HTC - page 2

Android vs. iOS: Do adoption figures mean anything?

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Is it fair to compare (adoption rates)?
Is it fair to compare (adoption rates)?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iOS 9 has been out for two days, and it’s already running on more than 20 percent of compatible devices, according to the latest data. In comparison, Google’s latest Android release, version 5.1 Lollipop, is running on just 5.1 percent of devices ten months after it made its public debut.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2These figures highlight the staggering difference between updates on Android and iOS. But is it fair to compare adoption figures between these two platforms, and do users really care?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over this very topic!

Tiny charger taps AA batteries to keep your phone running

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No, that's not a giant hand.
No, that’s not a giant hand. Photo: The Nipper

Modern mobile phones need a lot of power; chances are we’ve all got an external battery pack (or at least a second cable and wall plug) tucked away in a bag somewhere that will charge up our Android and iOS mobile phones while we’re on the run.

The thing is, those things need to be taken along with you when you leave the house. If you’re like me, though, that requires a heck of a lot of cognitive overhead and pre-planning.

The whole point of the Nipper, this tiny new mobile phone charger that uses two AA batteries to give you a bit of juice when needed, is to always be available.

HTC ditches its own design language to copy the iPhone

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Cover up the logos and you can hardly tell them apart.
Photo: Steve Hemmerstoffer
Cover up the logos and you can hardly tell them apart. Photo: Steve Hemmerstoffer
Cover up the logos and you can hardly tell them apart. Photo: Steve Hemmerstoffer

HTC appears to have given up on its own design language in an effort to make its next flagship smartphone an iPhone clone. Leaked images of the so-called HTC Aero look almost identical to an iPhone 6, with the same flat form factor and protruding camera.

Samsung beats Apple in smartphone satisfaction index

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Samsung beat Apple and HTC in consumer satisfaction. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Samsung beat Apple and HTC in consumer satisfaction. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

While Samsung’s smartphone sales may be falling, those who are buying its devices couldn’t be happier with them. In a new satisfaction study, the South Korean electronics giant beat even Apple to the top spot of the smartphone category, while Nokia ranked higher than BlackBerry, LG, and even HTC.

iPhone 6 Plus: First impressions

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You've got the (force) touch! Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
You've got the (force) touch! Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple’s new iPhones are finally here, and judging by stock levels in Apple retail stores and reports on Twitter, it’s the iPhone 6 Plus that people are most excited for. Mine arrived about four hours ago, and I’ve hardly put it down since I snatched it out of the hands of the UPS delivery guy.

Having played with many of its features and stared at it lovingly for far too long, I decided to bring you my first impressions of Apple’s first “phablet.” So while you’re sitting beside your door waiting for yours to arrive, or standing outside an Apple Store somewhere with achy legs, you can enjoy a glimpse of what you have to look forward to.

‘The first billionaire in hip-hop’: A drunk Dr. Dre seemingly confirms Apple’s Beats buyout

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Apple's home to some pretty big players these days.
Apple's home to some pretty big players these days.

Reports of Apple’s pending Beats Electronics acquisition has left the vast majority of us scratching our heads, but if you thought this was just another spurious claim from anonymous supply chain blabbermouths, you can think again. Not only did the story come from reputable sources, but it has been all but confirmed by Dr. Dre himself.

In the short video below, a drunk Dre proclaims himself “the first billionaire in hip-hop” as he celebrates with friends.

Apple and Samsung now control 106% of smartphone profits

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Samsung is after more of Apple's iPhone business.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The smartphone wars are two company race and it’s not even close.

Apple and Samsung are dominating the competition so badly that a new report from Canaccord Genuity claims the two tech giants account for 106% of global smartphone profits.

Take a look at this chart:

Apple Leading By Example In Smartphone ‘Kill Switch’ Campaign

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activationlockiOS7

Apple is one of several tech giants to enter a voluntary agreement to add a global anti-theft “kill-switch” to their handsets from July 2015.

Other companies on board include  Google, HTC, Huawei, Motorola, Microsoft, Nokia, and Samsung — while carriers have reportedly agreed to help “facilitate these measures.”

Apple’s support of the need for a kill-switch doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. The company added an Activation Lock with iOS 7, designed to make it tougher for thieves to use stolen iOS devices. The feature allows users to remotely locate, lock and wipe their iPhones if they are stolen.

