June 4, 2013 By 3 Comments

HTC One vs Nokia Lumia 925 Camera Comparison

HTC One camera vs Nokia Lumia 925 camera

You may also be interested to read our Nokia Lumia 925 vs HTC One tech spec comparison. 

Smartphone camera technology is becoming increasingly focused on improving low light photography and new methods for addressing this are touted as major selling points for both the Lumia 925 and the HTC One.

While other manufacturers have increased the pixel count in their sensors as much as possible, Nokia and HTC have taken the attitude that it’s not about how many megapixels you have, but how you use them.

Nokia has already released its own samples comparing the 925 against other handsets (including the HTC One), but we’ll provide some comparison photos once we’ve had a chance to take them on both the One and the 925. In the meantime, let’s have a look at how the two compare on paper.

HTC One camera Vs Nokia Lumia 925 camera

Terminology

At this stage we’ll just take a moment to explain the various camera-related phrases that you’ll often hear when these two handsets are discussed.

The Lumia 925 includes Nokia’s ‘PureView’ technology. This refers to Nokia’s attitude towards providing the best possible camera technology, rather than a specific set of hardware features.

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May 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HTC One Nexus Edition Announced

HTC One running stock Android 

The heavily-rumoured HTC One Nexus edition has been officially confirmed.

Following in the footsteps of the Samsung Galaxy S4, of which a Nexus version was confirmed at Google I/O, HTC’s current flagship will also get the stock Android treatment. 

The HTC One Nexus edition (not to be confused with the Nexus One, the first ever Nexus device) is due to begin sale on the US Play tore on June 26th, priced at $599. 

HTC One Nexus Edition

Will it come to the UK? 

At the moment it’s not clear whether or not the HTC One Nexus edition will come to the UK. 

As many of us have found out the hard way, HTC has struggled as it is to meet demand for the Sense version of the HTC One, so availability of the Nexus version is unlikely to be any better. 

Pocket-Lint reported earlier this week that the Nexus edition of the One would see a limited production run, so units are likely to be scarce, but we’ll confirm as soon as we’ve heard from HTC about availability.  

What’s the difference between the HTC One and HTC One Nexus edition?

To put it simply, the Nexus Edition of the HTC One will not feature HTC Sense.

Custom Android skins such as Sense have become pet aversions for certain Android fans, so the Nexus edition handset provides the hardware without HTC’s added software features, such as HTC Zoe and HTC BlinkFeed. 

Which features will be missing from the HTC One Nexus Edition? 

Removing HTC Sense does mean that some features are lost on the HTC One. Android Police has spoken to HTC to confirm some of those that will be absent on the Nexus edition, which include: 

  • IR Blaster – No TV remote as stock Android does not support infrared
  • Beats Audio software indicator (although Beats Audi hardware will be included) 
  • HTC Zoe, HTC’s camera software. It will be a shame for users to miss out on this as it is a great addition to the stock Android experience. 

Of course we can also expect the likes of BlinkFeed (HTC’s new approach to the homescreen) to be removed. 

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May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Nokia Lumia 925 low light comparison photos

Nokia Lumia 925 tested in low light

We always need to take photo samples released by manufacturers with a small pinch of salt – naturally they will always always show their own device in its best light – but the following should give a fairly good indication of what we can expect from the Lumia 925.

Nokia tells us that ‘low-light photos never looked this good’ and while the video below (bottom of post) doesn’t reveal an awful lot in terms of the 925′s low-light capabilities, the comparison photos with rival devices offer some pretty substantial proof.

Most notably we’re interested in how the 925 matches up against the HTC One, with low-light photography having been touted as one of the latter’s specialties thanks to its UltraPixel sensor. In the photos below, which comes from Nokia Conversations, the 925 certainly comes out top of the pile in poorly lit environments.

We’ll be interested however to see a more diverse range of samples once the 925 has made its way to the Clove office.

Nokia Lumia 925 (low-light photo)

Nokia Lumia 925 low light photo

Nokia Lumia 925 vs HTC One (low-light test)

Nokia Lumia 925 vs HTC One 
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May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HTC One is the first smartphone to make a video call from Everest

The HTC One has become the first ever smartphone to make a live video call from the peak of mount Everest. The call was made by British explorer Daniel Hughes, who is making the climb as a fundraiser for Comic Relief.

It should be noted that this isn’t the first ever phone call to be made from Everest’s summit, but it is the first ever video call. Hughes was able to make the call using Immarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network service which, taking into account his rather remote location, isn’t of bad quality at all.

You can view the call itself in the video below – no doubt HTC will be proud to have been a part of it. Currently Hughes has raised just £40,673 of the targeted £1million for the Everest Million campaign. If you would like to contribute to his effort, you can visit the website here and donate.

Source BBC

Via The Verge

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May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HTC One destroyed with a sniper rifle

Since drop tests first came about, we’ve seen many a smartphone put through its paces using increasingly inventive approaches. From the good old ‘will it blend?’ videos, to the Samsung Galaxy S4 being microwaved, there aren’t many methods of destruction that haven’t been explored when it comes to phones. 

This latest video sees the HTC One picked off with a .50 caliber sniper rifle. This wouldn’t be quite such a spectacle had the video not been recorded in slow motion, displaying the impact at the perfect speed for the human eye to observe. The video is recorded by RatedRR, who certainly aren’t newcomers to blowing up gadgets and make a pretty good show of things. 

Two hundred minutes to create the unibody aluminium frame of the HTC One, disintegrated in an instant. 

Via UberGizmo

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April 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HTC clarifies the situation with the One microphone

HTC One We posted earlier this month about the microphone in the HTC One and how its quality is comparable to the Nokia Lumia 920. It has since transpired that the reason for this is that Nokia and HTC have sourced the component from the same supplier,   STMicroelectronics. The HTC One and Lumia 920 therefore use the same dual-membrane microphone component and interestingly, the PureView 808 and Lumia 720 also use it.

