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HTC admits it over reached in 2011 and decidesHTC admits it over reached in 2011 and decides

this year, less is morethis year, less is moreMobile Phones / News

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Author: Phil Daley

TweetTweet 0 1January 27th, 2012

HTC will scale back its handset range for 2012

confessing they tried to ‘do too much’ last year,

releasing too many models.

HTC UK chief Phil Robertson acknowledged that a

stack of too many mid-low end models released in

the final quarter had a disappointing effect, with HTC

reporting a quarterly net income of $364 million – a

fall of 26%.

He said the Taiwanese company will focus more on

high end devices and aim to improve the brand

reputation: “We have to get back to focusing on what made us great – amazing hardware and a great

customer experience. We ended 2011 with far more products than we started out with. We tried to do

too much.

“So 2012 is about giving our customers something special. We need to make sure we do not go so far

down the line that we segment our products by launching lots of SKUs.”

This quality over quantity approach will be a relief to many consumers bewildered by the amount of

handsets released this year. Three different Sensation models alone were launched with the which-is-

better XE or XL debate still running (personally the XE did a sweet job of replacing my Desire HD, may

she rest in peace.)

This back-to-basics approach will also mean the tablets will go on the back burner, as HTC concentrates

on its new high-end quad-core handsets, which we expect to see a look of at next month’s MWC expo

in Barcelona.

In a market dominated by the bigger boys on the playground, it looks like HTC have followed suit and

admitted it’s about quality over quantity. Apple usually release only one smartphone a year and

Samsung place most of their faith in the Galaxy series. This frees up a lot of resources for effective

marketing, which Roberson admits is “hard to do when the portfolio is spread too much.”

Sounds simple? Well, no not really. HTC now face a gamble on a smaller portfolio, where every release

must be a seller. With less room for error, they really can’t afford a flop.

Maybe HTC have had to take a step back, look at their products, and decide on the brand they want to

be. Maybe they have learned to focus on what they do best – delivering a high end model with the

marketing to match.

Maybe – just maybe, in order to be ‘Quietly Brilliant’ you have to be a little more quiet about it!

[Source: TheNextWeb.com]

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Samsung admits it’s “not doing very well” atSamsung admits it’s “not doing very well” at

selling tabletsselling tabletsMobile Phones / News



Author: Phil Daley

Previous Article Next Article

TweetTweet 0 0February 29th, 2012

More news from MWC 2012 as a Samsung exec fails

to tow the company line, admitting “Honestly, we’re

not doing very well in the tablet market.”

The surprisingly candid remark came from product

strategy executive Hankil Yoon, speaking to CNet

about Samsung’s efforts against the almighty

Apple’s iPad.

Five months after Steve Jobs first showed the

world the iPad in 2010, Samsung released their first

real attempt to compete – the Galaxy Tab. Since

then they have brought out a variety of Android

operated tablets, but few have managed to excite the market and turn the heads of those loyal to Apple.

As Yoon was busy placing feet firmly in mouth, Samsung unveiled three new tablets – the Galaxy Tab 2

(7.0), Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) and the Galaxy Note 10.1. As well as the new 5.3 inch (you’re never

gonna get that in your skinny jeans) Galaxy Note smartphone – which has already been dubbed the

‘phablet’ by most.

Yoon’s off-message remark in Barcelona could be seen as a huge PR facepalm for the Korean company

(who have since sought to clarify here). It seems a funny way to launch three new tablets, especially

when Yoon added the curious “the best thing to survive in the market is to kill your products” remark.

But Yoon’s ill-advised honesty could actually be seen as a sign of confidence in those new models, and

the “kill your products” bit has since been further explained – by releasing similar units, Samsung intend

to compete with themselves to try and get a bigger slice of the tablet market.

If Samsung were really in trouble on the tablet front, then surely the product strategy would have been

“Deny! Deny! Deny!” By admitting the challenge of selling tablets that aren’t Apple branded, all Samsung

have done is set themselves a goal and started their collective assault on the iPad’s rule as top tablet.

