Over the past few years, we’ve seen HTC outgrow their britches. Once a small(ish) Taiwanese smartphone ODM, High Tech Computer Corp. has become grown to become something of a household name in certain (geeky) circles – the third largest smartphone maker in North America. With many of the coolest smartphones on Planet Earth bearing the HTC brand, HTC is launching a new marketing campaign to make sure everyone knows the company behind the hardware. They recently changed their slogan to “quietly brilliant,” but there’s nothing quiet about this upcoming advertising blitz.
HTC will kick things off by splashing their hottest wares on billboards, bus wraps, online banners, and television commercials in the UK. The campaign will expand to Asia and North America later this week. If you don’t spend your day cooped up in a cave somewhere, chances are good you’ll soon run into one of HTC’s new ads. In fact, you may have already seen HTC’s “You” billboards – the prelude to HTC’s “You don’t need to get a phone, you need a phone that gets you” campaign. That’s apparently just the beginning.
Who knows, the next time you mention “HTC” to your friends, they won’t shame you with looks of confusion.
If you’re thinking your HTC Magic could use a bit of the HTC Hero’s Sense UI, you’re not alone – HTC apparently thinks so too. They’ve released a new ROM update for the Magic, and it’s packing the Sense UI! Finally, Magic owners don’t have to put up with a stock Android homescreen anymore.
You’ll have to provide your Magic’s serial number before HTC will let you download the ROM, so this is definitely a “your mileage may vary” sort of situation. Unwired View says the update is limited to Taiwan handsets for now, so your best bet is to try your luck with the serial number. That also means the T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) myTouch3G in your pocket won’t be getting Sense anytime soon. Sorry, them’s the breaks.
By now, you’ve probably heard of the Motorola Droid and how it’s going to rock Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s socks with all kinds of Android goodness. Turns out, though, the “Droid” brand might represent more than just a model name for the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Sholes/Tao. Word has it that Verizon will stamp their entire Android lineup with the “Droid” brand. The Verizon Motorola Droid will be the first in what Verizon wants to be a long line of high-powered Android phones. The second Verizon Droid? Well, we’re hearing that the HTC Desire will launch as the Verizon Droid Eris.
So, the Motorola Droid might kick off the attack as the “Droid.” And, according to Engadget Mobile, the HTC Desire will go live as the Droid Eris on November 8. The launch of the Eris (Greek mythology’s goddess of strife) should follow hot on the heels of the Droid (Sholes), which is expected to be unveiled on October 28.
The Motorola Sholes and HTC Desire are shaping up to be a pair of seriously cool Android phones. Watch out, it’s the attack of the Droids!
Bet you didn’t know the HTC HD2 supported multi-touch in its Internet Explorer Mobile web browser. Well, consider yourself officially put on notice. The HD2 you see in this here video shows the gorgeously slim, yet incredibly well endowed, getting all multi-touchy with pinch-and-stretch zooming on its 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen!
The multi-touch feature seems to be slightly laggy in the video. It’s not clear if the lag issues will be fixed as HTC puts its finishing touches on the HD2 prior to launch. Still, even with buggy multi-touch, the HD2 is high on our wishlist. We had a chance to put hands on the HD2 earlier this month, and we can say that the HD2 is worth putting up with Windows Mobile 6.5 and a slightly quirky multi-touch browsing feature. With a little luck, we’ll see the HTC HD2 going live on T-Mobile USA shortly after its November 11 launch in Europe.
Canadians, now is the time to head over to Best Buy if you’ve been holding out for a better deal on the HTC Dream. On now until October 29th, Best Buy Canada is offering the Rogers HTC Dream for free on a 3-year contract and minimum $45/month voice/data plan. It’s a shame Rogers (NYSE: RCI) always locks you in to those dastardly 3-year deals… But hey, that’s how they roll.
Of course, when freebies like this start pounding in, it’s a sure sign of stock-clearing and new fantastic stuff to come. Still, the Dream (aka G1 for the US) was/is a solid device and a somewhat nostalgic piece for those that love Android. By the time your 3-year contract comes to an end, you could easily use the Dream as a paperweight. Or doorstop. Your call.
