LIVE STREAM HTC One 2014 Launch Event London

Only few days left until the official HTC One 2014 launch event in London will begin! The entire Android world is waiting for that moment. Let us remind you that the HTC One is known to be the best smartphone of the 2013. It won in every category it possibly could and now we are only a few days away from its successor - the HTC One 2014, also known as the HTC M8.

As we already mentioned before, Android Revolution HD will be a part of the HTC M8 launch in London. Tom (Blog Editor), Kevin (Blog Contributor) and Daniel (HTC Elevate member) will be sitting in the front row. Using their cameras well be live-streaming the entire show. Sounds great, huh? Share the news with your friends using this link - HTC One 2014 Live and our special hashtag #ARHDLiveHTCOne.

Well be live on March 25th, 4:00 PM Central Europe Time (3:00 PM UK Time)

After the launch well be also streaming the first hands-on with the All New HTC One. Watch us to be the first to know everything about the HTC One 2014!

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Android Revolution HD on HTC London Event

On Tuesday, February 19th, 2013 in London there is something big going to happen. Weve all heard some rumors and seen leaked pictures, but there is nothing officially confirmed just yet. Our biggest expectation is to see new high-end HTC device called HTC One (HTC M7) running new user interface - HTC Sense 5.0. Maybe there is something more...

Why am I writing all this? Because I will be there, relating on live this great event. From Feb. 18th Ill be in London with HTC, counting down the last minutes to the show beginning. Follow me on Twitter (@mike1986_), watch my Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/AndroidRevolutionHD) and check out this blog regularly for hot & fresh news, photos and details about upcoming HTC top products!

You can see my photos from that great journey here - http://android-revolution-hd.blogspot.com/p/trip-to-london-for-htc-event-2013.html

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HTC One review part 1 Design

I used to think that we were in an era when all smartphones with big screens looked more or less the same. Because if youre honest, what can be changed in the front of the device, if 90 to 95% of its surface is just touch screen? Oh dear, I was so wrong. HTC One is a true masterpiece of art. However, this review will also show some weak points of the newest HTC premium device. Yes there are some shortcomings, but we are not living in an ideal world so you wont ever find a perfect product: it doesnt matter if its just a smartphone, a computer or even a car. People have different tastes or expectations and this wont ever change. But HTC One can surely satisfy more people then any other device before. Lets start from the beginning.

Size: 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm


Weight: 143g


Display: 4.7 inch, Full HD 1080p, 468 PPI

Design

HTC put in a lot of effort to make this device look amazing - efforts which have been a great success. However, design was never a weak point of HTC devices. As far back as I remember, HTC devices were always one step ahead of the competition when it came to the design and form innovation. So for me, it is not a surprise that HTC One sets a new standard of build quality and design.  

Gaps

However, some users are reporting a wide gap between its plastic and metal surfaces. I dont have any on mine, but as far as I know this problem is not a matter of just few devices. So right after you buy yours, make sure it doesnt have any gaps. Is it something that should stop you from buying HTC One? Surely not. It is normal in every production process that sometimes there are some manufacturing issues. On the other hand, it seems that HTC quality testing department is not working very well, if units with gaps are passing build flaw tests. HTC One is a premium device for a premium price, so as a customer, you have a right to expect a gap free product (especially since HTC advertised the device as "gap free"). If you have noticed any, go to the store where you bought your device and exchange it for a gap free unit.

Made from one piece of aluminium

HTC One is known to be made from aluminium with a unibody construction. You can have a silver model or a black one at the moment (more colours are rumoured to be on the way). I can tell you that both look amazing. The black device looks to be more solid, but silver gives you a better, more premium look and feel. Not much to discuss when it comes to colours, because its a matter of a taste of each user. If you want to read more about the process of designing the HTC One, you can visit this blog - Metal-morphosis of the New HTC One and this one - Making the New HTC One.

No removable battery - no problem

The unibody design has some particular consequences. First of all, you cant remove or change the battery inside the HTC One. Is it an issue? Personally, I never found it to be a problem. There are methods to switch off the device completely without removing the battery - a combination of power + volume buttons. Also, I shared my thoughts on this topic here - Removable battery - do we really need it? Its been a while already since the HTC One has been on the market and its a best-selling product, despite its non-removable battery. Does this mean a removable battery is not that important in the end?

Of course I understand some arguments against having a non-removable battery. But there are always two sides of an argument and Im not here to judge which side is better. Personally I just prefer unibody design, mostly because I see no reason to replace or remove the battery inside the device.

