Quick Hit: Unknown HTC Windows Phone With 12 MP Camera Support

By: Kareem Ali

So it would seem the rumors of an HTC-WP7 12 MP camera were true. A phone reviewer by the name of Eldar Murtazi posted some tweets and pictures of the phone showing off it’s 12 MP capabilities check em out:

The pictures also show that the phone will be capable of capturing images in RAW format which is a first I think for phones.

Murtazi said this via his twitter account "I like 12 megapixel camera on WP7 - support RAW, some additional settings. Quality is not bad at all. Will compare with N8 tomorrow"

There is no other real information on the phone other than it will be running Mango (as Murtazi shows in the video below). There’s no release date or even and official  name for this device yet, but a lot of people seem to be pretty excited about it.

Here’s the vid (in Russian):

Related Stuffs:

• Source: GSM Arena
• Engadget: Mystery HTC Windows Phone sports 12 megapixel goodness, RAW support

HTC Getting Charged By Microsoft Per Device

By: Kareem

According to reports, Microsoft is getting $5 off of every device that HTC sells. This is due to a previous settlement the two companies made during the latter’s lawsuit against Google.

So here’s how it started due to the fact that most of Microsoft can’t outright go after Google to get at Android, they go after the much smaller and easier to settle with device manufactures. Around the end of April last year they decided they would go after HTC for using Android to infringe on their Intellectual Property. HTC, presumably not wanting to end their relationship with Microsoft (they do make Windows mobile devices after all) decided to settle with the company. Turns out that one of the terms of that settlement is that HTC pay Microsoft a $5 royalty fee on every Android device they sell, be it phone or tablet.

Microsoft didn’t just go after HTC either, the big M is also suing Barnes & Noble for using Android on their Nook eReader’s. And they want to up their take from HTC as well. According to reports Microsoft is looking to get between $7.50-$12.50 from the manufacturer for each Android device they sell. Presumably they will want the same from Barnes & Noble as well if they decide to settle.

• What really dosen’t seem to make sense to me is:
• Microsoft is suing Android over infringing on it’s IP
• Microsoft claims that IP is a companies most prized possession and therefore almost priceless.
• Android is free and Google is not charging companies to use it

If IP is important and Android is free then why is Microsoft profiting off of someone else's IP? I thought that if a company made software free and open source than no other company could profit off the code. I thought that HTC’s profits came from hardware, not software, Shure they make sense. But a skin is a far cry from an operating system.

Seems to me like Microsoft is using it’s lawyers to scare HTC into paying an unnecessary royalty fee that they don’t deserve for an OS they had nothing to do with by threating to not allow the company to make anymore Windows Phone devices.

The real kicker here is that if Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and all the other companies suing other companies for using Android keep making settlement and getting their undeserved cash than Android might end up being more expensive than WP7 and become basically worthless.

It works like this, Microsoft gets $5-$12 for every Android device, then let’s say the trend continues and Apple wins a lawsuit, now Apple gets $5-$12. So now you have to pay between $10-$24 per device you sell. If more companies join in and keep getting more and more sooner or later it’s just not worth it. You end up having to pay these huge costs or just license from another company that allows you to put their software on your devices. This is where it gets a little interesting.

Microsoft has apparently though this pretty well through, during my research I found out that although Microsoft charges OEM’s to license WP7, they guarantee that the manufacturer will get their money back from advertising and other channels. So in essence WP7 is free, just not open source. Not being open source can also be beneficial to a manufacturer as they can count on timely updates and less fragmentation between devices the make.

Related Stuffs:

• Source: Top Tech Reviews

• Business Insider: HTC Pays Microsoft $5 Per Android Phone, Says Citi

• Seattle Times:  HTC pays Microsoft $5 for every Android phone

• Semi Accurate: How much do phone makers pay for Windows Phone 7?

Quick Hit: Evo 3D Pre-Orders Started, You Just Have To Ask

Androidcommunity.com has gotten their hands on an apparent text message sent out to Best Buy employees about customers asking for the HTC Evo 3D, which hasn’t has any official release date or price announcements yet.