Let’s face it, if things were really so bad for Samsung then Apple wouldn’t be looking over its shoulder,

protecting patents and trying to sue them all the time!

[Source: CNet]

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Playstation Certification comes to HTC in 2012Playstation Certification comes to HTC in 2012Mobile Phones / News



Author: Phil Daley



HTC will become the first third party manufacturer to

take up Sony‘s Playstation Suite and certification

program – so your mate with the Xperia Play can

take that smug look off their face!

Certified phones have access to a library of

Playstation content including games and HD movies.

Eventually most of the PSONE back catalogue will be

available for download, so if you fancy a bit of

Wipeout on your Wildfire, Doom on your Desire, or

dare we ruin the alliterative run – Spice World on your Sensation – then it’s all coming your way.

The Sony Playstation Certification program was launched over a year ago at the launch event of the

Playstation Vita, with CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Kaz Hirai saying ‘It expands the Playstation

experience beyond the PSP border. It is the first cross-platform endeavour.’

Since then the service hasn’t really made much noise, probably down to the fact that the only phone

running it was the Xperia. Sony are obviously hoping that opening it up to the rest of the Android

community will boost sales and maybe even keep it on good stead when OnLive finally takes off in a big

way. No doubt HTC will get a lot out of it, adding ‘we’re good at doing games now’ to the slappa-de-bass

awesomeness of Beats Audio.

In order to be Playstation certified handsets must have Android 2.3 Gingerbread or higher and have a

decent processor to run the games. The good news is that most HTC phones out for the past 18-24

months fit the bill.

Neither HTC nor Playstation have confirmed anything yet, but expect HTC to announce it at the Mobile

World Congress in Barcelona at the end of the month, along with some quad-core handsets…which

would run Sabrina the Teenage Witch: A Twitch in time pretty smooth I reckon!

[Source: Pocket-lint]

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Microsoft lets Android in to the OneNote partyMicrosoft lets Android in to the OneNote partyMobile Phones / News



Author: Phil Daley



Microsoft’s popular note-taking and whiteboard service OneNote is finally

available on Android, adding availability to already available OS app and

the out-of-the box integrated Windows Phone handsets.

The free app allows users to collect, organise and share notes and ideas

between Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows OS and of course, Windows

PCs – all through the 25gb cloud storage space on SkyDrive – making it

ideal for cross-platform collaborative working and study. All you need is a

Windows Live ID to get started.

It’s not all straightforward though, and there are a few downsides. The

free version limits users to 500 notes, so if you want to carry on past

that it’s going to cost you to upgrade within the app. Also, until Microsoft

sorts out App2SD functionality it will cost you a pretty heavy 6.98mb of

internal storage, and notes saved or synced on the handset will eat up

even more.

OneNote can be downloaded now from the Android Marketplace for all handsets running Gingerbread or

higher

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App of the Week: Great Big

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Following up on the successof Great Little War Game, thesequel improves on itspredecessor in many areas,while retaining the colourfulgraphics and mock-armyhumour that made theoriginal so fun.

Black Samsung Galaxy S3

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HTC hold fire on Windows Phone handsets untilHTC hold fire on Windows Phone handsets until

“Apollo” 8 launch“Apollo” 8 launchMobile Phones / News



Author: Phil Daley



Some of you might have felt a little unloved by HTC

this week. Although we anticipated a few new

Windows Phone 7 handsets, the manufacturer

instead focused completely on the ‘One’ Android

range, with not even a sniff of the Microsoft logo in

sight.

Had HTC already abandoned the emerging platform?

Had they conceded defeat and handed it over to the

increasingly popular Nokia Lumia range? Or as we

previously reported, was there just no room in the

HTC all-killer-no-filler 2012 handset portfolio?

Well, we now know there will be no more HTC WP7 handsets… but worry not Windows fans. HTC’s chief

product officer Kouji Kodera has laid all fears to rest and confirmed plans to launch New Windows Phone

devices as soon as Microsoft releases the brand spanking new ‘Apollo’ WP8 OS.