Sure, we knew this is coming and now that we have a single “in the wild” image, the launch date can’t be too far. This Christmas Verizon (NYSE: VZ) will have a compelling Android offering that will include twoMotorola devices, HTC Desire and who knows what else. I’m sure other carriers will spice-up their Android offering in no time, as well. You just gotta follow these things, right?
One of the biggest problems that HTC Hero modders have been coming up against in their quest to create the perfect Hero ROM has been the lack of an available open-source kernel. Without access to the full kernel, there’s only so much that can be hacked/modded. Today, that all changes. HTC has themselves posted up the full HTC Hero kernel (the operating system that runs the Hero) for any developer looking to tweak their own ROM for the Hero.
The release of the Hero kernel should allow the code-monkeys at XDAforums to make more far-reaching modifications to the Hero’s ROM. That means we may soon see the Hero getting more features, more customization (streamlining the Hero’s Sense-based UI) and possibly even more speed through tweaked ROMs. Android devs can get their hands on the HTC Hero kernel – not to mention the HTC Magic, HTC ADP1 and HTC Dream – from HTC’s developer center.
It’s probably only a matter of time before we start seeing some hardcore modded Hero ROMs hitting XDA forums.
Depending on who you ask, the HTC Hero is one of the best Android smartphones available on market. And, new reports have HTC hustling to keep up with high sales demand. According to Digitimes, Jack Tong, HTC’s vice president of Asia Pacific says that high demand for the HTC Hero in Asia and Europe is making for some tight production schedules.
Thanks to its feature-laden spec-sheet and customizable Android UI infused with HTC’s Sense design philosophy, the Hero has commanded the attention of Android users around the world. The Hero, which recently launched in the US with Sprint (NYSE: S), sports a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, 3G data, WiFi, GPS, microSD card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
As one of this year’s most compelling Android devices, HTC expects to continue leading the pack. But, Tong says that “It will probably have to wait until the second half of 2010 to see who has actually won the market.”
Production for the Hero is expected to stay tight through the first quarter of 2010 as demand continues to remain high. It’ll be interesting to see how the launch of the Motorola Droid, Samsung Moment and Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 will affect HTC’s Hero sales.
It seems the HTC Hero won’t be a Sprint (NYSE: S) only thing forever. PhoneArena has been tipped that the Android-powered device will find its way to AT&T (NYSE: T) at some point in early 2010. That means the Christmas season is out, and the carrier will most likely focus on the iPhone sales, and jump into Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s mobile OS next year. And I was wondering what AT&T plans to do regarding Android. Ignoring it forever is not a valid option, we all know that. Anyway, we’ll certainly follow all Android-related announcements and rumors and keep you folks well informed. Stay tuned…
In their push to become a globally recognized brand, HTC broke away from its roots as the ODM smartphone maker known as High Tech Computer Corp. to become the new face of high-end Android and Windows Mobile smartphones. “HTC Innovation” was their slogan, hammering home the idea that HTC smartphones are some of the most innovative options on market. But, as many growing/changing companies choose to do, HTC has changed their slogan. A quick visit to the HTC homepage confirms the new tagline – HTC now wants to be known as “quietly brilliant.”
To make it as official as possible, htc has filed for a USPTO trademark protecting the “quietly brilliant” tagline. The new slogan echos HTC’s position as a formidable smartphone maker that doesn’t necessarily need to make the marketing and publicity grabs that we’re used to seeing from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT). HTC really does seem to keep quiet about their brilliant products.
But, does “quietly brilliant” evoke the same emotion that “HTC Innovation” once did? It’ll be consumers that decide. For the record, as long as HTC’s products continue to impress, we don’t care.
By now, you’ve probably heard of the 
Canadians, now is the time to head over to Best Buy if you’ve been holding out for a better deal on the HTC Dream. On now until October 29th, Best Buy Canada is offering the 
One of the biggest problems that HTC Hero modders have been coming up against in their quest to create the perfect Hero ROM has been the lack of an available open-source kernel. Without access to the full kernel, there’s only so much that can be hacked/modded. Today, that all changes. HTC has themselves posted up the full HTC Hero kernel (the operating system that runs the Hero) for any developer looking to tweak their own ROM for the Hero.
Depending on who you ask, 
