Apple vs Google: the clash of the cowards

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Google’s motto may be “don’t be evil” — but when it comes to confronting Apple, it seems “see no evil” is the rule.

For while Apple has been unleashing a patent war against manufacturers of Android devices such as HTC and Samsung, Google has – publicly at least – turned a blind eye, appearing less keen to rock the boat than the captain of the QE2.

Apple has hardly qualified for the George Cross either, picking its fights with licensees rather than Google itself, even though many of the disputed patents appear to relate directly to Android.

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HTC Radar review: first look

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

HTC used a swanky London event to unleash its second generation of Windows Phone 7 devices and, while it was the Titan taking most of the plaudits on the night, the Radar could prove to be just as enticing.

The firm’s European product director, Phil Blair, said the Radar was “designed around a social and mobile lifestyle”, and our hands-on time with the device certainly suggested that it’s got enough oomph to make Windows Phone 7’s Mango update feel slick, with no hint of slowdown or juddering as we navigated the various menus and applications. (more…)

HTC Titan review: first look

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

HTC has given its phones some odd names over the years, but there’s no denying that Titan is a step in the right direction (even if it is the second time HTC has released a Windows phone of that name). It’s certainly an  accurate description: with a 4.7in touchscreen taking centre stage in HTC’s new Windows Phone 7 flagship, it’s one of the biggest smartphones we’ve ever seen – and the largest to be loaded with Microsoft’s mobile OS.

Truth be told, the sheer size of the Titan made it feel a little awkward in our hands, but HTC has worked its familiar magic on the hardware.

The device feels rock-solid, it comes with the familiar matte rear and glossy bezel around the screen, and it’s also been made from one machined piece of aluminium. Impressively, it’s also only 9.9mm thick at its widest point. (more…)

Is HTC losing its magic touch?

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Android had an inauspicious start in life but, when Google’s open source OS began to gather steam, HTC was first onto the bandwagon with a series of superb phones.

Handsets like the Magic and the Hero – which was my first smartphone – were followed up by phones like the Desire and the Legend, with the former providing the slickest Android experience we’d yet seen and the latter boasting some of HTC’s most experimental design.

However, HTC’s firm grip on the Android scene has been shaken by an influx of eager competitors as Android itself has risen to prominence. Samsung has led the charge with its Galaxy S and Galaxy S II handsets, but other manufacturers have also made waves: we’re fans of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Play, and the LG Optimus 2X. Motorola’s Atrix is also garnering plenty of attention.

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HTC Wildfire S review: first look

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

In the last of our HTC first looks at Mobile World Congress (HTC’s Facebook phones – the Chacha and the Salsa, alas, weren’t available for us to glad-hand), we’ll be taking a look at the cheap and cheerful HTC Wildfire S, the successor to the popular HTC Wildfire.

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HTC Incredible S review: first look

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

If there’s one negative thing you can say about the design of HTC phones over the past couple of years, it’s that — aside from the odd blip — they’ve become stuck in a bit of an aesthetic rut. The Incredible S, however, could be the phone to jolt HTC out of its stupor and get it headed off in another direction.

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How I got Android 2.2 by de-branding my phone

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

I’ve lost patience with O2. I’ve been waiting like a good boy for two and a half months for it to pass on the Android 2.2 update to O2-branded HTC Desire handsets (such as mine). Now I’ve had enough of waiting, and I’ve taken matters into my own hands.

What’s frustrated me isn’t the wait as such – obviously I’d rather get the upgrade sooner rather than later, but I’m old and jaded enough to take these things philosophically. And yes, I understand that O2 needs to test the update fully before it can roll it out to customers and take responsibility for supporting it.

But it does seem to be taking an unaccountably long time, especially when you note that (as reader Alan Robertson pointed out in a recent email) Android 2.2 has been running on unbranded handsets without issue since the day of release.

And in the meantime, those of us with branded phones are barred from trying it out independently: though the software is freely available, my phone is restricted to installing only O2-approved firmware, as and when the company sees fit to make it available. Hmm, why did I ditch the iPhone again?

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My favourite Android apps

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

The HTC Magic and Google Android: a Real World test

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Perhaps I’m a luddite but my mobile phones have tended to be, well, pretty basic since my first, screen-less brick 13 years ago. My priorities had been limited to good signal quality, long battery life, the best possible camera and easy-to-use texting. Occasionally, I’d look up the football or cricket scores on the BBC’s mobile site but that was about the limit of my ambitions.  The BlackBerry passed me by completely (I don’t like phones with QWERTY keyboards) and I’d had little interest in the iPhone due to its long, expensive contract options and umbilical connection to the truly loathsome (on a PC at least) iTunes.

And then I found myself tempted by the Apple beast just because I’d come across some teenagers mucking about with theirs, leaving me feeling jealous and inadequate (shallow, me?). So I nearly gave in. But I just couldn’t justify it. I’d either have to pay the best part of £100 for the phone (pay? for a phone?) or saddle myself with a £45 a month contract for two years: that’s an expensive and long-lived mistake to make. (more…)

How to perform a hard reset of an HTC Touch Diamond2

Friday, April 24th, 2009

You may, like me about five minutes ago, find yourself wondering how to perform hard reset of an HTC Touch Diamond2. And you may, like me, look at the manual online. But it turns out the manual is wrong. The way to perform a hard reset of the Touch Diamond2 is:

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