HTC Sense

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  • HTC Merge makes an official landing at US Cellular May 31 for $250

    by 
    Brad Molen
    Brad Molen
    05.26.2011

    If we could bet on phone launches the same way we put money down on horse races or slot machines, we'd lose our shirts on the HTC Merge. Like a ghost, this elusive Android smartphone has an innate ability to pop up from out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Over the last few months we've seen this repeated multiple times on both Verizon's and US Cellular's ends -- until yesterday, that is, when the latter finally ended its part of the charade by announcing a launch date. Taking on Facebook, the regional carrier officially committed the Merge to a May 31st launch, selling for $250 with contract before $100 rebate. Oddly, the date won't matter much since store reps have the go-ahead to sell it as soon as it's in stock (according to the screenshot below), and the Facebook post reveals that shipments should begin arriving as early as today. If you've been wanting a Merge and are up to the task, we invite you -- nay, we challenge you -- to go to your local store this morning and see if your rep got the memo. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

  • HTC Sensation 4G hitting mid-June for $200?

    by 
    Brian Heater
    Brian Heater
    05.16.2011

    Oh, the sweet smells of summer: surf, sunscreen, barbecue, Gingerbread. We've known all along that HTC's Android 2.3-packing smartphone was set for release at the "beginning of the summer," and thanks to some loud-mouthed Google AdWords, we've seen June 8th floated as a possibility. Those who understandably doubt the word of search-based text advertisements, take heart: it's shaping up to be a big weekend for Sensation 4G leaks. First TmoNews got its hands on a Target placard pricing the snappy dual-core Snapdragon handset at $199.99, for what appears to be a June 12th release, and then the site snagged a shot of internal T-Mobile documentation that confirms the earlier June 8th date. Why the discrepancy? Well, it certainly wouldn't be unheard of for the carrier to give itself a head start, and surely Target wouldn't mind timing its own release up with its Sunday circulars. In both cases, it looks like the phone'll be spending a fair amount of time beneath beach umbrellas.

  • HTC Wildfire S earns top marks with FCC, supports AT&T compatible 3G

    by 
    Sean Cooper
    Sean Cooper
    04.30.2011

    HTC's newly announced Wildfire S -- or model number PG76110 -- just finished pinballing its way through the FCC's labs, coming out the other side with 1900 / 850MHz dual-band HSPA. As a quick refresher, this phone was launched at MWC this year and features a 3.2-inch display, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, Bluetooth 3.0, and runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Considering how many handsets are still shipping with Froyo, we expect this combination of Google's newest OS, HTC's Sense UI V3.0, plus an affordable price point to make the Wildfire S a popular device when it finally hits these shores. Of course, before you get all giddy, we'd like to remind you that while the Wildfire S does support the right 3G bands for AT&T, there's no guarantee it'll end up there.

  • HTC Merge launching on US Cellular on April 29th? (updated)

    by 
    Dana Wollman
    Dana Wollman
    04.26.2011

    While we wait for the HTC Merge to maybe (or quite possibly) launch on Verizon, the phone's rolling out fast and furious on smaller carriers. Alltel's already selling it, Cellular South said it plans to, and now it seems US Cellular is gearing up to launch it on Friday. If you take a gander at that screen grab an anonymous tipster sent in, it's clear the carrier is putting the finishing touches on its plan to unveil the device in its retail stores. Just to refresh your memories, the Merge is a world phone with a slide-out keyboard, 3.8-inch touchscreen, and 5 megapixel autofocus camera running Android 2.2 with HTC's Sense UI layered on top. Still no word on whether US Cellular will match its competitors' sweet $125 price or bundle Amazon's App Store, but we're optimistic on both counts. Update: A US Cellular rep wrote in to clarify that the carrier will launch the Merge "later this spring," not this Friday. So there you have it!

  • HTC Sensation procures online real estate, launches sign-up page

    by 
    Brad Molen
    Brad Molen
    04.24.2011

    The G2X may be getting all the attention as the current flagship for T-Mobile, but HTC is bound and determined to make sure it doesn't stay that way for long. Curious souls may be happy to learn that a sign-up page has been set up for the HTC Sensation to update fans on news and announcements. This is a good sign that nary a precious moment of time is being wasted; after all, we've got a full six weeks before the heavily-rumored June 8 launch, and there's an abundance of opportunities for the two companies to get the word out like crazy between now and then. Who can blame them for taking advantage of one of the summer's hottest devices? Interested folks should head to the source link below to sign up.

