Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
This app just made it super-easy for Android users to keep their passwords secure
As we’ve mentioned in the past, passwords are an enormous pain, especially since keeping them secure these days often means switching them up every couple of months and making them so complex that they’re all but impossible to remember. However,ZDNet directs our attention to a recently released update from password management app LastPass that has just made it much easier for Android users to safely keep all their passwords secure across multiple different applications.
LastPass announced this week that its Android app now has the ability to autofill logins for users’ mobile apps and any webpages accessed through Android’s Chrome mobile browser. LastPass says this capability “brings the same LastPass experience you’re used to on the desktop to all of your mobile apps and Chrome” by being able to “detect that a username and password field are shown, and hover with a prompt for you to select a matching login.”
LastPass essentially generates secure passwords for you and stores them in a vault that it lets you access on multiple devices and platforms. So if you’ve stored your Netflix password in the vault through your PC, you should be able to get LastPass to enter it into your smartphone when you first install the Netflix mobile app. LastPass now has the ability to detect which mobile apps are associated with websites whose passwords you’ve stored in the vault, which means that you won’t have to search around for your password on every new app you’re trying to log into.
You’ll need a device that runs Android 4.1 or higher for LastPass to be compatible with your apps and you’ll need a device that runs Android 4.3 or higher for LastPass to be compatible with Chrome. You’ll also need to subscribe to LastPass’s premium service to take advantage of these new features, although it only costs $12 a year. You can find LastPass on the Google Play store by clicking here.
New poll shows the more education you have, the more you hate the Comcast-TWC merger
Does being more educated actually give you more common sense? A new Reuters poll finds that while Americans as a whole dislike the idea of a merger between Comcastand Time Warner Cable, people who have more education dislike the merger even more than people who are less educated.
In all, Reuters found that 62% of people with at least college degrees thought the merger was a bad idea, versus 57% of people with some college experience and 42% of people who had no college experience. In terms of the entire population, Reuters found that 52% of all Americans thought the Comcast-TWC merger would be bad for consumers while a measly 22% said that it would be good for consumers.
It isn’t at all surprising that most Americans take a dim view of the Comcast-TWC merger, as at least five different customer satisfaction surveys released over the last year have shown that both companies enjoy truly horrendous customer satisfaction ratings.
In fact, its immense popularity with its own customers may be why Comcast has focussed most of its efforts so far not on pitching the merger to the general public but on greasing palms on Capitol Hill. Comcast has already made $2 million in campaign contributions for the 2014 election cycle so far and last year it spent a whopping $19 million on lobbying lawmakers and regulators, so it looks like the cable giant might muscle its merger through even without high public approval.
Google Naps leverages the power of Maps to find a cool place to sleep in
Google Naps is a new service that allows tired users to find a place to sleep nearby by leveraging the power of Google’s Google Maps product. Unfortunately, it’s also a parody service that only leverages the power of Google Maps for some good fun. Google Naps will geo-locate napping spots for you automatically, as it assumes you’re browsing for places to take a nap in. The service will also let you add napping places of your own, so other tired Internet users can easily find them.
Two men from the Netherlands have created the project, TechCrunch reports, and they have posted a message on the website for Google to read.
“Dear Sergey & Larry (and other Googlers,)” they wrote. “ Hello, please don’t be mad this is just a joke, a parody. We don’t mean to damage your brand or anything, we just want to bring a smile on the faces of Google fans. So please don’t take this to court, we only have a few hundred Euros in the bank. And we also don’t want to go to jail because we’re too busy with other things at the moment. But whenever you are in the Netherlands you can have a nap on our couch if you want, just e-mail us. We can also make coffee and bake eggs if you like that (for a small price).”
The fake service is already quite popular with Internet users, with many of them listing napping places of their own, including benches, fields, beds or bridges.
Apple’s ultimate revenge: It just made Microsoft relevant again
“Windows” has one of the five biggest trending topics on Twitter this afternoon. All four of the top iPad apps measured by download volume in America areMicrosoft products right now. Even more astonishingly, Microsoft Word for iPad has become the No. 6 highest grossing iPad app in the United States. In productivity-loving Germany, Word is the third biggest grossing app on iPad and it actually just surpassed the mighty Candy Crush Saga in revenue generation. Even in notoriously unproductive countries such as Italy, Word is a top 10 app.
This is sort of astonishing. It’s not surprising that Microsoft’s Office apps are a hit on the download charts but the revenue success really is remarkable. Word is competing successfully against casino games and puzzle apps that have literally 5 million to 20 million active users in America and millions in markets like Germany and the United Kingdom. Generating this kind of first-day gross performance is a real achievement. Of course, Microsoft’s apps have massive built-in brand recognition and many consumers have been anticipating their arrival for literally years.