According to the text message they will be allowed to take pre-orders starting today (May 2nd 2011), they’re just not allowed to let customers know they can yet. However if you ask, they are allowed to tell you what they can and take your pre-order request

Source: Android Community

HTC Pre Orders Start At Best Buy 4/25/2011…Hey That’s Tomorrow

By: Kareem Ali

Best Buy said yesterday that they will taking orders for HTC’s first table, the ‘Flyer’ starting Tomorrow.

Retailers in Europe have been taking pre-orders for the ‘Flyer’ for months now, they even have a release date (May 9) in the U.K. Thanks to Best Buy those of us over here in the U.S can finally pre-order the tab for $499, but no release date has been announced yet. Europeans will also be getting WiFi and 3G versions while the U.S is currently only offering a WiFi version.

The ‘Flyer’ looks pretty promising, you can check out the specs here. The only real downside to the device is that it’s shipping with Android 2.3. HTC promises to upgrade to the tablet version of Google OS, Android 3.0, but no one knows how long that might take.

Source: Engadget

HTC Gives it’s New Tablet, Dubbed the Flyer a Release Date

HTC announced yesterday that their first tablet, the Flyer will hit U.K stores on May 9.  Although it’s their first tab, fans of the company think it might actually give Apple’s iPad 2 a run for its money.

HTC is touting the Flyer as a tablet meant for gamers on the official page and the specs somewhat back that idea up. Here’s what I found:

• Weight: 420 grams
• Display: 7 inch TFT Capacitive touchscreen with a1024 X 600 resolution.
• Input: Gyro Sensor, Multi Touch, Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor
• Operating System: Android 2.4
• CPU: Single-Core Qualcomm 1.5 GHz
• Ram: 1GB
• Memory: 32GB Internal (MicroSD Slot included for extra memory)
• Video: Mp3, WMA, AMR, OGG, AAC, AAC+ and WAV
• Audio: MPREG 4, Xvid, WMV, 3GP, 3G2, avi
• Bluetooth: 3.0
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
• Camera: 5 MP rear, 1.3 MP front.

Besides those specs the Flyer also comes with a nifty ‘magic’ pen. You know, in case you got chubby nubs. According to their website; “HTC Flyer's magic pen transforms anything. It can draw, paint, write, and even retouch pictures. It can be a highlighter for the reader (and by the way all your highlights will be collated when you're done). The HTC Flyer can link audio to the notes you take for work, and it can add voiceover to a storybook you're drawing up at home. Work or play, it's magic for the whole family.”

I personally like HTC. So I’m pretty anxious to see what people in the U.K think when they get their hands on the Flyer next month. Hopefully this is just the shot in the arm the tablet industry needs in order to shake the iPad off it’s throne.

By: syeed@techsual.com

HTC Thunderbolt Might Overtake Verizon’s iPhone Sales

 

The new HTC Thunderbolt was released on Verizon the 17th of March and sales reports are already putting it ahead of Apple’s iPhone at 28% of Verizon’s stores. Another 61% of stores are saying that the Thunderbolt and iPhone are neck-and-neck which leaves only 11% still favoring the iPhone.

The figures come as a surprise to many who expected Verizon’s iPhone sales to continue to grow pretty much infinitely. If the numbers keep growing on the Thunderbolt it could be a pretty big win for HTC seeing as HTC’s other giant media-centric phone the EVO 4g has been a huge seller for Sprint. However Sprint doesn’t have the iPhone and if you don’t have an iPhone well you don’t have an iPhone as the commercial puts it, so HTC outselling Apple in this arena would be a whole new level of bragging rights for them. Proving that they can still dominate Verizon sales like they did with the Droid.

Android can also claim some new bragging rights for pretty much the same thing. The OS has yet to overtake iOS on their other battleground AT&T likewise HTC has not been able to compete Against the iPhone on that network.

Of course the expected iPhone 5 release could shake these numbers up considerably, still it’s good to see people choosing HTC/Android. In my opinion it’s a really good pairing.

Source: pnosker.com