Omio News Blog

HTC One Mini M4 picture and specs leak; Bloomberg confirms summer release

Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC has seen a picture outed of its yet-to-be-announced, codenamed HTC M4, aka, HTC One mini – along with its specifications confirmed.

The allegedly codenamed HTC M4 is said to be a smaller and more pocket friendly version of the company’s flagship HTC One, in the same way as the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini is to the Samsung Galaxy S4.

It is believed to have a 4.3-inch Super LCD 3 screen, with a resolution of 720p – where as HTC’s One comes with a 4.7-inch full HD 1,920 x 1,080 display.

This is with a metallic unibody (similar to the One), although it is thought to have a plastic front face.

These specs and the image above have been published by Engadget, from a trusted source – who is in possession of the HTC M4/HTC One Mini.

The person notes it still has the Beats Audio branding on the rear, but missing is the IR blaster for TV and set-top box remote controlling.

Also added, is that the model to hand runs from a dual-core 1.4GHz processor, with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and the HTC Sense overlay.

Bloomberg has it that the company is preparing the HTC M4/HTC One Mini for a summer release, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Omio is a little reluctant to believe the HTC One Mini name, after we were told by the head of HTC for UK and Ireland, there would be no more HTC One named mobile phones this year.

That was during a one-to-one interview at Mobile World Congress, this year.

HTC One mini M4 mobile phone leaks in hands-on pictures

Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC has had hands-on photos appear online, of its yet-to-be-announced codenamed HTC M4, or HTC One mini – ahead of any official confirmation, of the device’s existence.

These images have been published by the Estonia online title forte.delfi.ee that notes it has a unibody-shell, like the HTC One.

This is along with appearing sturdy and robust, only much smaller in the hand than its bigger counterpart.

It adds that it has a 4.3-inch 720p screen, dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and an UltraPixel 4MP camera.

This is along with stating it is likely to go on sale early August (in Estonia), for around 400 Euros.

The publication has approached HTC, which did not confirm the existence of the mobile.

Our lead image does appear to be the genuine article, where the other images on the site show that it has the same rounded rear as the HTC One, plus Beats Audio integration and front-stereo speakers.

Omio reported yesterday on the HTC roadmap leaking for the second half of 2013. This contained details for the rumoured HTC M4, cited to be called the HTC One mini.

We believe with details leaking thick and fast now, along with these shots – the HTC M4 will be announced, very soon.

Via: Engadget

Android 4.3 OS to be released in July

Internet search engine giant Google is reportedly going to release its yet-to-be-announced Android 4.3 operating system at the start of Q3.

This info comes from a HTC ROM developer, who is noted to be trustworthy.

LlabTooFeR has posted over Twitter – “Confirmed: HTC One Nexus Edition will get 4.3 update few weeks after release.”

We reported last week on the HTC One Google Edition being announced, which is a version being sold on Google Play without any HTC additional software – just a plain Android OS, offering a nexus type experience.

UnwiredView.com notes the handset is due to be released on the 26th of June (in the USA), where this likely means that Android 4.3 will be rolled-out sometime in July.

Google hasn’t confirmed the existence of 4.3 as yet, let alone established that it will be released in the next few months.

The company was thought to be announcing a new version of its mobile phone and tablet platform at its Google I/O event last month, but nothing along those lines was revealed.

It is now thought that 4.3 will still be called Jelly Bean, and in the same way as 4.2 and 4.1 are referred to by the same name.

This was after Android 4.3 JWR23B was seen in various server logs, where the J indicates Jelly Bean.

HTC One new Android OS and Sense overlay leaked

Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC has seen screen shots appear online of a yet-to-be-released Android Jelly Bean update for its HTC One mobile phone, along with the accompanying overlay.

The HTC One shipped with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, where the images above are allegedly for the Android 4.2.2 update with the HTC Sense 5.0 revision for that operating system.

These pics have been published by the Google OS news website Android Revolution HD, although their source is unknown.

The site states that version 5.1 was expected in an upcoming update, but this version of the overlay still sport some changes – from the shipping variant.

These start with the notable inclusion of a menu button, under the guise of a long press of the home button.

A menu button was absent from the original One platform, but was a popular addition to custom ROMs.

Another addition to the non-standard available firmware was a battery percentage icon, which has been brought into this purported OS.

There is also the native Android EQS accessible from the drop-down notification menu; the Daydream feature for displaying info, when the handset is docked – and app draw changes, along the likes of being able to remove icons.

