So much for all that talk about the HTC One not making its way onto Verizon Wireless. Big Red has confirmed through their Twitter account that the handset will be available on their 4G LTE network later this summer.
So, HTC fans on Verizon won’t have to force themselves to try “the awesome” HTC Droid DNA. But no other details are available such as whether or not the One will be available as 32GB and 64GB versions or what the device will cost.
But Sense will certainly be there. Sundar Pichai, senior vice-president of Google’s Chrome and Apps division, announced last week that the HTC One Google edition will be available on Google Play starting June 26. But the stock Android handset will only run on GSM networks such as T-Mobile and AT&T.
The HTC One is currently available on AT&T and Sprint, and will be launched on T-Mobile this week. The availability on all the four major US carriers is of course great news for HTC. So who all are imagining themselves playing with the One on Verizon? Or do you have another handset in mind?
The Halo experience is about to go rogue for the first time, with brand new title Halo: Spartan Assault heading exclusively to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices.
With speculation kicking off this week that Spartan Assault would be the name of the next Console-based Halo (following the discovery of some registered domain names), the new title will actually be gunning for gamers on the go.
The top-down shooter will be available on Windows 8 phones and tablets, as well as PC, with cloud saves meaning you can stop playing on one device and pick up where you left off on another.
There are also a number of ways to play control-wise, including standard touchscreen, plugging in a mouse and keyboard, or even connecting an Xbox 360 controller.
343 industries said that the game will be priced in the US at around $6.99 (about £4.60, AUS $7.25) while a specific figure for the UK is yet to be confirmed.
Combat evolved again
Dan Ayoub, executive producer of publishing at 343, told TechRadar that there was already "a lot of plans for content already for post-launch," adding that the game will include a challenge mode, with users able to share their scores on the leaderboard.
This game will be released this July across all countries and devices, though a specific day for the global rollout is yet to be given.
Ayoub also told us that Halo: Spartan Assault has been in development for about a year. However, we then remembered a certain job posting by Bungie back in early 2011, suggesting that this project might have been in the pipeline even longer.
The game follows on from the story of Halo 4, mixing many of the action and sandbox elements that fans of the the franchise will be more than familiar with.
"Halo has always led on its platform," said Ayoub. "And so we wanted to do the same thing on PC, tablet and mobile."
The game uses an adaptive twin-stick touchscreen control system, meaning that when your thumbs glide up the screen, the circle pads move with them. "It's no exaggeration when I say we threw out at least twelve control schemes getting to this," admitted Ayoub.
HTC's monthly sales report has shown signs of promise, with an increase in profits following a difficult few months.
The manufacturer's sales report for May shows a 48 per cent increase in sales from April, and almost 100 per cent from March.
This will be wecome news to HTC after previously posting poor sales figures and suffering a number of high-level executives leaving the company.
It's not all good news, however. Sales are still down 3.35 per cent from May 2012 and it's not clear if these figures will improve, espcially since new deivces are likely to be launched soon by Samsung and Apple.
Is the One an anomaly?
The HTC One is the said to be the reason for the company's improved performance in the last few months, with sales hitting the 5 million mark in its first two months.
Although impressive, HTC only managed to shift half as many units as the Samsung Galaxy S4 did in the same period of time. And, with Samsung announcing a range of new devices at an event in London this month, HTC's sales may be further strained by the increased competition.
British Manufacturer ARM has unveiled a new Cortex A-12 processor at Computex 2013, aimed at mid-range tablets and smartphones in the region of US$250 (about AU$258, £163) to US$350 (about AU$361, £228).
The Cortex-A12 will succeed ARM's Cortex-A9 processor, which was used in the iPhone 4s, Galaxy S3 and a variety of android tablets.
With up to four cores, ARM said that the new design is 40 per cent more efficient than the A9 and 30 per cent faster. Devices sporting the new A12 processor are expected to arrive in late 2014 or early 2015.
Race to the middle
James Bruce, ARM's lead mobile strategist, said that there is huge growth in mid-range mobile markets, with devices above and around $200 (about £130, $206 AUS) expected to ship more than 500 units by the end of 2015.
ARM faces stiff competition from other manufacturers who also want to capitalise on the growing affordable tablet and smartphone market. Intel recently announced a range of new processors, including the Bay Trial and Haswell processors, which are aimed at Android devices.
Considering the rise of larger smartphones on the market at the moment, we weren't all that surprised when Acer announced its very first 'phablet' handset, the Liquid S1, at this year's Computex, which seems set to cater to a more affordable, non-LTE market.
The Liquid S1's 720p display measures 5.7 inches - just 0.2 inches more than the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 - and even packs a stylus pen like its Korean rival. This added padding means it might be slightly too big for some pockets.
At a resolution of 1,280 x 720, matching the Note 2, the screen is certainly less than remarkable considering other devices rocking Full HD displays, such as the HTC One. But given that this will land at a more reasonable price, it's not something to get too caught up on.
As for what's running on the inside, there's not an awful lot to get excited about. A 1.5GHz quad-core with just 1GB of RAM isn't cutting edge, but we found it's enough to run Android 4.2.2 smoothly on.
The 8GB of storage is a bit skimpy too, though microSD support means you can beef that out when you need to.
One thing that could be an off-putting is the 2,400 mAh battery, which doesn't match up to the Note 2's 3,100 mAh. Given we didn't have enough time to really test the battery out, it's difficult to know how big this difference will be.
When it comes to the camera though, the offering is pretty reasonable. The Liquid S1's primary shooter is 8-megapixels, offering 1080p recording ability. This is decent enough, and the pictures we snapped were satisfyingly sharp for the device.
Our favourite part of the Liquid S1, however, is its multitasking Float feature, activated by holding down the menu button.
While the S1 software is mostly pure Android, Acer is throwing in its Float feature UI into the bag, which lets certain apps remain on the same screen as other "floating" apps and widgets at the same time.
It's very reminiscent of the Multi Window feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note II (though we found this one a bit more fluid), and something that really takes advantage of that extra screen space.
However during TechRadar's demonstration we were only able to use a very limited number of floatable apps, such as the calculator, camera and a call notification feature that means you won't be thrown out of whatever it is you're doing when someone's dropping you a line.
We've been told that this will be opened up to more apps when the phone arrives officially, though a lot of this will be down to app developers too.
Early verdict
Ultimately, the success the of Liquid S1 hangs in its affordability. A decent price - and it's currently said to be coming in at €349 (about £300, US $455, AUS $475) - is the only way we can see this taking on the Samsung Note 2, and given that its Q3 release date could put it directly up against the Note 3, it would seem ludicrous to put it any higher than that.
But if big screens are your thing, the Float features of the Liquid S1 nicely make the most of the phone's 5.7-inch display, making for a reasonable, if unremarkable when it comes to specs, phone.