  • HTC Desire gets unsanctioned build of Android 2.3.3 courtesy of 911Sniper

    by 
    Zachary Lutz
    Zachary Lutz
    04.21.2011

    When we last checked in with HTC's Desire, an upgrade from Android 2.2 to 2.3 had been announced for release in late May or June. While Gingerbread hasn't officially rolled out for this Nexus One kin, the crew at 911Sniper recently leaked the Desire's upcoming European / Asian ROM, complete with Android 2.3.3 and Sense 2.1. Many daring enthusiasts have already taken the plunge, reporting mixed results with flashing their device. it's worth noting, however, that when installed properly, user reports are quite positive. As always, please know what you're doing before you dive down this rabbit hole -- we hope to see you on the other side. [Thanks, Omar]

  • HTC Sensation ROM leaked, Sense 3.0 beckons enthusiasts

    by 
    Zachary Lutz
    Zachary Lutz
    04.20.2011

    We've enjoyed getting to know HTC's Sensation over the past few months, remembering its name change fondly, and most recently getting some hands-on time with this dual-core beaut. Now intrepid developers, it's your turn -- 911Sniper has outed the ROM for this Sense 3.0 phone, and if like us, you were miffed that HTC's latest skin won't support older devices, we wholeheartedly advise that you put on your developer hats and dig into this one.

  • HTC Sense 3.0 will only support Sensation, EVO 3D, Flyer and newer devices; older hardware left behind

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    04.14.2011

    Unfortunate news for anyone who saw HTC's Sense 3.0 UI and started dreaming about seeing it on their Desire HD, Incredible S or any other handset that doesn't ship with it preloaded. HTC has said that because of the hardware requirements of the fancier new Android skin, only the dual-core Sensation and EVO 3D smartphones and the 1.5GHz Flyer tablet will be benefiting from it for now. The company's expected to introduce more tablets in the summer and its inevitable march forward with smartphones will continue, but Sense 3.0 -- and those delectable multifunctional lock screens -- will remain the exclusive privilege of its highest-end devices. Update: Those older devices may be missing the boat, but they will at least get a set of floaties. HTC left a message on Twitter that the company is "working to incorporate other aspects" of Sense 3.0 that will come to older devices. Hopefully this includes that flash new weather app.

  • HTC Sensation first video hands-on!

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    04.12.2011

    You saw the specs confirmed a little earlier today and you even got to glimpse HTC's new Sensation in the flesh. Now it's time to watch this 4.3-inch Android device strut its stuff on video. We've gotten our mitts on the Euro model and you can check out all the delicious visuals after the break. As we mentioned in our preview of this handset, the new lock screen is perhaps the biggest (it's certainly the most immediately apparent) change in the Sense UI that comes with the Sensation. HTC describes now describes it as "smart," because it can both serve you with live information, like weather and those all-important stock prices, and also lets you unlock straight into an app by dragging its link into an unlocking circle. Frankly, we used the functionality so much that we almost forgot how to unlock the phone "normally." It's something the Inq Cloud Touch and other lower-end Android devices have previously exhibited, and a feature we really, truly appreciate. Performance was, as you'd expect from a 1.2GHz dual-core machine, snappy all around, though we still caught some slight lag and insufficient frame rates when the Sensation was dealing with some of those yummy new 3D animations. The higher resolution (960 x 540) screen is a definite upgrade over the 800 x 480 standard that Android devices have been coalescing around and the 4.3-inch size seems like a perfect fit for it. Both the camera app and video playback in the HTC Watch app showed great speed and responsiveness to our input. Those are the things that will really harness the processing power of the Sensation. Physically, the Sensation somehow manages to feel more compact than its predecessor atop the European jumbo phone throne, the Desire HD. The two phones both have 4.3-inch screens, but the 16:9 screen ratio of the Sensation makes it narrower, while HTC's ingenuity has managed to make the new device marginally thinner too. All in all, a definite upgrade in ergonomics. Aluminum construction is present here as well, however the entire aluminum chunk -- which spans the middle portion of the back, separating two plastic parts (each of which has its own color, giving you a tri-color rear) -- is in the removable cover. This is unlike most of HTC's aluminum "unibody" phones, which make the aluminum piece part of the phone's framework. Hey, at least you get much easier access to what's under the back cover. Delve into the gallery below for more! %Gallery-120963%

