HTC Announces the HTC One (M8) for Windows

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a high-end device running Windows Phone 8 launch from a company other than Nokia. Despite Nokia’s dominance, HTC has certainly not given up on the platform and today they’re demonstrating that with the launch of a new flagship Windows Phone 8 device that you may already know very well. This new device is named the HTC One (M8) for Windows, and both its design and its hardware are essentially the same as the Android powered HTC One M8 that HTC launched earlier this year. We’ve laid out the specifications of the One (M8) for Windows below.

With regards to the hardware there’s not a whole lot to be said. This really is the HTC One (M8) running Windows Phone 8 instead of Android. For an in depth look at the experience on Windows Phone 8.1 you can take a look at Anand’s review of it from earlier this year. HTC has worked to also bring over some of the features they include with HTC Sense on the One (M8), which include BlinkFeed, Duo Cam, and Sense TV.

BlinkFeed makes its way over to Windows Phone 8 with the One (M8) for Windows. For those who arent familiar with it, BlinkFeed is a feature that comes on some of HTC’s Android devices which aggregates Facebook and Twitter posts, news, sports information, and more into a vertically scrolling list on HTC’s launcher. On Windows Phone 8 HTC doesn’t have the luxury of being able to drastically alter the launcher and so BlinkFeed is included as an application which functions in the same manner as the launcher widget on Android.

Because the One (M8) for Windows shares the same hardware as the M8, HTC has brought over their post processing effects enabled by the secondary sensor in their Duo Cam camera system. In addition, we see that Video Highlights is present in the stock OS. Unfortunately, the camera app doesn’t also inherit the manual controls from the M8 and so users wanting more control over the exposure of their photos will have to look to Nokia’s Windows Phone devices or buy an application like ProShot which has such controls.

The One (M8) for Windows also brings along HTC Sense TV which acts as a TV guide and a universal remote that displays when your favorite shows are playing as well as recommendations for shows you may like based on what you already watch. HTC emphasized the difficulty of bringing this functionality to Windows Phone, as it required close cooperation with Microsoft to properly implement IR remote functionality.

For some users the most exciting prospect of the HTC One (M8) for Windows may come from the fact that it shares the same hardware as the One (M8). It’s possible that the developer community will be able to load the firmware from the HTC One (M8) onto the device in a dual boot configuration with Windows Phone 8 so users can switch between the operating systems as they please.

Overall, this seems to be a smart move for HTC. Instead of assuming additional risk in the form of new hardware, the only resources needed are for software development. There’s no need for a new production line, hardware certification is easier because the hardware should be unchanged from other variants, and cost across the board is driven down due to increased economies of scale.

The HTC One (M8) for Windows will go on sale on August 19th at 12:00PM Eastern Time through Verizon’s online store, and will be available for $99 on a two year contract.

Gallery: HTC One (M8) for Windows

HTC Launches Zoe Beta: Hands On and First Impressions

Today, HTC is finally launching their Zoe application. Normally, such an announcement is rolled into a smartphone launch, but the launch of this application is one of the first to stand alone. In fact, this is the first application launched by HTC Creative Labs. As a result, the vision and strategy behind this application is dramatically different from HTC’s existing hardware and software divisions.

But before we dive into what this means for HTC, it’s important to see what this application is. In short, Zoe is the culmination of multiple pieces of HTC Sense, packaged into a single application. It integrates the video highlights feature first introduced in Sense 5, and effectively brings back the HTC Share application which disappeared with the launch of the One (M8). For those that haven’t kept up with what these features are, video highlights was an extension of the gallery application in HTC Sense, which allowed for automatic creation of ~30 second highlight reels. These highlight reels were automatically set to music with specific cuts and animations based upon the theme selected. HTC Share was simply a method to present highlight reels and all of the photos/Zoes used in a highlight reel over social media. Both of these were well-received when they first launched, and even now they’re good features to have.

There’s definitely more to Zoe though, as HTC has integrated a social network aspect with the ability to collaborate and remix other people’s videos. While viewing highlight reels from friends using the Zoe network is expected, HTC has also integrated a discovery feature to see highlight reels from other people. In summary, the Zoe application brings HTC’s video highlights feature and HTC Share to smartphones running Android 4.4 and adds a social network aspect on top.

In practice, it works just as expected in theory. HTC has done a surprisingly good job of bringing the Sense 6 UX to devices like the Galaxy S5, although some aspects like the status bar don’t carry over perfectly. HTC has done a good job of providing a small taste of the well-designed HTC Sense 6 UI without removing major selling points from HTC devices. HTC emphasized that the major goal for this application was to become widely adopted, as while these features were good selling points for HTC hardware there was no real way to add a social network on top without making these features available to non-HTC devices.

In discussions with HTC, it seems clear that they are prioritizing user experience first over a monetization strategy. This is made clearer by the fact that there aren’t any in-app purchases at this point in time. Of course, there are plenty of possibilities in this area once Zoe becomes widely adopted. Premium themes and music, along with in-app advertising were all mentioned as ways that HTC could bring in revenue. While HTC wasn’t clear on how this would drive hardware sales, it wouldn’t be surprising to see features exclusive to HTC devices in the future. It’s surprising how far HTC has come in their software design, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this take off. Even if people aren’t interested in the social networking aspect, the ability to create highlight videos and share them on pre-existing social networks is quite compelling. The social features also have great potential in situations where multiple people attend an event and take photos and videos on multiple devices. However, it’s not quite clear whether this will gain the popularity of applications like Instagram and Twitter, and even if that happens it’s currently hard to see the benefits to HTC’s hardware division.

As of publication, the HTC Zoe Beta is available on the Play Store. HTC has stated that Android 4.4 devices should be compatible with this application although there may be additional restrictions.

Samsung launches the Galaxy Alpha

Samsung today announces the new Galaxy Alpha, a mid-range “premium” built device that creates a new range in Samsung’s lineup. The Alpha totes a 4.7″ 1280×720 AMOLED screen, coming with either a yet unnanounced Exynos 5430 SoC with 4 A15 cores running at 1.8GHz and 4 A7 cores running at 1.3GHz and a Mali T628MP6 GPU for the international market, or with a Snapdragon 801 SoC for select markets such as the US. Both versions come with 2GB of memory on board.

A new 12MP rear sensor and a 2.1MP front camera can be found. 

The device comes in a new aluminium frame, marking this as a change in build material from Samsung’s usual plastic. The phone is extremely thin at only 6.7mm and weighing a lightweight 115g. The footprint of 132.4 x 65.5mm matches the 4.7″ screen format of the phone. The back cover is removable and sports a 1860mAh replaceable battery. Strangely, Samsung omitted a microSD card slot in this device which comes at a standard 32GB of internal storage space. We find the same fingerprint and heatbeat sensor as on the S5, however it lacks the waterproofing of the former. It’s shipping with Android 4.4.4 KitKat version with the same TouchWiz iteration as the S5.

More interestingly the international version of the device should sport LTE-A category 6 with help of an Intel XMM7260 modem. This would be the first device announced with Intel’s new LTE modem and mark a break from Qualcomm’s dominance in the sector.

The Alpha is an intriguing device that apparently to wants to fill in a gap in Samsung’s lineup which has seen device size go up with each iteration of the S-series. The 720p screen, its slimness and design seems to target directly the iPhone instead of other high-end Android handsets, pricing should also end up in the higher end.

Source: SamsungTomorrow