Nevertheless, the Redmond crew must be feeling a bittersweet mix of emotions. Back in 2000, Apple was teetering on the edge in insolvency and Microsoft’s grip on global computer software market seemed eternal. Apple then shifted consumers from PCs to smartphones and tablets in just seven years with breakneck speed and now Microsoft’s sudden return to relevance has been achieved by renting space on its ancient rival’s fancy new home turf.
Video: Here are all the best game trailers we saw this week
You’ve probably noticed that ever since the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, BGR has been expanding its gaming coverage rather substantially, from previews andreviews to features and trailers. We’ve decided to combine some of that coverage to bring you all the week’s best game trailers in one convenient location. Here are the five best game trailers for the week of March 23rd.
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Watch Dogs
This week was a busy one, starting off with a new Watch Dogs trailer. Watch Dogshas been at the center of a few controversies since its reveal, including a debate about whether the real-time graphics live up to the original trailers and a devastating delay that pushed the game out of the launch window. Now that Watch Dogs finally has a release date, you can watch this trailer knowing that the game isn’t too far off.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
The Spider-Man property hits its stride two generations ago with the release of Spider-Man 2, one of the best superhero games on any console to this day. Ten (!) years later, several other developers have had their hand at trying to recreate Treyarch’s success, and although many have come close, no one has recaptured the magic of that impossibly fun swinging mechanic. With The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in game, Beenox is going to give it one more shot.
Sonic Lost World
Sonic hasn’t fared nearly as well as other console mascots in recent years. As Mario continues to delight gamers of all ages with each new release, Sonic is lucky to avoid being the butt of countless jokes, so Sega is going to try and take some of that Nintendo juju for itself by infusing the latest Sonic game with a little bit of Zelda. This free DLC is now available on the Wii U eShop.
Tropico 5
SimCity controversy aside, there’s only one city management series that piques my interest: Tropico. Tropico 5 is going to be the first of the series to appear on a Sony platform, making its way to the PlayStation 4 along with the PC, Mac and Xbox 360. If you’ve never played a Tropico game before, just think SimCity on a tropical island with a better sense of humor. Hopefully some of that comes across in the trailer below.
Goat Simulator
I’m just gonna leave this here…although I recommend you watch the Dead Island trailer first if you’ve never seen it before. Man, this game, you guys.
Video: Here are your free PS4, PS3 and Vita games for April
Sony has announced the April Instant Game Collection lineup for PlayStation Plus subscribers on the PlayStation Blog. As with every update since the launch of thePlayStation 4, only one game will be featured for the new generation console, but it’s one that PS4 owners should be excited to get their hands on. Mercenary Kings is the latest 2D send-up from Tribute Games, the team that brought Scott Pilgrim vs. The World to the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2010. Mercenary Kings pays homage to the 2D shooters of old with challenging enemies and customizable weaponry.
PlayStation 3 owners will have access to Batman: Arkham City, Stealth Inc. A Clone in the Dark and Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse. Batman: Arkham City is one of the highest rated games of the last generation, so if you never got around to diving into Arkham, you’re going to want to free up some hard drive space for this one. PS Vitaowners will be able to download Velocity Ultra, a slick top-down shooter, and Pixeljunk Monster Ultimate HD, the cutest tower defense game you’ve ever seen. Check out the video below to see the games in action.
Microsoft is done searching through your email to find stolen property
As the world becomes increasingly hostile toward any violation or even perceived violation of privacy, Microsoft has backtracked on one of its more controversial decisions. Brad Smith, Executive Vice President of Legal & Corporate Affairs, took to theMicrosoft on the Issues blog on Friday to announce that the company will no longer be inspecting the private information of any users reported trafficking in Microsoft’s intellectual or physical property. That information will instead be turned over the authorities for further investigation.
“It’s always uncomfortable to listen to criticism,” writes Smith. “But if one can step back a bit, it’s often thought-provoking and even helpful. That was definitely the case for us over the past week. Although our terms of service, like those of others in our industry, allowed us to access lawfully the account in this case, the circumstances raised legitimate questions about the privacy interests of our customers.”
The “post-Snowden era,” as Smith refers to it, has given new meaning to customer privacy. Microsoft wants to retain the trust of its users, and one way to do that is to give up access to content that is within its legal rights to obtain, even if that means complicating the process by calling upon the legal system to interject. The new policy is effective immediately — you should see the changes reflected in the terms of service in the coming months.
