Pocketables

HTC Rezound made official, is an awesome Verizon smartphone

HTC has always made high-quality devices, and because of them, has created a large fan base that is unrivaled by any other smartphone-centric OEM. On top of that, the company has made some brilliant business moves in 2011 that should help it shoot straight past the competition. 

Some of the fruits of the business deal with Beats by Dre have started making their way to consumers around the world, but today, HTC announced the first Beats-equipped smartphone for the US market. It's called the HTC Rezound, and it will be headed to Verizon's LTE 4G network on November 14th for $300 on-contract. 

While I usually complain about expensive on-contract phones, I think that paying $300 on-contract for the Rezound is actually a good choice. It's loaded with specs: a 4.3-inch 720p HD display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 16GB microSD card, and the latest version of Android Gingerbread. 

As you can see, $300 buys you one of the best phones out there. It's actually pretty comparable to Samsung's recently announced Galaxy Nexus, except that while the latter is going to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, the Rezound will be stuck with Gingerbread (for now.) 

[TechCrunch]

AT&T expanding 4G markets, adding two new LTE smartphones

AT&T has been the straggler in the 4G/LTE/WiMAX/HSPA+ war of carriers. The other major players have all had what they're calling 4G for quite some time, while AT&T is just now starting to roll theirs out. 

Still, even with AT&T trying to keep up with the competition, it just can't do it. Before today, Ma Bell only had a whimpy four LTE markets. Of course, now it has a whopping eight, but it's still plenty behind, say, Verizon. That company has over 160.

Switching topics, if you live in one of those eight cities (Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio Dallas, Houston, Boston, Washington, D.C, Baltimore, and Athens, Georgia) you'd probably be interested in knowing that with the LTE expansions, AT&T is finally making use of the network by releasing its first two LTE smartphones. The one you see to the right is the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. The other one is the HTC Vivid. The former's specs are the exact same as the rest of the GSII phones, except for the fact that it's LTE-enabled. 

The latter has a 4.5-inch qHD display, 1.2GHz processor, and 16GB of internal storage. 

Both of these devices will come out sometime soon, but it's unclear how soon. I'm going to guess that once the four new cities are added to the LTE network, these devices will start popping up in AT&T stores. 

[GottaBeMobile]

Video review: Melkco leather case for the HTC Flyer

 

If you are in the market for a good leather case for your HTC Flyer/EVO View 4G, then you might want to check out the Melkco leather case, which I've reviewed in the video above. It's a great product and I can see it replacing the Blurex case I had previously been using. 

Melkco has other types of leather cases that also work for the Flyer/EVO View, so head over to their website if you want to see what else is available.

HTC Sensation XL released outside of the US

Today, at an HTC special event, the HTC Sensation XL was announced.

It seems that we got all of the Sensation's specs right. It's got a 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480. Driving that display, like we said yesterday, is a 1.5GHz single-core processor, which also helps to drive HTC's integrated Beats Audio technology. 

Unfortunately, one thing that we didn't get right was the US availability. HTC said that the Sensation XL will not be headed to the US; in fact, neither of the two Beats-equipped HTC phones will ever be headed to the United States. HTC's Jeff Gordon said that, while they want to bring Beats devices "worldwide ... We have a different roadmap for the US."

Thank goodness there are ways to import devices from other areas of the world.

[PC Mag]

HTC bringing Sensation XL to AT&T?

Now that we've got the iPhone 4S rumors out of the way, it's time to return to our normal routine of covering companies that release new devices. We're going to start with HTC and its Sensation XL. 

Tomorrow, HTC will be holding a special event, and we're likely to see the entire device, versus the simple regulatory stuff you see to your right. 

The Sensation XL is rumored to be bringing a massive 4.7-inch display with a 1.5GHz single-core processor. On top of driving the large screen, the processor will also be pushing out high-quality audio, thanks to HTC's strategic investment in Beats by Dre. 

This device will be a nice addition to AT&T's somewhat lackluster HTC Android offerings (or lack thereof.) I'm thinking specifically about the Aria, and also the fact that AT&T hasn't really offered any high-end HTC devices. 

I know I'm excited to see a flagship HTC phone headed to AT&T. How about you?

[Pocketnow]

HTC Radar 4G coming to T-Mobile for holiday season

Apple isn't the only one announcing things today. T-Mobile just announced that the HTC Radar 4G will be hitting its shelves in time for the upcoming holiday season.

In case you have forgotten, the Radar will be touting some really nice specs, including a 1GHz, single-core Qualcomm chip, 512MB of RAM, a 3.8-inch LCD display, 8GB of internal storage, and a front-facing camera to take advantage of Mango's integration with Skype. 

