Invites for MYSTERY EVENT Oct.8 :HTC

The theme of the invite -- "Double Exposure" -- and the fact that HTC asks invitees to submit a selfie with their RSVP suggests a camera or photo-centric event.

HTC EVENT WILL BE HELD ON OCT. 8

HTC has emphasized camera performance and features on its devices in recent years. The company ditched traditional megapixels with the original HTC One smartphone and instead opted for a custom image sensor it marketed asUltrapixels.On the flagship HTC One M8, a second depth of field sensor was added to the camera for greater customization of images.

HTC had launched the Desire 820 at its pre-IFA 2014 event, with a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor and 4G LTE Cat. 4 connectivity. HTC had announced the smartphone will be available worldwide beginning late-September. The dual-SIM (Nano-SIM) HTC Desire 820 runs Android 4.4 KitKat with HTC Sense UI skinned on top. The smartphone is the successor to HTC Desire 816. It features a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) display. The Desire 820 packs a 13-megapixel (with f/2.2 lens) rear facing camera with LED flash and BSI sensor, apart from an 8-megapixel secondary front-facing camera.
WE WILL BE BACK WITH MORE UPDATES SOON.

HTC Desire 816 With 5.5-Inch HD Display Now Available Online at Rs. 24,450

The HTC Desire 816 is now available via an e-commerce website in India at Rs. 24,450. HTC's latest mid-range smartphone, the Desire 816, was launched in April alongside budget smartphone HTC Desire 210 Dual SIM.

The Taiwanese handset maker at the Desire 816 launch in late-April had promised that the smartphone will be available within two weeks; however the smartphone never hit Indian market shelves in the said time.

The Desire 816 was globally announced alongside the Desire 610 at MWC.

Notably, the smartphone is available at various e-commerce sites, first reported by Android OS, such as Infibeam (Rs. 24,450) and Flipkart (Rs. 24,490), and is priced higher than the official Rs. 23,990 launch price tag.

The HTC Desire 816 comes with a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixel) display and is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, alongside 1.5GB of RAM. It includes 8GB of inbuilt storage with support for microSD cards up to 128GB.

There's no word about the Android version on the HTC Desire 816, though HTC did confirm the presence of HTC Sense 5.5 UI on top. It sports a 13-megapixel f/2.2 rear and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The smartphone features dual frontal stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers.

Connectivity options on the smartphone include Bluetooth, DLNA, Micro-USB, and Wi-Fi, part from 3G connectivity support. The Desire 816 is backed by a 2600mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 21 hours of talk time and up to 614 hours standby time on 3G network. Interestingly, the handset is the first HTC device to incorporate a Nano-SIM instead of a Micro-SIM card.

A recent report claimed that the struggling Taiwanese smartphone maker is expecting to swing to profitability and double its revenues in the three months to June, aided by the good sales of its new flagship, the One (M8) (Review I Pictures) and the new mid-range Desire 816.

HTC One Windows Phone Leaks in Press Render, Shows Premium Design

Although we got many leaks regarding the upcoming Windows Phone handset from HTC, the alleged W8, there were few photos showing the smartphone in all its beauty.

HTC One W8 is expected to be officially unveiled on August 19, probably along with other products from the Taiwanese company. Given the fact that we're so close to the official announcement, the flow of leaks seems to get bigger and bigger.

Anyway, it looks like the folks over at Neowin have just published the first clear press render of the back side HTC One W8, which, no surprise here, bears Verizon Wireless' logo on it.

While this doesn't mean that the HTC One W8 won't be available internationally, there's a high chance that this will be exclusively available in the United States through Verizon Wireless.

According to latest rumors, the One W8 will have the same hardware configuration as its Android counterpart, the One M8. Obviously, the former will ship with Windows Phone 8.1 operating system out of the box, instead of Android OS.

We reported a few days ago that the One W8 may also come with the same open bootloader of the One M8, which means that owners will theoretically flash Android OS on it, while One M8 users may install Windows Phone 8.1 on their smartphones.

However, these are just speculations that are likely to increase the hype around HTC's next Windows Phone flagship smartphone, the W8. 

Considering that Windows Phone handsets are always cheaper than their Android counterparts even though they offer the same hardware configuration, there will be lots of Google OS fans who would want to purchase a cheaper Windows Phone and install Android on it.