Video: Facebook is using laser-shooting drones to spread Internet access
The company will use a new technology called free-space optics (FSO) to connect low-orbit satellites with one another to deliver Internet connections in remote areas where regular Internet deployment is otherwise difficult. These laser-based technology has apparently been designed to offer fiber optics-like data connections.
The drones would fly well above commercial airspace at 20 kilometers above Earth (or about 65,000 feet) relying on solar power during the day and on internal batteries at night to stay up in the air for longer periods of time. From there the drones would beam down Internet signals at all times as they roam above roughly the same suburban region. In lower density areas, low-Earth orbit and geosynchronous satellites will beam down Internet to the ground.
Earlier this year, Facebook was rumored to have acquired Titan Aerospace, creators of solar drones capable of continuously flying above earth, in order to use the devices for its Internet.org project. However, Internet.org did not mention Titan Aerospace when announcing the companies it’s working with on this FSO drone/satellite project.
Instead, the organization said that it added “some of the world’s top experts on aerospace technology,” including a five-member team from Ascenta that has combined more than 100 years of experience in the aerospace industry, and former employees from organizations including NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Ames Research Center and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.
Internet.org combines the efforts of Facebook, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung and others to bring Internet to other regions of the world that lack Internet access. A video explaining the technologies mentioned above follows below.
Scientists find bats can call dibs on their food, warn rival bats to stay away
It turns out we’re more like bats that we ever imagined, for just as we can call dibs on the last slice of pizza, bats can call dibs on the bugs they’re about to eat. MDConnectsreports that biologists at the University of Maryland have discovered that male brown bats can use a special sound known as a ”frequency-modulated bout” (FMB) that lets nearby bats know that they’ve put in a claim on a particular piece of food and thus letting them know to stay away. Apparently this ultrasonic call is produced exclusively by flying male brown bats while foraging as the scientists found female brown bats did not emit any such sounds.
“When two males flew together in a trial, it was not uncommon for each bat to emit FMBs,” researcher Genevieve Spanjer Wright tells MDConnects. “We found that the bat emitting the greatest number of FMBs was more likely to capture the mealworm.”
This is a remarkably civilized way of divvying up food for a creature that has traditionally had a reputation for being dark and sinister. If only we could install a similar mechanism within humans during Black Friday shopping to keep them from trampling over one another at Wal-Mart.
The world’s sweetest ATM dispenses cupcakes, not cash
Is a 3D chocolate printer too rich for your blood? If so then Sprinkles Cupcakes has a slightly cheaper way to satisfy your sweet tooth with technology. Per AdWeek, it seems that Sprinkles has launched a Cupcake ATM in New York City that will dispense boxed cupcakes to you for $4.25 a pop. The ATM can hold an impressive 760 cupcakes at one time and features several popular flavors including red velvet, Cuban coffee, banana dark chocolate and cinnamon sugar, AdWeek says. For Sprinkles’ sake, however, we hope that the company has upgraded its Cupcake ATMs around the country from Windows XP, or else it could see hackers easily swiping all of its delicious treats once Microsoft ends support for the platform next month.
Teen discovers that simply changing fonts can save tons of money on printer ink
After collecting random handout samples from teachers and counting how often the most common characters were used in different typefaces, 14-year-old Suvir Mirchandani measured how much ink is used for each letter. “Next he enlarged the letters, printed them and cut them out on cardstock paper to weigh them to verify his findings. He did three trials for each letter, graphing the ink usage for each font,” the publication writes.
Following his research, he concluded that his school district could reduce ink consumption by 24% and save $21,000 each year.
Suvir published his findings in Journal for Emerging Investigators (JEI,) a publication founded by Harvard grad students in 2011 that offers means for middle school and high school students to showcase their work.
“We were so impressed. We really could really see the real-world application in Suvir’s paper,” Sarah Fankhauser, one of JEI’s founders said. JEI then challenged Suvir to apply his project to the federal government. After repeating his tests, the teenager found that switching to Garamond for all printing, the federal government could save almost 30%, or nearly $136 million each year. On top of that, an additional $234 million could be saved if state governments also switched fonts.
However, the government doesn’t seem that eager to change typefaces, even though it found Suvir’s work “remarkable.” Instead, the Government Printing Office will focus on printing fewer documents each year and using recycled paper.
Google is tracking some employees for 100 years just to monitor their happiness
Google is planning to “spy” on its employees for the next 100 years in order to find the secret recipe of keeping them happy and more engaged for a longer period of time, Google’s Senior Vice President of People Operations Laszlo Bock revealed in Harvard Business Review.
Inspired by the Framingham Heart Study started 65 years ago in Massachusetts with more than 5,000 people, Google has started its own gDNA study, a “major long-term study aimed at understanding work,” a very important element of life.
