Next up, we had HTC slate a timeframe for updates to Ice Cream Sandwich. They will begin sometime in March, and the Sensation will be first in their lineup. As for Motorola, an executive has let us know that hardware is to blame for their slow software updates. After all, with such a huge jump from 2.3 to 4.0 – we’d all rather receive a ‘bugless’ update later than one with constant crashes now.

It seems Samsung has trademarked the name ‘Samsung Galaxy Camera’. Could they really be planning a release for an Android powered camera? Using Android for solely picture taking purposes is rather unique thus far, and could potentially do very well. It would be nice to install one of many photo editing applications straight from the Android Market onto a decent camera.

And finally, be sure to check out Google Music’s ‘Best of the Grammys’ sale. They’re offering $3.99 albums and $0.59 single tracks. That’s over 50% off for relatively new hits, so grab them while they’re extra-affordable!

Over on their Facebook page they have just this morning announced the HTC Sensation will be the first to Android 4.0 ICS. Stating that the first round of updates will roll out by the end of March. So we should be seeing them start to roll out a little before that period. First round will be the HTC Sensation, T-Mobile Sensation 4G, and the Sensation XE.

In addition to those few, they’ve also just confirmed a number of popular HTC devices are slated to get the same update very soon, but sometime after March. We knew most devices lately would be updated but here’s the initial list right from HTC themselves: HTC Rezound, HTC Vivid, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G, HTC Incredible S, HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD. That list isn’t looking good for Thunderbolt owners!

HTC has also stated that they’ll be announcing more details and have more updates in the next few weeks regarding all their popular Android devices. This has literally just hit the wires so we’ll be digging for more information and will report back shortly.

Take a good gander at the invitation above: the roller-coasting model is using a smartphone while pulling a couple of Gs. (Note: do not ever do this, unless you’s like to test your phone’s ability to survive a drop of several stories at 70 miles an hour.) Aside from the inadvisable use case scenario, the smarphone itself is relevant, as currently the only Tegra 3 device on the market is Asus’s Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet. We’ve heard rumblings of quad-core phones from both HTC and LG, and since HTC has its own event scheduled just before the show begins, it’s them that we expect to see partnering with Nvidia at the later press conference.

That implies that none other than the HTC Edge, rumored quad-core smartphone and  HTC’s flagship for early 2012, will be showing up at the conference. The smartphone will be a host of firsts if it’s announced: the first quad-core smartphone, HTC’s first Ice Cream Sandwich device (possibly shared with the HTC Ville) and HTC’s first device to use Nvidia’s system on a chip instead of Qualcomm’s. We can’t wait to see what Nvidia has in store.

In case you haven’t kept a carbon copy of our HTC Vivid review in the back of your mind like a good Android fan, let’s refresh quickly. The Velocity skews towards the higher end of HTC’s line up, with a 4.5-inch 960×540 LCD display, 1.5Ghz dual-core processor and Gingerbread (sigh) with HTC’s Sense UI tacked on. We came away impressed with the phone thanks to its solid feel and conservative styling, but gave Samsung the nod when the Vivid went head-to-head with the Galaxy S II Skyrcocket, mostly because of the former’s dim screen, extra weight and shorter battery life.

Vodafone wasn’t forthcoming about an exact price or release date, but assures customers that the Velocity will be available in the next few weeks at the latest. Also, it comes in the spiffy white that all the cool manufacturers seem to be adopting these days. HTC hasn’t said anything about wider availability, but you can expect the Velocity or something similar (perhaps shown off at Mobile World Congress) to start appearing on the few European carriers with LTE capability, or a planned rollout of the same.

Two design aspects in particular that they identified as needing revision are thinness of phones’ profiles and the relationship between LTE connections and battery drain. Anyone who’s owned an HTC ThunderBolt can identify with these problems, and its successors the Rezound and Vivid aren’t all that much better. All this is compounded by smaller and for the most part better phones from HTC’s primary competitors: the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE (AKA the Skyrocket on AT&T) and the Motorola DROID RAZR. HTC’s obviously working fast, as the much-leaked HTC Ville headed to Mobile World Congress is already shaping up to be a thin, powerful phone.