Which is why we believe there's only a slim chance for HTC to allow the One W8 owners to install Android OS on their devices. Anyway, let's see what other features the Windows Phone handset has to offer.

First of all, HTC One W8 is expected to come equipped with a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor inside, an Adreno 330 graphics processing unit, and 2GB of RAM.

In addition, the smartphone will sport a 5-inch Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution and features Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coating.

On the back, the One W8 is rumored to boast an UltraPixel camera with autofocus, dual-tone LED flash, and video recording, while on the front there will be an impressive 5-megapixel camera for selfies and video calls.

As shown in the pictures, the smartphone will pack dual front speakers, as well as HTC BoomSound audio technology. There will be 32GB of storage inside the One W8, but users will also be able to further expand storage up to 128GB via microSD card slot.

HTC IS COMING WITH SMART WATCH NEXT YEAR.

Like LG, Motorola, and Samsung for one of its smartwatches, HTC would base its device on Android Wear, Google's platform for wearable devices. But the company will likely use an altered version of Android Wear that would include different elements and features.
A similar opportunity could arise for HTC on the wearables side. The company also has to solve a few common complaints about smartwatches, including the bulkiness of the devices and the battery life. While Apple offers a design that is slightly slimmer than the competition (it is still a fairly thick watch), the company was mum on battery life on Tuesday.

AFTER MOTO, APPLE AND SAMSUNG HTC IS COMING WITH ANDROID WEAR NEXT YEAR

HTC could use the spark. Once hailed a pioneer in Android -- having built the original Android smartphone in the G1 -- the company has seen its market share evaporate as larger companies such as Samsung muscled it out of the premium smartphone game. Despite winning rave reviews for its metallic body, the HTC One M8 hasn't made a huge dent in the market.

The early 2015 time frame does represent a delay from HTC's previous target of putting out a smartwatch in time for the holidays this year, which Chairwoman Cher Wang laid out in an interview in February.

With the market likely frozen until Apple offers its watch for sale early next year, HTC has a little extra time.

HTC desire 510

The 4.7-inch phone comes encased in polycarbonate plastic in a choice of black, white, grey or a very luxurious midnight blue. The choice of colour may depend on where you buy it, however.The Desire 510 is a Category 4 LTE phone. Cat 4 is one of the fastest current flavours of 4G, but you can only enjoy the extra speed of a Cat 4 device if you live in a country that has a Cat 4 or LTE-Advanced network.

Even if you don't live somewhere covered by LTE-Advanced signal, 4G LTE is still an order of magnitude faster than 3G, and sees you surf the Web, stream video and music and connect with apps much faster. The only caveat is that with that extra speed you will burn through your data allowance (and battery) faster, and as 4G is still relatively new in many countries, that can cost you.

Inside the 510 is a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor with 1GB of RAM. There's 8GB of on-board memory for music, movies, and photos, with a microSD card slot for extra legroom.

While the 4G and processor speed are pretty respectable, the most disappointing specs are the 854x480-pixel screen and the cameras: the main snapper is a 5-megapixel job, with a low-resolution 640x480-pixel camera on the front for blocky video chat.

The 510 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat software, the latest version of Google's operating system. You can download more apps from the Google Play app store, including any apps you've already downloaded if you've had an Android phone before.On top of regular Android is HTC Sense, an interface only found on HTC phones, which adds extra features to the basic Android experience. The home pages also include BlinkFeed, which pulls together news and updates from your social networks to show you what's going on with the world and your friends every time you look at your phone.

Like the  HTC One M8 , HTC's flagship phone, you can check out what's going on with your 510 without opening the case. HTC's DotView case, which costs extra, covers the phone, but with teeny-tiny holes on the front through which you can see the screen, forming a cool dot matrix-style pattern.While at rest, the phone shows a display specially designed to be viewed through the small holes without opening the case. The 510 does not have the smart sensor features of the One M8's DotView case, but it does give you a choice of 18 wallpapers and themes.

We'll meet the HTC Desire 510 next week at annual technology trade show IFA in Berlin, where we'll be on hand to bring you the first photos, videos and hands-on first impressions of this and all the cool new kit heading your way before the end of the year.

Apple iPhone 6 vs. Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8

Check out how the specs from Apple's latest iPhone 6 compares to those of its Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 rivals.