The company has already randomly selected over 4,000 employees in its study, although participation is optional and confidential according to the exec. Each person completes two in-depth surveys each year, which cover “traits that are static, like personality; characteristics that change, like attitudes about culture, work projects, and co-workers; and how Googlers fit into the web of relationships around all of us.” Google then looks at “how all these factors interact, as well as with biographical characteristics like tenure, role and performance.”
In the two years since gDNA began, the company learned that two out of three Google employees still think of work when at home, while only 31% of them are able to disconnect work life and home life. The company has also learned that half of the former group would prefer to leave work behind when they leave the office instead of obsessing about it after hours.
To remedy this, Google ran an experiment for its Irish employees called “Dublin Goes Dark” to see whether it could help them disconnect from work. The program asked employees to drop their work-related mobile devices at the front desk before going home.
“Googlers reported blissful, stressless evenings,” Brock wrote of the experiment’s results. “Similarly, nudging [employees] to ignore off-hour emails and use all their vacation days might improve well-being over time. The long-term nature of these questions suggests that the real value of gDNA will take years to realize.”
Considering the huge amount of personal data from customers that Google successfully juggles with to make money each quarter, a program that looks into how work affects life seems to be a perfect fit for a company that’s more than used to analyzing data.
5 more gorgeous iPhone apps you really need to check out right now
Part of our job here at BGR is to try to separate the great apps from the… not so great apps. We recently put together a collection of five fantastic apps that have beautiful designs and smart features, and now we’re continuing with five more great apps.
We try to pick apps from a wide range of categories for each post, and we’ve got a few terrific iPhone apps to show you this time around. As always, feel free to let us know about your favorite beautifully designed apps in the comments section here, or let me know on Twitter.
Wake Alarm Clock
Sometimes a certain type of app gets so popular that it becomes practically impossible to find great options because it involves sifting through so many low-quality apps.
This is definitely the case with alarms — but we’ve done the heavy lifting for you.
Wake Alarm Clock by Tiny Hearts Limited casts aside all of the needless functions that clutter many alarm apps, instead offering a simple solution to help you with one of the most important things you do each day: Wake up.
Featuring a sleek, minimalistic design, Wake Alarm Clock allows users to choose from a small collection of alarm sounds or to pick from their iTunes libraries. The controls are unique and impressive, and it also lets users set new alarms simply by speaking.
Even more important, especially if you’re not a morning person, are the three different alarm styles the app supports:
- SLAP & FLIP: Equipped with a virtual Snooze Button and perfect for anyone craving a few extra moments of sleep.
- SHAKE: Ideal for deep sleepers who need more than a traditional alarm clock to wake them from their stupor.
- SWIPE: A simple option for dreamers who like to keep things basic.
Wake Alarm Clock is a $1.99 download in Apple’s App Store, which is more than fair for a terrific app that you’ll use every day
Crossfader
Some might say that the advent of digital music has rendered DJing a far simpler skill than it once was. Those people will find that their opinions are definitely reinforced by this nifty new iPhone app.
Crossfader by DJZ has a very short description on the App Store:
Create instant mashups and DJ flawlessly.
Remix and share with a global remix community.+ Remix classic tunes with hot new electronic music.
+ Make a DJ Face and connect with DJs around the world.
+ The easiest DJing tool ever — move your phone to mix!
What that brief text fails to convey, however, is how awesome the interface is on this fun app that can make anyone feel like a DJ.
Crossfader uses a visual interface coupled with controls based on motion. Two songs are played simultaneously, perhaps the beat from one and vocals and instrumentation from another, and they are represented by album covers shown side by side. If an iPhone is held level to the floor, both songs will play at the same volume. Tilt the phone to one side, however, and the volume of the track on that side will increase as the album cover gets bigger.
There are plenty of songs to choose from and the app has social elements as well. It’s much more fun than a brief description will ever be able to explain, so your best bet is tohead to the App Store to download this great free app now.
Checkmark 2
As has been the case since the dawn of the App Store, Apple’s mobile software portal is packed full of to-do and list apps. Maybe it’s because they’re so easy to make.
But just as poker is a game that is simple to learn but can take a lifetime to master, to-do apps are easy to churn out but surprisingly difficult to make well.
Snowman, it turns out, is one developer that has managed to make them well.
Checkmark 2 is a to-do and list app that strikes a wonderful balance between being full-featured while maintaining a certain minimalism and simplicity that similar apps lack. It includes all of the features that one might expect from a premium list app, but the interface is designed in such a way that they’re not overbearing.
Included in Checkmark 2 are standard lists and to-dos, location-based reminders, time-based reminders, custom alerts, iCloud sync and plenty more.
