You have to hand it to Kogan. You can criticise this part, or that part, of the company's self-branded products (and we will in the full review, no doubt) but at the end of the day, very few can delivery decent technology products as cheaply.
For the price (UK£119/US$154/AU$149), we weren't 100-percent sure of the quality of product we were to see when the Agora phone landed on our desk. Kogan has dabbled in tablets before now, and the results have been mixed. Early efforts were dismal, with too many corners cut to make them worth your time or money. But more recent tablets have managed to surprise us.
Take Note
The Agora 5-inch phone is perhaps the best surprise yet. For a third of the price you'd pay to buy a first-generation Samsung Galaxy Note, you get a smartphone which is remarkably similar. And by that, we mean a near carbon copy.
For better or worse, the Agora looks and feels nearly identical to the first Note. It has a very similar textured battery cover, similar button placement, and a very familiar face with two soft-buttons either side of a mechanical home button.
One important difference is the size and quality of the screen, though. At 5-inches diagonally, the screen on the Agora is slightly smaller than the Note, but when comparing the quality of the screens, the two phones are leagues apart, especially given that the Agora has a much lower 800x600 pixel resolution.
If you are looking to maintain two phone accounts simultaneously though, only the Agora can satisfy this request. Having two SIM slots (both larger mini-SIM sized slots at that) gives the Agora an advantage nearly no other brand-name phone can match. The exception is the LG L2, but even this model had limitations on how the two SIM slots could be used.
The handset connects to the internet using a tri-band UTMS radio on the 850/900/2100MHz bands. This makes it compatible with most UK networks, all Australian networks, but only some US carriers; so be sure to check with your telco before buying.
Interestingly, the radios are capable of only 7.2Mbps download speeds and 5.76Mbps upload. So if you are used to blazing fast mobile internet, you might see a stark difference here.
The Agora has a 5-megapixel image sensor beneath its plastic lens, and has a micro-SD card slot for bolstering the somewhat paltry 4GB of internal storage on offer.
Just desserts
The software side of the Agora is pretty straight forward. Kogan runs with the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google's Android, rather than the newer Jelly Bean build, and keeps it much as Google would like. There is very few cosmetic tweaks or additions, with the majority of the inconography remaining the same as you would have found on the Galaxy Nexus when it was first released.
We did spot a few nice bonuses below the surface, though. There is a automatic power schedule in the menus, which we haven't seen on Android phones before. This lets you set times for the phone to power down and power back up again, to save battery while you're sleeping, for example.
The Sound section in the system menu also gets an overhaul, allowing you to create numerous sound profiles, with incrementally different settings in each.
Our initial impressions of the phone's performance have been good, but not without a few hiccups. But then, we expected a few speed humps in the processing power of a AU$149 phone. We are looking forward to seeing how the phone's battery survives a regular day's use, given that Kogan provides a reasonably generous 2000mAh battery with the handset.
Early Verdict
As much as we can usually get a good impression from a product after a few hours use, this one is too close to call. On the surface, the Agora looks like a solid bargain when you compare its price against its specs, but previous experience has taught us that the cheaper a phone is, the closer you need to look at it.
Early use of the phone is holding up though, with Wi-Fi speeds being good, and the touchscreen performing reasonably well. The screen is far from the quality of those from the bigger name vendors, but then if you want one of those screens you will pay much more for it -- and rightly so.
If the battery holds up, and the we don't find the Agora rebooting itself or crashing its apps, this could turn out to be one of the bargains of the year.
Three Mobile is expected to miss out on the most valuable 800MHz spectrum
The UK's mobile networks are preparing themselves for the outcome of the 4G LTE spectrum auction, which Ofcom will announce on Wednesday.
The communications regulator will reveal which companies have been successful in the bidding process for the 800MHz and 2.6GHz frequencies placed up for grabs in January.
Reports on Tuesday evening suggest that the most valuable 800MHz spectrum will be carved up between O2, EE and Vodafone, but the UK's smallest network Three is expected to miss out.
Instead, according to a Guardian article, Three will have to settle for the 2.6GHz spectrum for the roll-out of its 4G LTE network after being outbid by its rivals.
The big prize
The 800MHz band is considered a far greater prize than the 2.6GHz spectrum because the waves are longer and it is able to carry the 4G LTE signal ten times further.
This means, with 800MHz spectrum at their disposal, the winning parties will be able to roll out their next-gen service across the entire nation faster than those with only 2.6GHz spectrum.
Losing out would be a blow to Three after pledging not to increase its prices for 4G tariffs, but the network has likely prepared for this eventuality after losing out in similar circumstances in France and Italy.
Once the winners are officially announced, the networks will be able to get to work on rolling out the new speeds to customers around the UK.
The Galaxy Camera has lots of options for sharing photos
It's great to be able to play 'Angry Birds' on the Android Jelly Bean-equipped Samsung Galaxy Camera, but does it really need a 3G or 4G connection as well?
Samsung says "no," and on Friday the company launched a new Galaxy Camera model, the appropriately named Galaxy Camera (Wi-Fi), to offer a wi-fi only alternative.
The Galaxy Camera with dual-band wi-fi features the same specs as the older model, but with a lower price point thanks to the omission of data network capabilities.
Samsung did not reveal the Galaxy Camera (Wi-Fi)'s release date or pricing in its announcement on Friday, though it did promise a smaller price tag.
