Photo: HTC

HTC must have the most hyperactive R&D department in the smartphone world, planning several more smartphones this calendar year, still, with the rumoured HTC Vision being dubbed the HTC Desire with a Qwerty keyboard added for good measure.

Desire + keyboard = more desirable?

The simple question is: should you care? The simple answer is: it depends. It depends on whether you care for keyboard or not, because as a standalone device, the HTC Desire is one of the best mobile phones available on the market, period. So, if HTC somehow manages to keep all the HTC Desire functionality and attractive form factor, and somehow sneak a keyboard into the device for those who want tactile feedback, it’s almost impossible to not recommend purchasing it.

Expansion vs. convergence

As an aside, HTC, who have released a ton of phones this year, are showing no signs of slowing down. This strategy of releasing phones without pause is both fascinating, considering the constant stream of high quality devices, yet concerning in that it could dilute the product value in the long run. HTC, effectively, is to smartphones what Nokia was to feature phones a decade ago, in terms of release volume, at least.

The problem is this – when compared to the competition, which releases one phone per year every year meaning that handset gets all the focus put on that company’s mobiles, HTC may inadvertently lower the sales of its own individual phones.
If the Vision is released this year, that would bring HTC’s 2010 tally to nearly 10 devices, with the HTC Legend, HTC Incredible, HTC Wildfire, HTC Incredible, the aforementioned HTC Desire and the powerful HTC Evo 4G, to name but a few, and we’re not even in June yet.

Photo: HTC

Technology is such a litigious industry, it’s actually quite sad. Nonetheless, HTC have responded to Apple with a ‘Have at me?! No have at you, buddy!’ countersuit.

Five patents infringed

The Taiwanese company alleges the iPhone and iPad infringes five patents. None of the alleged infrigements have anything to do with touch technology, but rather speak to comparatively boring topics likes power management and how the phone accesses its directory (no, seriously).

The countersuit

This lawsuit comes on the heels of Apple suing HTC. While HTC’s motives are to have some defense against Apple’s advances, Apple’s motives are widely believed to be Google Android-related, making HTC, in effect, a mere means to an end.

Alas, with this suit, that might change, still.

About that Android threat

Photo: Apple

Though Apple have since refuted the claims, a recent NPD report indicated that Google Android phone sales exceeded those of the iPhone in North America for the first time ever. Admittedly, there are a whole bunch of handset manufacturers, ranging from Samsung to HTC and LG who make Google Android phones, while Apple is the only manufacturer of iPhone OS-powered smartphones.

Great phones, time wasted

HTC have been kicking out some of the most exciting smartphones in the entire industry this last 12 months, most notably with the HTC Legend and HTC Desire. Apple, on the other hand, have had the hottest selling smartphone in the world, a well-received tablet computer and is prepping the release of its next phone. One just feels the resources dedicated to suing each other could be better spent kicking out better phones or dedicating those funds to further R&D.

Nevertheless, Apple now finds itself at the centre of two lawsuits with major mobile phone manufacturers – Nokia and HTC, both. Imagine if those two companies formed an alliance against their common enemy.

Photo: HTC

Someone at HTC had the smart idea of letting you, Joe and Jane Public, name the company’s next phone by crowdsourcing on Facebook.

Options

In a note posted on Facebook, HTC says they are ‘looking for a name that is playful and full of youth’, before asking you to choose from one of four options. The options available are the HTC Zeal, HTC Wildfire, HTC Festi and the HTC Jovi.

What should it be?

If you’ve ever taken note of how HTC names their phones, only one should stand out. Between the Magic, Dream, Hero, Incredible, Desire, and Legend, surely it would be overzealous to overlook the HTC Zeal. It’s typical HTC grandiose fair, and who doesn’t like that?

The road previously traveled

Photo: HTC

Crowdsourcing – the act of engaging your audience as sources of product information and creation – has come of age recently, particularly with the Internet making it so simple. Mobile handsets giant Nokia recently went a step further than HTC, by crowdsourcing the design of a handset the company is working.