The app is currently on sale for half off, which makes it a $2.99 download in the iOS App Store.
Trunx
Some might consider Trunx the app and service that Apple’s iPhone camera and Photo Stream should be.
From the app’s description:
Trunx is an all-in-one photo app that lets you snap, organize and store in the cloud forever. Relive your memories like never before while freeing up valuable storage on your devices.NEW FEATURE – SHAREDPIX! SharedPix lets you create shared albums and collaborate with friends and family. Start an album, add photos and then invite others to join in.Experience photos in a new way with Trunx. Trunx creates a whole new photography experience by merging audio recording with pictures, creating a unique and incredible way to tell your life story. The Trunx EchoPix feature allows you to take and capture life moments in pictures while simultaneously recording sounds from that moment in time.
Photos are stored securely on Trunx’s servers and can be deleted from your iPhone to free up valuable space. They’re also presented in a great timeline interface that lets you scroll through virtual stacks of photos.
The Trunx app is free in Apple’s App Store. There’s also a promo right now that offers free lifetime unlimited online storage for any and all photos uploaded before May 1st. Of note, there is a desktop uploader as well, so you can upload all of your old photos with ease.
FridgePoems
Last up, we have a very fun little app that takes a great idea and makes it beautiful.
Remember those magnetic poetry kits that were packed full of words you could arrange on a refrigerator to create poems?
FridgePoems is that, but for 2014.
Using a terrific, brightly colored interface and word bundles that can be expanded, FridgePoem encourages users to create a new poem every day. It then saves each poem so users can look back at their masterful prose forever.From the app’s description:
For 100′s of years, people with bad backs have not been able to write beautiful poetry on-the-go because they couldn’t carry a fridge with them. But now they can!With FridgePoems you can write beautiful poetry whenever you feel the urge to write a poem with not-always-correct grammar.With “Poem of the day”, you get a new set of words, a beautiful fridge and wallpaper combination each day. Challenge your friends, who can write the best poem? You have the exact same words to play with. And on special holidays, you might get a surprise…There are even more Word Packs to unlock, so let the poetry flow. Take a snapshot, save the poems to your gallery, send them to your friends or post them directly on your Facebook timeline.You can even customise the fridge and wallpaper, there is a selection of various fridges, colours and wallpapers to choose from.
HTC One (M8) review: The smartphone that changes everything… again
Actually, it might still have been the best all-around Android phone in the world until about 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday.
With all that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the new HTC One (M8) smartphone to find out exactly what makes it the best Android phone in the world. And just as important, of course, is the question of whether or not being the best will draw away enough Samsung and Apple customers to finally help HTC get back on track.
First things first: What, exactly, is the name of this fantastic new phone?
Good question.
On the packaging, HTC’s brand new flagship smartphone is called the “HTC One.” Of course, there is already an HTC One and for the time being, it’s still available on store shelves. Awkward indeed.
To differentiate the new One from the old One, HTC is referring to the just-announced model as the all new HTC One or the HTC One (M8). M8, by the way, might refer to the fact that this is the eight flagship smartphone that HTC has launched. Last year’s HTC One model, as you might have guessed, has been referred to as the M7.
It’s all a bit confusing and weird, especially to someone with a marketing background like myself. But over time it shouldn’t matter as long as HTC picks one single name to brand the device with and remains consistent across all marketing and advertising.
There will undoubtedly be an initial chorus of whiny blog posts complaining about the confusion surrounding the phone’s name, and some of them will make good points. But in the long run, it really won’t matter much.
Now, one of the most important things to be aware of from the get-go with the new HTC One is that looks can be deceiving.
From afar, the M8 looks very similar to last year’s One. Having the same name certainly doesn’t help matters either. But the new HTC One is not a minor, iterative update. It’s not a bunch of newer components stuffed into the same case. It is a brand new smartphone from top to bottom, inside and out.
Starting with the housing, HTC completely redesigned the device’s case. It looks similar from afar but I assure you, there are plenty of important differences.
First, there is much more metal. Last year’s HTC One case was 70% metal, with plastic around the outer edges of the device and on the back where the antennas were. This year’s model, however, is 90% metal.
The aluminum on the back of the new HTC One wraps around to the sides and bottom now, with the only remaining plastic found in inserts on the back and top of the phone. The face of the phone is mostly glass, as it was before, but it’s actually quite different on the M8 compared to the M7.
My favorite little design element from last year’s One — the glass display cover that spilled over the sides of the phone and blended in with the chamfered bezel — is gone on the new model. At first, I was a bit sad to lose this fantastic detail. The new design is still quite slick though, with a raised perimeter around the glass and metal inserts that transitions down into a narrower chamfered bezel that is still polished.