No micro-SD card - no problem either
It seems that no micro-SD card slot is also a consequence of having such a design. However, I can imagine that a micro-SD card could be used the same way as micro-SIM card is and it wont make it impossible to have a unibody design. On the other hand I also dont find any reasonable arguments to have a micro-SD card. The vast majority of users dont need more then 32 GB of available space. If you want to know more details about Android and internal memory you can read my article here - Virtual SD card on Android. HTC One is not supposed to be your personal media storage - for that you should buy a mini-PC with an mATX motherboard and 2x2TB HDDs connected with RAID. If the internal storage on your HTC One is full, backup some pictures or music onto your PC (or use USB OTG).

What to improve
Is there room for some improvements? Yes, I think there is. First of all, the design of the hardware buttons is not really comfortable. Having the power button on the top of such big device is not the best solution. Also, the power button itself is too small and it doesnt protrude enough from the surface, so its quite hard sometimes to press it. Maybe its because of the IR sensor built into the button that they were stuck with this design. I believe that having a power button located on the right hand side of the device (like on Nexus devices) and volume buttons on the left hand side would be a much better solution.

Secondly, the build of the front speaker grilles. These tiny holes can get clogged very easily. I cant think of an alternate solution at the moment; I guess its just the downside of having a smartphone with amazing sound capabilities, known as HTC BoomSound™.

The last biggest design flaw I found are capacitive buttons. There are just 2 buttons - home and back button. It is already confirmed that under the HTC logo there is a touch sensor as well, and with the new "logo2menu" feature available in most custom kernels for HTC One it is possible to assign the HTC logo as a menu button. I think that the trend to have fewer buttons on smartphones comes from Apple - but iOS is a completely different operating system with a much simpler UI, and its quite impossible to make the Android user experience that simple. Having just 2 capacitive buttons brings some negative consequences, for instance there is significant confusion about different "long-press" and "double-tap" combinations. For example, to activate the menu function you need to long press the Home button. To display "Recent Applications" you need to quickly tap twice on the Home button. Wouldnt it be easier for the end users to have 3 buttons instead of just 2, where one of them can be used in 3 different ways?

- 1 tap = home
- 2 tap = recent apps
- long tap = menu

Im writing this review using Android 4.2.2 on my HTC One. On Android 4.1.2 it was less complicated, but somehow worse, because without the possibility to assign a long tap on the home button as "menu", you would have to deal with an ugly black "action overflow" button at the bottom of the display, the result of application developers failing to implement the appropriate Android SDK (level 11 or higher). Such a button takes about 10% of the screen space and in some cases it does absolutely nothing. You can disable it by proper system modification (qemu.hw.mainkeys=1) but then you wouldnt be able to access the apps settings if the particular app doesnt support Android SDK level 11+. You can read more about Googles approach to the issue here - Say Goodbye to the Menu Button.

I believe that the perfect combination of capacitive buttons would be following:

- Back button
---> short press = back
---> long press = kill recent app

- Home button

- Menu button
---> short press = home
---> long press = recent apps

Shiny edges

Coming back to overall design, I forgot to mention that I really like the shining aluminium edges of the One. Its much more visible on the silver version, which is also known to be less susceptible to fingerprints. This is a really awesome effect, and there is no phone on the market that looks as good as the HTC One. Say no to plastic!

Heat dissipation

Apart from premium looks, the aluminium unibody brings one more very important feature. It works as a natural, huge radiator, taking out heat from inside your device. I can definitely tell that the HTC One is running much cooler than the HTC One X or One X+. The included "System on a Chip" is part of the reason, but the aluminium body helps a lot in dissipating any heat that does build up.

Camera

Camera housing is flat in HTC One, and its very good move from HTC. In HTC One X/X+ camera housing protrudes from the phone body and it was very easy to scratch it. It seems that HTC took seriously users feedback in that matter.

Verdict

There is a lot of marketing effort behind the HTC One, but this time its one of those rare occasions where advertising doesnt lie. The HTC One is a premium product, with unique and completely amazing design. If youre looking for a smartphone that will gain people attention on the street, the HTC One fits perfectly. But design is not all - it also has great hardware inside, but this is a material for part 2 of this review, coming in a few days!

PS. I want thank to Tom Kelsall, my HTC Elevate companion for his help in a proper grammar redaction of the review! Thanks Tom!

Design summarize:

+ overall design
+ aluminium unibody construction
+ it feels really great in the hand
+ available in two great looking colours
+ two sound grids for best multimedia experience

- gaps on some units

- only 2 capacitive buttons

- hardware buttons location

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HTC One M8 gallery and more details!

The HTC One (M8) launch event is over, yet we still are very excited! It seems that HTC did it again – right from this place I’m telling you – this will be the best smartphone of the 2014!

