enough to have an HTC Universal gathering dust, be sure to try out the port. Good on ya, Android mod developers – now how’s about that Atari version?

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HTC: We haven’t been served in Carrier IQ class action lawsuit – yet

Taiwanese smartphone vendor HTC has yet to be served with a class action lawsuit over accusations that it included Carrier IQ analytical software on its handsets, the company has clarified in a recent media announcement.
However, the company fully expects to receive notification of the legal action, noting that it will enter “thorough negotiations with outside counsels when the official document from the Court is received”:

With respect to the class action lawsuits in relation to the Carrier IQ software application filed in the U.S. against HTC Corporation and HTC America Inc., a subsidiary of HTC Corporation, reported by the press on December 4th, HTC hereby clarifies that HTC has not been served in any of the cases officially. Regarding any substantive issue, HTC will enter into thorough discussions with outside counsels when the official document from the Court is received.

Last week, smartphone giants Apple, HTC, Samsung and Motorola and U.S operators Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T were named in a class action lawsuit which was filed in Delaware Federal Court. The suit also named the company that makes the offending diagnostic software, Carrier IQ.
The suit claims that the use of the Carrier IQ software on mobile phones consists of a “breach of the digital privacy rights of 150 million cell phone users” and that the phone makers and carriers violated the Federal Wiretap Act, the Stored Electronic Communications Act and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Carrier IQ launched a campaign to clear its name over complaints it was unlawfully tracking and storing information logged on mobile handsets. Despite reports to the contrary, Carrier IQ says that it acted on behalf of the carriers (and in some cases vendors) to monitor conditions when calls were dropped and when SMS messages failed so that engineers could assess what may have caused them to happen.
Users have been up in arms that instances of Carrier IQ’s software on handsets are not disclosed, something that has been noted in the class action lawsuit. The suit says that the carriers and manufacturers were caught “ wilfully violating customers’ privacy rights” by “secretly tracking personal and sensitive information of the cell phone users without the consent or knowledge of the users.”
Following discovery of Carrier IQ on various handset models, developers began releasing tools for Android devices in order to detect whether the software was present. However, tools that remove Carrier IQ code are currently in development.

Related articles

• Carrier IQ, Samsung and HTC Get Hit With Class Action Lawsuit That Could Cost Millions (goandroid.co.in)
• Motorola, Samsung, HTC leaving some Android handsets open to permissions-based attacks (tech-gadget.co.in)

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HTC update for Flyer tablet gets Honeycomb for Christmas

If you own an HTC Flyer tablet there is some good news coming out of France today. Apparently, the French are getting the update for the smartphone starting today. The new update brings the Flyer up to Android 3.2 Honeycomb. Flyer owners have been waiting for this update.

The update brings the software to 3.55.405.1. The update itself is 210MB and is coming OTA. Since the update is larger, do yourself a favor and grab it when available using WiFi. Apparently, this version of the update is for the 32GB version with WiFi and 3G connectivity.
There is no word on version of the update for other tablet models like the 16GB WiFi only version. If you are able to get the update in countries outside of France let us know. Also, let us know if they have the update for the WiFi version of the tablet.
[via HTC-Hub]

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Carrier IQ, Samsung and HTC Get Hit With Class Action Lawsuit That Could Cost Millions

Class action lawsuits serve a great purpose. The parties involved often aren’t looking for money (if they are, it isn’t a large sum at all). I like to think it’s used as a “target enhancer”, so to speak – bring some light to the situation at hand so that some real investigation can be carried out.

The big situation in the world of mobile as of late – Carrier IQ being accused of logging sensitive information and possibly transmitting it to themselves or third parties – has quickly turned into a firestorm for all parties involved.