It’s not quite as sleek as the old design, but the removal of the plastic surrounding the case makes up for it.
The display itself is fantastic, as was the case with the original HTC One.
HTC’s M8 uses a Super LCD 3 panel that is slightly larger than the screen on last year’s model, having been bumped up to 5 inches from 4.7 inches. It’s still the same 1080p full HD resolution so the pixels are a bit more spread out, but the difference really isn’t discernible to the naked eye. Text and graphics are smooth, colors are rich and the contrast is impressive.
The new HTC One’s display can go toe to toe with any other smartphone on the market.
Metal inserts above and below the glass screen are home to HTC’s signature BoomSound speakers. As is the case with the rest of the phone, however, looks can be deceiving and they’re not the same.
HTC’s BoomSound system consists of speakers, amplifiers, audio tuning and hollow chambers behind the micro-drilled holes you see on the face of the phone. These chambers help amplify the sound from the speakers, and on the new HTC One they’re 20% larger than they were on the old One. HTC also used new and improved speakers and amps on the new model.
The result is sound that’s deeper, 25% louder, and even a bit clearer (at least to my ear) than it was on last year’s HTC One. I should also note that sound seems to be improved on voice calls, and through the audio jack as well thanks to another new amp.
Next to the micro-drilled speaker holes in the top metal insert sits a space for sensors and the phone’s front-facing camera. Since “selfies” are so popular these days, HTC’s new One includes a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with a wide-angle lens so more friends can fit in each frame.
A volume rocker sits on the right edge of the phone next to a microSD card slot. You read that right — the lack of expandable storage was a big complaint among users last year, so the new One includes microSDXC support for up to 128GB of storage in addition to the 16GB or 32GB available out of the box.
The left edge of the phone includes a nanoSIM slot while the bottom is home to a microUSB port and a headphone jack. The top edge of the phone has a power/lock button and a hidden infrared port.
Around back, HTC’s logo can be seen at the center of the case with plastic strips above and below for antennas. There is also a secondary microphone that captures audio while recording movies, as well as a dual-LED flash and two camera lenses that comprise HTC’s new “Duo Camera.”
HTC is not worried about the megapixel race. Instead, the company stuck with its 4-megapixel “UltraPixel” technology and focused on two things: Improving the quality of the images captured, rather than the size, and adding unique new features to the camera experience.
This is a fine strategy, in theory. In practice, the results are somewhat mixed.
On the “adding unique new features” front, HTC absolutely succeeded. Rumors suggested that HTC’s new One included dual rear cameras in order to facilitate 3D photo and video capture, but it turns out that’s not true at all. Instead, the second smaller lens is used to measure depth, and the related information allows the phone to apply several very nifty photo effects after the fact.
While viewing photos in the gallery or in the camera app after an image is captured, a simple tap on the edit button reveals several great options that I really enjoyed using.
Included among the phone’s photo effects are “UFocus,” which acts like a Lytro camera and lets you readjust the focus in an image by tapping any point on the screen; “Foregrounder,” which automatically adds a bokeh effect, blurring the background and making the photo look like it was captured by a DSLR camera; “Dimension Plus,” which creates a 3D effect and lets you pan around by tilting the phone in different directions; and “Touch Up,” which allows you to make quick edits to things like lighting on a face or red eye removal.
Image quality, sadly, is another matter entirely.
In meetings, HTC said that it spent a great deal of time working on improving the quality of the camera so photos would come out better in all lighting conditions. I didn’t find that to be the case in my testing.
Pictures taken with the first HTC One were pretty good, but users encountered issues both in dim lighting and in very bright light. With the new model, I still find colors to be washed out when taking pictures in many lighting scenarios and the photos definitely don’t pop like they do with leading cameras, such as the ones on the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 5s.
Click to view unedited image at full size
Click to view unedited image at full size
Some of these issues are here to stay, while others may be addressed in future software updates.
Staples from the original HTC One’s camera tool belt are also on board in new and improved fashion. This includes Zoe, which combines still images and video, and the highlight function that automatically combines photos and videos, adds effects and music, and creates a highlight reel.
Of note, HTC also has a new Zoe application that allows friends to collaborate and edit each other’s Zoe movies. So, if you and a friend both go to the same party and take pictures, you can upload your Zoe reels and allow your friend to add pictures of some things you might have missed.
Overall, there is simply no mass-market Android phone that even approaches the new HTC One in terms of design and build quality.