More than meets the eye
We like to poke fun, but in truth the Galaxy Camera packs a lot in to a frame that's hardly larger than an average smartphone.
The wi-fi model leaves the 16.3 megapixel sensor and 1/2.3" BSI CMOS intact, along with the Galaxy Camera's 21x optical zoom, 23mm wide angle lens, and 4.8-inch display.
And like its data-ready older sibling, the wi-fi Galaxy Camera sports the full Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS and a 1.4GHz quad-core processor.
Provided it's connected to Wi-Fi, the Galaxy Camera can upload photos directly to social networks, email them to contacts, and back them up instantly to cloud storage.
TechRadar reached out to Samsung to determine when we can expect to learn the Galaxy Camera (Wi-Fi)'s release date and pricing, but the company has not yet responded.
The HTC One is now official, but when is it coming and for how much? So far the only firm date we have is March 15th for the UK.
Users in the United Kingdom can expect the phone to cost £70 on a 2-year contract through EE. The phone will also arrive on O2 and Vodafone on the same day, but no word on the pricing on these other two carriers. For those looking to buy off-contract, Clove will carry the handset around the same time period for £425 (plus VAT).
Alright, what about the United States and Canada? Canadian users? Those in Canada will find the handset on Bell, Telus and Rogers, though no word on the pricing or the release date. The United States will see the phone arrive through Sprint, T-mobile and AT&T, again no word on pricing or exact dates. Unfortunately, Verizon users are going to have to remain content with the HTC Droid DNA, as no plans for a Big Red release have been unveiled.
If you live in another country outside of North America and Europe, don’t worry, there is a good chance the HTC One could be heading your way. HTC announced the phone will launch in 80 countries over 185 mobile operators/retailers, making this the largest rollout in the company’s history.
So what do you think of the HTC One, excited or not?
Apple has launched the iOS 6.1.2 software update in order to resolve a battery drain issue experienced by those using a Microsoft Exchange calendar with the device.
The modest bump, which also fixes the 'increased network activity' caused by the bug, was made available to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users on Tuesday afternoon.
The documentation accompanying the update on Apple's support site simply says iOS 6.1.2 "fixes an Exchange calendar bug that could result in increased network activity and reduced battery drain."
The tiny 12.8MB update can be downloaded over-the-air by entering the Settings menu and selecting Software Update. However, users must be logged onto a Wi-Fi network.
Passcode weakness unaddressed
However, it does not appear that the update has addressed the passcode vulnerability, which made it possible for the 4-digit code added to iOS devices to keep out prying eyes to be by-passed.
After admitting that it was working on a fix last week, Apple was expected to kill the flaw with this update, but tests on devices with iOS 6.1.2 already installed suggest that it is yet to be addressed.
It also appears that the "Evasi0n" Jailbreak method posted last week has not been closed off at this point.
HTC unveiled its One phone during joint New York City and London events today, introducing the world not just to its flagship handset, but to a sprinkling of new and improved sound and visual features.
While everyone will be signing (or decrying) Zoe's virtues, the phone's actual camera tech is worth a deeper look: HTC equipped the camera with "only" a 4MP sensor, considerably less than the 13MP snapper most models tout these days.
However, HTC said that in the case of cameras, it's not the pixel count of the sensor that matters, but the size of the pixels.
"For years people have been misled on the importance on cameras," said Scott Croyle, HTC vice president of design, during the One's launch. "It's not megapixel. It's not pixel count, but pixel size. Bigger pixels let in more light. It's pure science."
Pixel power
The idea behind larger pixels is to allow in more light in for richer snapshots, especially important in low light conditions.
HTC is calling the feature UltraPixel, a method that swipes at the trend of shoving "bigger" cameras into thinner phones.
It's an approach Croyle said is industry leading.
"[In] the UltraPixel camera - pixels gather 300 percent more light than conventional sensors. Better action shots, burst mode of 8 shots a second. A giant leap in what's possible."
A side-by-side comparison of top camera phones found that only the iPhone 5 stays on par when it comes to low light performance. Will HTC overtake other smartphone makers simply because of its superior low light camera capabilities? Not likely, but it does give the Taiwanese firm a feather to put in its cap.
But is it better?
We asked Angela Nicholson, head of testing, photography portfolio at Future, about the camera's tech and low pixel count to see if it makes a difference or HTC is just blowing steam.
"We've been saying that the size of a pixel is very important for ages and it's well known in photographic circles, but it's only true to a point," she said.
A single large pixel won't do photogs much good as there's no way to capture tonal variations and details.
More pixels should, in theory, pick up plenty of details and provide smooth tonal gradation, but the signal at each pixel (or photosite) will likely be weak and need amplification, which in turn creates and magnifies noise.
"It's all about striking a balance," Nicholson noted.
Low pixel count does make for faster image processing and a higher maximum shooting rate. Low light images taken with the One should be better thanks to reduced image noise, though those shots will be smaller - just 4MP.
Action may be the space where HTC wants UltraPixel to dominate.
"I think they will claim that being able to shoot at 8fps means that you stand more chance of a good shot of the action," Nicholson said.
While 4MP is, on the surface, pretty paltry when it comes to pixels, it may be all that the everyday user actually needs.
"Some might be disappointed by the pixel count," Nicholson said, "but I think HTC is being realistic about how most people use the camera on a phone."
HTC's new One handset 'only' offers a 4MP camera, goes retro with an infra-red blaster – but here's why you should take notice of the new features.
