MWC predictions: what we expect from HTC

Monday 27 February 2012

MWC predictions: what we expect from HTC

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For months, we’ve been writing about HTC and the new devices the company will be unveiling at Mobile World Congress. After countless rumors, leaks and endless speculation, the time has finally come for HTC to unveil its new lineup in Barcelona on Sunday night.

If you’re an avid HTC fan, I’m sure you’ve been keeping up with all the news we’ve pushed out since the first rumors started popping up on the web in December of last year. But we know most of you have missed a story or two, so we’ve decided to put together a recap for you which highlights all the facts we know about HTC’s new lineup.

Based on all the news that’s been going around, we’re pretty confident that HTC will be unveiling four new Android 4.0 powered devices (three phones and one tablet) at Mobile World Congress this year. While that number may seem a bit high considering that HTC plans on focusing on fewer devices in 2012, the number is lower than the six devices HTC announced last year. Rumors suggest that all four devices will bear the same HTC One name which will be followed by a super-scripted letter design to define each device.

HTC One V = valueHTC One S = slimHTC One X = extremeHTC One XL = extra largeHTC One V

The HTC One V will be a value device form HTC, featuring a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED display, Gorilla Glass, 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 5 megapixel rear-camera with an f/2.0 lens, Beats Audio, Android 4.0 and HTC Sense 4.0. The phone originated as the HTC Primo last month, but little else is known about the device.

HTC One S

The HTC One S is expected to the thinnest of HTC’s new devices, measuring in at 8mm thick. The One S will be a considerable step up from the HTC One V with a dual-core Qualcomm S4 MSM8960 processor, 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, 1GB of RAM, 8 megapixel rear-camera with an f/2.0 lens, 1080p video recording, 1650 mAh battery, Beats Audio, Android 4.0.3 and HTC Sense 4.0.

Previously known as the HTC Ville, the HTC One S has been spotted in pictures and several videos already. As with most HTC devices, the HTC One S is expected to be picked up my a few dozen service providers in Europe and there is already evidence that T-Mobile USA has plans to release the phone in the coming months.

HTC One X

If you’re looking for un-throttled power, the HTC One X is the phone you’ve been waiting for. HTC will be breaking from tradition with the One X, making it the very first device in its lineup for feature an NVIDIA processor. The HTC One X will be powered by a 1.5GHz 4-plus-1 quad-core Tegra 3 processor and will sport a 4.7-inch 720p Super LCD display, 1 GB of RAM, 8 MP rear illuminated camera with a 28-millimeter f/2.2 lens, 32GB of internal storage, Bluetooth 4.0, Beats Audio, Android 4.0 and HTC Sense 4.0.

Over the past few months, the HTC One X has had a bit of an identity crisis. Other names for the phone have included HTC Edge, HTC Endeavor and HTC Supreme. The One X will not be as thin as the One S or One V, but the handset is said to be roughly 10mm thick. The original image of the HTC One X showed that the phone featured the standard four capacitive buttons below the screen. Later rumors indicated that HTC would ditch the buttons for on-screen buttons (similar to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus), but the most recent image of the phone does show buttons below the screen.

Unlike the HTC One S, there is no evidence (yet) that the One X will be picked up by a US carrier, but we expect that to change after the handset is announced. More than 20 service providers form across the globe have already lined up to offer the HTC One X, so we expect to see a variation of the phone made available by one or two of the major US service providers within the coming months.

HTC One XL

Those holding out for a full-sized HTC Android 4.0 tablet will probably be more than pleased with the HTC One XL. Specifications for the Android tablet include a 10.1-inch (1280 x 768) display, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1 GB of RAM, microSD expansion slot, 5GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera with 720p video capture and a 2 megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p video capture.

The assumption is that the HTC One XL (the HTC Quattro) will also feature HTC Sense 4.0 with HTC Scribe digital pen integration, but there have been no rumors to corroborate this information. While we do expect 3G and even 4G variants of the HTC One XL to be picked up by service providers in Europe, Asia and the Americas, consumers should be able to pick up the WiFi HTC One XL in consumer electronics stores this spring.