A day after a United States senator asks Carrier IQ to answer questions regarding their service and the accusations that it greatly threatens user privacy, Carrier IQ and a couple of their partners have been hit with a class action lawsuit under grounds that they are violating the Federal Wiretap Act.
Alongside the firm – who Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile are confirmed to be partnered with – HTC and Samsung have been included in the lawsuit. No other OEMs and no carriers have been pointed out despite the fact that many others use Carrier IQ.
Estimations suggest each party could be hit with hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties if they lose. This could prompt a more official investigation – maybe even a federal one – and it would force Carrier IQ to show the world what’s really going on inside our phones when they send data back off to carriers, OEMs and whoever else they may be in bed with. This is getting really interesting, folks. [PaidContent via Gizmodo]

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HTC Rezound headphone problems appear to be isolated

Just yesterday we reported that there were some complaints regarding the HTC Rezound. A quick recap for those who may not have been aware – there were complaints that suggested interference or static when listening to music or audio while using headphones together with the HTC Rezound. While there are indeed complaints from several HTC Rezound owners, the problem appears to be less widespread than what was initially thought. According to HTC:

“HTC has received a very small number of calls related to audio on the Rezound, but nothing that so far points to a broader issue. We’re continuing to monitor it closely but currently believe the few calls we’ve received are isolated cases.”

Whatever the problem might be, kudos to HTC for jumping on the matter right away. For now it appears that the problem is isolated to a couple of handsets, so if you were planning on getting your hands on the HTC Rezound, it looks like you’re in the clear for now.

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Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones get colorful for the holidays

Thinking of picking up a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre headphones this holiday season? Well, we’ve got some good news for you. The company has announced the launch of the new Beats by Dr. Dre Studio Color headphones. These are basically the same Studio headphones you already know just that they will be available in a spectrum of candy colors to suit your taste and personality. This is not the first time the Beats Studio headphones have been given limited edition colors, but I guess there’s always an excuse to splash new colors onto something.

Check out the new commercial for the Studio Color headphones after the break. The headphones are available now in blue, pink, orange and green, with prices starting at $349.

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HTC Ville leaks again, thinnest HTC device yet

A few weeks back we got our first hint and glance at the upcoming HTC Ville but we only received a very generic rendered image and some details including Android 4.0 ICS and a super thin profile. Today we have our first official look at the HTC Ville — and it looks quite stunning although it still features capacitive buttons.

According to sources from PocketNow the HTC Ville will be the thinnest device yet from HTC and has some pretty impressive specs too. While we don’t have a quad-core like the recently leaked HTC Edge it should feature a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and a qHD resolution display. Not any qHD but an AMOLED panel too. Pair that with a 4.3″ screen and an 8 megapixel shooter on the rear it sounds like some of their more recent smartphones. With those specs it might come sooner then the supposed April launch.
Looking much like the Nexus One and the HTC Sensation this new HTC Ville has a pretty standard to HTC design, but that isn’t a bad thing. The report also claims it will come in under 8mm thick — making this the sleekest and thinnest HTC handset to date. For a comparison the DROID RAZR is 7.1mm and the Galaxy S II is 8.4mm give or take (hump and all).
We don’t have any additional details regarding what OS we can expect but if this hits the streets soon it should be Android 2.3 Gingerbread. If we don’t see the Ville til April 4.0 ICS seems much more likely. Just because we have capacitive buttons doesn’t mean it wont launch with Android 4.0 ICS, remember that. When we hear or see more we’ll be sure to update with the news.

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Patent firm to ban the sale of HTC’s 3G smartphones in Germany

HTC’s smartphone woes look set to continue after it emerged that German patent firm IPCom announced plans to ban the sale and distribution of all of its 3G-enabled smartphones in Germany, Reuters reports.
IPCom had won a previous ruling against the Taiwanese smartphone maker after it was found that it was infringing on the German company’s UMTS (a 3G cellular technology) patents. The company has also pursued Nokia in recent years.
The company said in a statement:

“IPCom now intends to execute this injunction in the shortest possible time,” the company said in a statement. “… we will use the right awarded by the courts, likely resulting in HTC devices disappearing from shops during the crucial Christmas season.”

IPCom sued HTC after acquiring Bosch’s mobile patent portfolio, which counts amongst it over 160 collections of patents, including a patent that covers how a mobile phone first establishes a connection to a mobile network.
Earlier this week, HTC moved to warn investors that increased competition in the smartphone market and a hostile economic climate would affect revenues in the coming quarter, slashing estimates by as much as 23% as sales are seen to slow quarter-on-quarter for the first time in two years.
Strong sales from Apple and Samsung has led HTC to predict its fourth-quarter revenue will be the same as it was in 2010, reaching around $3.4 billion. It previously issued guidance that it would see sales upwards of $4 billion.
A ban on its 3G-enabled devices in Germany could see vital Christmas sales impact the company yet further, making it difficult for the smartphone maker to return to growth early next year.

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