Some people might look at the spec sheet of this new phone, albeit one with a fancy chassis, and decide that it's not worth the cash; after all, who wants to pay top dollar for a phone with a low-res camera, right?
Well, you'd be missing the whole point of the phone with an attitude like that (and frankly, we're disappointed in you for even taking that stance) – so let TechRadar break things down for you so you can see what's really simmering beneath the surface:
UltraPixels
You might be thinking that the camera on the HTC One is a little bit low-end for the amount it's going to cost – but while the likes of Sony are chucking 13MP sensors on the back of the Xperia Z, HTC wants to dispel this 'megapixel myth' that more pixels equals a better shot.
Phone imaging sensors only have a finite surface area, which is being increasingly squished as designers try to eke more space out of the phone to make it look even more fancy and slim. So therefore more megapixels might mean more sharpness, but that's at the cost of the overall picture.
Think of a pixel as a hole to let light in: more pixels clustered together means smaller holes, which means less light and therefore less data to process.
With UltraPixels, HTC has gone the other way: making the pixels bigger (2 micrometers to be precise) which means 300% more light in, and yes, you've guessed it, more data. HTC is touting this to bring you much better lower-light snaps and generally better shots.
When you see Apple doing the same thing then you'll know it's the new way the world is working…
HTC Zoe
A girl's name? In a phone? No, you fool – it's a Zoetrope. You know, those spinning things that you peer through the slats and you see a horse galloping. No? Well, look it up as that's where the name comes from.
The reason for that is HTC's new method of shooting photos means you'll actually start capturing high res footage 0.6 seconds before you hit the shutter button and for three seconds afterwards, thus resulting in every picture you take having a few seconds of video to show the 'context'.
In reality this will mean that you've got a Harry Potter-style gallery that lets you see each photo moving – and HTC claims that it won't actually look rubbish as algorithms will be able to chop off that terrible bit at the beginning and end where the you lift the camera up and down.
But that's not all – take loads of photos in one album, and a video highlights reel will be created to interpolate stills and moving shots to make a 'real life' photo album, with six themes to choose from (right now) when creating your own personal movies.
Don't worry though – it will only be 30 seconds long to keep your friends interested. It will be created in an MP4 format too and stored on an HTC server so it's much easier to share, although you should probably stick it on YouTube as it won't stay on HTC's platform for more than 30 days.
HTC BoomSound
Who doesn't love this name? It's the name for the improved sound on the HTC One, which is possible thanks to the dual-facing front speakers and the inbuilt amplifier.
There's not a lot more to it than that, but in reality it means that the sound, bass-heavy tracks aside, is improved massively. However, that's only if you're the kind of person that wants to play your music on your desk and doesn't want to invest in a dock, as otherwise it's not really much use at all.
However, combined with the inbuilt amplifier and Beats Audio, over a pair of even half-decent headphones the sound quality is always going to be a lot better – we were impressed despite the fact it was irritating to be told people like watching YouTube videos together.
The other big change that HTC has made on the audio front is the addition of dual-dual microphones (our phrase, not HTC's).
This means that on top of the extra microphones to noise cancel bits and pieces, each mic has a dual membrane and monitors sound levels to stop that distortion you'll notice on your Samsung Galaxy S3 when you're filming a concert or your friends shouting in a club.
Or fireworks. Shoot what you want, we don't mind. Not people though. Don't shoot people.
HTC Sense and BlinkFeed
HTC has decided that its Sense UI can be updated again, and while it's not officially saying so, this is HTC Sense 5.0.
This means a more simplified UI on top of Android 4.1.2, with elements like a 3x4 grid of apps showing less on the screen but reducing the clutter HTC thinks is putting people off buying smartphones.
In reality it's just another overlay on top of Android – albeit one that we rather like. We're not fans of the constant changing of the way HTC phones work, especially as most people like consistency, but ditching things like Locations and the internal mapping solutions makes it a lot easier to do the things you care about.
The app launcher, the way the menu works and customisation of what's going on is all improved though, and the prevalence of BlinkFeed means that you're always up to date with what's happening.
While we're on that subject, let's talk a bit more about HTC's bitesize news format – it's all very tile-based and visual so you can get access to the things that matter the most to you.
Well, that's the theory anyway; in reality it's a little more impersonal. You can choose from over 1400 contact sources, ranging from sports to fashion to technology and all in between, but you can't import your own personal feeds which gets a little in the way.
It will cache the pics and the text though so you don't need to worry too much – but in essence you're not going to get a lot more than Facebook, Twitter, some pictures and the pre-chosen news sources at the moment.
The good news is HTC says it's working on bringing more to the ecosystem – be it on the Blink personalisation side, or the camera action – so there's certainly more to come.
Purchasing a copy of Mac Office 2011 Home & Student (single license) will now set you back about $140 -- about $20 more than retail prices from last year. Unlike a finely crafted wine though, most software titles don't necessarily improve with time, making the 10-17 percent price hike for Microsoft's range of Mac-friendly office suites a curious decision. Additionally, it appears Microsoft has also stopped shipping multi-license packs of Mac Office, allowing those once-reasonable deals to disappear altogether from retail shelves.
What exactly prompted this unexpected price bump? It seems ComputerWorld was the first to report on this observation yesterday, but Office 2011 prices jumped prior to February 2 -- an almost sure sign that Microsoft's 17 percent price increase accompanied the launch of Office 2013.