It is possible that some of these could be available in the HTC One Google Edition, which we wrote about last week.

Via: Engadget

UPDATE:

Andrey Kormiltsev, the Head of HTC Russia, has tweeted Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is coming to the HTC One in June – reports GSMArena.

HTC One Google Edition announced, with a stock version of Android

Internet search engine giant Google has unveiled a version of the HTC One will be made available with a Nexus type experience, running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and minus HTC’s Sense overlay features.

This now joins the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition, which offers a similar setup, announced at the Google I/O 2013 event.

Google made public this HTC One variation at the AllThingsD conference this week, onstage, by Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President, Chrome and Apps at Google.

“At I/O 2013, we announced the GS4 with the experience you see on Nexus devices — Google’s take on Android.”

“That’s a small step in the right direction. What I’m carrying today is the HTC One — it’s an amazing device. It’s one of the best Android devices out there. But it’s got our take on Android.”

HTC has stated in a blog post it will initially be on sale in the USA, through Google Play, for $599.

This will be on the 26th of June; the same date that the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition will be made available – for $649.

Android Police reports that it won’t have HTC features such as Zoe, but Beats Audio will be enabled, only without its indicator appearing.

HTC noted: “Out of the box, this special edition HTC One will run Android 4.2.2 with subsequent software updates provided by Google.”.

That indicates that it will receive the new versions of Android, in the same prompt way as Nexus devices – without waiting months and months, for the company to roll it out.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One vs Apple iPhone 5

We are now wrapping up our hands-on photos from the Samsung Galaxy S4 preview event, with images of the mobile phone compared to the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple iPhone 5.

All the handsets below have their brightness turned up to the maximum, as to not to detract one display from another, in terms of their brightness and sharpness.

These begin with the former flagship Galaxy S3 (on the right) and its successor, the Samsung Galaxy S3 (on the left).

The size differences aren’t all that noticeable, with height of the two being the same – at 136.6mm.

Width has been brought down in the S4 to 69.8mm, where the S3 is 0.8mm wider.

This is with a new thinness of 7.9mm – with the Samsung Galaxy S3 coming in at 0.9mm thicker.

All that is surprising, given the inclusion of a 5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display, compared to the 4.8-inch 1,280 x 720 screen of the S3 (both, Super AMOLED).

Under the hood, the changes are more noticeable.

There is a quad-core 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor with 4G connectivity; 2GB of RAM; 16GB of internal storage, support for microSD cards; a 13-megapixel camera, with a front-facing 2MP version (both 1080p recording) and a 2,600mAh battery.

This is compared to the Samsung Galaxy S3, which has a quad-core 1.4GHz Exynos CPU; 1GB of RAM; 16GB of internal storage, support for microSD cards; an 8-megapixel camera, with a front-facing 1.9MP variant (1080p/720p videoing) and a 2,100mAh battery.

Next up is the latest Apple iPhone 5, with clearly a much smaller screen and overall size.

It has a 4-inch 1,136 x 640 display, and dimensions of 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm – with the Galaxy S4 coming in at 136.6 x 69.9 x 7.9mm.

Side by side, the iPhone looks like a Samsung Galaxy model of yesteryear: because of the smaller screen. In fact, the very first Galaxy S (from 2010) came with a 4-inch screen (with a design not too dissimilar to the iPhone 3S).

The iPhone 5 sports a dual-core 1.2GHz processor; 1GB of RAM; 16GB of storage capacity; no microSD card access; an 8-megapixel camera and front-facing 1.2MP version, plus a 1,440mAh battery.

Following on from those images, is the HTC One (on the right) and the Galaxy S4 (on the left).

This also has a full high definition 1,920 x 1,1080 screen, only measuring in at 4.7-inches and it is of a Super LCD3 ilk.

That is a little taller than the Galaxy S4, by .08mm; slightly wider at 1.6mm and thicker, by 1.4mm.

There is the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 CPU driving the HTC One, only it is clocked at 1.6GHz. This is along with 2GB of RAM; 32GB of internal storage and no support for microSD cards.

It has an ultrapixel camera (4MP), with a front facing 2.1-megapixel variant – both of which can capture in HDR and 1080p.

Built-in is a non-removable 2,100mAh battery, with the mobile running from Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean (as does the S4).

UPDATE: Samsung Galaxy S4 has better signal strength, compared to HTC One

Omio has been sent an image of the UK Samsung Galaxy S4, compared to the UK HTC One – showing a better signal strength in the S4.