The new HTC One family of devices should be a huge turning point for HTC. We know that HTC will be making different variations of these devices for different US carriers, but the hope is that the company can spend more time focusing on creating a handful of hero devices for the year rather than pushing out new a device every three weeks that’s only slightly better than the previous version.

Everyone has their own preference when it comes to size, design and specifications, but we can probably all agree that the HTC One family will be stealing most of the attention at Mobile World Congress this year. Which new HTC device do you plan on purchasing this spring?

Source: HTC Source

Nick is a tech enthusiast who has a soft spot for HTC and its devices. He started HTCsource.com (the first HTC blog) back in 2007 and later joined the Android and Me family in the summer of 2010. Tagged#Android 4.0#HTC On XL#HTC One S#HTC One V#HTC Sense 4.0#HTCOne X#mwc#mwc 2012#Qualcomm S4#Tegra 3 .nrelate .nr_sponsored{ left:0px !important; }.nrelate .nr_sponsored{ left:0px !important; } 51 Comments Join the discussion!Sort by DateRating

nebsifGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +4

Will that Super LCD on One X be at least somehow on par with GS2′s display? So tired of being unable to use my desire outdoors w/o looking for shadowy corners.. (and it seems my bro’s sensation has the same prob)

100Taylor Wimberly 19 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +1

The LCD that HTC used on the Sensation XL was amazing! You have to see it in person to believe how awesome it looks.

99Nick Gray 4 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

HTC will most likely be using Sony’s Super LCD2 displays which are much better than current generation displays.

95jaxidian 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down 0

I like! It’s about time that they stop shoving 50 devices down peoples’ throats and instead make a few good ones! However, I question the “S” product. I suspect people will either go with the “V” because it’s smaller or the “X” because it’s larger/faster. I don’t see many wanting the “S”. I get that it’s smaller than the X but I think it would be wiser to just let yesteryear’s product fill in that gap.

Joe*DGuest 7 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +1

I disagree. Many people see 4.3″ as the biggest phone that doesn’t feel too big in the hand. That combined with the S4 dual-core in the One S position it to be the standout phone for me. It has already been bench marked as the faster production processor Android phone on record. The S4 chip is better in my opinion for a phone than the Tegra 3. The Tegra 3 is best for a tablet, until the S4 quad core comes out later in 2012.

http://androidandme.com/2012/02/smartphones-2/htc-ville-posts-chart-topping-nenamark2-benchmark-scores/

89Jeff Pan 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +3

A bit disappointed with Tablet display. Lets see how it pans out

97spazby 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down -1

agreed

Reply 59Vance 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +9

OneX on Tmo please!

96Nathan D. 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +3

You and me both :-)

ion orovGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down -12

Really like HTC but their Androids are just… boring.

Its the same black/grey slab with fat centers, again and again and again. Of course, all the Android manufacturers are guilty but at least the others try to incorporate more appealing designs.

We need more phones like Sony’s “old” Arc S. So what if its single-core… man… the white version is so sexy I almost licked it in the store.

More design, less “stuff as many cores in it as possible”.

99Nick Gray 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +8

HTC’s phones may look boring, but I’d rather have a their simple device and aluminum shell any day over the cheap plastics used by Samsung, Motorola and LG. I agree that Sony is ahead of the competition when it comes to hardware aesthetics, but they need to step up their game and produce phones that can compete head to head with HTC another other Android OEMs is they want to be take seriously.

I’ve been a Sony fan since I purchased my first Walkman back in the 80′s. They have recaptured the design magic they once had, now they just need to be a technology leader as well.

20Max.Steel 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2

Yawn. Same ol’, same ol’.

aburgthingGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down 0

I’m pulling for you HTC. It’s time for a suitable replacement for my trusty Evo. I like the naming convention for your new series of phones.

THoGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +5

Two A15 cores are better then 4 A9 cores! The S4 SoC in the One S scores 218 MFLOPS on the multithreaded Linpack while the Tegra comes in at 136 even though a multithreaded test is one of the few places where the Tegra will get all 4 cores going. The only area where the Tegra 3 can compete with the S4 is GPU and then by a very small margin. Plus the One S is thinner, consumes less power and has a world modem built into the S4 SoC – you can move it to any carrier. The One S is newer technology and it shows, unfortunately HTC gave it a qHD screen which kills it for me.

20Max.Steel 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2

Qualcomm’s S4 quad-core chips have the advantage for mobile processing because of it’s low power and speed, up to 2.5Ghz per core, It’s support for cameras up to 20 megapixels, and it’s integrated LTE 4G, HSPA+, and CDMA capability. Any other mobile processors with these capabilities?

96Nathan D. 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2

I would have gotten it in a heart beat if the s4 had a 720p screen

20Max.Steel 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down 0

Don’t forget that Qualcomms Krait (and previous designs) are the only mass produced ARM compatible chips that are NOT based on ARMS designs (e.g. the A15).

Krait is closer to the A15 design than the current A9 design inside the Apple A5, Samsung Exnyos, Texas OMAP4 etc but only at a high level.

MTownGuest 20 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

You have to remember though, they could be going for what samsung went for last year. The galaxy S2 had a ridiculous processor, but what made it even smoother/snappier was the fact that it had a low res screen. Less pixels to push = smoother experience/better battery life.

Also, would you rather have a super amoled qhd 4.3 screen (assuming it’s not pentile) or a 4.7 720p lcd screen? Personally I’m all for higher res displays, but I think the real feature that captures me is the Samoled screens (coming from a Galaxy Nexus perspective). I think a lot of people will tell you the same (part of the reason why the GS2 sold so well).

Or you could just get a Galaxy Nexus and have both :)

96Nathan D. 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +1

Hopefully we can get carrier names at MWC and it nice to see them slowing it down more with a phone in almost every category so most people will fine something they like.

99Nick Gray 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down 0

As soon as the phones are announced on Sunday night, we should start hearing news from European carriers announcing which phones they plan on carrying. Official launch dates typically are revealed 1-2 weeks after Mobile World Congress.

65sunrise 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2

I read somewhere the One S will NOT have an expandable microSD slot, if the same is true for the One X then I think HTC is making a big mistake. Expandable memory in my book is a must when it comes to smartphones.

99Nick Gray 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down 0

To my knowledge, there has been no expandable memory details revealed for the One S, but the One X rumors do indicate that the phone will not have expandable memory. Users will be stick with the 32GB of internal storage.

65sunrise 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2

Maybe I was thinking One X, not One S. Thanks for the clarification. Either way, even worse, how could they not include expandable memory in their flagship One X!

It’s bad enough the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t have it either.

Am I the only one who thinks having an expandable memory slot is important?

DROID SamGuest 20 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +1

I theory I’ve always agreed with you, but I have had a 32GB microSD card in my phone for nearly 6 months now and can’t fill this thing for the life of me. I used to load up movies on my memory card, but now that netflix is available, most of my storage is used for pictures I take since I use Google Music to get my music fix.

If they load up these phones with 32GB of internal storage, I think 99% of people who buy the phone will never max it out.

MTownGuest 20 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

I think everyone will agree that expandable memory is better. I just think that you can get by on 32GB internal, especially with streaming services.

99Nick Gray 4 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

The latest spec sheet shows 26GB of usable storage with access to 25GB of cloud storage through Drop Box http://androidandme.com/2012/02/smartphones-2/official-htc-one-x-specs-revealed-along-with-new-images/

87Hall Lo 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +1

Its getting more and more exciting! All of them sounds like something we can look forward to! >u<

28fletchtb 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +1

Nice predictions. They make sense to me.

slurms mckenzieGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down -4

galaxy s3 please

Sere83Guest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +1

I used to be an HTC fan but I really CBA with HTC anymore to be honest. Sense has always been ugly and always been laggy IMO.

