T3 India

News

HTC’s next flagship phone may get the camera it deserves

by

We’ve heard it all in the past, but new reports suggest HTC has finally got the memo. The folks from Vietnamese website HTCViet claim a brand new HTC handset codenamed Aero (which was name-dropped by @evleaks last week) is going to feature a ‘ground-breaking’ camera, something we’ve been waiting to hear from the Taiwanese phone maker.

The One M9 successor is said to feature an f/1.9 aperture for improved low-light shooting, and capture imagery in the RAW format. It all sounds positive but let’s just hope the Aero comes with enough storage space to hold them, otherwise it may prove an issue.

We’ve heard these types of claims before from HTC, but the company has failed to deliver top-end camera technology on its previous flagship phones. While we’re massive fans of the One M8, it was only fitted with a 4-megapixel UltraPixel camera that was outclassed by many of its competitors.

The same with the most recent One M9. While it did get a megapixel boost to 20MP, it has been dogged with problems such as poor colour accuracy.  Hopefully HTC can finally figure out how to make a great smartphone camera for the Aero, or whatever it will be called when it is released. After all, HTC needs to hit the ground running with its next series of devices.

Last month, the company was forced to lower its second-quarter sales forecast by 30 per cent to $1 billion due to lacklustre sales of the One M9. In order to go toe-to-toe with the upcoming iPhone 6S, HTC will need to get everything on point, right from design to hardware and software. 

First-look at the Android-running BlackBerry ‘Venice’

by

Courtesy of notorious leak artist Evan Blass aka @evleaks, we’ve got what appears to be our first look at BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone which is codenamed Venice, and we're loving it. The fresh render appears to show a display with two curved edges, just like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

It appears to be running full Android and there’s a load of core Google apps like Chrome, Maps, Drive and Picasa, meaning users will have access to everything in the Google Play Store.

As hardware goes, the Venice appears to have a single front-facing speaker below the screen. Then there's a Micro USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack below. But what isn’t shown off in the render is the slide-out keyboard that we’ve heard so much about over the past few weeks.

We’re hearing that it will launch on the AT&T Network in the United States, but there’s no doubt it will be released in other markets as well.

Recent rumours have suggested the Venice would offer a 5.4-inch QHD display, a Snapdragon 808 processor and 3GB RAM. The spec sheet also suggests a 18-megapixel front having camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

There’s also mention of a second Android phone; a low-end handset codenamed Prague that will come out in August, a few months before November when the Venice is thought to arrive.

Last week BlackBerry CEO John Chen said that Google must improve the security of its Android OS before the company could move forward. Going from this picture, that’s all been sorted.

What are your thoughts on the Android-running BlackBerry Venice? Yay or nay? Share your thoughts in the comments or at the T3 Facebook page.

HTC ropes in John Abraham as Brand Evangelist

by

HTC has gone on a marketing offensive for its Indian subsidiary. In a gala hosted by Cher Wang, Chairwoman & CEO of HTC, Wang announced a dual partnership with Bollywood actor, John Abraham.

The company has roped in Abraham as the brand evangelist and has renewed as a principal sponsor for NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League.

The two year partnership will see John Abraham endorsing HTC products whereas his football team will don a kit with HTC logo.

“HTC stands for substance and elegance, it and has a strong connection with the youth; traits which are amply reflected in my own life. We are delighted that HTC will be supporting us again this season and I look forward to further strengthening our relationship over the next two years.” – John Abraham, Indian actor/producer, and owner of North East United FC.

Moreover, HTC also talked about phones being manufactured in India, starting with a third party operator in small batches and its latest flagship phone, the HTC One M9 reaching Indian shores sometime later this month.

Is Apple updating its iPods at last?

by

Hold on just one moment though, because images showing iPods in new colours have been spotted lurking in the code for iTunes 12.2, pushed out this week alongside the launch of Apple Music.

Gold, dark blue and dark pink shades are shown for all three iPods: the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch. None of the gadgets look to have been upgraded significantly as far as looks or design are concerned.

