HTC launched its new Android smartphone simultaneously in London and New York today. Originally rumoured to be called the M7, the new Android flagship from HTC is simply called HTC One.
Available in late March (pre-orders begin today) in black or silver.
The 32GB Glacier Silver version of the HTC One is available in Singapore from 13 April at S$968 at all three mobile operators.
The 64GB Glacier Silver (S$1,068) and the Stealth Black (32 & 64GB) versions will be available from May onwards.
Update 1 (25 March, 2013):
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 2013.
RRP for the 32GB version is S$968(without line contract) while price for the 64GB version is yet to be announced.
This is what the new HTC One looks like with Blink on the homescreen (and icons of some of the partner feeds around it).
Here’s a quick round-up based on my live updates during the launch event.
HTC One will eventually be available in 80 countries, supported by 185 carriers globally.
The HTC One features the New Sense interface with new HTC home screen, two capacitive buttons in an aluminum body built from a single-block – containing an integrated antenna.
It has two front-facing stereo speakers, integrated Beats Audio and option for dual-microphone HDR recording.
UltraPixel camera quality compared with two top competitors.
A new BlinkFeed feature streams social updates, information and news onto the homescreen.
1,400 content partners have signed upto stream information in BlinkFeed. ESPN and AOL are two of the these and were on stage in New York and London respectively to talk about their partnership with HTC.
Below are the main tech specs unveiled during the launch. They were consistent with the speculation and rumours circulating prior to the launch.
The launch event will be held simultaneously in London and New York – and is widely believed to be for the launch of the M7 (also possibly to be named HTC One).
Invitations have been sent out for the HTC launch event in London and New York.
Stay tuned to the webcast URL which I’ll be posting here so you can follow it live.
Samsung has launched the compact version of its flagship smartphone GALAXY S III in Singapore.
The 4-inch compact Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) smartphone will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White from tomorrow, 2 February 2013 (Saturday) at S$568 (without contract).
The GALAXY S III mini will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White from 2 February 2013 at S$568 (without contract).
The GALAXY S III mini sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED display (480 x 800), 5-megapixel camera that records movies at 720p@25fps, 8GB internal memory (microSD slot for up to 32GB ext memory), and a 1,500mAh battery.
Running on a 1 GHz Dual-Core processor, the compact smartphone features Samsung’s “Smart Stay” and “S Voice” features.
“Smart Stay” recognizes how the phone is being used – the front camera identifies the eyes and maintains a bright display for continued viewing – as long as the user is eyeballing the screen.
“S Voice” is the natural language user interface, to listen and respond to words, allowing information search and basic device-user communication through voice commands.
Below are the specifications for the GALAXY S III mini I8190N.
Research In Motion (RIM) President & CEO – Thorsten Heins – launched the new QNX-based BlackBerry 10 operating system and unveils the full-touchscreen Z10 and physical keyboard-equipped Q10 smartphones.
RIM is also renaming itself as BlackBerry from today.
Shareholders’ response to the launch inside. All images in this article were screen-grabbed from webcast of the event.
The first manifestation of the new BlackBerry 10 – the full-touchscreen Z10 (left) and physical keyboard-equipped Q10 (right).
The basic premise of the new “BlackBerry experience” is about extending connectivity to everything around users – connecting the phone to the car, sound system, healthcare system etc.
Availability of Z10
Jan 31: UK
Feb 5: Canada (C$149)
Feb 10: UAE
Feb 21?: Singapore
March: USA (pre-orders without pricing from today)
* Q10 may be 1 month behind.
Three overarching innovations to enable this are the BlackBerry Hub, Peek and Flow.
Hub is akin to the People Hub of Microsoft Windows Phone operating system and consolidates all people related and social network information and updates in one place.
Apple is increasing the maximum memory of the iPad with Retina Display to 128GB (from the current max. of 64GB).
The 128 GB versions of the iPad with Wi-Fi (SG$1,048) and iPad with Wi-Fi+Cellular (SG$1,218) will be available from 5 February 2013. Prices include GST.
Apple increases the memory of the iPad with Retina Display to 128GB (from the current max. of 64GB). This photo is from Apple’s website.
The Adobe Creative Cloud is a membership-based service that provides unlimited access to download and install all Creative Suite desktop applications, and other selected Adobe programs.
Creative Cloud for teams (US$840 per user per year), the first of the Creative Cloud membership options available in Singapore, is tailored for small and medium businesses.
Creative Cloud for Teams is now available in Singapore.
First released in the US in April 2012, Adobe Creative Cloud includes unlimited access to download and install all Creative Suite desktop applications, plus Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Muse, Adobe Edge tools and services; game developer tools and integration with Photoshop Touch apps.
The Samsung Mobile PIN in Singapore is the first such store in Asia after the concept’s launch at the London Olympics in 2012.
Samsung celebrity ambassadors – Olivia Ong and SKarf were at the launch event.
Samsung Mobile PIN at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza from 18 January to 12 March 2013. Photo from Samsung.
The Samsung Mobile PIN is at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza and showcases Samsung’s latest mobile devices including the GALAXY Note II LTE, GALAXY Note 10.1 LTE, GALAXY S III LTE and GALAXY Camera.
