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Feb

HTC Officially Announces The Merge, Coming This Spring To North America

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, Merge, News

Well, after some rumors that the HTC Merge might never arrive, it seems the mysterious but often-seen slider device will be coming stateside sooner rather than later. An official HTC press release for the company's first Android CDMA world-phone popped up only minutes ago:

The HTC Merge™ Smartphone Brings Android™ and HTC Sense™ to HTC's First CDMA Android World Phone

BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- HTC Corp., a global designer of smartphones, today announced that the new HTC Merge smartphone will be made available through multiple North American carriers beginning in spring 2011. The HTC Merge smartphone combines a full QWERTY slide-out keyboard with the power of Android 2.2, the HTC Sense experience, a large 3.8-inch touch-screen display and a 5 megapixel camera to create a complete mobile experience for those looking for a truly complete smartphone.

Feb

HTC Desire Z: Long-Term Ownership Hardware Review

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Desire Z (Vision), Devices By Manufacturer, G2 (Vision), HTC, Phone Reviews, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Take a look at the top tier of Android phones right now and you might notice something. They all kind of look the same. Black front fascia, large touchscreen, minimal waistline. Boring, right? Well that's just the way things are going. Alternatives to the slate way of living are becoming increasingly rare, which puts the HTC Desire Z with its hardware keyboard in an intriguing light. With its metallic accents and suave grey pallet, the Desire Z cuts a different path. So how do I mean rare? If you want a top-level QWERTY Android phone in the USA you have a fairly limited selection to choose from: Sprint has the Samsung Epic 4G, Verizon the Motorola Droid 2 and T-Mobile the HTC G2.

Jan

Asus's Android Tablets May Ship With Honeycomb After All, Says Asus

Posted by David Ruddock in ASUS, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Last Updated: January 14th, 2011

In what is the most carefully-worded way of saying "we don't know" I've seen in a while, Asus's UK marketing manager John Swatton has told Pocket-lint that the company's new Android tablets will be shipping with Honeycomb "if Honeycomb is available." The reason for the uncertainty? Swanson seems to be suggesting that Motorola's XOOM has been given special treatment by Google, while Honeycomb remains unavailable to most, if not all, other tablet manufacturers. Swatton says, "When our tablets launch, they will launch with the latest version of Android whatever that is."

Asus's Android tablets, the Eee Pad Transformer and the Eee Pad Slider, will be launching in April and May, respectively.

Dec

New HTC Knight / EVO Shift 4G Photos Show Off World's Ugliest Phone Cases, Confirm 4G

Posted by David Ruddock in EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), Knight, News, Sprint

Last Updated: January 4th, 2011

We haven't heard much about the HTC Knight (or EVO Shift 4G, as it may be called) lately, but HTCPedia Shop recently came into possession of some photos of the device - albeit wearing some aesthetically questionable cases.

The phone itself, though, actually looks very slick. Clearly, design points were taken from the EVO 4G, which in my opinion remains the best-looking Android device on the market. As has been previously reported, the Shift 4G will be graced with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, HTC Sense, what appears to be a 3.7" screen, and Sprint's fabulous (if you live in an area with coverage) 4G - as can be seen by the WiMax logo in the pictures.

Nov

HTC Desire Z Review Roundup: The Best Of Both Worlds In One Not-So-Light Package

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Desire Z (Vision), HTC, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Vodafone

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

After the positive impact HTC's T-Mobile G2 made on American reviewers, it's no wonder the company has decided to try to impress their European colleagues with a similar phone, the Desire Z. The phone is available now from Vodafone, 3 Mobile, Virgin Mobile, O2, Talk Mobile, Orange, and Tesco Mobile if you want to take the leap; the question is, should you? Read on to see what four expert reviewers from TechRadar, CNET UK, Pocket-Lint, and PhoneArena had to say on the subject.

TechRadar

TechRadar's review, detailed as always, covered just about everything Desire Z-related, from its camera to its sturdy and sexy aluminum construction to HTC's new Sense UI in a span of only seven pages.

