HTC CEO sees innovative new smartphones making up for setbacks

HTC settled its patent dispute with Apple last year, but the Taiwanese smartphone and tablet manufacturer still has to overcome marketing hurdles in 2013, according to its CEO.

"Our competitors were too strong and very resourceful, pouring in lots of money into marketing," HTC CEO Peter Chou told the Wall Street Journal.

"We haven't done enough on the marketing front."

While Chou didn't name Apple and Samsung specifically, the two companies have eaten into HTC's global market share and have a combined 106 percent of the smartphone profits.

The increase in iPhone and Galaxy S3 sales has been to the detriment of HTC's Android and Windows Phone-based devices.

The company's year-over-year marketshare slipped from 2.7 percent to 2.2 percent for the third quarter, according to market research firm Gartner.

Stuck in the middle is Chou

While Apple and Samsung are selling high-end devices in conjunction with hefty marketing, Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE are having success with budget smartphones.

Many analysts believe that this leaves HTC stuck in the middle.

Chou, who co-founded HTC in 1997, doesn't agree. Instead, he sees a better 2013 for his company, chiefly because of innovation.

"Although we don't have as much money to counter [Samsung and Apple], the most important thing is to have unique products that appeal to consumers."

A luck this year?

Chou's company is on the record as having said that its patent settlement with Apple will bring about better phones from the company.

Likewise, HTC may get the boost it needs from its latest line of smartphones, including the HTC One X+, 8X and 8S.

The first sign of whether or not HTC is still in trouble may come Monday, when HTC is supposed to release its preliminary fourth-quarter results.

10 percent of Android devices have gobbled up Jelly Bean

Google released its latest set of Android usage statistics on Friday, revealing that Jelly Bean (Android 4.1 and 4.2) is now on 10.2 percent of Android devices.

The statistics were calculated by examining the devices that accessed the Google Play store over a 14-day period ending Jan. 3.

In addition to Jelly Bean's 10.2 percent, Ice Cream Sandwich has 29.1 percent, Honeycomb has 1.5 percent, and Gingerbread has 47.6 percent.

Earlier versions of Android, including Froyo, Eclair and Donut, still account collectively for 11.6 percent of Android devices.

Jelly Bean growing faster than ICS

Android dominated the smartphone market throughout 2012, both in the U.S. and internationally.

The Google OS's expanding hold on the market may help explain why Jelly Bean has been adopted more quickly than Ice Cream Sandwich was.

Jelly Bean gained 10 percent of the market share in the almost six months since its release in July, while after almost eight months Ice Cream Sandwich was still on just 7.1 percent of devices.

As The Verge pointed out on Friday, Jelly Bean's faster adoption rate may also be related to the relatively minor changes it made to Ice Cream Sandwich, which was a more drastic update over its predecessors.

In comparison with the shift to Ice Cream Sandwich, upgrading to Jelly Bean is relatively painless.

Nevertheless, like Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich adoption is up significantly overall, with the older Gingerbread finally dropping below 50 percent of the total Android market.

Via The Verge

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review

To say that Amazon has been the single most powerful catalyst in the e-book revolution would not be an exaggeration. Before the introduction of the Kindle, many who adored the printed page universally scoffed at e-book readers, claiming that such devices would never replace the traditional reading experience.

But Amazon's hardware has been a real game changer, enough to force even the most ardent ebook critic to admit that Amazon's take was genuinely impressive, perhaps begrudgingly.

Yet in the recent years, the competition has become quite stiff. Mostly in the form of Apple's iPad, which offered the same functionality and form factor, but the ability to do much more. Even Amazon itself has tried producing a similar "do everything" machine, the Kindle Fire HD, which relies upon the Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

But what about those who have no need or desire to watch movies, listen to their MP3 collection, and play games? What about those who just want to snuggle up with a good book, even if its just ultimately ones and zeroes?

Leave it to Amazon to change the game again. The latest device in the traditional Kindle line, the Kindle Paperwhite, is easily its best effort yet. Five years of refinements and improvements are clearly evident, resulting in what might be the finest pure ereader in the market today, even if it's not 100% perfect.

It comes in at just £109, which is again an impressive price for some top-end kit; yes, it's pricey compared to some e-readers, but there's no doubt this is one of the best.

Design

First impressions of the any new piece of hardware, while not indicative of the overall experience in the end, will contribute significantly towards toward one's overall opinion. We're happy to report that it's all smiles when one unboxes and handles their Paperwhite for the very first time.

The WiFi only unit, which we're reviewing here, weighs just 213 grams and measures 16.9 cm x 11.7 cm x 0.91 cm, so it's a bit thinner than the previous Kindle model, the Kindle Touch. On a purely visual level, the Paperwhite appears to have quietly take design cues from both its predecessor and its Android driven cousin, the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, mostly due to its sleeker, simpler profile.

Indeed, it's by far the best looking traditional Kindle we've ever designed. Even those who have been turned off by previous models should have very little to complain about here. The slightly garish physical keyboard from earlier modes has become a thing of the past. It also drops the rather subpar cursor pad from previous generations as well.

