HTC Vive VR headset now up for pre-orders for $799

The highly anticipated HTC Vive VR headset Consumer Edition is now up for pre-order, along with all the accessories. HTC has also announced pricing of the Vive VR headset for select markets. Unfortunately India is not included in the list. 

The pre-order bundle includes the Vive headset two wireless controllers, two �base stations,� a link box (to connect to your PC), and a pair of Vive earbuds. The bundle will also include three games- Google's 3D-painting Tilt Brush, Fantastic Contraption and Job Simulator.

In the U.S the HTC Vive VR headset will cost $800 (Rs. 55,000).  HTC is limiting the bundles to one per customer and the headset will ship starting from April 15. Customers can choose between credit card or pay-pal as mode for payment. For credit card payments, a hold will be placed on the card when you make the order, while the paypal accounts will be charged at full at the time of placing the order.

To use the Vive you will need a capable PC that runs a Intel i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 or greater, has at least NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon R9 290 graphics and 4GB RAM.

Via

HTC One M10 will offer "very very compelling camera experience"

HTC is gearing up to launch its flagship, the One M10. Just a day back, the company started teasing the One M10 and now a company official has shared titbit of the One M10's camera. 

HTC's Chief Financial Officer, Chialin Chang during an interview told CNET that the One M10 will offer a "very very compelling camera experience" .

"We can confidently say that HTC will have a very, very compelling camera experience. We�re making this comment after we�ve seen what�s going on in the market", Chang told the publication.

The statement comes following MWC 2016 where groundbreaking new smartphone camera technology were revealed from Samsung, Xiaomi and LG. Chang also mentioned that he is confident about One M10's  camera appeal "after seeing what's going on in the market", referring to Galaxy S7, G5 and Mi 5.

HTC's flagship have not gained much popularity when it comes to camera quality. The company announced the One M7 and One M8 with UltraPixel technology, that failed to deliver. For the One M9 HTC, went with the megapixel camera, but again wasn't well received, as it haven't been on par with what the competition offered.

"Hopefully, this year will be different," added Chang.

It is being rumored that HTC will be using the UltraPixel technology once again in the One M10. The rear camera is rumored to have a 12 Ultrapixel module with laser auto focus and optical image stabilization (OIS).

Meanwhile HTC ROM developer L1abTooFer has shared details of the One M10 storage options. According to the developer, the One M10 will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, depending on storage market. HTC coming up with a 16GB model hints that, the Android 6.0's Adaptable Storage might be enabled on One M10, a feature that Samsung and LG ignored.

HTC One M10 (Perfume) rumor roundup

• 5.2-inch QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) AMOLED display
• Snapdragon 820 SoC with Adreno 530 GPU (U.S and EU market) / MediaTek SoC (China and South East Asian market)
• 4GB RAM
• 32GB internal storage (23GB user accessible), microSD card slot for storage expansion
• 12-megapixel rear camera with 1.55um, Sony IMX377 sensor, dual-tone LED flash, OIS, Laser Auto Focus, PDAF
• 5-megapixel Ultrapixel front camera with Samsung s5K4e6 sensor.
• Fingerprint sensor embedded  in the Home Button
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with HTC Sense UI 8.0 on top

Via

HTC to soon unleash #thepowerof10

Samsung, Xiaomi, LG and Sony introduced their flagship smartphone at MWC 2016, Barcelona, but  HTC chose not to unveil a flagship at the event, instead unveiled new phones in its Desire series lineup. However, HTC doesn't want to be left behind, as it has started teasing it upcoming flagship product.

HTC on its twitter account posted a teaser image of the upcoming flagship, speculated to be the One M10. The teaser images shows a corner of the smartphone with chamfered metal edges. Accompanying the image is the tagline 'Power of 10'.

The teaser image is line with the leaked photo that surfaced earlier this week. The leaked photo also shows the metal edges on the rear of the device.

We have also seen multiple leaked image (1, 2, 3)  of One M10, revealing that the phone will have a design similar to One A9. This is not a surprise, as HTC had already revealed that it would adapt the One A9's design in future mobile products.

Unfortunately there is no concrete launch date, except for rumors that suggest it could be March or May, but since the teasers have started coming out, an official announcement date can be expected soon.

HTC One M10 (Perfume) rumored specs.