The fit and finish are absolutely impeccable. The materials are perfect, the brushed finish on the gunmetal version I received to review is stunning, the feel of the phone is phenomenal, and the lines are gorgeous and deliberate.
If I was a designer at one of HTC’s rivals, I would be embarrassed right now. The HTC One (M8) is everything a smartphone should be.
Moving deeper inside the new One, HTC has redesigned just about every last pixel in its latest version of Sense. And as is the case with the phone’s housing, everything was changed for the better.
In keeping with the latest trends in iOS and other custom Android software, Sense 6 is much more minimalistic than earlier versions, and it also makes use of nice bright colors that vary depending on which app you’re in. Unlike iOS though, Sense 6 supports themes so you can change the color palette to suit your preference.
Fonts have been changed across the device, while gradients and textures have been flattened and made solid. The result is a much more modern look throughout the entire operating system.
The most pronounced design changes will be found in Sense 6′s key features, such as BlinkFeed and the camera app.
Beginning with the former, BlinkFeed has been completely redesigned in Sense 6 to offer both a better look and a simplified experience. The app still pulls in content from various news services, blogs and social networks, but there are a few additional features as well.
For one thing, adding content is easier since everything is done by search. BlinkFeed is also a bit smarter about which content is displayed now — for example, it will give preference to Facebook content with more “likes.”
BlinkFeed will also create custom “channels” automatically. For example, users can search for “tech” and BlinkFeed will present them with the option to add a special tech channel that pulls in technology news from AP and other sources, tech-heavy Twitter content and so on.
Perhaps best of all, HTC has begun to add intelligent features to Sense 6 that use location, time and other context to present the user with relevant information even before he or she requests it. So, for example, HTC’s Foursquare integration will allow the phone to pop up information about a restaurant the user is passing if it’s lunchtime and the user’s friends have recommended it in the past.
Another key partnership has been made with FitBit, which has added support for the M8′s in-built “sensor hub” to its step-tracking app. Like the M7 motion coprocessor in Apple’s iPhone 5s, the new HTC One includes sensors that track movements in order to count steps.
But the sensor hub is about more than just step counting.
One of my favorite simple new HTC One (M8) features is called “Motion Launch,” and it is made possible by HTC’s new sensors. This feature allows the user to pick up his or her phone with the display off and perform one of several tap, swipe or motion gestures to perform specific commands.
- Picking up the phone in portrait orientation and tapping twice on the display will turn the screen on.
- Swiping from left to right will turn the screen on and go open BlinkFeed.
- Swiping from right to left will open the main home screen.
- Swiping from the bottom up will open whatever screen the phone was on when it went to sleep.
- Swiping the top down will open voice dialing.
- Picking up the phone in landscape orientation and pressing the volume button will open the camera app.
- Picking up the phone while it’s ringing and putting it to the side of your head will answer the call.
After you set up the phone for the first time, tips pop up periodically to teach you various supported gestures.
Also new in the M8′s software is the fact that four of its core apps — BlinkFeed, Zoe, Gallery and HTC TV — are now updatable in the Google Play store. HTC’s newfound commitment to updating Android versions in a more timely fashion extends to apps as well, and funneling updates through the Play store means these four key apps can be updated frequently without the need to use the system update mechanism (and therefore deal with carriers).
And to briefly mention the HTC TV app, which was one of my favorite things about the original One, the new version is better in nearly every way. For a quick refresher, HTC TV combines smart TV show and movie recommendations with an on-screen guide and a universal remote function that utilizes the phone’s in-built infrared blaster to control every television and pay TV box in your house.
Now called “Sense TV,” the interface has been redesigned to match the rest of Sense and the app now integrates live sports scores, so you can keep tabs on all your favorite teams. There are new social sharing features, as well. I have noticed that the app now seems to take a bit longer to load data though, which can get a bit annoying. Hopefully things speed up in a future update.
The last big software change I’ll draw attention to is one that I absolutely love: Extreme power saving mode.
It was painfully ironic that on the very day I met with HTC to pick up my M8 review unit, I left my iPhone charger at home and didn’t have one in my office. My phone’s battery was about 75% full when I left but after running around all morning, I was under 20% by mid-afternoon.
I had no choice but to run to Best Buy and spend $30 on a new charger.
Like Samsung’s “ultra power saving mode,” extreme power saving mode is a drastic measure on the M8 that can be taken when you need to squeeze as much as possible out of your battery. Enabling this mode lowers the brightness of the display and presents a special screen that provides access only to voice calling, texting and email, though automatic email downloading is turned off.
Everything else, including background data, is disabled.
How good is extreme power saving mode? According to HTC, a 5% charge will last 15 hours and a 100% will last a ridiculous two weeks.