Instead, the front of the device sports a smooth, black matte plastic bezel, with just the Kindle name on the bottom, in white. The edges are comfortably rounded, which is nice since your hands will be rubbing against them quite a bit. Due to its low profile on all counts, the Paperwhite is a joy to behold, and seems expertly designed to fit in one hand.

Again, the device is effortless to hold, thanks to a rubberized plastic coating. It allows for easy gripping and simply cannot slip out of one's hand, no matter how sweaty your grip becomes. There's an immediate impression that the Paperwhite is a device that's suitable, and comfortable, for all situations.

Amazon has produced protective cases for the Paperwhite, but it would be purely for decoration with this latest Kindle. The overall construction is rock solid and withstood quite the pounding, while showing zero wear and tear in the end.

Proposed Android mascots give glimpse into terrifying parallel universe

When Googler Dan Morrill lacked icons for his internal Android presentation before the OS was announced in 2007, he whipped up four little bots to spice things up.

His four mascots, made in Inkscape, provide a little look at what could have been had Google gone with these scary ADHD Teletubby Hypno-droids instead of the cool, calm Droid we know and love today.

The story's quite sweet, posted by Morrill himself on Google+. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll let him begin.

Story time

"In the before time, in the long long ago (which is to say, 2007), Android had not yet launched; publicly, it was all rumors. We were working harder than you could possibly imagine on the initial announcement on 5 November and the SDK launch a week later.

"My job was developer relations, but I took a much-needed break of a couple hours and spent some quality time with Inkscape to create these... things.

"See, we were prepping for an internal developer launch (meaning, we were going to ask Googlers to start fooling with the APIs and give us early feedback), and I had no eye candy for the slides we were putting together. Hence these guys.

"They had a brief flurry of minor popularity amongst the team - enough to pick up the nickname "Dandroids", anyway.

"But then Irina Blok (as I recall) presented her work: the bugdroid we all know and love. Funny how the professional work is of vastly higher quality than the amateur, isn't it? ;) Even so, these guys have the distinction of being the first proposed mascots for Android (that I'm aware of, at least.)"

From Google+

ZTE P945 set to pack a monster 5.7-inch display

The ZTE P945 is set to be another high-end device from the Chinese manufacturer keen to establish itself as a proper smartphone firm and not a budget-oriented company.

Details and an image of the P945 popped up on the Evleaks Twitter feed, revealing a super-sized handset sporting a 5.7-inch 720p display, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 8MP camera and 3000mAh battery.

We can't be sure this is an official phone, but Evleaks has a relatively strong track record when it comes to uncovering handsets.

CES 2013 unveiling?

It's thought that the ZTE P945 will be unveiled alongside the ZTE Grand S (which is probably the international variant of the already announced Nubia Z5) at CES 2013 next week.

In the image of the P945 you'll see China Mobile's logo on the back of the handset, with China expected to be the first region to get the handset sometime in the second quarter of this year.

As for the rest of the world, well we'll have to wait and see. TechRadar will be present at ZTE's press conference at CES, so we'll be able to bring you the full story when it breaks.

From UnwiredView

New Asus 10-inch tablet breaks cover in time for CES 2013

Asus is no stranger to Android tablets so it comes a little surprise that the Taiwanese firm is possibly working on a new 10-incher.

Details on the Asus ME301T have surfaced on Icecat, revealing that the slate features a 10.1-inch display, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core processor.

There is 1GB of RAM and by the looks of it just a 16GB variant, which is a little disappointing considering a lot of tablets offer 32GB options such as the Asus-built Nexus 7.

A microSD slot could be included though as previous slates from the firm, such as the Transformer Prime and Transformer Pad Infinity, offer the expandable storage option.

Business time

The ME301T will be focussed more at the business market if product listings in Spain and Denmark are anything to go by, pegging the tablet at around the £250 ($400/AU$385) mark – although we're far from convinced by the legitimacy of the posts and the price seems very low.

Apparently you'll be able to pick up the Asus ME301T Memo Pad 10 – we're not fans of the proposed name either – Wi-Fi only or with 3G connectivity allowing you to access the web on the move.

Asus could unveil a host of new tablets at CES 2013 next week and TechRadar will be there to bring you all the latest, including any details on the ME301T.

From Icecat via Pocket Droid

Google Nexus 7 dock to finally go on sale this month?

The long-awaited docking station for the Google Nexus 7 tablet is set to go on sale in Europe and the United States this month, according to reports.

The dock was first teased shortly after the tablet arrived at Google I/O back in June and appeared once again in a Christmas promotional video from the Android team.

The Asus-made accessory has been available to pre-order in the States from independent retailer B&H Photo since December, with that site now quoting an expected availability date of January 10.

The site is asking $39.99 for the fabled desktop dock, although Android Central said the official Google price may be closer to $29.99.

Going Dutch

Meanwhile, Dutch site AndroidNews.nl has word that it also be available in the Eurozone in the middle of this month, although there's no news on European pricing just yet.

The dock will allow users to safely stow the award-winning slate, while also packing a Micro USB port and a 3.5mm headphone/speaker jack.

Via Android Central