That "17 percent" figure is also a very familiar number -- that's exactly how much more "Home" versions of Office 2013 (PC) cost in comparison to its Office 2010 (also PC) counterpart. Meanwhile, the cost for Mac Office Home & Business was also stretched out by $20 for a roughly 10 percent increase.
Rumors from last year indicated that Microsoft would not be introducing Office 2013 to Macs, which thus far appears to be the case. It's been a month since Office 2013's launch and the rumor mill regarding a Mac-compatible version has been deathly silent. If history serves as an accurate predictor of the future though, a Mac-only "Office 2014" is likely on the way, in hopes to appease Apple enthusiasts. In the meantime, Mac owners may want to look at Microsoft 365, older versions of Mac Office and possibly alternatives like Open Office and iWork.
The latest GeForce drivers from Nvidia are now available for download, described as an essential upgrade for serious gamers. The GeForce 314.07 WHQL-certified drivers (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) promise a huge performance boost for single-GPU and multi-GPU configurations running Crysis 3 and several other games.
Specifically, gamers are told to expect a performance boost of up to 65 percent in Crytek’s sci-fi shooter. Those into Assassin’s Creed III will see gains of up to 27 percent while Civilization V players should see 19 percent higher frame rates. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 receives a 14 percent boost, Dirt 3 fans will see gains of up to 14 percent, Just Cause 2 should be around 11 percent better and finally, Deux Ex: Human Revolution, F1 2012 and Far Cry 3 players can expect a 10 percent boost overall.
Nvidia also added a 3D Vision profile for Crysis 3 as well as an SLI profile for DmC: Devil May Cry and an updated profile for the free-to-play third-person co-op shooter Warframe.
Drivers are available for desktop systems running Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 while notebook users can pick up packages for Windows 7 and Windows 8.
It’s worth pointing out that performance improvements benefit all GeForce GTX graphics card but to varying degrees. Nvidia says they would love to be able to show the level of improvement for every single GPU but it’s just not feasible given the number of benchmarks required. As always, your mileage will also vary based on supporting hardware.
The HTC One is the firm's new attempt at a market-leading handset, and with an all-aluminium body, super-high-res 4.7-inch HD screen and futuristic camera technology hint that this could be something of a winner.
It's well-documented that HTC hasn't had the best of it recently, with the profits slumping and market share down. The firm rode a heady wave just two years ago with the success of the HTC Desire and friends, but it seems since then the trend has been firmly downward.
However, with the HTC One there's an instant reason (actually, two) to think that it will be able to arrest that decline. Firstly, there's the design: an all-aluminium body, which simply delights when held in the hand – the back is simply lovely.
HTC's VP of design Scott Croyle said 'the way we like to describe it is the only place there isn't metal is the screen' – which isn't strictly true, as there's a non-aluminium band that runs around the edge of the device, but in reality that 'total metal' effect is the one you'll get on picking it up.
When handling the device, you'll also note the sheer weight of the thing – as in, there is very little. It's surprising to find out that the phone actually 143g, as that makes it 13g heavier than its One X predecessor – but it certainly doesn't feel that way in the palm.
It's different also to the iPhone 5, which was too light in the minds of many that moved from older models, and the HTC One marries balanced weight with enough heft to make it offer that premium feel.
The screen isn't as edge-to-edge as the likes of the Motorola Razr i or the Sony Xperia Z, but the 4.7-inch offering isn't dwarfed by the border of the phone, although we'd love to see a more edge-to-edge offering with all phones these days to offset the sheer size we're being forced to carry in our pockets.
The Super LCD 3 screen on offer is pin sharp though – there's no doubt about that. The contrast ratios on offer still bring out the best of the blacks and whites on the image, and while the colour saturation isn't as deep as the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3 with its Super AMOLED screen, some people won't necessarily see this as a bad thing.
It's definitely superior to the Xperia Z, which has a disappointingly washed out screen on certain apps – plus the fact that it has a smaller screen means an even higher sharpness. It's not really noticeable, but it will certainly appease the spec-fans out there.
Blinkin' crazy
There are two main changes to the interface on the HTC One: the new and upgraded version of Sense, unofficially dubbed Sense 5.0, and the use of a new service called BlinkFeed.
We'll wait for the our full review to properly dig into HTC's new version of Sense, but it's certainly a lot cleaner. The idea with this is to de-Android the user interface, (which is running Android 4.1.2 out of the box, by the way) but takes another step away from the more 'traditional' Sense experience we're used to – even the weather and clock widget isn't automatically on the home screen any more, although you can replace it should you so wish.
The reason for this change is two-fold: HTC told us that it wanted to simplify the Android experience for all those involved, and to that end it's even done things like make the grid of apps narrower to a 3x4 iteration, although you can extend it if you need to see more on the screen (and we think you really do, 12 simply isn't enough).
But the main reason for the change is to cater for 'Generation Feed' as HTC is calling it - and here's where BlinkFeed comes in. Think Flipboard, think Inq's new Material service, and you'll get a feeling for what BlinkFeed is all about. A system of Windows Phone-esque tiles deliver information from the feeds you want, although you can only subscribe by technology type at the moment.
The newsfeed is designed to give you information to 'snack' on any time of the day or night, with HTC saying it's looking to get you for a 30 seconds when you're waiting in line at the bank. There will also be Twitter feeds involved in the mix too, although when you tap on these you're taken to the app itself, showing that Blink merely resides on top of your home screen to supply info.