SPECS.	APPLE IPHONE 6	SAMSUNG GALAXY S5	HTC ONE M8
Display	4.7 inches (119.38mm) with 1,334x750-pixel resolution	5.1 inches (129.54mm) with 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution	5 inches (127mm) with 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution
Dimensions	5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27 inches (138.1 x 67 x 6.9mm)	5.5 x 2.9 x 0.31 inches (142 x 72.5 x 8.1mm)	5.8 x 2.8 x 0.37 inches (146.36 x 70.6 x 9.35 mm)
Weight	4.55 ounces (129g)	5 ounces (145g)	5.64 ounces (160g)
OS	iOS 8	Android 4.4.2	Android 4.4.2
Camera, video	8-megapixel; 1080p HD video	16-megapixel; 4K HD video	4-UltraPixel; 1080p HD video
Front-facing camera	1.2-megapixel; 720p HD video	2-megapixel; 1080p HD video	5.1-megapixel; 1080p HD video
Processor	Proprietary 64-bit A8 chip with M8 motion co-processor	2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801	2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801
RAM	N/A	2GB	2GB
Capacity	16GB, 64GB, and 128GB	16GB and 32GB	16GB and 32GB
Battery	Nonremovable; talk time up to 14 hours on 3G and Internet usage time up to 10 hours of 3G	Removable 2,800mAh	Nonremovable 2,600mAh
Bluetooth	v4.0	v4.0	v4.0
Colors	Silver, gold, gray	Black, white, blue, and copper	Gray, silver, black, rose, and gold
US retail price	On-contract $199 (16GB), $299 (64GB), and $399 (128GB); off-contract $649 (16GB), $749 (64GB), and $849 (128GB)	On-contract $200; off-contract $650	On-contract $200; off-contract $670
UK retail price	Unlocked £539 (16GB), £619 (64GB), £699 (128GB)	£500	£550
AU retail price	Unlocked AU$869 (16GB), AU$999 (64GB), AU$1,129 (128GB)	AU$850	AU$899

iPhone 6

HTC ONE M8

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5

Sony Xperia Z2 review: A worthy rival to Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One (M8)

Sony's two top-end smartphones of 2013 — Xperia Z and Z1 — were outmatched by rivals, despite decent configuration. Xperia Z was a good smartphone that was marred by a poor display and susceptible build quality, and its successor Z1 featured a sturdier body, but offered very little improvements in the display department.

The company started off 2014 with the unveiling of Xperia Z2 at Mobile World Congress in February. This device is an evolution of Xperia Z1, but features enough alterations and tweaks to make it a worthy competitor to the likes of Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8).

We review the Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone to see how well it compares with the rivals and if it calls for an upgrade if you are already an Xperia Z or Z1 user:

Display
One of the key features of Xperia Z1 is its 5.2-inch display, and boy, is it good! Both Xperia Z and Z1 were plagued by displays that washed out as soon as you stepped in sunlight, and nothing you did could make the screen legible. Not so with this smartphone.

The change has been because of the screen panel used by Sony in the new phone. Instead of the TFT panels that Xperia Z and Z1 used, the new Xperia Z2 employs an IPS display. IPS displays are known for their vibrant colours and adaptability to extreme viewing angles.



However, a better display (than the predecessors) does not mean it is great. We observed that colours reproduced by the display were a bit over-saturated when brightness was set at highest levels, but that is something that happens with most phones, including Galaxy S5 and HTC One.

But the problem comes when the brightness is set at 30% (sufficient for indoor usage). At that time, colours seemed a little dull. Compared to the other two new top-end devices in the market, the colours at low brightness in Xperia Z2 are not as vibrant, showing that Sony still has work to do on this front.

These are things that you are will probably not notice unless you, like us hacks, handle too many smartphones day in and day out, and therefore, unlikely to be the deal breakers.

Sony Xperia Z2 has 1920x1080p resolution and has the same clarity that you get with the older phones, but with better colours. For those who put much stock with numbers, Xperia Z2 has 424 pixels per inch, lower than the 441 pixels per inch for its predecessors. But in reality, you would be hard-pressed to identify individual visible pixels on the screen.

Design
Sony Xperia Z2 carries on the Omnibalance design that was introduced last year, but there are enough subtle tweaks in the design to make it look better than its predecessors. The smartphone has the metal frame on the sides that made its debut last year with Xperia Z1.