Also of note in their conference call was a hint towards a more “open-minded” attitude when it comes to selecting components. The HTC representative specifically mentioned CPUs in this context. Considering the Ville’s supposed launch partner, the HTC Edge, that makes a lot of sense: the Edge will probably be the first smartphone to use an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, as opposed to HTC’s usual Qualcomm SoC’s. Both devices are expected to make an appearance at HTC’s pre-Mobile World Congress event in late February.

[via Unwired View]

The Ville is expected to be HTC’s mid-range entry for 2012, matching the relative market location of the Sensation in 2012. Leaked specs include a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor, and a 4.3-inch QHD screen with an AMOLED panel. Details on other phone specifications are scarce, but the device is said to be a mere 8.9mm thin – a record for HTC, and admirable even in today’s crowded market. Naturally the phone runs Ice Cream Sandwich with HTC’s Sense 4.0, though you’d be hard pressed to spot the differences from these photos alone.

The smaller size and lower power of the Ville contrast with the HTC Edge, expected to have a 4.7-inch screen, Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and a 720p screen. The Ville’s relatively mid-market status gives credence to the idea that we’ll see it first on T-Mobile in the US, probably replacing the Amaze 4G. While there’s certainly something going on at HTC’s pre-MWC event on February 26th, there’s no telling what it might be – though the quick removal of a previous version of the Ville video indicate that the company would prefer you don’t know about this phone just yet. See you in Barcelona.

[via Android-Life]

“We dropped the ball,” said CFO Wintson Yung, referring both to the disappointing results and what the company considers to be a stagnant year for its own design and development teams. The executive took time to single out HTC’s first wave of LTE devices as particularly disheartening. The company’s outlook for this quarter – now about half over – isn’t any better, as they expect to drop total revenue by another 36% year-over-year. If international megacorps used sports vernacular, HTC would be calling this a “rebuilding year”.

Their strategy for that rebuild is centered around hero devices, less individual phones and tablets with more development and PR attention devoted to each. While neither has been officially unveiled, we’re fairly certain that the first two will be the HTC Ville and HTC Edge, a mid-range and high-end Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone, respectively. The Ville was leaked on camera last week, along with its Sense UI 4.0 interface. Expect to see both devices, along with a somewhat humbled HTC promotional blitz, at Mobile World Congress in a couple of weeks.

[via SlashGear]

The flaw affects phones with Sense UI, and seems to go back quite a ways into HTC’s catalog. Users of the Desire HD, Glacier (T-Mobile MyTouch 4G), Droid Incredible, Sensation 4G, ThunderBolt, Desire S, EVO 3D and EVO 4G should be wary, but Nexus one and MyTouch 3G owners needn’t worry. The last two phones run mostly unmodified Android code, and are susceptible to the permissions error in Sense. HTC instructs its customers to check back on its support site in a week for further instructions.

This is the second major security flaw found in Sense in the last few months. Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but doesn’t that indicate that Sense (and by extension most custom UIs) aren’t worth it? Note that those who install a ROM based on open-source Android are fine as far as security goes, yet still have a voided warranty for their trouble. Isn’t it time that HTC starts to let its customers choose whether or not they want Sense on their phone, or at the very least ,release one or two models running Stock Android? Considering that they’ve proven their own additions to Android make it less secure, and that the software differentiation is a non-issue for many users, that would seem like a good idea.

Are you listening, HTC? Stock Android is safer, quicker to update and requires less legwork on your end to maintain. Why aren’t you letting your customers have the choice to remove Sense?

[via The Next Web]

The flaw is a minor one, allowing any application access to stored SSID passwords by using the “android.permission.INTERNET” permission. Affected phones tested by the researchers include the Desire HD, Glacier (T-Mobile MyTouch 4G), Droid Incredible, Sensation 4G, ThunderBolt, Desire S, EVO 3D and EVO 4G. While US-CERT recommends visiting the HTC support website for update instructions, HTC has said nothing as of yet about the security hole. Based on their behavior with the last security alert, you can expect them to update the affected handsets within the next few weeks.