Due to those somewhat lackluster specs, the Radar should be relatively affordable in the world of smartphones. My guess is it will be sub-$100 on a two-year contract with T-Mobile.

While we're talking about different colored phones, I would like to ask a simple question: do you guys like phones that aren't black or grey? Personally, I absolutely love the design and looks of the Radar, so this might be my next phone. I know some people like to go with the simple basics, though.

[T-Mobile]

HTC Raider 4G announced in South Korea, looks a lot like the HTC Holiday

As we can see with devices like the Miezu MX, the best tech doesn't always debut in the US first. In fact, we can often get a preview of what will land in the US based on what we see in other countries. A good example of this is the HTC Raider 4G, announced today by HTC in South Korea.

The device will have a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of built in memory, 8MP rear camera with flash and 1080p video, 1.3MP front camera, and a 4.5-inch qHD display. Running on that hardware is the latest phone release of Android, 2.3.4 Gingerbread, with HTC's popular Sense 3.0 on top of it. Making sure this power won't drain too much batter is a 1,620 mAh battery, which should keep things running all day. 

Interestingly, the Raider is nearly identical to the AT&T HTC Holiday, which leaked earlier this month, and the general consensus is that they are versions of the same device. As such, it should be exciting for AT&T users to hear that at least on South Korea's network, the LTE-enabled Raider will be able to pull nearly 100Mbps download speeds and 50Mbps upload speeds. This is impressive even compared to many home internet connections. Of course, in the US speeds will all depend on how good AT&T's LTE network is, and unfortunately they will likely not be anywhere close to the speeds in South Korea.

Even so, the availability of a HTC-made 4G LTE Android phone on AT&T will be boon for many users who will doubtless be waiting for this device to make the move to the US.

[PocketNow]

Windows Phone 7 Mango may arrive October 1 along with the HTC Radar

After an exciting announcement, many rumors, and even a release to manufacturers all the way back in July, it looks like the long-awaited Windows Phone 7 Mango will finally be arriving in the next couple weeks. If U.K phone retailer Phones 4u is to be believed, instead of being released as a standalone update, Mango will be launching in conjunction with the HTC Radar on October 1. 

Both of these releases are pretty big news for Windows Phone 7 fans. The Mango update is a huge overhaul of Windows Phone 7, bringing over 500 much-need new features, with plenty of other fixes along for the ride. This update is going to be very important for Windows Phone 7, because if Mango is not as great as it is supposed to be, the platform will lose much of its momentum.

Of course, an OS can not succeed without good hardware support as well as software. So it is fortunate that Mango will launch with the Radar's respectable hardware, which includes a 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor, 3.8-inch SLCD display, 512MB of RAM, and dual cameras, not to mention the Radar's good looks. 

Windows Phone Mango and the Radar are both exciting new products, but they face stiff competition from from Android and the iPhone. Even though I personally don't use Windows Phone 7, I hope the platform will succeed to help keep competition up. (Especially with the recent deaths of other OSs we have been seeing lately.)

Will you buy the HTC Radar if it is released on October 1, or have you already given up on Windows Phone 7? 

[WPCentral]

HTC may consider purchasing WebOS

Although Samsung has fervently denied rumors that they would purchase the recently deceased WebOS, new information from Taiwan hints that the OS may be getting some love from Android and Windows Phone 7 smartphone manufacturer HTC. 

This rumor stems from a quote by HTC chairwoman Cher Wang, who has this to say about the company acquiring an OS: "We have given it thought and we have discussed it internally, but we will not do it on impulse. We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform. Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to."

There are a couple key things we can take out of this. First, HTC is at least thinking about having their own OS for smartphones, but they will not buy WebOS just because they can.

As you already know, Samsung had no interest in WebOS is that they already have an in-house OS called Bada. HTC has a similar ecosystem called HTC Sense, a skin for Android and Windows Phone 7. HTC Sense allows them to differentiate from the competition on the "second or third layer," without having the burden of an entire OS.

HTC Holiday pictured while testing AT&T LTE network

Another Android-powered HTC phone on AT&T would be absolutely awesome. But there is one thing that would make the device even better: being on AT&T's LTE network. And that's what the HTC Holiday is promising. 

On top of the LTE connectivity, the Holiday will bring some very impressive specs, like a 4.5-inch qHD (960 x 540 resolution) display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM, an 8MP rear shooter, and a 1.3MP front shooter, all wrapped inside a phone that is running Android 2.3.4 and HTC Sense 3.0.

I don't really care how much this device will cost; I need one in my packet. AT&T's 3G network is not very fast for the new internet usage habits of today, and unfortunately, I'm stuck with an iPhone that can only connect to that and EDGE. And since there haven't been any HTC phones on AT&T's network until a few months after I bought my iPhone, the HTC Holiday may just be my next one.

[PhoneDog]