July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Need another sign that smartphones are getting too big? HTC just unveiled the HTC Mini, a tiny remote for its 5-inch HTC Butterfly in China, which harks back to the time when miniscule candy bar cellphones were all the rage.

The Mini functions just like one of those small cellphones of yore — it connects to the Butterfly (the Chinese version of the Droid DNA) via Bluetooth to make calls and view messages. You can also use it to remotely control the big smartphone once you’ve connected it to a TV or stereo.

While some may find it useful, I find the very idea of the HTC Mini ridiculous. If smartphones are getting too big to use comfortably for making calls, then perhaps we should be making smaller smartphones. I’ve tested plenty of smartphones over the past few years, and even with my large hands I still can’t get used to phones around 5 inches.

After a certain point, the race to make bigger smartphone screens will have to end and device makers will have to focus on other ways to differentiate their products. There’s certainly a market for bigger phones like Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2, but I wouldn’t call that market mainstream. Huawei’s 6.1-inch Ascend Mate was pretty much the last straw for me when it came to useless gigantic smartphones.

At this point, the HTC Mini will be exclusive to China. The company hasn’t announced pricing details yet.

Via SlashGear

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Last week, HTC CEO Peter Chou said his company had seen the worst of its struggles. After taking a look at HTC’s fourth quarter 2012 results, we can only hope he’s right.

HTC reported a net profit of $34.4 million during the quarter — a steep 91 percent drop from the same period last year and the company’s lowest level since 2006.

Sales were similarly bad. HTC’s revenues dropped 41 percent to $2.69 billion, signaling its biggest, most pressing issue: People really aren’t interested in buying its phones.

As we pointed out last week, this isn’t a fault of the phones themselves but of HTC’s inability to market them. And HTC knows it. “Our competitors were too strong and very resourceful, pouring in lots of money into marketing. We haven’t done enough on the marketing front,” Chou told The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Chou’s comments were, of course, a clear warning to investors that HTC’s earnings would be pretty bad this time around. And while Chou is confident that 2013 will be a better year for the Taiwanese company, so far there isn’t much evidence to support that — at least from the sales and marketshare standpoint.

One thing that HTC does have going for it, however, is its patent deal with Apple. Shipments of its One X and Evo 4G LTE were delayed last year over suspected patent infringement, which certainly didn’t help sales of the devices. HTC’s deal with Apple ensures that a similar delay won’t happen again.

“HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation,” said Peter Chou about the deal in November.

Maybe it’s innovation that will help turn HTC around in 2013.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

2012 was an awful year for HTC. Not only did the company report some its worst earnings ever, but it also watched helplessly as Apple and Samsung ate away at its smartphone marketshare. The descent hasn’t been pretty.

So how does HTC plan to turn things around? According to CEO Peter Chou, lots and lots of marketing.

“Our competitors were too strong and very resourceful, pouring in lots of money into marketing. We haven’t done enough on the marketing front,” Chou told The Wall Street Journal.

Essentially, the HTC of the future will go from being “quietly brilliant” to “talkatively brilliant” — a change that’s been a long time coming.

What’s most worrying about HTC’s troubles is just how unwarranted they are. Looking back at some of the devices the company announced last year — the One S, Droid DNA, and Windows Phone-running 8X — it’s clear that HTC knows how to create attractive, well-designed products.

But it’s not the products that have been the problem. Instead, HTC’s biggest rub has been in its failure to convince consumers to go for its devices over those of the competition. And that’s clearly a failure in marketing. (Seriously — when’s the last time you saw a HTC ad on television?)

But in his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chou also points to another one of HTC’s faults: a lack of prescience and flexibility. The smartphone market changes fast, and HTC has done a pretty poor job of keeping up. How else can you explain its tragic fall from the top of the smartphone market to its most bitter bottom?

Chou said that the new HTC will be better equipped to respond quickly to the smartphone market’s rapid changes. “We are being more flexible now. We are constantly fine-tuning our sales plans and position in various markets,” Chou said.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

HTC wants to make you excited for the Droid brand again with the Droid DNA, announced today at a media event together with Verizon Wireless in New York City.

The phone sports a massive 5-inch screen with a 1080p resolution. Those specs means the screen displays a stunning 440 pixels per inch, even sharper than Apple’s much-touted Retina Displays.

“[It's] about bringing Droid back to its original roots, ULTIMATE POWER,” HTC President Jason Mackenzie said today (emphasis mine, I think).

The Droid DNA will be available on November 21 for $199 with a two-year contract. Pre-orders begin today.

Judging from the design alone, it’s certainly one of the most striking Android phones we’ve seen so far. (Not a huge surprise, since I loved the HTC One S,) The Droid DNA features a curved edge design with attractive red grills. At its shortest point, the phone’s edge is less than 4 millimeters thick.

HTC’s design smarts carry over to the Droid DNA’s internal hardware as well. HTC Design Director Jonah Becker said the phone’s slim and curved design was made possible by stacking the internals like a pyramid, something only being done by HTC at the moment. Powering this monster of a device is a new Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor.

Why aim for such a high-resolution screen? “This is the kind of resolution professional photographers demand,” Becker said.

The Droid DNA will ship with Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean,” and it also features support for wireless charging (something that’s becoming more common these days). HTC isn’t skimping with the cameras either, the Droid DNA will feature a f2.0 lens for both its front and rear shooters.

In my brief hands-on time with the phone, I found it to be surprisingly light and comfortable, despite its huge screen. It also felt incredibly solid — something HTC has been focusing on since the launch of its One line.

Check back next week for a full review of the Droid DNA.