All this power will help but again, I just can’t seem to get excited about their devices anymore, they’re always dimensionally priced and often have average to weak battery performance and average cameras. I also find their designs uninspiring.

Galaxy S 3 please already

DROID SamGuest 19 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +1

According to PCWorld, HTC has some of the best smartphone cameras on the market http://www.pcworld.com/article/241955-2/smartphone_camera_battle_iphone_4s_vs_the_android_elite.html

93DroidSamurai 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2

>> We know that HTC will be making different variations of these devices for different US carriers

Please tell me what’s the point of reducing their “announcement” to just 4 when they will still be releasing a dozen of phones, each with slightly different spec. I appreciate their “thoughtful” consideration, but at the end of it, to most people who don’t read spec (which is exactly the kind of folks whom they want to send the less selection to make decision message to), it makes absolutely no difference.

65sunrise 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2

Wow, I just read an article about the S4 chip on AnandTech, that chip is a killer. It looks like a dual core Krait based S4 is actually faster than Nvidia’s Tegra-3 in most applications.

Anand goes on to say, “t’s just not easy coming up with current apps that scale well to four ARM cores. That’s not to say that there are no advantages to more than two cores, but you’re more likely to get a benefit from two faster cores vs. four slower ones.”

You all should go look at the benchmarks. I’m really excited about the dual core S4 based One S now. Hope it ships with microSD slot.

One thing I’m confused about. Is Krait different from Arm Cortex technology, or is “Krait” just a inside name used by Qualcomm?

20Max.Steel 21 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

Same ARM tech.

99Nick Gray 19 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +1

Actually, Qualcomm designs their own ARM-compatible cores rather than licensing the ARM architecture like Samsung, TI and others do. I recommend reading this article if you want to know more details. http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/94064-how-qualcomms-snapdragon-arm-chips-are-unique

revsyGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down 0

G1,mytouch,my touch slide,my touch 4g * all amazing phones very satisfied
Not untill my sensation was I disappointed with htc ….hope they win me back or I.might jump ship to Samsung

88jamal adam 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +3

Dear T-Mobile,
I would love it if you also picked up the HTC One X.

Sincerely,
Your customer

10AnthonyRyan 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +1

Im wanting the HTC ONE X to come to Tmobile USA if it doesn’t ill go for the HTC ONE S I’ve been following up on these phones for a while and can’t wait see what we get for Tmo hoping both.

paulGuest 23 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

I won’t touch anything with HTC sense on again. Slow updates and buggy

Also, What happened to HTC qwerty handsets? They haven’t replaced the desire z?

I think HTC have lost their way , but I hope i’m wrong come next week

99Nick Gray 19 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

Slow updates? HTC has proven time and time again that they push out Android updates faster and more frequently than any other OEM. http://androidandme.com/2011/08/news/updates-or-lack-thereof-on-the-android-update-alliance/

Sincethen, HTC is the only OEM to announce Android 4.0 updates for Q1 of this year and has more than a dozen phones slated to recevie an Android 4.0 update this year http://androidandme.com/2012/02/devices/official-htc-android-4-0-handset-update-list/

70aranea 22 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +1

So that’s what those letters mean.
X seems pretty good. I excited to see the ninja in real hands.

1haz 22 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

Finally. Naming conventions that make sense. Samsung led the way with the Galaxy S naming scheme. Hope everyone starts to pick it up. Hate trying to explain to my non-tech friends the difference between all the phones available. Now we just need it so we can buy a phone and then pick our carrier like Europe #KeepDreamin’

8RRR 22 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0

Yawn…did they fixed in latest phones their shitty camera, overheating and worst ever battery life already?

Nothing interesting…Where is 5+” phone with 4 cores and full day battery life and 300ppi superamoled+ rgb hd screen?