Speaking to the Taiwanese brand about the new service, there's very much a 'Version 1.0' feel to Blink, as you can't add in your own RSS feeds, can't get personalised information and the range of information flicked up by these tiles seems limited.
However, the brand told us it wanted to open up the SDK to third party developers, which means more can be done with the platform going forward.
The likes of Google Now cards, for instance, could become part of the ecosystem to make things easier when you're on the fly. It already includes things like your agenda and will supply pictures and such from the weekend on a Monday morning - it's just a case of convincing users to actually get on board with Blink now and not simply move back to the standard home screen many will know.
Zoe? Zoe? Who the deuce is Zoe?
The other big change with the HTC One is the camera: it's 'only' a 4MP sensor. It should be put into context though: the camera has a smaller sensor but much larger pixels to allow in more light, and therefore more data, to make your pictures look that much better on the go.
The Ultrapixel method is one to be applauded, as it's pushing back on the 13MP image sensors that are being crammed into ever-thinner phones these days.
Side by side comparisons with top cameras of the moment showed that only the likes of the iPhone 5 could really compete when it comes to low light performance, which bodes well for the One.
However, there's a lot more you need to see on a camera these days, despite improved low-light performance being a big hitter for most manufacturers, and we'll watch with interest to see whether HTC can convince the world that it doesn't need a high MP number to be considered a quality camera.
The addition of HTC Zoe will certainly help though. This innovative new app brings a 'Harry Potter'-like experience to the HTC One, according to HTC, as your photos will become animated in a way that makes them more than just a collection of static images.
The system works by taking a photo 0.6 seconds before you press the shutter button, and then waits three seconds afterwards to capture far more informaiton than you'd have previously nabbed; in short, it's a quick high res video every time you take a pic.
The resulting images / video can then be run through the clever Video Highlights program, which takes both the static pictures and a range of motion, analyses it, and then puts together a 30 second clip to really capture the essence of that wedding/ski trip/sauna orgy you unwittingly found yourself in.
It's a neat feature, and can then be exported as an MP4 file, so sharing on Facebook and the like won't be too hard - and HTC is keen to see this all shared online for obvious reasons.
However, it's going to get slightly confusing after a while, as while the initial Video Highlight reels will be stored online, it will only be for a month (the theory being that you won't want to share older vids). It makes sense commercially, as HTC won't have to pay huge amounts for server space, but does dampen the idea of having a universal cloud store for all your memories.
We're well impressed with HTC Zoe though (the name aside - it's based on the zoetrope mechanism from olden times, if you're interested) and it brings a new spin to capturing memories we haven't seen automated to such an extent.
It will be interesting to test this service in a more detailed way though, as with the lower res and long shutter times some people may rather to just have a normal high-res camera instead.
Who's the BoomKing?
The other area HTC has upgraded in a big way is the music experience, and in two relatively large ways. The first is the music player itself, which now comes with lyrics where available, and an all-new visualiser to let you play the music on a desk or dock - visual music is the way forward seemingly.
There are two front facing speakers as well as the built in amplifier seen on the likes of the HTC 8X Windows Phone - this means that it can drive headphones that much better and give a purer sound. In fact, HTC is touting this combination of speakers and amplifier (plus the obligatory Beats Audio enhancement, of course) as an industry first - and it's calling it HTC BoomSound.
It is indeed powerful, and provided you're not listening to / watching anything with incredible bass levels, the sound doesn't sound wrenched from the phone and will fill the space you're in pretty well.
However, we're struggling to see why this is a really necessary - we can see the case on a tablet perhaps, and the Full HD larger screen does have leanings towards that product type, but in reality we can't help but panic at the thought of accidentally blaring out the Spice Girls' greatest hits when the headphones aren't plugged in on the train to work.
Speakers on phones have always been a bugbear of many, given the penchant teenagers have for playing music out loud on public transport - and we're not sure that sound will be any more pleasant even if it's less tinny.
There's also a cheeky little extra feature here in the shape of HTC Sense TV - all because the HTC One features an infrared blaster on the top of the phone, which allows you to control a TV. The app will scan for programs on at the moment, presents thumbnails of the current shows and a quick tap will see the phone changing the channel on the TV for you.
It's an innovative idea by bringing in the visual features, but given it can't automatically change the source input for you should you want to jump into streaming video from your device over HTC's MediaLink HD, it seems like it will be a little-used feature for many.
Early verdict
There's no doubt that the HTC One is a real step forward once more for the brand - but then again, we said that with the HTC One X, and that didn't set the world alight in the way we thought it might have done, partly due to a lack of marketing.
However, with the new One, HTC has brought even better design (polycarbonate is still plastic, after all) and improved things even further by trying to actually innovate on things like user experience and camera functionality - in a world of smartphone patent litigation, this is a breath of fresh air.
We're not sold on the likes of BlinkFeed, as it seems a bit too 'beta' for something launched on a flagship phone - it really needs to be tailored to the needs of the user rather than something they have to work hard to customise, and we can see loads of people just switching it off.
That said, this is a phone that wows the second it hits the hand, has a great screen, strong internal storage of up to 64GB (albeit with no microSD card slot) and a superfast processor - plus the battery has been boosted to 2300mAh too, which should see it last much better than that seen in the One X.
In short, we're really glad to see HTC is still putting its weight behind a top-end smartphone; confusing name aside, the HTC One shows a lot of promise and could well see the firm pulling back into the black in 2013.