When HTC is not being lazy

In the last 12 months, HTC has released the well-reviewed HTC Legend and the amazing HTC Desire. In the months to come, its 4G HTC EVO is on the horizon, and early specs and impressions indicate it may be the most powerful phone in the world.

In addition, HTC is rumoured to be considering acquiring the ailing PDA giant, Palm, who were recently reported as having put themselves on the chopping block after months of bad results. The theory is the Palm acquisition would give HTC a powerful distribution and retail channel in North America where they’re waging war with Apple iPhone platform.

Now head on over to the Facebook page, and in your zeal, do what’s right. It would sit quite nicely next to HTC Legend.

Photo: HTC

We write about HTC handsets quite often here, and not because of any bias to the company, but because HTC’s products for the last 12 months have been as good as any other smartphone maker has ever released – yes, even Apple and its iPhone. And the company’s newly released quarterly results confirm what we’ve long suspected, and what the company is due – HTC smartphones are being hugely successful, particularly due to the company’s partnership with Google Android.

The numbers game

HTC’s Q1 revenue was $1.19 billion (£770 million), a 19.3 per cent increase over 2009’s Q1 results. Profit amounted to $158 million (£102 million), up $4 million from the year prior, making HTC the fourth largest smartphone maker, behind Nokia, Apple and Research in Motion (Blackberry), with a market share of about six per cent.

The handsets

Photo: HTC

Two things drive these sales. The first of which is the quality of the HTC smartphones, with HTC releasing the HTC Desire, HTC Legend, HTC Hero and HTC HD2 in the last 12 months, with what we believe to be the world’s most powerful phone (on specs, at least), the HTC EVO 4, scheduled for release soon.

The Google Android factor

Photo: HTC

The second sales driver is Google Android. Much of HTC’s growth, particularly in the US, has been on the back of Google Android. While HTC handsets have been amazing for years, their previous operating system of choice, Windows Mobile, was letting the company down considerably in terms of user interface and capabilities. Considering HTC has been running Google Android for a little over two years, the fact that seven of their top 15 phones are powered by that operating system is remarkable.

And, not to give too much credit to Google for HTC’s success, it’s arguable that Android would not be what it is without HTC handsets and the company’s support, with reports that HTC smartphones account for 61 per cent of the Android market. So, in saying it’s all Google would be unfair to HTC smartphones and their unbelievable quality. It’s no wonder Apple is suing HTC to get at Google since they’re clearly turning up the heat.

Photo: HTC

HTC reveal its latest handset, the HTC EVO 4G, which some tech pundits are already saying, from a technical specifications stand point, is the best mobile phone ever.

What’s in the box?

The HTC EVO 4G is a Google Android powered device, with the expected Sense UI interface built on top of Android. More importantly, though, is what this phone can do. It has a 4.3-inch TFT screen with a resolution of 480×800 pixels. Its processing is done by the blisteringly fast 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8650 with 512MB of RAM, too. There’s 1GB of built-in memory, with an 8GB MicroSD card included.

Photo: HTC

In addition, the HTC EVO 4G has a high quality flash-enabled 8 megapixel camera on the back of the phone, which is also capable of recording 720p HD video. A 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera rounds out the image capturing capabilities on the phone. Most importantly, the phone is very smooth, and transitions between menus and applications are genuinely seamless. This may change still, once it’s been through heavy use, but in its current incarnation, the phone is simply amazing.

Momentum, momentum, momentum?

Outside of Apple, no company has more momentum than HTC in the smartphone market. Though the momentum gathered from a slew of very well received phones like the HTC Hero, then the HTC Legend and the HTC Desire, seemed to be interrupted by an unexpected lawsuit, it seems HTC has pushed even that aside to carry on its charge in the smartphones market with the EVO 4G.