Users shouldn’t panic: there’s been no documented case of apps or malware taking advantage of this loophole as of yet, and it would take some doing for an unscropilous developer to take advantage of it for personal gain. That said, it might be best to delete stored WiFi SSDs until the update and rely on a 3G or 4G connection for data, especially if you access sensative networks at home or at work. US-CERT notes that the Nexus One and T-Mobile MyTouch 3G (HTC Hero), both of which run mostly unmodified Android code, do not suffer from this issue. That means that if you’re running a custom ROM built from Android’s open-source packages, you’re probably safe as well.

[via PhysOrg]

If you’re excited to see Google’s shiny new user interface for ICS running on HTC’s hardware… don’t be. Based on what we’ve seen of a leaked version of HTC’s 2012 workhorse model, the Ville, HTC’s ICS build will look nearly identical to its Gingerbread one thanks to an updated version of the Sense UI skin. While Sense 4.0 will bring a number of small enhancements, it’s more of an evolution of HTC’s established look and feel than anything else. All of Google’s work in ICS aimed towards uniting the current smartphone and tablet interfaces seems to be going unheeded by HTC, and Samsung as well, since their TouchWiz skin seems intact on early ICS builds for the Galaxy S II.

In any case, European Sensation owners can expect an over-the-air update to be released before the March 1st debut of the frosty phone or just after. Since HTC is expected to officially reveal at least one major phone and Sense 4.0 at Mobile World Congress in late February, it may not be until the new Sensation is already on shelves. HTC’s stated improvements in the software include faster browsing and ICS’s facial unlock technology, as well as better Sense integration with Google Plus, with a few stability improvements thrown in for good measure. US Sensation owners can expect updates a few weeks or months afterwards, if carriers can be bothered.

Recently we’ve seen smartphone makers such as HTC take a different approach as they’ve bought part of Beats Audio and have been including their tweaked software into their devices, not to mention bundling a few special phones with some higher-range headphones. While Samsung isn’t doing anything like that they will be running multiple deals and promotions with the popular Jays brand. Here is what Jays had to say:

The agreement with Samsung is a great boost for our profile in a key target market. It’s also an incredible endorsement of Jays’ unrivaled quality and our continued success. Coming from the world’s largest manufacturer of smartphones it’s a great compliment.” comments Rune Torbjörnsen, CEO of Jays.

Jays might not be a widely known headphone brand but from audiophile sites like Head-fi.org they are a household name and are only getting bigger. The collaboration between the two will see Jays’ award-winning v-JAYS being marketed together with selected products across South Korea in many Samsung stores. You can also expect to see them in other Samsung retailers throughout Korea starting in the month of February.

Appropriately, HTC Hub broke the news and brought the YouTube video to the attention of the Internet. The three-minute spy video doesn’t show much – it appears to be the Ville in an office somewhere, probably being tested before a carrier announcement, almost certainly in Europe. While it’s claimed that the hardware on display is a prototype, it looks pretty complete as-is, even including the HTS SENSE tag on the back battery cover. Speaking of which, the skin running on Android appears to be Sense UI 4.0. That implies (but doesn’t guarantee) that the phone is running Ice Cream Sandwich. The software menu states that both Sense 4 and Android 4.0.1 are running. Interestingly, the model on display uses the three Ice Cream Sandwich navigation buttons, but they’re capacitive buttons below the screen.

Check it out for yourself below – unfirtunately, 360p is the best we’re going to get for the moment.

The HTC Ville’s rumored specs are as follows: a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor powers a 4.3-inch screen running at qHD resolution. That’s not mind-boggling by any means, though the Ville is expected to use an AMOLED display panel. The Ville is expected to be the thinnest HTC device to date at just 8.4mm 0 for refference, that’s almost exactly in between a DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX. Not bad for a company known for rather bulky designs. The Ville is expected to have a formal unveiling at Mobile World Congress in late february, along with the new quad-core flagship, the HTC Edge.

First and foremost: the homescreen can finally function in landscape mode without any hacking or tweaking. This is a feature that is bafflingly absent form almost all stock phones (save QWERTY sliders) and is often inserted by modders and aftermarket ROM developers.  Sliders and icons go with a slate gray look instead of the current glossy black, and the sometimes obtrusive icons are augmented and in some areas replaced with text. The task switcher is similar to the card system found on stock Ice Cream Sandwich, but uses a 3D effect like the current Sense carousel.