WSJ: Apple Poaches HTC Engineers To Speed Up Product Development

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Terry Gou
But there's a definite chance of further delays.
Photo: Foxconn

Apple is taking on “hundreds” of new engineers and supply-chain managers in China and Taiwan in an effort to speed up product development and offer a greater range of devices, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Cupertino company has reportedly poached staff from HTC and other rival firms to create new teams in Shanghai and Taipei.

China’s Government-Approved OS Wants To Take On Android & iOS

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BlackBerry and Windows Phone might be having a hard time trying to break up the monopoly on mobile software held by Android and iOS, but that hasn’t stopped the Chinese government from having a go with a platform of its own.

Built by a company called Shanghai Liantong in conjunction with ISCAS (Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences), COS — which stands for China Operating System — aims to take on Android and iOS by providing better localization for things like language input and cloud services.

Apple Tops Samsung In 2013 U.S. Smartphone Marketshare

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smartphoneOEM

 

While Microsoft and BlackBerry are still trying to piece together a decent mobile user base in the U.S., Apple and Samsung managed to widen their lead against the competition in terms of smartphone marketshare in the U.S. Both companies experienced a significant bump in 2013, but Apple claimed the largest increase despite murmurs that the company is getting out innovated by Google. 

Google Scrapped Android & Started Again The Day After Apple Unveiled iPhone

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No matter how you feel about Apple and the iPhone, it’s impossible to deny that the device completely revolutionized the mobile industry when it was launched in 2007. Without it, the smartphones of today may have been completely different.

Take Android, for example. It’s the biggest competitor to the iOS operating system that powers the iPhone, and it’s now the world’s largest mobile platform — but the iPhone is the reason Android is what it is today. Google started work on the software way back in 2005, but it scrapped everything and started again the day after iPhone was revealed to the world.

Experts Predict Larger 5-Inch Display For iPhone 6… Again

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How a larger iPhone 6 might look by Martin Hajek.
How a larger iPhone 6 might look by Martin Hajek.

If you switched from an iPhone to an Android-powered smartphone because you felt a 4-inch display was just too small, then Apple may give you a reason to switch back next year. Several industry experts are predicting that the Cupertino company will step up its pursuit of high-end Android smartphones by finally introducing a larger 5-inch display with the iPhone 6.

Chinese Manufacturer Teases World’s First Smartphone With 2K Display

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When it comes to smartphone displays, how many pixels is too many? Most of us believe the current crop of 1080p displays shipping with today’s flagships provide more than enough for our handheld devices, but Chinese manufacturer Vivo disagrees.

The company has begun teasing the Xplay3S, its new smartphone that will become the world’s first with a 2K display. 

iPhone Tops J.D. Power’s Smartphone Satisfaction Rankings For Fifth Year Straight

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happy iPhone purchase Reuters

Apple has gone and topped the J.D. Power rankings for smartphone satisfaction. Again.

This marks the tenth straight time Apple has dominated the likes of Nokia, Samsung, HTC, and Motorola in the bi-annual poll, and with the iPhone 5s shattering sales records on opening weekend, the streak looks like it might continue for some time.

This year’s survey included a breakdown of smartphone satisfaction by carrier for the first time ever and revealed Verizon customers are slightly happier with the iPhone than those on AT&T, with scores of 861 and 856 respectively.

Here’s the full breakdown:

New LG Ads Detect Which Phone You’re Using So That They Can Troll You

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When you’re browsing the web on your mobile, prepare to stumble across new popups that bash the smartphone you’re using.

LG, together with advertising agency M&C Saatchi, has designed intelligent new ads that find out what smartphone you’re using to take trolling to a new level. They’ll pick common faults with your iPhone, your Galaxy S4, or your HTC One — and then tell you why the LG G2 is better.

Did Samsung Just Acquire A Fingerprint Scanning Firm For $650M? Nope.

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Given Samsung’s habit of shamelessly copying everything Apple does, I wasn’t at all surprised to see this morning’s report that the South Korean company had just spent $650 million on a fingerprint scanning firm called FingerPrint Cards. In fact, I simply rolled my eyes when I saw the news and thought, “there’s a surprise.”

But it appears that the whole thing was completely fabricated. The press release that went out announcing the move was false, and both Samsung and FingerPrint Cards have denied the acquisition.