Nov

Sprint's HTC Knight To Be A WiMax QWERTY Slider?

Posted by Brian O'Toole in EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), HTC, Knight, News, Sprint

Last Updated: January 4th, 2011

Even though it's only the third largest network in the United States, Sprint has a habit of cranking out some pretty nice Android devices. With the legacy of the EVO and Epic to live up to, the rumored HTC Knight is going to have to be something pretty special to be considered a true flagship. But will it really be the flagship we're all hoping for? Boy Genius Report got a tip today which adds further confusion to the matter. While their source suggests a QWERTY keyboard and 4G, as well as the tantalizing notion of a dual-core processor, Boy Genius himself concludes that the Knight is "not looking like a flagship phone at this point in time".

Oct

An HTC Knight On The Horizon - Is This Sprint's Next Blockbuster?

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), HTC, Knight, Sprint

Last Updated: January 4th, 2011

As if Samsung's Epic 4G and HTC's EVO 4G weren't enough to keep Sprint's customers happy, an anonymous tipster just let XDA-developers in on another device that might be headed to the nation's third-largest carrier: the HTC Knight. He didn't exactly provide a heap of information about it, but he did give XDA the following excerpt from an XML file, presumably part of an instruction manual:

3. Make sure to activate your device before you operate the handset by setting up the Google account on the device. 4. To view the contacts on the device, select “Contacts” and push “Menu” button, select “Display group > All contacts > OK”.

Sep

HTC Merge Shots Emerge: Complete With Brushed Metal Keyboard...And Bing

Posted by Brian O'Toole in HTC, News, Verizon Wireless

BoyGeniusReport just got a nice clear photo of the HTC Merge, a device we may or may not have seen pass through the FCC with a red keyboard, better known as the dual-mode QWERTY slider for Verizon. The phone appears to be running Sense, and is now rocking a rather svelte brushed-metal style keyboard - one with a markedly different layout to the G2.

There's also the whole Bing thing. It seems that Microsoft have a deal with Verizon to shove Bing onto any phones without the DROID branding. Which is pretty strange, considering the whole black-and-red colour scheme the Merge has got going on, making it look like it really should be a DROID.

Aug

Sony Working On PlayStation Branded, Android-Powered Gaming Phone

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

Earlier today, Engadget broke an exclusive regarding Sony-Ericsson’s work on an Android gaming handset that is currently “in the late stages of planning.” There have been rumblings of a PlayStation phone for quite some time, and it seems like this device may be Sony finally delivering on those long-standing rumors.

According to Engadget, the device will feature:

3.7-4.1” WVGA screen
5MP camera (may not be final)
Slider-phone design, but instead of a QWERTY keyboard, a gamepad
Gamepad will have:
- Touchpad for directional controls instead of joysticks
- A standard D-pad,
- Standard PSP buttons
- Shoulder buttons
“Likely” to have a 1GHz Snapdragon Processor
Mostly black chassis, some silver highlights (looks like a Captivate crossed with a PSP Go)
Will run Android OS “Gingerbread”
Phone-specific software skin
Will have access to a new and exclusive Android Market Games section
Game titles will include some PSX oldies, as well as newer PSP games

Mockup Created By Engadget

Engadget has speculated the device and the new Android Market Game “ecosystem” could be available as early as October.

Apr

Another HTC Phone Hits The FCC – Slider With Keyboard and Optical Trackpad

Posted by Andrew Huff in HTC, News

Well it is about time for another Android phone leak, it has been almost a week or so since the last one.

This time we have a new HTC phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the standard navigation buttons and also an optical trackpad. Everything looks pretty standard about this phone aesthetically speaking. As for the hardware hidden inside, not a lot is known about it yet.

Model name PC70110, HTC’s new phone has a 4 row QWERTY keyboard which, if you are coming from something like the G1 which has a sexy 5 row keyboard, is a bit of a bummer.