Photo: HTC

The HTC EVO 4G is being carried by Sprint in the US and with the phone being CMDA, it is still unclear whether it will be GSM adapted for the European market. Given that HTC enjoys much of its success in Asia and Europe, as is evidenced in initial sales of the HTC Legend and HTC Desire, it is likely this phone will be headed to Europe soon. It’s set to be released between June and September 2010, exclusively on Sprint.

Photo: Vodafone

Vodafone have recently announced they will be officially carrying the HTC Desire and HTC Legend in the UK starting this April.

Desirable and Legendary

Having been revealed at the Mobile World Conference earlier this year, the HTC Desire and HTC Legend have won accolades and praise from reviewers. Having reviewed the Legend recently, it’s clear that the praises are not without merit. So Vodafone carrying the HTC Legend and the HTC Desire could be a major sales coup for the company.

The pair of phones are also key entries in the Google Android lineup, which is still playing catch up with Apple’s iPhone and iPhone OS.

Subsidy and packages

Photo: HTC

While Vodafone has yet to reveal full details on packages and subsidy pricing, the company has both phones on its website right now, with the HTC Desire, specifically, dated for 1 April 2010.

The elephant in the room

For all the positivity surrounding its current lineup, HTC have one massive problem on their horizon: that Apple lawsuit. In a move that attacks Google’s Android more than anything else, HTC has become collateral damage as a result of being one of Android’s biggest partners. The lawsuit, which claims no less than 20 patents were infringed, could prove to be a major blow for the Taiwanese company.

Incredible

Photo: HTC

Recent leaks about the next phone, the HTC Incredible, have hit the Internet, but with official word of that device all but nonexistent, the HTC Desire and HTC Legend are the Taiwanese company’s flagship phones. And regardless of the Apple lawsuit, which is likely to go one for a long time, Vodafone users and HTC lovers alike will get to see what all the fuss is about in a little over two weeks.

Photo: Google

It seems Google and the Chinese government have been leaking information that the fracture between the company and the state has come to an impasse that will result in Google China pulling out altogether.

How we got here

Google first threatened to pull the plug on Google China after a string of web attacks originating from China hit their service. The attacks were focused on Gmail, where hackers were trying to get sensitive information on people –advocates for democracy and the like – they considered dangerous to the Chinese government.

Google used these attacks as a basis to push back against the government in a stand against Internet censorship, a move that was greeted with cheers and jeers considering Google themselves had long ceded to China’s Internet censorship demands in the past.

Where we are now

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Now, the freeze over on the relationship seems permanent, with the Chinese government telling major Chinese websites that Google may leave the country. Analysts are split on whether the likely departure of Google would bode well or not for Microsoft’s Bing, who are set to stay in China. In terms of search share, Microsoft ‘s Bing will immediately be buoyed, but criticism about Bing’s stance with regards to Internet censorship will be lodged with that company staying in China.

Other affected business units

Following this advance, the reverberations of Google’s decision to put their relationship with China on ice, Motorola announced it would stop supporting Google search and maps on its Android device in favour of Microsoft’s Bing search and Bing maps.

Google, and its partners, have indicated they want Android to become the dominant mobile phone platform in China’s burgeoning mobile devices industry. The freezing of Google China – which would impact not only the business’ search, but also dependent services like Gmail and maps in the country – would impact Android severely, even if Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, is earnest in saying they have no plans of pulling out of the mobile devices market.

Photo: HTC

This development comeson the heels of some of Android’s best devices being introduced to the world, spearheaded by the HTC Legend, HTC Desire and the Google Nexus One.

Clash of the Titans

Whatever Google ends up doing, this may be the largest development in state-corporation relations of all time. Google is easily one of the most powerful companies on the planet, and China’s economic growth seems to know no end, making this a real clash of the Titans analysts in tech and politics are likely to mull over for some time.

Photo: HTC

The HTC Desire is considered by many to be the flagship product for HTC, but the ever highly anticipated release of the HTC Legend, may see the less powerful but more elegant Legend overshadow the rest of the vendor’s range. The HTC Legend already drew considerable support from the Mobile World Congress this year, where many called it the most anticipated mobile phone of the year.