  • HTC Sensation 4G official: 1.2GHz dual-core, qHD display, and Sense 3.0

    by 
    Dana Wollman
    Dana Wollman
    04.12.2011

    We've known about the so-called HTC Pyramid for months, long before the Vodafone leak this morning. Now the long-rumored Android phone is official and coming to T-Mobile under the moniker HTC Sensation 4G. As expected, it matches many of the EVO 3D's specs, including a 4.3-inch (540 x 960) Super LCD screen, dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, and Android Gingerbread (2.3) with Sense 3.0. But it one ups the 3D handset by bumping the rear lens' resolution to 8 megapixels, throwing in a second LED flash, and speeding up the video frame rate to 30fps at max 1080p resolution. Speed-wise, this HSPA+ device promises download rates as fast as 14.4 Mbps. As for Sense, the Sensation also ushers in various tweaks to the company's UI, including customizable lock screens, 3D transitions, an improved weather app, and HTC Watch, the service introduced with the company's Flyer tablet that lets you download DVD-quality movies. Before hitting the states this summer, the Sensation will launch in the UK, Germany, and the rest of HTC's "key" European markets in mid-May, with Vodafone scoring a Europe-wide exclusive for "a couple of weeks." We can't wait to put the Sensation through its paces in a full review, but happily we already scored some hands-on time with a near-final unit. Continue below the break for some early thoughts, full specs, and close-up shots of this superphone in action. Update: We scored some hands-on time with a European model over at HTC's launch event. Check the video here! %Gallery-120883% %Gallery-120885%

  • HTC Flyer hits UK pre-order status at £600, comes with 3G and 32GB of storage

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    04.11.2011

    The one Android tablet that isn't riding NVIDIA's Tegra 2 dual-core chip and Google's Honeycomb iteration (but might still be worth buying) has this weekend become available to pre-order in the UK. The Carphone Warehouse is listing a £600 ($983) fee for owning the HTC Flyer, which is more or less a match for the €669 price Amazon.de is offering to German slate lovers. In exchange for a dozen rose-tinted notes with the Queen's face on them, you'll get a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 display, encased in an aluminum unibody case and powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm chip. HTC's Sense UI has undergone some tablet-friendly tweaks and there is of course that Scribe stylus to flex your artistic muscles with. 3G connectivity and 32GB of storage flesh out the Flyer's hardware offering, while the underlying Android Gingerbread OS is promised to get a Honeycomb-flavored update, most likely some time this summer.

  • HTC Desire S review

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    04.10.2011

    This time last year, HTC had two Android smartphones for the mainstream: the 3.7-inch Desire, outfitted with the latest and greatest, and the 3.2-inch Legend, which was humbler in specs but offered the novelty of an aluminum unibody construction. After seeing that strategy pay off handsomely, the company's come back in 2011 with a similar proposition. The 4-inch Incredible S is now the higher-end device, while the 3.7-inch Desire S is the smaller, aluminum-shelled handset. What's curious this time, however, is that the Desire S has exactly the same 1GHz Snapdragon inside it, the same graphics, same WVGA resolution, and the same 768MB of RAM as the Incredible S. Throw in the fact it comes with Gingerbread preloaded and a few new tweaks to the Sense UI and you've got to wonder if this might not be the more, um, desirable of HTC's new Android duo. Only one way to find out, right? Full review after the break. %Gallery-120779%%Gallery-120778%

  • HTC Incredible S hits Bell for $99

    by 
    Myriam Joire
    Myriam Joire
    04.04.2011

    Dear Canada, today's your lucky day! The HTC Incredible S we just reviewed is now available from Bell for $100 on contract (that's for three years, folks) or $500 unsubsidized, complete with its magical and revolutionary auto-rotating buttons. Not only can you be proud to be Canadian, but you can be the first in North America to enjoy this, well... incredible GSM handset -- at least until Verizon's CDMA cousin, the Incredible 2, joins the party. As a reminder, the Incredible S packs a 4-inch WVGA Super LCD display, the latest 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 768MB RAM, 14.4Mbps HSPA+ support, a front-facing camera, and an 8 megapixel autofocus main camera with dual-LED flash and 720p video capture, all topped with a dash of Froyo. An 8GB microSD card is included, and the Gingerbread update is on its way. So go ahead and hit the source link if you dare. [Thanks, Spencer]

  • More HTC Pyramid pics leak, now with less blurrycam and extra specs

    by 
    Myriam Joire
    Myriam Joire
    03.30.2011

    It looks like the steady stream of leaked HTC Pyramid pictures shows no signs of slowing down. While we've recently seen shots of the back and the front of the device, we're now getting the full monty, courtesy of xda-developers. Thankfully, Mr. Blurrycam toned things down this time around: there's a spread of the phone with its battery cover removed, and screenshots detailing additional specs. The HTC Pyramid is expected to land on T-Mobile at some point with a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 768MB or RAM, a 4.3-inch qHD (960x540) display, font-facing camera, 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, HSPA+, and Android 2.3.2 (Gingerbread) with Sense 3.0. Hit the source link for more photos. [Thanks, egypt and Andrew]