Here are some official pictures:

As you can see HTC One (M8) comes in a 3 colours - Gunmetal Grey, Amber Gold and Glacial Silver. Personally I love the first one - Gunmetal Grey. It looks gorgeous!

Here are the highlights that stand out the most:

• A more refined design: its 90% metal now, with the metal wrapping up the side (the HTC One was 70% metal). The gunmetal grey is simply gorgeous and has this great texture to it. The entire phone is more solidly constructed.
• Bigger Battery: with a 2600 mAH battery, it lasts longer.
• Bigger Storage: Yes, its true, there is a microSD slot in there, and it supports up to 128 GB of storage. Hows that for mind-blowing?
• Bigger Screen: 5 inches is a nice size; not so huge like the One Max, but noticeably bigger than the 4.7 inch screen on the HTC One.
• Better BoomSound: The audio quality from the dual-front facing speakers on the HTC One was great...but you wouldnt believe how much better the new HTC One (M8) sounds! Richer, fuller audio with a wider sound. Its 25% louder, yes, but the audio quality is dramatically better.
• A Better Camera Experience: Its a 4 megapixel UltraPixel sensor, but we switched to a new provider for the sensor, completely addressed the pink tint issue, added a second sensor to get depth/spatial information (which allows for some great camera effects). Image quality is simply better.

And here is the official full specification:

• COLORS: Gunmetal Gray, Glacial Silver, Amber Gold
• DISPLAY: 5.0 inch, Full HD 1080p Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
• CPU SPEED: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor / 2.5GHz quad-core CPU in Asia/China / 2.3GHz quad-core CPU in US/EMEA
• PLATFORM ANDROID: Android™ 4.4 with HTC Sense 6, HTC BlinkFeed?
• SIM CARD TYPE: nanoSIM
• CAMERA: Duo camera. Primary Camera: HTC UltraPixel camera , BSI sensor
• 2.0 um, sensor size 1/3”, ƒ/2.0, 28mm lens. HTC ImageChip 2. 1080p Full HD video recording with HDR video. Secondary camera: capture depth information. Front Camera: 5MP, ƒ/2.0, BSI sensor, wide angle lens with HDR capability, 1080p Full HD video recording Gallery with UFocus, Dimension Plus, Seasons, Foregrounder, Image match.
• MEMORY: Total storage: 16GB/32GB, available capacity varies. Expansion card slot supports microSD™ memory card for up to 128GB additional storage 
• RAM: 2 GB DDR3
• ?BATTERY: Embedded rechargeable Li-polymer battery. Capacity: 2600 mAh
• Talk time: Up to 20 hours for 3G
• Standby time: Up to 496 hours for 3G
• Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz
• DC output: 5V and 1.5 A
• GPS: Internal GPS antenna + GLONASS, Digital compass
• SENSORS: Gyro sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Barometer
• CONNECTIVITY(3): 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, NFC (3), Bluetooth® 4.0 with aptX™ enabled
• Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz) DLNA®, HTC Connect
• Micro-USB 2.0 (5-pin) port with mobile high-definition video link (MHL) for USB or HDMI connection
• SOUND ENHANCEMENT: HTC BoomSound, Dual front-facing stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers, HTC Sense Voice
• Dimensions (LxWxT): 146.36 x 70.6 x 9.35 mm
• Weight: 160g

NETWORK COVERAGE:

• 2G/ 2.5G - GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• 3G - WCDMA:
• EMEA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz with HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps
• Asia: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz with HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps
• AT&T: 850/1900/2100 MHz with HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps
• Sprint: 850/1900/2100 MHz with HSPA up to 14.4 Mbps
• Verizon: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz with HSPA+ up to 14.4 Mbps
• Tmus: 850/AWS/1900/2100 MHz with HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps
• 3G - CDMA
• Sprint & Verizon: 800/1900 MHz4G - LTE:
• EMEA: 800/900/1800/2600 MHz
• Asia: 700/900/1800/2100/2600 MHz
• AT&T: 700/850/AWS/1800/1900/2600 MHz
• Sprint: FDD 800/1900 MHz , TDD 2600 MHz
• Verizon: 700/AWS/1800/2600 MHz
• T-Mobile: 700/AWS MHz

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Sense 6 Toolbox for HTC One HTC One M8

Happy day for all users who love to customize their HTC Sense UI! Sense 6 Toolbox (previously Sense 5 Toolbox) is known to be the best and the most advanced tool to customize your Sense 5/6 based device. It’s based on Xposed eco-system and it allows you to change a lot of settings of the user interface, including colour schemes and different layout styles.

More details can be found here ---> Sense 6 Toolbox with Android Revolution HD

Want to see some goodies it offers? Just take a look!