The HTC Legend is an evolution of the HTC Hero. Looking inside the Legend, one will find that only minor, but necessary, adjustments have been made.

Inside the machine

The processor has been upgraded to a 600MHz Qualcomm processor, which is sufficient for the flawless and smooth functioning of the phone, while admittedly still not as powerful as the Google Nexus One and HTC’s Desire 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The mobile device also comes with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED-flash and a 3.2-inch AMOLED display with the same amount of pixels as the Hero. The HTC Legend is an Android 2.1 device, the first from HTC and runs the company’s proprietary Sense UI interface. All in all the Legend is a tougher and improved Hero, which is quite the compliment considering how well liked the HTC Hero is.

Sharp looks

Photo: HTC

In terms of design, the Legend looks sharp and sleek, yet feels very sturdy in hand. A humerous aside is HTC’s very technical testing of the phone’s exoskeleton – throwing the phone against a wall. The cool aluminum shell of the phone’s Mac-Like unibody adds to sleekness further.

Layout

Regarding the key layout of the Legend compared to the Hero, not much has changed except that the phone’s exterior now has eight buttons with the front of the phone having four and the Legend losing the pick-up call key and shifting the power key to the top of the phone. An optical trackpad has also been added to the phone allow for seamless function of the device when one doesn’t feel like using the ultra-responsive touchscreen. However, only time will tell if the flat trackpad button will be missed.

Smart software

Photo: HTC

Looking at the software available on the device, the HTC Legend can have seven still homescreens viewed at once, thanks to the Leap feature. HTC has also taken huge strides in social networking with the development of the Friend Stream application which aggregates all updates from social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and the like. The G Sensor also senses when the phone is picked up and accordingly adjusts ringing volume and when the phone is placed upside down, turns to silent.

Not so good – the camera

The 5-megapixel camera on the Legend operates well during the day, taking perfect stills and clear flowing videos, however the camera’s performance falls at night or in areas of poor light, producing grainy images and pictures of grainy quality.

The phone will be shipped out on April 12 and carried by Vodafone, who also carried the HTC Hero. The device will retail at £369.99.

Photo: HTC

Barcelona has been the centre of the most important even in mobile computing – the Mobile World Conference. HTC, who have emerged as a powerful competitor in the smartphone market in recent years, pulled the curtains back on three new handsets: The HTC Desire, HTC Legend and the HTC HD mini.

HTC Legend

Photo: HTC

The HTC Legend is the follow-up to the popular HTC Hero. It is powered by Android 2.1, has a unibody aluminium casing, a 600MHz processor as well as a new optical trackball. The screen, a rich AMOLED, has a surface area of 3.2 inches at a resolution of 320×480. The smartphone is scheduled to launch in Europe and Asia in March.

HTC HD Mini

Photo: HTC

The HTC HD Mini is, at its core, the HTC HD2 scaled down in size while retaining the 3.2-inch display (HVGA). This device has a clean black finish, with the screws that shut it a part of the aesthetic. It runs on a modified version of Windows Mobile 6.5.3, with HTC’s proprietary interface, Sense, included in it. This device is scheduled to ship in Europe and Asia come April.

HTC Desire

Photo: HTC

The HTC Desire is basically the Google Nexus One with an optical touch area instead of a trackball and HTC’s Sense interface laid on top of it. This means the 1GHz Snapdragon processor remains, the 3.7-inch AMOLED display remains, and Android 2.1 stays on it, too.  Sense is merely a matter of preference – some like it, others don’t – but Flash 10.1 is included in the device, something the Nexus One does not have. HTC has announced this smartphone will arrive some time in the second quarter in Europe and Asia.

Triple threat

HTC hopes this trio of phones will cement its position as the premiere Android OS and Windows Mobile handset manufacturer. The HTC Legend, HTC Desire and HTC HD Mini tick nearly all of the company’s boxes. However, given how things have transpired at Mobile World Conference, HTC’s hotly anticipated device is its as yet announced but imminent Windows Phone Series 7 device.