The overall design of the smartphone is slightly updated, but largely remains unchanged. The Power button is smaller in size this time and the speakers are no more at the bottom. But apart from these, there are no apparent changes in terms of looks. A closer inspection, however, reveals that the frame has more rounded edges, which looks better.


The body of Xperia Z2 is made of glass and metal. The glass on the back is placed at a very slight recess compared to the metal, so that you can avoid scratching the rear panel when you place it on a flat surface.

To give credit where it is due, Sony has does a great job of moving the speakers to the front without making it apparent. You probably won't even notice that the speakers are located at the top and bottom until you turn on the sound.

Xperia Z2, with its 5.2-inch screen, is slightly smaller in overall dimensions than its predecessors. It is marginally thinner and ever-so-slightly smaller in width. But it is longer than both Xperia Z1 and Z, as well as most other smartphones in its league.



And it is heavy, weighing more than most flagship smartphones we have encountered in recent past. In fact, it is just 5gram lighter than the Galaxy Note 3, which has a 5.7-inch display.Yet, that is not something that should worry you too much as a user.

What is significant is that the heft and length do not make Xperia Z2 unwieldy. On the contrary, it feels pretty solid and can be held in one hand comfortably. Like many other big-screen devices, the smartphone has a one-handed mode, where the keyboard occupies only a certain portion of the screen so that you can reach all the keys easily. However, we never felt the need to use Xperia Z2 in one-handed keyboard mode.

Another great part: The handset is also resistant to water and dust, and the glass back is said to be shatterproof although we resisted the temptation to drop it on floor to verify the claim. However, we dunked the smartphone in water after securing all the ports and were satisfied with the result; the device continued to operate smoothly, as expected.

Hardware
Sony Xperia Z2 has most of the key features that a top-end smartphone today must have. It sports a big, high resolution display, 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, 20.7MP camera, supports microSD cards up to 128GB and a big 3,200mAh battery. You get 16GB internal storage, with 10.6GB accessible to user.



Connectivity options in the device include 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0 and NFC. Though the smartphone supports 4G connectivity, there is no official word yet whether it will support the TD-LTE band of India. Sony has also retained the magnetic pins on the right side, so you can use the charging dock to recharge the battery even as you watch a movie.

Software
When we talk of software, we can easily put Xperia Z2 and bloatware in the same category. The Android 4.4 (KitKat)-powered smartphone comes preloaded with a total of 59 apps. Fifty-nine!!! Thankfully Sony has given user the option to delete a few apps, such as BigFlix, Box, LinkedIn, Pixlr and NeoReader, among others.

The Japanese manufacturer has also added a few proprietary apps to set itself apart from rivals who do not have as rich a content portfolio. You can use the PlayStation Network app to connect with your friends and buy games.

However, this app lacks many cool games and is rather rudimentary. Similar is the case with Sony Entertainment, which shows you several TV shows on the go, but if that is something you dig, you have it right here. Sony Music Jive will let you download or stream the music owned by the company while you are on the move.

A downward swipe with one finger will open the notification panel, while doing the same with two fingers will give you Quick Settings, which holds the toggle buttons for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, brightness etc. Xperia Z2 also has a proprietary app to find your handset in case it is lost, but we swear by the default Android app for this.

Performance
Despite all the extra software (that you may want to uninstall), the handset's performance is at par with that of Galaxy S5 and One (M8). The smartphone consistently delivers a smooth experience and never shows even the slightest lag. Most apps open as soon as you tap on them and you would be more than happy with zippy processing power; there is no doubt that it will suffice the requirements of any power user.

Media playback is great too. The screen is big and gorgeous, so watching videos is a treat. The stereo speakers are now positioned in front, so the sound does get not muffled. However, we must point out here that HTC One (M8)'s audio quality and output are still much better and the Sony phone cannot match that.

Running on KitKat, Xperia Z2 features immersive mode, so the on-screen keys retreat to the background when you use the whole screen, such as while reading ebooks, watching videos or playing games.

Battery life of the handset is commendable. Xperia Z2 easily runs for one and a half days once the battery charge touches 100%. It comes with two main power saving modes — low battery mode and Stamina mode.

The former is to be used when the battery is critically low and you need as much juice as you can. It will disable all internet access and restrict app usage, so that resources can be conserved as much as you can. Stamina mode will let you select which apps can still have internet access, and you can set the battery threshold when its power-saving features will come into effect.