The lockscreen gets a makeover with a more straightforward notification system, reportedly aping the iPhone 4 and 4S. (Careful, HTC – Apple’s lawyers are running amok, and will certainly be looking for easy targets.) PocketNow reports that HTC plans for all of its devices to use capacitive physical buttons, not on-screen buttons as was assumed to be standard for Ice Cream Sandwich phones. Some hardware will move to a three-button layout even so. A new guest mode allows you to lock all private data and apps to allow a friend or acquaintance to borrow your phone for a quick call or search.

Sense’s other affected programs like email and the web browser get incremental updates, and the later notably has a reader mode saved page function. Beats will be a universal feature with support for plugins from third-party apps, and DropBox is included with some integration with the rest of Sense’s custom applications. Take all of this as rumor at the moment: none of it is official in any way. We should be able to confirm or deny all of the above information in Barcelona in late February.

This strategy means less overall phone models manufactured, and more focus on high quality devices. Their first of the year are slated to show up at the start of Q2. HTC UK chief Phil Robertson specifically stated that they’ll be following this business model, so there’s no reason not to expect it. To Mobile Magazine, he said:

“We had a fantastic year, with 65% growth year on year in the UK. But in Q4 we delivered a lot more products than in the past. Now we want to create more of a ‘hero’ approach. We make great phones, but it is hard to do that when the portfolio is spread too much.” – Robertson

If hardware manufacturers only knew how much we appreciate this type of insight! Knowing that right after I purchase a device, that “the next big thing” isn’t going to show up two weeks later – and that they have tried their best to deliver the best customer experience possible. That is exactly what happened between the DROID BIONIC, Motorola DROID RAZR and even the new DROID RAZR Maxx. If you didn’t hold out until the latter, then you have every right to feel a bit agitated.

[via SlashGear]

This is the first major update to land for the new HTC Rezound and is around 52MB in size. Right out of the gate they mention fixing signal issues and adding stability. They’ve also updated the signal indicator with support for 5 bars rather than 4. This will most likely just give the illusion of a better connection. Then they’ve addressed timeout issues while using Wifi, and fixed stalls during mobile hotspot use when multiple users are connected.

After reports of random reboots and issues in that area HTC has also addressed overall performance and stability. Stating they’ve solved a few bugs with force closures in the People application, as well as those random reboots some users reported. While we still patiently await Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich this update will have to hold us over til the main treat arrives.

Full details are in the change log image and via below.

[via Verizon]

Of course, this is XDA we’re talking about here. After enlisting the help of his fellow forum-dwellers, the Rezound owner managed to coax the phone into using both upload and download data, and receiving text messages. Unfortunately sending text messages is impossible at the moment, but plenty of folks are actively working on the problem. The international calling and data seems to work fine with home-made ROMs, including the latest AOSP Ice cream Sandwich build. For all of these, all that’s required is a few tweaks of the APN settings.

The real question is, was the international functionality included at the behest of HTC or Verizon? HTC’s got a clear motive for including it: with some slight modification they can start pumping out Rezound-ish hardware for most world markets. But it’s hard to believe that they could sneak a GSM radio onto Verizon’s LTE phone without the carrier being aware of it. If that’s the case, why hasn’t Verizon enabled international roaming? Why wouldn’t they want to give their customers more options, not to mention hyping up their own product? The only reason that I can think of is that they’re waiting to unveil LTE/international roaming plans that aren’t quite ready yet.

This discovery brings Verizon’s other recent phones into question – how many of them are hiding a stealthy global mode? I’m fairly certain that the Galaxy Nexus LTE isn’t hiding any surprises, but perhaps the DROID RAZR/DROID RAZR MAXX or LG Spectrum are. There’s not much I can do to test our review unit from North Texas, but we’ll be keeping a lookout for similar news for other models.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Rezound

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : Verizon

Announced Date : September 16, 2011

Release Date : November 14, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.3 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : NA

Dimension & Weight

• Height : NA
• Width : NA
• Depth : NA
• Weight : NA

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1620 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 2.3.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Snapdragon

CPU Clock Speed : 1500 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• CDMA

CDMA Band:
• 800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

IBM’s suite of smart business solutions will be made available on future HTC phones and tablets, though the Taiwanese company will not have an exclusive license to them. The apps were not shown outside the conference. Even so, enterprise-level security and integration out of the box is a major selling point – there are many who might argue that it’s the only thing keeping BlackBerry in business at the moment. And thanks to a year’s head start and considerable work on the part of Apple, iOS is well ahead of Android in enterprise adoption.