Previously known by its codename, the HTC M7, the HTC One is now official, as revealed at today’s dual launch event in New York and London.
While some rumors seemed to indicate that the HTC One would feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, the good news is that the One springs for the next-gen Snapdragon 600 instead, the same processor heading to the LG Optimus G Pro.
Here’s the full specs as we now know them:
Snapdragon 600 1.7GHz quad-core GPU
Adreno 320 GPU
2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage
4.7-inch Super LCD 3, 468ppi full HD
4MP Ultrapixel camera featuring OIS and HDR video
Communication: LTE, 3G, Bluetooth 4, Wi-Fi, GPS&GLONASS, Infrared blaster
2,300 mAh non-removable battery
Android 4.1.2 with Sense 5
While the HTC One will likely be overshadowed by more powerful devices like the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4, it certainly isn’t a pushover and certainly pushes hard against devices like the Sony Xperia Z and ZL.
For those wondering about the 4MP Ultrapixel camera, HTC claims that the “ultrapixel” will enable to the device to take sharper, less noisy images even in low lighting that even at a lower resolution will supposedly craft a high-quality image. Again, can’t really judge the camera until we get more hands-on looks at what it can bring to the table.
The new HTC One is up against the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Sony Xperia Z and the iPhone 5
So, it's here. HTC's worst kept secret in a while has been announced. To be fair, it was pretty hard to keep it under wraps, once chairman Peter Chou started waving it about in front of the media, but at least now it's all official and above board. We like that.
And HTC's looking for salvation here. Let's be frank: the company's lost its way. Profits are down, sales are down, market share is down.
A few years ago, if you weren't on an iPhone or a BlackBerry, chances were you were rocking an HTC Android device with a big clock on the homescreen. But times change – and Samsung got busy with its Galaxy line, ultimately stealing the top Android spot from HTC and making HTC wince.
Of course, every launch is accompanied with the same cliches – "revolutionary, "the next big thing", "iPhone killer" and so on. We had it last year with the HTC One X and that hardly won over the masses. Step up to the plate, if you will, the HTC One.
HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Sony Xperia Z vs iPhone 5: design
The HTC One features an all new design. Well, we say 'all new' – and it is for HTC. But you may think you've seen it before. Yup, it's a dead ringer for the iPhone 5 – particularly the white version. If Apple was annoyed with Samsung, we think HTC's bound to get it in the neck for this. Similarities extend to the three panels on the back and the silver border around the phone.
From a design perspective, it's beautiful. As per its last few offerings, it's a unibody design and HTC describes it as 'gap free'. Available in silver and black, it's created from aluminium.
The HTC One features a sleek aluminium case
We much prefer handsets like this – it's going to feel solid in the hand, like it means business and comes in at a respectable size of 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm, with a weight of 143g. It means, roughly in the hand, it'll be on a par pretty much with the Galaxy S3, though the preference of metal over plastic will make it heavier.
In fact, it'll be nearer to Sony's new flagship, the Xperia Z in terms of physical print, though that comes in an all glass flavour. Opinion on design will differ – with some preferring Sony's elegant gloss and others much more favourable towards the metallic industrial feel of the HTC One.
HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Sony Xperia Z vs iPhone 5: processor
Naturally, a beautiful phone can end up as a beautiful paperweight if the processor isn't up to task. This used to happen a lot – but has not been as much of an issue in the last twelve months since OEMs started pulling their fingers out.
Always helps to have something to boast about too on the spec sheet – and HTC is right up at the top with the HTC One offering a quad-core 1.7GHz processor of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 variety. That's sure to mean this phone never slows down.
To be fair, it will be helped along by Project Butter – but even without that, we can think of few situations where the processor would be stumped.
It makes last year's Exynos quad-core 1.4GHz offering on the Samsung Galaxy S3 seem so old fashioned. Although we did occasionally experience a half a milisecond of lag with that handset, it was by no means an annoyance.
Sony comes in with a Krait 1.5 quad-core offering on the Xperia Z and that's more than respectable as it is. In reality, we can't see situations where any of these handsets will struggle.
The thing is, even a good processor can be rubbish on a bad OS. And vice versa. Apple's iPhone 5 only give us a dual-core 1.2 GHz. On the face of it, that's very third world but you'll find few complaining of lag or slowdown on the iPhone 5. This is because it runs on such a sold OS. Likewise, Android should be able to cope and help the HTC One's processor to put its back into things.
HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Sony Xperia Z vs iPhone 5: screen
Screen resolutions tend to inspire real one-upmanship among OEMs. Apple's launch from the old style to retina really was groundbreaking and set the bar. It's hard to make something that replicates that first impression again – hence why even on the iPhone 5, two years on, Apple itself even, hasn't managed to top it.
In our upcoming Xperia Z review, we talk about how amazing that screen is. Full TFT 1080 HD at 5-inches is pretty impressive. There are slight issues with it looking washed out now and again, but this is pretty much as good as it gets on Android right now.
HTC is going for boasting rights with the screen on the One
It also shows up the Galaxy S3 – when that was launched last year, in one of the biggest shocks of 2012, Samsung went for a Super AMOLED panel that actually can show pixels. Yes, you have to strain the naked eye but they can be seen and that's unacceptable in the eyes of many.