Nokia and STM codeveloped the dual-membrane microphone and Nokia had agreed an exclusivity period for its use. HTC, therefore, should not have been able to source the microphone from STM for its HTC One handset. However, HTC was unaware of the exclusivity deal and the breech of contract was therefore between STM and Nokia.

There has been talk of Nokia obtaining an injunction against the sale of HTC One handsets and Nokia had also applied for a recall of the outstanding stock of the microphone that HTC has purchased. However, HTC has been granted to continue using the microphones that it currently has in its inventory and will then need to source stock from elsewhere once it has been depleted.

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April 28, 2013 By 27 Comments

SGS4 only has 9.5GB user-accessible internal storage

It’s commonplace for Android handsets to have a reasonable chunk of their internal storage taken up by system files and pre-loaded apps. Typically we tend to see around 11-12GB of storage available to the user on a 16GB handset. However, recent handsets such as the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 seem to be taking up even more storage space with install files.

Droid Matters reports that its Samsung Galaxy S4 review device (from Sprint) has 9.62GB internal storage available out of the box, while Geek.com says its device has an even lower 8.82GB (carrier not specified). Different carriers load different bloatware onto devices, but the reality is that of the 16GB advertised internal storage, the SGS4 will have up to 9.62GB. Even then, performance tends to deteriorate slightly when the internal storage capacity is close to full, so you wouldn’t get the full 9.62GB either.

SGS4 internal storage

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April 24, 2013 By 16 Comments

Samsung Galaxy S4 Pros and Cons

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Samsung Galaxy S4?

Updated 25th April with user commets 

Without going into too much detail, let’s have a look at some of the main pros and cons of the Samsung Galaxy S4. To put these into context, we’ll draw some brief comparisons with its main competitors – the HTC One and the Sony Xperia Z – where appropriate. Some of these factors alone could be enough to influence a buying decision and certainly worth considering if you’re interested in buying the S4.

For more detailed comparisons you may be interested in some of the other Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One content that we’ve posted.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Pros

Samsung Galaxy S4 ProsRemovable battery – this is a big plus – it gives the opportunity to manually power the phone down should it freeze, facilitates accessories such as the Galaxy S4 flip cover (which replaces the back cover to clip to the handset, thus adding less bulk than other cases) and also enables a third-party extended battery to be attached if/when it’s released. The HTC One and the Sony Xperia Z do not have removable batteries.

Repairability – early reports have suggested that the Galaxy S4 should be very easy to repair should the situation arise. This is in stark contrast to the HTC One, which was given the lowest repairability score possible by iFixit.

MicroSD slot – for some the inclusion (or lack of) expandable storage can make or break a purchase decision. The inclusion of a microSD slot with the S4 gives the opportunity to expand the storage by 64GB. The Xperia Z can also take a microSD card up to 64GB, whereas the HTC One does not have a slot at all.

MHL 2.0 – Less wires when connecting the S4 to a TV. Using MHL 2.0 means that an external power source (microUSB charger) is not required to power the MHL adaptor, making it more convenient to connect and more portable. The Xperia Z and the HTC One do need the MHL cable to be powered.

Smaller and Lighter than the competition, but still manages a 5″ display. It’s only ~15g lighter than the One and the Z, but beats both with its dimensions measurements as well.

Newer version of Android – All three handsets run Jelly Bean, but the S4 runs Android 4.2.2 out the box whereas the others run 4.1.2. There isn’t a huge difference between the two versions so not too big a factor to consider, but is perhaps indicative of Samsung being quicker to update its handsets to the latest version of Android.

Wireless charging - a nice feature but not all that important in terms of functionality. It’s also worth noting that additional accessories are required (release date awaited) so it is not offered out of the box.

Accessories – overall the S4 has the most diverse range of accessories compared to other handsets. However, it should be mentioned that Samsung has disappointed customers in the past by delaying or not fulfilling accessory promises. Wireless charging for the S3 as announced but never released, for example. The situation looks better this time around though and some stock of protective accessories such as cases has already started to arrive.

Built in TV remote – A useful, but not essential feature to have. This is also included with the HTC One.

Eye tracking – The S4 has several eye tracking features included which are its main differentiator when it comes to software.

Multi window (split screen mode) - another software element that is unique to Samsung handsets. It was first introduced with the Galaxy Note II, but is now included with the SGS4. This feature enables you to view two apps at once, which is particularly useful for web browsing, checking email and reading through documents. Officially there are only certain apps that work with multi window, but there’s a hack for the Note 2 to force the feature for other apps, so there will likely be one for the S4 as well.

AirView - the ability to preview content by hovering a finger over it – no need to touch the screen. Hovering over the S Planner (calendar), images, videos and more will activate the content as though it’s been clicked.

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April 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HTC logo on HTC One can be mapped as a menu button

The HTC One is different to many other Android smartphones in that it only has two capacitive buttons. This has been to the disgruntlement of some, with people supposing that a third button could easily have been included in place of the HTC logo, which sits centre between the back and home buttons.

When the handset was first released, there was speculation that it may be possible to map the HTC logo as a third button. This is indeed possible thanks to a kernel that has been written and has been demonstrated by XDA member tbalden.

The video below shows the HTC logo tweak in action.

There are instructions over at XDA should you wish to try this yourself, however you should be aware that such modifications will often void the warranty of your handset.

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April 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HTC One MHL/HDMI demo

A video showing the HTC One connected to an HD display with a MHL/HDMI cable.

For more information on product shown please visit:
http://www.clove.co.uk/htc-mhlhdmi-ad…

http://www.clove.co.uk/htc-dg-h200-me…

htc-one

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