Now this may just been an Apple designer getting creative with Photoshop, but SlashGear reports that new iPods are indeed arriving with upgraded internals and less on-board storage on 14 July. Apparently, Apple Music is the reason, and it would make sense for Apple to want to upgrade all its devices to support the new streaming service.

With drops in storage capacity (as we’re all streaming most of our music now anyway) these new devices could be positioned as cheap alternatives to the iPhone. They might also tempt users who want a dedicated jukebox device.

Until there’s official word from Apple we won’t know for sure, but keep your eyes peeled – it sounds like the Apple Music aftershocks haven’t quite finished yet.

Check out everything we know about the iPhone 6S.

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: your complete guide to the new Google phones

by

The Nexus 6 proved a bit of a disappointment, so let's see how what the two new phones have to offer.

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: What you need to know

  • What is it? The two latest phones from the Google Nexus project. Huawei is making the Nexus 6P phablet whilst LG is producing the Nexus 5X.
  • When is it out? Soon. Google Play Store is your best bet
  • What will it cost? The Nexus project used to be cheap, but now it's one of the most expensive brands in the market. Check out the full pricing just below.

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: What is it?

The Nexus project has been going since 2010 when HTC made the Nexus One for Google. The idea is to offer simple hardware with the latest software already installed and to keep it supported with the greatest stuff as soon as is physically possible.

It used to prove cheaper than other flagships but the Nexus 5 in 2013 and the Nexus 6 last year have proved to be a similar price to other android devices – so we aren’t surprised to hear the new phones are similar.

Google has decided to go with two phones this year for the very first time. The company has recruited Huawei to create the Nexus 6P phablet and LG to create the Nexus 5X with a smaller screen.

Both offer top of the range spec but differ quite a bit in design as each comes from companies with very different schools of thought. You can feel both LG and Huawei really influenced the design aspects of both phones.

src=

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: Release date

You can pre-order both phones on the Google Store right now – but it won’t be out until the end of October. There’s no official date just yet but we’ll be sure to update here once we know.

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: Price

You can pre-order both phones from the Google Store right now. The Nexus 5X costs £339 for the 16GB model and £379 for the 32GB version.

As for the Nexus 6P, it costs £449 for the 32GB model, £499 for the 64GB and £579 for the 128GB version. If you want high storage, it's not going to come cheap.

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: Design

src=

You can really feel the design of both manufacturers coming across in the devices on offer here. The Nexus 6P looks quite like other Huawei devices with a metal back and a square frame. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the back just below the camera, something the Chinese manufacturer has done before on the Ascend range.

As for the Nexus 5X, it looks quite similar to the LG produced Nexus 5. Not all that much seems to have changed here apart from the addition of a fingerprint sensor and a few little bits on the design. That’s not a problem though – the Nexus 5 was a good looking phone.

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: Screen

The Nexus 6P is a phablet with a 5.7-inch 1080p screen sat in the middle of it. That’s a big screen size, it's the same as the Samsung Galaxy Note series.

The Nexus 5X is a little smaller with a 5.2-inch screen inside its body – the difference here is the upped screen resolution. It has a QHD screen similar to that in the Samsung Galaxy S6 and LG G4. Those have proved beautiful before so adding in these extra pixels is set to be a great addition to the Nexus range.

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: Power

src=

The Nexus 6P comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset under the hood – that’s the same one that overheated in a number of phones in the past but Huawei claims all is fine here. Storage wise you’re looking at 32GB, 64GB or 128GB options without any microSD support.

As for the Nexus 5X you’ll get a slightly less powerful Snapdragon 808 chipset – but that’s still a powerful little processor that isn’t going to cause any performance issues. Storage choices are restricted to 16GB or 32GB.

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P: Camera

Both phones have the same 12MP cameras on the back with an 8MP front facing selfie shooter on the 6P and a 5MP version on the 5X. Not much is known about the cameras but Google claims to have worked a lot of low-light photography so we can expect some interesting developments in our night shots.