With that in mind, HTC's made sure it can secure boasting rights here over the oposition. It's taken an almost identical screen size to the Samsung, but boosted it up to the quality of the Sony Xperia Z at 1080 HD. It's a win win situation.
Once Bill Gates gets going, it's difficult to shut him up - fresh from his Reddit Q&A, he's now taken to a news show to admit that Microsoft messed up on mobile but still has high hopes for Bing and Windows 8.
Harking back to the days when his CEO Steve Ballmer said, "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share", Gates conceded that the company had missed a trick when it came to smartphones.
Speaking to CBS he said, "There's a lot of things like cellphones where we didn't get out in the lead very early.
"Why not? Oh that's too complicated. No, we didn't miss cellphones. But the way that we went about it didn't allow us to get the leadership. So it's clearly a mistake."
A mistake that Windows Phone hopes to rectify, although it still trails in fourth place behind Android, iOS and even BlackBerry in terms of market share.
Oops
The company's co-founder and chairman also spoke about his relationship with now CEO, Steve Ballmer. Gates said, "He and I are two of the most self-critical people you can imagine.
"There are a lot of amazing things that Steve's leadership got done with the company last year. Windows 8 is key to the future, the Surface computer, Bing - people are seeing as a better search product - and Xbox."
But neither is entirely satisfied with the progress that the company is making.
"Is it enough?" Gates asked himself. "No, he and I are not satisfied that, in terms of breakthrough things, we're doing everything possible."
Er, okay Gates. We'll reign in our expectations for the next Xbox then, shall we?
Cray's XK7 Titan supercomputer is powered by no less than 18,000 Nvidia Tesla K20x GPUs, which Nvidia is proud to say highly contributes to make the Titan the world's fastest supercomputer. Today, the company is presenting a revised version of the graphics processor optimized for consumer tasks, and of course, gaming. Whoever said about the Titan "but can it play Crysis?", the joke is now on you.
The GeForce Titan specs are simply unheard of for a single GPU, boasting of 2688 CUDA cores versus the 1536 you find on a GTX 680, as well as packing 6GB 384-bit GDDR5 on board. In building this GPU, Nvidia says they faced a challenge of escalating performance without impacting efficiency and power consumption on the same proportion.
The company is playing this performance + efficiency card in two different ways: first for extreme gamers, the Titan is 3-way SLI capable. If the budget somehow allowed for such a luxury -- each card will run for about $899 -- there's a simple answer on how to build the fastest gaming PC ever if you throw three of these on a single machine. On the other hand, thermals and noise levels have been optimized, so Nvidia has been working with boutique PC builders (Origin, Falcon, Maingear, etc) to put the Titan inside small form factor PCs aimed at gamers. After all, a single one of these cards will push more frames than you can imagine.
Nvidia doesn't want us to talk about benchmark specifics for now, and there may be a good reason for it. On paper the Titan looks like a more elegant solution than the dual-GPU GTX 690 which fetches $999, but there's clearly the question of raw performance with a single card. Expect our full review of the GeForce Titan in the coming week or so.
Other interesting highlights about the Titan:
The GeForce Titan will have fan control that includes voltage and RPM
TDP rating is set at 250w vs. 300w on the GTX 690 and 195w on the GTX 680
The Titan will ship with full performance double-precision compute
Just ahead of MWC 2013. Nvidia has announced a new mobile processor called Tegra 4i.
Aimed at the mainstream smartphone market, Nvidia believes the new chip will fill a gap in the company's offering. While Tegra 4's staple is higher end Android tablets, Tegra 4i (codenamed Grey, after Marvel's Jean Grey) is a processor very much designed for phones.
That's because it's at the lower end, performance-wise – and so cheaper - yet is still designed to support 1080p Full HD and 4G LTE capable handsets; a specially optimised version of the Nvidia i500 LTE modem is included in the design.
Like Tegra 3, it's based on ARM's older Cortex-A9 architecture (R4 A9) rather than the newer Cortex-A15 instruction set used for Tegra 4.
So you get 60 Nvidia GPU cores as opposed to Tegra 4's 72, but the same 4+1 core design as Tegra 3 and Tegra 4 is used, clocked at 2.3GHz - the fifth core is a battery saver core.
Better performance vs surface area
Nvidia is also shouting about the physical size of Tegra 4i's cores, saying that they are half the area (1.15mm2 vs 2.6mm2) of the competing Krait core from Qualcomm's Snapdragon S800 launched last month. It also claims that 4i beats even Tegra 4 in terms of performance per mm2.
Like Tegra 4, 4i also features Nvidia's Computational Photography Architecture, enabling advanced imaging features such as tap-to-track and HDR panoramics.
You can see 4i's fifth core, at the top of this die shot
Nvidia has also announced a phone reference platform to showcase the design. Called Phoenix, it's 8mm thick, with 4G and a five-inch Full HD display.
As always with reference designs, Phoenix is designed to be a blueprint that phone makers can work with when designing and building Tegra 4i smartphones to help get them to market quicker.
Hopefully we'll see some handsets featuring Tegra 4i at MWC 2013 next week.
Nokia may be readying four new Windows Phone 8 handsets for MWC 2013 in Barcelona next week according to a serial tweeter.
We know Nokia has something up its sleeve for the event, but the Finnish firm hasn't given us any clues as to what it might be.
However according to @ailon, logs for US carrier Verizon has revealed four new handsets could be on the radar: "I see Nokia RM-914 (Lumia 520), RM-885 (Lumia 720), RM-887(?) and RM-860(?) on Verizon in our logs. 3-4 new phones at #MWC13?"