This comes from a trusted source, who notes that the Galaxy S4 is the final hardware – but not the final firmware.

That doesn’t indicate things can improve, only that we are laying our cards out on the table.

Both of the devices are running on the same network, where it is clear the HTC One only has two bars of signal and the Galaxy S4, three bars.

However, the HTC One still has three bars to fill, to get a perfect signal – where the Samsung Galaxy S4 only has one bar, to go.

This highlights even more the S4 can obtain a stronger signal, although measuring the dBm would have been better, but we don’t have access to those numbers.

The two devices are running from the same Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 chipset, with the S4 clocked at 1.9GHz and the One, 1.7GHz.

The head of HTC for UK and Ireland has informed us the company had put over 130,00 hours of R&D in the One’s case design – just to get the antennas working, inside an aluminium case.

The latter could be the reason for the signal’s shortcomings, the materials used.

UPDATE:

We have now updated this article with a much larger picture, highlighting the differences more.

Samsung to copy HTC, in Galaxy Note III

South Korean electronics giant Samsung is dropping the plastic casing in its rumoured upcoming Android Samsung Galaxy Note III plablet, in favour of higher-quality materials – according to a recent report.

The company is thought to be worried about the design and build quality of their mobile devices, after the success HTC has seen with its HTC One mobile phone and its aluminium chassis.

This is along with the criticism it received over using plastic casing, for its Samsung Galaxy S4 – which arrives at the end of the month.

That information has come from an article on the Samsung mobile phone news website SamMobile, gleaned from one of its insiders.

He noted the purported Galaxy Note III, believed to be announced at Berlin’s IFA event in August, will not use the design guidelines of the Galaxy S4.

This is while he added a metal design was popular internally for the S4, only the company couldn’t mass-produce it in time – so it was dropped.

The source didn’t indicate what materials would be in the Note III, but the piece hints that it would look toward an aluminium case.

Omio interviewed the head of HTC (UK and Ireland) and Mobile World Congress this year, where it came to light that it had put over 130,00 hours of R&D in the One’s case.

This was just so that the antennas could work within that material, as it isn’t naturally conducive to gaining a signal.

Samsung must have already achieved a similar feat, for the Galaxy Noted III.

UPDATE: HTC One Ultrapixel camera update rolling out

Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC is said to be deploying an update to its flagship HTC One mobile phone, with improvements to its camera.

This inbound-update has been received by the online tech publication HardwareZone.com.sg, as reported by Phandroid.

It notes the Ultraxpixel camera shots in low light were great, but in a brightly lit environment it wasn’t that great – due to the noise filtering on the images.

This has been observed by the latter, where it states when zooming in on a photo or cropping it, the detail is lost.

HardwareZone.com.sg has gained access to this apparent update, which resolves the issues with the HTC One camera – as can be seen below.

The update is believed to remove the excessive noise filtering, allowing the images taken to be much sharper and crisper.

It has been mentioned that there are some other issues observed with the deployment, with various ISO settings out of balance.

Omio has reported the HTC One is due to arrive in store this week, where we have recently published unboxing and hands-on pictures of the handset – along with a video walkthrough of the mobile phone.

UPDATE:

Hardwarezone.com.sg has now added the initial HTC One was a pre-production unit, where the next device used was the final version with the retail firmware – hence the noticeable differences in the camera shots.

There will be no update arriving, after all – sorry for the confusion.

HTC One arriving in the UK this week

Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC has confirmed its HTC One flagship mobile phone will be available in the UK, before the end of this month.

The company has announced this over Twitter at the end of last week, from its official @htc account. It was in a tweet that reads “The new #HTCOne rolls out in Taiwan, UK, Germany next week and across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific before the end of April.”

This is after delays were confirmed by HTC, in which it cited component shortages – which we reported on here.

It has also been in contact with the media, with the following statement that backs-up its social networking message and expands upon it.

“HTC has seen unprecedented demand for and interest in the new HTC One, and the care taken to design and build it is evidenced in early reviews.”

“The new HTC One will roll out in the UK, Germany and Taiwan next week and across Europe, North America and most of Asia-Pacific before the end of April.”

“We appreciate our customers’ patience, and believe that once they have the phone in their hands they will agree that it has been worth the wait.”

Omio has already published hands-on and unboxing pictures of the HTC One, along with a hands-on walkthrough and unboxing video.