88Richard Yarrell 16 hours ago Thumb upThumb down -12

People need to come to terms with reality now 32gb is more than enough space NO NEED for an SD CARD. I have 100 total applications on my Galaxy Nexus, 2000 pictures, 41mp4 movies and still have 22.13gb of space left. No way all this space can be used.

squiddy20Guest 11 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +10

Ya know, you’re really simple minded and short sighted. Just because YOU can’t fill up 32 GB of space on your “pimp slapping” Galaxy Nexus, doesn’t mean others can’t. I’ve got a 16 GB card that is well over 3/4 full of music, important documents, backup files, downloaded maps for when I don’t have a data connection and am traveling, digital art projects (PSD, AI, etc), and quite a few other files. The only thing I don’t have much of on my phone is videos (full length movies or personally shot ones). A full length movie usually takes *at least* a GB of space, even when compressed, so I KNOW you don’t have “41 mp4 movies” in the sense of theatre length videos (an hour +), on your phone. Get back with me about how you “don’t need” more than 32 GB when you put music and several full length videos on there.
Also, 100 apps? Seriously? I’ve got just about that many on my “useless” Samsung Moment, which has less than 1/4 of the storage space as the Galaxy Nexus. What the hell was your point?

99Nick Gray 4 hours ago Thumb upThumb down -5

I hate to say this, but I actually agree with Richard. As you mentioned, you have a 16GB card that’s 3/4 full and you’ve got it jam packed with your whole life it seems like. What would you do with another 16 GB?

In theory, I agree that users should have the option to expand their storage capacity, but storage is all moving to the cloud and these HTC devices are expected to have full dropbox integration throughout the OS with 25GB of free online storage. No need to carry around all those files when you can more easily storage them in the cloud and access them from any computer.

squiddy20Guest 3 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +5

But there’s one major problem with “the cloud”. What do you do if you have a slow internet connection or none at all? Can’t stream that movie you want to watch, can’t listen to that bit of music stuck in your head, can’t get those Powerpoint presentations or Word docs you need for a client or school project. Not until you get a better connection anyway. Until mobile networks become as widespread and reliable as Wifi access is at my local college (pretty much everywhere but the parking lot), “the cloud” isn’t the best option. I’m not saying it doesn’t work, just that we need better data coverage (Sprint, T-mobile, etc) in order for it to be reliable.

As for what I’d do with another 16 GB? I’d use it to store full length movies, even more apps, more pictures, and more documents. If I had a phone that supported HDMI out, I’d have HD movies and games on the sd so I could use it as a real portable media player complete with games, documents, movies, pictures, music, etc, and all without needing a connection to the internet.

SteamGuest 2 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +2

Another very major problem with “the cloud” is that a lot of people don’t have unlimited data. I’m grandfathered in on Verizon,and except in very extreme cases, they don’t really throttle LTE, but a lot of people aren’t on such plans.. AT&T “unlimited” gets you throttled at 2GB, although a man just sued AT&T and won ~$850. At any rate, if you’re planning on storing everything in the cloud, and pulling it down, it isn’t going to take very long at all before you get hit with overages or throttled. Cloud storage has it’s good points (I, personally, would NEVER store anything I consider important in a cloud), but for mobile devices, you’d better have a really good data plan if you’re a heavy user and everything is in cloud storage.
Just my 2¢

SteamGuest 4 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +5

Just because *you* can’t fill up a 32GB SD card, doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t. Once again, just because you have one, it doesn’t mean that it’s good enough for everyone else and the best thing ever. I filled up the 32GB on the GNex I have very quickly with backups alone. I prefer being able to switch out SD cards. There is also no way in hell that you have ” 2000 pictures, 41mp4 movies and still have 22.13gb of space left” *cough bullshit*

squiddy20Guest 37 mins ago Thumb upThumb down +1

Just for argument’s sake, it is possible to have the files he says he has and still be under 22.13 GB. For instance, all 2000 images could be no more than 500 KB (~ 1 GB in total), and all 41 mp4s could be no more than 1 minute or so like most of the Youtube videos he’s posted featuring him roaming around NYC blabbering on about nothing. Just saying, he *could* be telling the truth, but I highly doubt it.
BTW, what’s the standard smartphone recording format these days anyway? Is it mp4? My Moment records in .3gp.