HTC isn’t the only one looking to business customers. Most high-end Android phones come with at least some kind of encryption option, but LG takes it one step further by integrating VMWare’s virtualization software on some handsets, allowing a true separation between work and personal usage on the same phone. While everyone would like a piece of the enterprise pie, this is the best solution we’ve seen yet to the security and stability issues that “bring your own device” present. As Android saturates the consumer market, it will be interesting to see how the various manufacturers and developers try to make in-roads in business.

When Apple petitioned the International Trade Commission to grant an injunction against HTC’s devices , it came back with its ruling in December, stating that the mechanism that allows phone numbers to be automatically highlighted and sent to the dialer app in Android violates Apple’s software patent. Facing a possible import ban, HTC simply disabled the feature (the only major function that Apple was able to successfully sue for) to comply with the ruling. After a series of software updates, probably costing HTC much less than its own legal defense fees, they’re good to go.

Will this zero-sum outcome deter apple from further legal skulduggery? Yeah, right. Just last week they his Samsung with a lawsuit based on the slide-to-unlock feature on the Galaxy Nexus, with a call for a ban on ten more devices in Germany. Despite being defeated in similar lawsuits in Australia and the US, and being designed around on the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 lawsuit in Deutschland, Apple seems intent on crying foul to any court that will hear them. Keep it up, Cupertino – surely your rabid userbase will forgive your incredible profit margins, outsourced labor force and engineered obsolescence for another year or so.

[via BGR]

Verizon appears to be slashing prices on tons of devices to make room for some new stuff we will probably be seeing at Mobile World Congress. From the image above you can clearly see they are aiming to clear out stock of the Incredible 2 because they are offering it for a mere $9.99 with a new 2-year contract. Yup, just a little more than what you paid for that Starbucks this morning.

With deals on the Thunderbolt, DROID 3, Rezound and now the Incredible 2 it’s safe to say Verizon is gearing up for something. In case you forgot the Incredible 2 comes with a 4″ display, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, an 8 megapixel camera around the back and is powered by a 1.0 GHz single-core processor. If this phone sounds good — or the $9.99 price tag hit the link below and enjoy it!

Verizon Wireless

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Incredible S

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : AT&T

Announced Date : February 15, 2011

Release Date : TBA

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.00 Inch
• Resolution : 480x800
• Screen Type : S-LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 4.72 Inch
• Width : 2.52 Inch
• Depth : 0.46 Inch
• Weight : 162 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1450 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 290 hours

Software

Android OS:
• 2.3.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• 3GP
• MPEG-4 (MP4)
• WMV

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Snapdragon MSM8255

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 1

Ram : 768 MB

Internal Storage : 1.124 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 720p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 2.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via Droid-Life]

The image you see above is being reported as a press render that was shown a few times to stuff.tv and while it looks nice — its the specs that make this important. The HTC Primo is rumored to sport a 3.7″ qHD AMOLED display, a decent 1.0 GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor with 512MB of RAM under the hood. With quad-core and 1.5 GHz dual-cores being the top end this comes right in around the mid-range level with the slightly slower speed and less RAM — but should still be extremely powerful.

Other specs include Gorilla Glass, Beats Audio integration now HTC owns part of that brand, and even a 5 megapixel camera around back with 720p video recording all for a great price. Leaks are suggesting around $250-$300 here in the states making this phone very affordable with a new 2-year contract. To wrap everything up and seal the deal this phone will be coming with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich if you couldn’t tell from the image above.

While HTC’s mid and low-range phones lately have been quite poor with single-core slow processors — something with an AMOLED display, the latest and greatest version of Android, and a dual-core processor for that price could be extremely popular. I just hope they take that Beats logo off the front and put it on the rear. Hopefully we’ll hear more from HTC at MWC 2012 next month.

[via PocketDroid]