• 5.2-inch QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) AMOLED display
• Snapdragon 820 SoC with Adreno 530 GPU (U.S and EU market) / MediaTek SoC (China and South East Asian market)
• 4GB RAM
• 32GB internal storage (23GB user accessible), microSD card slot for storage expansion
• 12-megapixel rear camera with 1.55um, Sony IMX377 sensor, dual-tone LED flash, OIS, Laser Auto Focus, PDAF
• 5-megapixel Ultrapixel front camera with Samsung s5K4e6 sensor.
• Fingerprint sensor embedded  in the Home Button
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with HTC Sense UI 8.0 on top

This is it, The Ultrapixel Technology Used by HTC One Camera

Currently usually power of camera performance is associated with the amount of camera resolution, such as 3MP, 5MP or 8MP. And, so that in general information resolution of 5MP better than 3MP (2048 x 1536 pixels), or 8MP (3264 x 2448 pixels) is more fine than 5MP (2592 x 1944 pixels).

But it seems now it will broken by the latest HTC's camera sensor technology, which is already embedded in the latest HTC�s smartphone, HTC One. Which will begin to circulate in the market next March, HTC creates an innovation called "Ultrapixels".

In Ultrapixel technologies, HTC approach with camera capabilities, instead of the high-scale Mega Pixel resolution quantity (number of pixels) but the pixel size. HTC offers new sensors that can improve the percentage of quality number of pixels to capture 300% more light (2 micro meters, ordinary camera 1.3 micro meter).

Its mean, the technology in the camera Ultrapixel HTC One can enlarge the arrest of the number of pixels in order to record more light and data. The photos will show the lighter shades (although objects in very minimal light conditions) and the colors accurately.

Based on the information from the HTC when their launch HTC One, camera sectors with a capacity of 4.3 MP (4.3 UP, Ultrapixel) arguably has the ability equivalent 8MP-13MP on camera phones in general. Although the resolution of the HTC One camera shots limited to 2688 x 1520 pixels (16:9 ratio). Of course in HTC One has added benefits and advantages of Ultrapixel technology.

For information, from the side of the lens, HTC One using auto focus lenses with focal length 28mm (equivalent 35mm) with f/2.0 aperture. Even the lens is larger than f/2.4 used by iPhone 5 and Lumia 920.

The camera is also equipped with HTC One optical image stabilization, which serves to absorb shocks while shooting or recording video. This camera can record 1080p HD resolution video (@ 60fps).

Meanwhile, at front camera, HTC One is equipped with 2.1 MP sensors with a wide-angle lens. This front camera can record 1080p video resolution.

Strengthen 'The Image', HTC Change Their Marketing Strategy

With the quality, features, and lastest smartphone specifications, HTC 'should' not difficult to penetrate the smartphone market competition at the highest level. But unfortunately, the facts speak otherwise precisely, where according to the Gartner report, as reported by DigiTimes, Taiwanese vendors this would have frozen out of the 10 largest mobile phone brand.

Understanding market conditions as hostile to its products, HTC reportedly ready to fix it by strengthening its product marketing sector.

As stated by the HTC CEO, Peter Chou, it is ready to improve and strengthen the position of product marketing, in order to resolve and overcome the challenges they face in today's market.

In the report, which quoted DigiTimes, HTC is also called will direct its marketing activities in the United States and Europe to promote their products directly to consumers.

HTC recently revealed the latest flagship smartphone, HTC One, it seems increasingly unsure if this smartphone launch as stated Chou will inject new passion into the smartphone market.

With HTC One which will be available globally through more than 185 carriers and retailers in more than 80 regions and countries beginning next March, HTC claims that it is prepared to hold the responsibilities associated with their own marketing activities in 2013 in order to promote this image of his brand.

Through the strategy to be done, it seems interesting to see the performance of HTC in the market, especially with the newly revealed smartphone, the HTC One who comes armed with a 4.7-inch full HD display with 468ppi density.

HTC Butterfly has Large Consumer Demand in Japan

One of smartphones with full HD screens  (1080p), namely HTC Butterfly. And, according to information released by Focus Taiwan, the mobile phone has another name HTC J Butterfly for the Japanese market are mentioned selling well in the Japan.

The level of demand for HTC Butterfly in Japan known to be very high. In fact, the market there reported experiencing difficulties in meeting large consumer demand for Android phone with 5-inch screen plus quad-core 1.5 GHz processor.

Because the stock is running low in Japan, HTC also plans to immediately send back products at the end of this month. Unfortunately, until now there is still no official information how much shipping capacity for Butterfly phones which HTC has planned for the Japanese market.