HTC Announces UH OH Protection For the One M9

Smartphones are subject to much more daily wear and tear than other devices. They can also be fragile, and easy to drop. When this does occur, a user can only hope that their phone hasn’t suffered damage from falling onto concrete or into water, as the cost to have a smartphone repaired can be substantial. Because of this, many users opt to continue using their phone despite having broken buttons or a shattered screen. According to information provided by HTC from a Google Insights survey, 25% of users currently use a damaged phone, while 47% who paid to have their phone repaired paid over $100. Rather than creating an extended warranty program that users can pay for, HTC has decided to take a different route. This new program is called HTC UH OH Protection.

UH OH Protection will be given to every user who purchases an HTC One M9 in the United States. The program will offer all of these users a free replacement device in the event that they shatter its display or cause damage due to water exposure during the first twelve months of ownership. It also covers replacements required due to switching carriers, which should make the issue of network locks a thing of the past for HTC One M9 users. Users who don’t end up taking advantage of UH OH Protection will be given a $100 credit toward the purchase of the next HTC One device, and so users who take care of their devices won’t be left out.

HTC will be hosting a question and answer session about the new UH OH Protection program at 12:00 EST today, and you can view that stream by clicking on the source below. I personally hope that someone raises the issue of second hand devices, and whether or not users who have a phone given to them or buy it second hand will still be eligible for UH OH Protection if the device is within its initial 12 month warranty period.

Google Releases Android 5.1

Today Google has announced the release of Android 5.1 Lollipop. The update is said to improve both performance and stability, as well as including a few new features.

The first feature is official support for multiple SIM cards. This feature is likely to appeal to Android users in emerging markets, and will definitely help Google’s Android One initiative. Another new feature is support for HD voice calls on compatible networks and devices, with both T-Mobile and Verizon supporting the feature on the Nexus 6. Google has also added the ability to join WiFi networks and pair Bluetooth devices right from the quick settings menu.

In addition to the above improvements, Android 5.1 has one more notable feature, it’s called Device Protection. Similar to Apple’s Activation Lock, Device Protection means that a device will remain locked until the owner signs in with their Google account. This lock persists even after a factory reset, which should hopefully make stealing Android smartphones a pointless endeavor for thieves. Police departments in some US cities reported significant reductions in iPhone theft after the release of Activation Lock, and it would be great to see the same thing happen with Android devices.

Android 5.1 Lollipop will be rolling out to Nexus and Google Play edition devices in the near future.

Apple Releases iOS 8.2 With Apple Watch Support

Today at their Spring Forward event Apple made a number of announcements. One smaller but still important update to come from the event was the release of iOS 8.2. The main purpose of iOS 8.2 is to add support for Apple Watch so that devices are ready when it begins to ship next month. It includes the new Apple Watch application, and likely many changes under the hood to prepare devices for when the Apple Watch becomes available.

The Apple Watch application can’t do very much at the moment, but what I found interesting was the fact that the pairing process for the Apple Watch involves the use of the camera. The explore button on the bottom leads to videos and images about the Apple Watch, while the App Store section is currently a placeholder until the Apple Watch actually ships and applications begin to be put on the App Store.

In addition to the new Apple Watch features, the update also fixes several bugs and improves the stability of several applications. Below is the list of major changes provided by Apple, although one should note that there are often many small bug fixes and improvements that don’t make their way onto these changelogs.

• Apple Watch support

  • New Apple Watch app to pair and sync with iPhone, and to customize watch settings
  • New Activity app for viewing fitness data and achievements from Apple Watch; appears when Apple Watch is paired
  • Available on iPhone 5 and later

• Health app improvements

  • Adds the ability to select the unit of measurement for distance, body temperature, height, weight and blood glucose
  • Improves stability when dealing with large amounts of data
  • Includes the ability to add and visualize workout sessions from 3rd-party apps
  • Addresses an issue that may have prevented users from adding a photo in Medical ID
  • Fixes units for vitamins and minerals
  • Fixes an issue where Health data wouldn’t refresh after changing data source order
  • Fixes an issue where some graphs showed no data values
  • Adds a privacy setting that enables turning off tracking of steps, distance and flights climbed

• Stability enhancements

  • Increases stability of Mail
  • Improves stability of Flyover in Maps
  • Improves stability of Music
  • Improves VoiceOver reliability
  • Improves connectivity with Made for iPhone Hearing Aids

• Bug fixes

  • Fixes an issue in Maps that prevented navigating to some favorite locations
  • Addresses an issue where the last word in a quick reply message wasn’t autocorrected
  • Fixes an issue where duplicate iTunes purchased content could prevent iCloud restore from completing
  • Resolves an issue where some music or playlists didn’t sync from iTunes to the Music app
  • Fixes an issue where deleted audiobooks sometimes remained on device
  • Resolves an issue that could prevent call audio from routing to car speakers while using Siri Eyes Free
  • Fixes a Bluetooth calling issue where no audio is heard until the call is answered
  • Fixes a timezone issue where Calendar events appear in GMT
  • Addresses an issue that caused certain events in a custom recurring meeting to drop from an Exchange calendar
  • Fixes a certificate error that prevented configuring an Exchange account behind a third-party gateway
  • Fixes an issue that could cause an organizer’s Exchange meeting notes to be overwritten
  • Resolves an issue that prevented some Calendar events from automatically showing as ‘Busy’ after accepting an invite

As you can see, there are a fair number of improvements in this release. The size of the update will depend on your device. On an iPhone 6, the OTA update came in at 476MB, while the release for the iPad Air 2 was only 391MB due to the fact that it doesn’t include the new Apple Watch application.