Some of the features you can find in Sense 6 Toolbox:

Interface mods

·         Transparent statusbar and notification drawer

·         Center clock, AM/PM removal, traffic meter, horizontal EQS

·         Gestures to manipulate recent apps and additional information about each app, AOSP styled recents

·         [Sense 6] Custom color themes for every app

Statusbar mods

·         Icons by vomer (CleanBeam)

·         Customizable color themes for all new statusbar icons

·         Ability to hide icons

Sense mods

·         Transparency for many UI elements (dock, clock widget, app drawer, folders, etc)

·         Infinite apps in folders, 7 home screens, home popup menu, more grid options for homescreens and app drawer

·         Actions for vertical swipes and shaking on homescreens, horizontal swipes on dock

Messaging mods

·         Wake on SMS, increase MMS size

·         Replace delivery notifications with toasts

·         Increase MMS size

Controls mods

·         Volume2wake

·         Activate flashlight on power long press

·         Bind actions to hardware buttons (Back long press and swipe up from Home)

·         Bind actions to volume keys for camera and music playback controls

·         [M8] Smaller softkey bar

Various mods

·         Advanced Power Menu

·         Show more information about installed apps and apps that are being installed

·         Improved screen locking and unlocking

·         Hardware buttons backlight control

·         Large caller photo in dialer and on lockscreen during calls

·         Disable unwanted notifications and confirmation dialogs

·         On/off screen animations (Fade, CRT)

Full list of the features can be found here - complete mods list.

Sense 6 Toolbox is tested and fully compatible with Android Revolution HD 5.0 for the HTC One M8 you can download from this xda-developers thread.

Official Sense Toolbox homepage

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HTC diary London Launch Event 2014 by Tom

25.03.2014 - The All New HTC One

It was damp and cold when I got to the station; a 20 minute walk in the drizzle. I didnt care - the excitement I was feeling was a bit silly really - I felt a bit like a Belieber going to their first concert. Where I was actually going was to The Olympia conference centre in Kensington to see the HTC One M8 unveiled. I was one of only 20 HTC Elevate Members chosen to attend this event, so I was feeling privileged, excited, apprehensive about meeting new people, and also not looking forward to the length of the day. The train arrived on time, and I headed to the Parcel Yard pub at Kings Cross - where I met up with most of the other Elevators who were going to the Event. We then got on the Underground and went to the venue; where we were pretty much fast-tracked through a registration process and led to seats at the front of the auditorium.

This was a much bigger venue than last year; massive black cloth drapes and moody lighting were accentuated by a thin fog of fake smoke. As we entered the main room there were a good few hundred seats all full of reporters, VIPs and other guests, and of course Laura Kimball with her trusty intern sidekick Britt. We had seats on the very front row, right by the stage. Kevin, Dan, and myself got logged in on our phones and connected to the Hangout that Mike was hosting, and started filming straight away. There was quite a wait until it started but once it did, Phil Blair, HTCs EMEA President, introduced the show and what HTC were thinking about when they designed this years phone; and then brought on Cher Wang who clearly showed her passion for great devices and great user experiences. Once she had wowed us, she brought on Scott Croyle, HTCs design guru, to tell us about the phone itself, and all its new features.

All this was interspersed with loud music and great graphics on the huge screen behind the stage. The whole atmosphere was one of excitement, and joy, and passion - showing just why HTC make such great devices for the user, whether they be casual users or massive tech geeks.

Key points that I took away about the phone are the massively improved camera which even allows setting apertures and shutter speeds; new features enabled by the second rear camera such as refocussing after the photo is taken; improved boomsound performance; and lots of little doo-daddy bits to make the user experience even better than Sense 5.5 was.

After the main presentation, suddenly the drapes at the side of the main hall were pulled away, revealing an area as big again as the hall, but filled with benches containing  dozens and dozens of demonstration phones. Some were simply set up so you could play with the phone itself, whereas some benches were set up specifically to showcase specific features - one for the camera had models standing and posing for people to use the cameras on; the ones for HTC TV demos had actual televisions lined up in front of them etc. All the time, staff were approaching us with Canapes and drinks. There were more than enough demo phones to go around, the event seemed to have been very slickly organised. Towards the end we saw staff wandering around with signs to assist journos wanting buses to airports and so on.

After the event, we all gathered and walked to a Byrons Burger bar about 15 minutes walk away, where HTC treated us to burgers and beers for a good few hours. We spent all of this time laughing, joking and discussing the new stuff wed seen; this to all of us is an extremely exciting device. It looks fantastic in the hand, its slick, fast and easy to use, and the features under the facade are absolutely brilliant. If you have even half a chance of buying one, do it - you will not be disappointed.

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