Over the course of the summer, we've really seen the Oculus Rift try to stick it to the HTC VIVE. The Rift had already been on sale for much of the summer when Oculus revealed that it would permanently drop the price of its Rift + Touch bundle to $499. Now HTC has hit back with its own discount for the VIVE, so if you've been waiting on a VR headset, it looks like now is the time to buy.
HTC's latest flagship phone, the U11, has proven itself to be one of the top Android device releases of the year with impressive specs and design, useful features, and a great camera — and soon it's going to get even better. HTC has revealed that U11 was just certified for the Bluetooth 5.0 standard, and that users will be able to take advantage of its improved speeds once Android O is released.
A little over a month ago, there was a rumor that HTC had an “Ocean Life” smartphone in the works. Based on the information at that time, it was clearly made to be a mid-range version of the “Ocean”, which turned out to be the HTC U11. Indeed, this latest leak pretty much confirms that and also gives the name of “HTC U11 Life”. It is perhaps indeed better to ditch the “mini” moniker considering how barely smaller this smartphone is and how close it is to its more premium older sibling.
When HTC launched the U11, it said that the U Ultra that preceded it wasn’t exactly the complete story it wanted to tell the world this 2017. It turns out, the U11 might not exactly be complete either. No, there isn’t a new HTC smartphone coming, at least none that we have heard of. Instead, the HTC U11 story itself is far from over and HTC is promising updates that, more than just fix issues, actually add completely new functionality, including this new firmware update in Taiwan that adds the promised Bluetooth 5.0 support.
A pair of photos leaked today show the Google Pixel 2 in all its mega-sized glory. This device is part of some manner of testing program, as evidenced by the collection of stickers on its back and tiny indicators up front - but otherwise seems to be in standard running order. This device is likely nearing its last testing steps before being released to the public VIA a Google event coming up quick.
The HTC U11's most intriguing - and arguably underutilized - feature is getting supercharged, though it's not the Android phone-maker's own handiwork. Instead, the developer community has stepped up to unlock the potential of Edge Sense, the squeeze-to-launch shortcut system HTC introduced on the U11. If you're a U11 owner, it has the potential to be the must-have app for the phone.
Google Pixel's 2nd generation smartphone images leaked today with a set of specific hardware details. This device will be one of two Pixel smartphones released this year, one Pixel 2, and one Pixel XL 2 - though the names themselves have not yet been shared officially, these are the most likely candidates. Now what we're going to do is compare specs and size up the differences between these devices based on the information we have so far.
Back in May of last year we first saw the rise of the VR backpack with such manufacturers as Aorus, MSI, ZOTAC - and HP. Imagine our surprise when HP came here in July of 2017 again with another far more sleek and low-profile entry into this ecosystem.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could get new hardware features without actually having to get new hardware? That does seem to be the magic that HTC is weaving in a leaked letter from the Taiwanese manufacturer to the US FCC regarding Bluetooth on its HTC U11 flagship. According to the letter, HTC will enable Bluetooth 5 on the HTC U11 but it will do nothing more than release a software update. No hardware changes required.
It is not courageous to ditch one's headphone jack - it's completely bonkers - and I'll tell you why right this minute. When I get in my car, I plug my smartphone in to a power cord and a headphone cord. If I want to listen to music in my car, I need to plug it in this way. If Google follows Apple's lead and decides to get rid of their headphone jack in favor of another converter dongle, I may just lose my marbles.
Despite the surge of interest and content in consumer virtual reality, thanks to the likes of Oculus and HTC Vive, proponents quickly saw the technical limits of current technology and devices. For one, wands and sticks make for poor approximation of our hands. For another, these VR headsets keep us tethered to desks or, at the very least, laptops. The next wave of VR innovation seems to be focused at freeing headsets from the shackles and cables, and HTC is jumping at the forefront with its new Vive standalone headset, powered by none other than Qualcomm’s latest platform.
The HTC U11 has some fervent fans, but not everyone with their eye on the model has picked one up yet. If you're counted among those people, HTC has some good news: you'll be able to preorder the 128GB version of the U11 in the United States starting tomorrow. Not interested? The company is also hoping to bring in some new customers by dangling a few sweet summer deals.