Speaking to Pocket-lint, Kodera said: “For Windows Phone we haven’t decided on the branding yet,

but you will see a new range of Windows Phones from us when Microsoft release their new Apollo

operating system.” So there won’t be a Windows Phone handset in the ‘One’ range, but expect an

entirely new range specifically marketed with the platform. (Note to HTC: have a word with Xbox and

Ubisoft before Assassins Creed III. This range NEEDS to be called ‘Apollo Creed!’)

Apollo is expected to launch in time to coincide with the arrival of the Windows 8 PC operating system,

and aims to bring together and synchronise the user’s entire windows experience across all platforms. It’s

basically the Windows Phone 8 update.

In other news, Kodera also confirmed that the currently US-only HTC Titan II will be released in other LTE

4G network regions, naming Australia specifically. With Orange and T-Mobile recently announcing their

plans to upgrade to 4G, will we see the Titan hit UK shelves before the year is out?

[Source: BGR]

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HTC Flyer getting Ice Cream Sandwich?HTC Flyer getting Ice Cream Sandwich?Mobile Phones / News



Author: Phil Daley


TweetTweet 0 0January 23rd, 2012

Great news for frustrated Flyer owners this week as

HTC have (sort of) confirmed the tablet will receive

the Android 4.0 update.

Since Honeycomb appeared in their notification bar,

many users have found the complete OS overhaul

disappointing on the tablet. It seems that Google not

releasing the OS source code for development led to

poor integration and the manufacturer simply

changed too much for those loyal to HTC Sense,

with HTC themselves confirming they received a lot

of requests on how to restore Gingerbread.

When French language site HTC-Hub contacted HTC about this, their customer services rep said that

tablets could be returned for downgrade at a cost, but let it slip that users could always: “Wait for the Ice

Cream Sandwich update [...] first quarter of this year.”

If this is true it could be a huge success for HTC. With a more fluid OS to play with they might even be

able to give the iPad a run for its money this year. Well, until the third one lands.

Whether we can trust this HTC adviser on their not-officially-announced insider knowledge remains to be

seen, but it made sense through Google Translate so it MUST be true…right?

[Source: Htc-hub]

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War Game

Following up on the successof Great Little War Game, thesequel improves on itspredecessor in many areas,while retaining the colourfulgraphics and mock-armyhumour that made theoriginal so fun.



Mobile Fun have confirmedthe existence of the phone byputting it up for pre-order for£499.95, offering to ship thedevice in '4-6 weeks.'



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Apple will launch iPhone 5 this autumn, probablyApple will launch iPhone 5 this autumn, probablyMobile Phones / News



Author: Phil Daley


TweetTweet 0 0February 23rd, 2012

A reliable source in Japan claims the iPhone 5 will be

unveiled in Q3 of this year, so that’s

September/October then.

According to Macotakara, the sixth-gen device will

launch pretty much a year since the iPhone 4S

landed, and from now on Apple will launch new

handsets every autumn, instead of June like it used

to.

It’s a clever move for Apple, who are showing they

know how and when to shift their ever expanding range of shiny gadgetry. It used to be all about the

iPod, but these days they recognise the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets in the portable

music field.

Apple Insider explains: “Last year’s iPhone event essentially took the place of Apple’s annual iPod

event, which, in previous years, was held ahead of the holiday shopping season.”

Last year nearly a quarter of all smartphones sold in the run up to Christmas were an iPhone 4S. You

have to admit that coinciding a product launch from the most popular smartphone brand with the

busiest gift buying period is a bit of a no brainer!

So if the rumours are true – and all signs seem to point that way – if we all ask for one now, then Father

Christmas can get a crack on!

[Source:KnowYourMobile]

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War Game

Following up on the success

of Great Little War Game, the

sequel improves on its

predecessor in many areas,

while retaining the colourful

graphics and mock-army

humour that made the

original so fun.



Mobile Fun have confirmed

the existence of the phone by

putting it up for pre-order for

£499.95, offering to ship the

device in '4-6 weeks.'


for 2012

Here's a list of 10 handsets

that will help see you through


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