K-Pop girl group SKarf are celebrity ambassadors for Samsung. Photo from Samsung.
Visitors can get their hands on the devices while attendants introduce features to them in an interactive experience.
Olivia Ong was another celebrity ambassador for Samsung that was present at the launch of the Mobile PIN.
Philips attempts to redefine portable music with portable speakers that are small in size but explosive in sound. Check out the SBT30 (S$89), SBA3210 (S$69), SBA3110 (S$59), and SBA3011 (S$49).
The new Philips SoundShooter portable music speakers are small in size but explosive in sound.
The Philips SoundShooter range of speakers sport Neodymium speaker drivers, and are light and powerful.
These handy speakers come in a myriad of shocking, playful colors and stylish metallic tones to suit your mood and make a great conversation piece and addition to any party!
Almost three months after they were unveiled by Nokia and Microsoft CEOs in New York, Nokia’s first Windows Phone 8 smartphones will debut in Singapore.
Nokia Lumia 920 (S$899) and Lumia 820 (S$699) arrives in Singapore next Saturday, 8 December 2012.
The two new handsets will be available at Nokia retail stores, while mobile operators in Singapore are slated to announce their respective data plans for the two models.
Accessories
Accessories for the two smartphones include the Nokia Lumia Purity Pro headset, JBL PlayUp Portable Wireless Speaker and JBL PowerUp Wireless Charging Speakers, as well as the Nokia Wireless Charging Pillow by Fatboy, Nokia Wireless Charging Stand and Nokia Wireless Charging Plate.
Nokia Singapore launched the two smartphones at Harry’s Bar at Millenia Walk and handed out the devices for guests to try out the new features, as they made their way around the city on an open-top bus.
The Lumia 920 boasts Pureview imaging technology that produces sharp pictures even in low light. The optical image stabiliser (OIS) further reduced the blur.
I was rather impressed with the Lumia 920’s imaging performance. Photos were indeed bright and sharp, while videos of moving/vibrating objects appeared less jerky when compared to videos taken on the Lumia 820 and other smartphones.
JBL PowerUp Wireless Charging Speakers
The Lumia 820 is the more affordable sibling of the two, with a smaller and lower-resolution screen, smaller battery, and the run-of-the-mill camera.
It is however, more compact and lighter than its bigger brother. (Check the quick comparison here).
You can also change the back cover of the Lumia 820 to vary the colour of the phone.
Both smartphones come with the same imaging apps that were quite interesting.
Nokia Smart Shoot is for group photos – shooting multiple exposures with a single click to choose the best from each exposure.
Nokia Wireless Charging Stand
Cinemagraphtakes short videos where certain parts are frozen as a still shot while portions defined by you moves like regular video.
Panoramahelps you do a sweep panorama shot of the landscape.
City Lens adds an augmented reality overlay over the screen when the camera is pointed at buildings and places of interest.
The idea is novel but not new, and in the short span of time that I tried it out, I found the augmented info sketchy at times while the resolution was not good enough to “lead” you to a particular place. At best, it tells you a place of interest is in a particular direction.
For really pragmatic and effective turn-by-turn navigation and search for places of interest, head back to the Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive apps, both of which have been updated with features such as indoor maps.
The 27-inch MX279H and 23-inch MX239H displays feature a frameless design with a 178° wide-view angle Advanced-High Performance In-Plane Switching (AH-IPS) panel.
The MX279H (S$519) will be available at SITEX 2012 while the MX239H (RRP TBA) will be available in Q1 2013.
ASUS Designo MX Series AH-IPS frameless displays.
For a home theater experience, the panels come with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower-derived dual 3W stereo speakers and ASUS SonicMaster technology.
AH-IPS is the latest in IPS technology – delivering improved color accuracy along with increased energy efficiency. In addition, a 5ms response time also eliminates ghosting and tracers for more fluid visuals.
The frameless design has a bezel thickness of only 0.8mm and are only 14.5mm (MX239H) and 17.5mm (MX279H) at their thinnest points.
The LED-backlit AH-IPS panel has a 178° wide-view angle that minimizes color shift on both horizontal or vertical planes to ensure quality visuals from almost any viewing position.
The Designo MX Series supports Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolutions and has dual HDMI and D-sub (VGA) input ports to ensure compatibility with a variety of multimedia devices including Blu-ray disc players, game consoles, and digital cameras to enrich users’ entertainment experience.
In addition, a 5ms response time also eliminates ghosting and tracers for more fluid visuals.
Thin & sleek
With the ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio (ASCR) of 80,000,000:1 and 250 cd/m² of brightness, the MX279H delivers life-like visuals by adjusting backlight luminance to achieve the darkest black and the brightest white shades.
ASUS Splendid Video Intelligence Technology ensures vivid color, with six modes (Standard/ sRGB/ Scenery/ Theater/ Game/ Night) easily activated via a designated sensor touch hotkey.
These Designo MX Series displays feature ASUS SonicMaster technology – which was co-developed by the ASUS Golden Ear team and Bang & Olufsen ICEpower.
The Designo MX’s embedded ICEpower MobileSound 3 chip delivers audio fidelity to ensure quality audio. ASUS SonicMaster technology.