Location-based Wi-Fi is another great battery saving feature of Xperia Z2. With this feature turned on, you can save your work and home Wi-Fi networks and the phone will automatically turn on Wi-Fi when it senses you are around these networks. Rest of the time, Wi-Fi will shut off automatically.

Camera
Sony has used a 1/23-inch 20.7MP Exmor R for Mobile, backside illuminated sensor in Xperia Z2; the setup also includes the G Lens. This is the same configuration as the Xperia Z1. But there is a noticeable improvement between the camera performance of the two smartph
ones.

While clicking images in Manual mode, you will notice more accurate colours and excellent details in daylight images. Things were not as good indoors, but still, there was a lot less noise than expected; contrast and white balance was great in both cases.



Lowlight photos turned out pretty well too. We don't expect too much detail under poor lighting conditions, and this smartphone can easily give any top-end smartphone a run for its money in the camera department.

But Superior mode is a whole different story altogether. Photos taken in this mode were highly overprocessed, so you would get some good-looking images with vibrant colours, but they won't be true to the actual scene. We also noticed a bit of softness on the edges of the subject in these photos.



Two key new camera features in this Sony phone are 4K recording and slow-motion video capture. The 4K (or movie hall-quality) recording gives you extremely high-resolution videos — that you cannot view anywhere! No doubt, this is a great feature and most manufacturers are using this in their phones nowadays, but there are very few monitors or TVs that can support the playback of this video. In fact, Xperia Z2 itself downscaled the video quality to 1080p in order to play it.

Timeshift mode allows you to select any part of a video and slow it down. The process is simple and can be done easily even if you have never used this feature on another device before. Oh, and it fills up the 10.6GB user accessible internal storage pretty quickly.

Then there's the background defocus feature. It allows you to bring the subject in sharper notice by blurring the background scene. The results do not match the promise though, and the final image looks unrefined; HTC One (M8) does a much better job with the same feature.

Using the default Xperia Z2 Camera app, you can capture Vine videos, upload photos to Evernote and look up information about a monument or any landmark you are visiting on the internet.

Apart from these, Sony has used a host of other camera features that have been part of its products, such as live-sharing a video on Facebook, HDR and overlaying objects (like a hat etc) on the subject in an image.

Gaming
We played Asphalt 8 at the highest settings to test the chipset, but never once did we notice even a hint of a hiccup in performance. The gaming experience on all resource-consuming games we tried, such as Real Racing 3 and Dead Trigger 2, was consistently good and the smartphone did not heat up as much as we expected it to. There were no instances of the phone freezing or frame drops.



No novelty though
Nowadays, what features a top-end handset has does not matter as much as what special features it lacks. Samsung Galaxy S5 has a fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor and HTC One (M8) has two rear cameras to add depth. Sony Xperia Z2 has... well nothing 'special'.

The only thing that this smartphone has and rivals don't is extra RAM (3GB in Xperia Z2 vs 2GB in One (M8) and Galaxy S5), and that's not something you can really show off.

This can be a point of concern for some buyers, who would expect a phone costing Rs 50,000 to have at least some feature that sets it apart in the crowd. So, if you are into showing all your friends what unique super cool feature your new (and expensive) handset has, then Xperia Z2 is not for you. Key differentiator it is not, but practically speaking, extra RAM may have its impact felt over a longer period of intense usage.

Verdict
Xperia Z2 is a big step forward for Sony and one would be hard-pressed to find many problems with this smartphone. In fact, it has enough chops to stand up against the two big Android smartphones.

However, the problem is that HTC One (M8) is indeed a better smartphone what with the beautiful all-aluminium body. If you are spending Rs 50,000, then why not spend it on the best smartphone. But if you plan to cover up the body with a back cover anyway, then we do recommend Xperia Z2 to you.

To make the deal sweeter, Sony is giving a fitness band worth Rs 5,990 and body cover priced at Rs 2,990 free with Xperia Z2. This makes the Sony smartphone a much better value proposition than the other two smartphones.

If you are an Xperia Z or Z1 user, then upgrade to Xperia Z2 only if you are troubled by the screen quality. If you feel that you can work with the old smartphone's screen, then there is very little you will find worth appreciating in their successor.