Two's a charm
Details on the Nokia Lumia 520 and Lumia 720 have already started doing the rounds, with the Lumia 520 expected to enter the market at the budget end with a 4-inch display, 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB internal storage and 5MP camera.
While the 520 will slide in under the Nokia Lumia 620, the Lumia 720 is expected to bridge the gap between that and the Lumia 820.
Reports suggest the Lumia 720 will sport a larger 4.3-inch display, the same processor, RAM and internal storage as the Lumia 520, with a 6MP camera round the back and a 2MP front-facing snapper, although it's not clear where these details have come from.
The RM-887 and RM-860 models are less clear cut. With no further details emerging for either device, some people believe that these may be variants of current handsets instead of being brand new phones.
There are rumours that Nokia is also prepping a flagship device, going by the codename Eos, which will feature the firm's 41MP camera which can be found on the 808 Pureview.
We'll be out in force at MWC 2013 next week to bring you all the latest from the show, so keep your eyes peeled for all the news from Nokia.
Let’s face it, the last few years haven’t exactly been easy for HTC. While 2011 was awful, 2012 certainly looked a bit more optimistic and ended on a high note with the release of the HTC Droid DNA and HTC Butterfly.
Now it is 2013, and that begs the question – can HTC regain lost glory with the release of its next generation HTC One handset?
HTC One – What We Know
The HTC One, aka HTC M7, isn’t exactly a well kept secret. We’ve seen leaked photos, benchmarks and just about everything under the sun. In fact, today’s HTC event might only bring us confirmation of the handset and nothing else new, considering just how much has been leaked already.
Okay, so what kind of firepower does the HTC One pack? More than likely, we are looking at a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. Other specs include 32GB of storage, 13MP rear-cam, 2MP front cam and a 2,300 mAh battery. As for the display, a 5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display will grace the device.
There is no denying that these specs are solid, but is it enough?
HTC One – Tough Competition Ahead
HTC has arguably always done a good job when it comes to aesthetics. They have solid phones that have very pleasing designs, whether you like other aspects like HTC Sense or not.
Phone designs don’t seem to be the company’s problem. Their problem is that they have ran into pretty serious competition that tends to hog the spotlight and push them aside. Unfortunately, 2013 doesn’t seem to be any different.
With continued rumors of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the recently unveiled LG Optimus G Pro, the HTC One might have a hard time standing out. Additionally, the S4 Pro isn’t exactly cutting edge when you consider that the Optimus G Pro is packing a Snapdragon 600 processor.
HTC One – Confusion in the Name
Competition might not be the only problem for the HTC One, marketing confusion could also lend to the struggle. While I think the name HTC One sounds fitting enough, it has been used by quite a few HTC models already.
When an average consumer goes to the store, will they understand that the HTC One is BETTER than the HTC One X? Good advertising through television and other sources can certainly help remove some of that confusion, but nonetheless it could be an issue.
HTC One – Standing Out
The big question is whether or not HTC can get past the confusion of the name, the mixed reputation of their Sense UI and find a way to stand out above the competition. That’s a tough question to answer.
Even if the HTC One looks suspiciously like what would happen if the Blackberry Z10 and iPhone 5 had a baby, it’s a sexy handset. Knowing HTC, it will also be solid when it comes to build quality, and the specs are pretty cutting-edge, even if not utilizing next-gen Qualcomm or Nvidia chips.
But what does HTC have that can make it stand out against Apple, Samsung or even LG? These brands have more marketing power and plenty of hype on their side, but ultimately I think that HTC has what it takes with the HTC One to make a fairly big splash. The groundwork is laid, now it comes down to presentation. HTC needs to deliver a great — no epic – show today.
They need to get the press excited, and by extension get the online readers buzzing about it as well. From there, they need to be very aggressive about marketing.
If HTC can do that, all while bringing the phone out far enough ahead of the Optimus G Pro, Galaxy S4 and next iPhone – they have a shot. Even with the Galaxy S4 around the corner, there are many HTC fans (and former fans) out there that truly want the HTC One to be everything we hope it is, and these folks would be more than willing to purchase the One, if HTC can sell it to them with enough passion and conviction.
Even if the HTC One is a homerun for the company, will it instantly recover the company? No, even the recent success of the Nokia Lumia line hasn’t completely turned Nokia around, but it has helped them get back on the right path. Now is the time for HTC’s star to shine bright, or to dim out for good. Your call HTC.
For all the advertising and various added extras which come with an EE 4G contract, uptake has been less than stellar with the network seeing 201,000 new postpaid customers added in the final quarter of 2012.
That figure represents both 3G and 4G contracts, so the firm's 4G uptake will be lower - a figure which isn't documented in the results.
The future's bright, and possibly cheaper
EE has an ambitious roll out plan in place and aims to have 98 per cent of the country covered by its 4G network by the end of this year, with 55 per cent of the UK population enjoying the super fast speeds by the end of June.
The network, which also oversees Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, may need to revisit its prices plans later this year when other networks launch rival 4G services.
Three has already announced its surprisingly affordable 4G plans for later this year, saying that its contracts won't cost any more than its current 3G tariffs - which would blow EE's pricing out of the water.
For the time being, though, EE has the 4G arena to itself and it will want to capitalise as much as possible before O2, Vodafone and Three enter the fray.