Extreme power saving mode can be enabled manually, and the phone can also be set to automatically switch over when its remaining charge reaches 20%, 10% or 5%.
Even without this special mode, the new One offers impressive battery life that easily carried me through a full day of use with plenty of charge left the next morning when I woke up. According to HTC, the new model lasts about 40% longer on a charge than last year’s One. It also charges up faster thanks to Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 technology.
The software on last year’s HTC One wasn’t bad at all, but Sense 6 instantly makes older versions feel old and dated. It’s not quite as drastic a jump as we saw from iOS 6 to iOS 7, but it’s in the same vein — once you use Sense 6, you really don’t want to go back to earlier versions.
Of note, Sense 6 will be coming to older HTC devices like the M7 and the One max as an update, and it will include all of the new features seen on the M8 that are not hardware dependant.
My review of the first-generation HTC One was titled “the smartphone that changes everything,” and it was quite apropos at the time. The One was easily the closest thing we had ever seen at the time to a no-compromise smartphone.
The new HTC One (M8) changes everything again.
Don’t let the similar appearance fool you — everything about the M8 is new. From the design, to the materials, to the internal components and the software… it’s all new and it’s all remarkably impressive. And the new gunmetal gray color with a brushed finish is absolutely stunning, as is the amber gold color HTC introduced on the M8.
The new Sense 6 software atop Android 4.4 KitKat is sleek and elegant, kept humming by a quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset clocked at 2.5GHz in Asia and 2.3GHz elsewhere, as well as 2GB of DDR2 RAM. And while the phone’s design will be the star of the show for many users, the M8 is no slouch when it comes to performance. The AnTuTu benchmark tests I ran on my 2.3GHz review unit yielded a top score of 30,921, placing it behind only the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (35,165), Sony Xperia Z Ultra (34,363), Sony Xperia Z1 (32,984) and LG G2 (32,917) among widely-available Android phones.
HTC’s Duo Camera introduces several great new features and the M8′s camera software is better than ever, but the quality of photos captured by the handset’s UltraPixel camera remains a weak spot on HTC’s flagship phone. Washed out colors remain my largest gripe, though the clarity of photos captured by the One also lags top rival devices, and photos often have an abundance of noise.
Even still, the new HTC One is the best all around Android smartphone the world has ever seen.
It’s beautiful. It’s different. It’s better.
HTC’s marketing efforts with the new HTC One will rely not on a massive advertising budget, iPhone-bashing or Iron Man. Instead, they will rely largely on you. Yes, you.
The scrappy Taiwan-based smartphone maker does not have the budget of a Samsung or an Apple. We know this. HTC has had some big missteps in the recent past, but it now knows this as well.
What HTC does have, though, is a gorgeous new flagship phone that it believes will attract enthusiastic, discerning customers. Customers who are smart and savvy, and who are trend-setters. Customers who will influence their friends and family when it comes time for them to make new purchases.
This is a risky play, of course — especially since the launch of HTC’s new flagship smartphone comes just weeks ahead of Samsung’s Galaxy S5 release. The timing could be devastating considering the shadow that Samsung’s multi-billion dollar Galaxy S5 marketing campaigns will cast, but HTC doesn’t have much of a choice here.
But this is a smartphone that people will buy not just because a tidal wave of TV commercials, billboards and online ads told them to. This is a smartphone people will buy because they love it.
They will take it home and adore it, and they will speak of it enthusiastically at every opportunity. The friends and family they show it off to will be impressed, and those in the market for a new smartphone will likely at least consider the new One as a result.
The HTC One (M8) will go on sale in the U.S. and abroad today, March 25th, the very same day it was announced, at 1:00 p.m. It will be available in three colors — the gorgeous “gunmetal gray” seen in most of the pictures above, as well as “glacial silver” and “amber gold” — and will start at $199 on contract for the 16GB model.
Launching alongside the M8 are a handful of accessories, highlighted by HTC’s new “Dot View” cases. These nifty new cases feature a cover with a dot-matrix pattern that allows the time and weather to show through while the cover is flipped closed. Notifications will be displayed through the cover as well, and firm swipe gestures are also registered so users can answer or reject calls without flipping the case open.
Verizon Wireless was very late to the game with last year’s One, but it won’t make the same mistake twice. Instead, the nation’s top wireless carrier has managed to score a brief U.S. exclusive of sorts.
At launch, Verizon’s retail stores will be the only carrier stores to stock and sell the M8, though it will be available from the top-three major wireless carriers online beginning Tuesday. Then, AT&T and Sprint will start selling the phone in stores as well beginning April 10th. T-Mobile plans to launch the phone online and in stores sometime next month.
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