  • HTC's WiFi-only Flyer launching exclusively with Best Buy 'this spring'

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    03.22.2011

    Now that it's received its big US debut courtesy of Sprint and under the name EVO View 4G, HTC's Flyer tablet is free to, um, fly under the radar with a WiFi version this spring, exclusively through Best Buy. Specs on the Flyer are somewhat atypical for the current crop of Android tablets, as it opts for Gingerbread instead of Honeycomb and a 1.5GHz Qualcomm chip intead of the popular Tegra 2 dual-core solution. That, and it's a 7-inch tablet with a capacitive stylus and an aluminum unibody shell. Notably, this WiFi-centric variant looks set to beat the WiMAX-capable EVO View (which Sprint expects in the summer) to market, so we'll be keeping a very curious eye on pricing as and when it is announced. For now, we have a retailer and a rapidly dwindling release window. Oh, and a press release, which you'll find just past the break, augmented with a neat little promo video. [Thanks, Michael]

  • Sprint makes EVO View 4G tablet official: 1.5GHz, WiMAX, 7-inch screen, and a stylus to boot

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    03.22.2011

    Sprint has stopped playing coy about one of the worst-leaked devices in recent memory and has at long last made it official. The EVO View 4G is a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 Android tablet with a 1.5GHz processor, 5 megapixel rear- and 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, a WiMAX radio, and HTC's loving application of Sense for a UI. If all this sounds familiar, it'll be because we're really talking about HTC's Flyer tablet, introduced at last month's MWC, and just like it, the EVO View will also feature the HTC Scribe capacitive stylus. The Evo View 4G will ship with 32GB of storage "this summer." You'll now find the full press release and spec sheet (including a healthy gigabyte of RAM and a 4000mAh battery) after the break, and some preliminary shots below. Full hands-on to come! %Gallery-119505%

  • HTC EVO 3D and EVO View 4G tablet spotted -- on Sprint's website, where else?

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    03.22.2011

    Oh, you know all about them, that much is true, but have you yet seen the HTC EVO 3D and EVO View 4G tablet? No, we hadn't either, until this very moment when another premature information upload on Sprint's website revealed their appearance. Two pre-registration pages exist for the as-yet unannounced products, one for the 1.2GHz dual-core EVO 3D smartphone and one for the 1.5GHz single-core EVO View 4G tablet. Both run Android and are unquestionably set to feature as Sprint's flagship devices in their respective categories. Beyond confirming that the EVO looks like an EVO and noting that the EVO View seems to have a black case rather than the silvery one that the HTC Flyer (the product it's based on) comes with, there's little new here -- you'll have to wait till Sprint finally makes all this hardware official over at CTIA to learn more.

  • HTC Incredible S review

    HTC Incredible S review

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    03.21.2011

    There's a big juicy review for you to dig into, so skip past the break to get started.

  • HTC Incredible S, Desire HD, Desire Z and original Desire will all be eating Gingerbread by the end of June

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    02.27.2011

    When it launched the Incredible S at MWC a couple of weeks ago, HTC promised the new 4-inch device would be quick to get a Gingerbread update and now it's giving us a definitive schedule for it by saying that Android 2.3 will be distributed to its new flagship phone by the end of Q2 2011. We're not sure four months of sitting by the window waiting for the OTA update to float in necessarily matches up to our definition of "quick," but there are much better news for owners of HTC's older devices. The Desire HD and Desire Z -- both released in September 2010 -- will also be leaping away from Froyo and up to Gingerbread and will be joined by the original Desire, which was announced way back at last year's MWC. That handset was essentially HTC's own-brand Nexus One, so we already knew it was capable of running Gingerbread, but it's still rare to see a device go through two significant Android updates (the Desire began life with Android 2.1). All these old Desires are placed on the same update schedule as the Incredible S, whereas the newly announced Desire S and Wildfire S will ship with Gingerbread preloaded. [Thanks, Johannes]

  • HTC Merge official, coming to 'multiple' US carriers this spring

    by 
    Vlad Savov
    Vlad Savov
    02.25.2011

    Boy, we've had so many leaked materials relating to the HTC Merge that we kind of assumed the handset was official by now. Never mind, HTC is taking care of that little oversight now, admittedly much later than we expected the phone to show up, by announcing that the Merge will arrive on multiple US carriers in the spring. It brings Android 2.2, skinned with HTC's Sense UI, a 3.8-in touchscreen plus that slide-out keyboard, and a 5 megaixel autofocus camera with 720p video recording. Not bad, now let's see how those carriers decide to price this mid-range contender.