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Whoa, if this isn’t a bombshell of an announcement I don’t know what is. Speaking to Walt Mossberg at D: All Things Digital, Android chief Sundar Pichai gingerly pulled out an HTC. It looked quite ordinary at first… until the boss revealed that it was running a completely stock version of Android. Pichar mentioned that the phone would launch June 26th for $599 on the Google Play Store.
The device will come SIM-unlocked and unlocking its bootloader will be a piece of cake. This edition of the HTC One will support LTE on both AT&T and T-Mobile. And unless Verizon and Sprint magically switch to GSM or begin allowing unauthorized devices on their network, those folks are out of luck.
Users will get the device with Android 4.2.2, plus a promise from Google that they’ll get the latest versions of Android as soon as they’re available. Unlike the developer edition, this Nexus experience HTC One (which it is officially being called) will only come with 32GB of internal storage. That’s all fine and dandy for most folks, but without a microSD card slot on this version it might be a deal breaker.
Still, it’s a Nexus experience HTC One — how much more could we ask for at this point? Be sure to get your pocket books in order ahead of the June 26th launch, and be sure to let your excitement reek into the annals of the HTC One section at AndroidForums.com.
[via HTC]
I want it…. like, bad. Sucks I am on contract with Verizon.
You are not alone bro.. Verizon, why must you keep us from such greatness!??!!? WHYYYYY!??!?!
Verizon would only muck it up (e.g. Galaxy Nexus). They would block Google Wallet and updates would come a month after everyone else.
A month later if we’re lucky -_-
you should prepare yourself for some future devices by NOT renew your verizon contract when it is up.
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all hail the hypno-toad!
That’s what I did several years ago. Knowing the speed of technology vs the speed of carrier updates, it is the only way to go.
Or you can simply stay on the best network and root your phone. Problem solved with updates..
the best network? right, queue the flame war.
‘best’, if it EVER exists, is only a transient concept: to be on the ‘best’ network one would have to switch providers pretty regularly. even then, multiple definitions would exist simultaneously.
for example, i don’t even consider verizon or sprint as candidates for a “good” network, never mind “best”. they still fall short of 3G despite advertising 4G all over the place. but in places, and at times, perhaps they would be the ‘best’ for some particular use… (not for me, of course, but maybe for you)?
the ONLY way to enable one to be on the ‘best’ network at any given time is for that person to remain free to switch between networks. that means staying off-contract.
Ahh, but there are so many good things about Verizon. Such an unfortunate compromise to have to decide between.
good? verizon? same sentence? *checking calendar, wondering why it doesn’t say april 1st*
seriously – verizon STILL doesn’t support simultaneous data+voice. not on their fake-3G and not on their fake-4G.
real-4G doesn’t exist, so all carriers are liars when branding services as 4G, but come’on now – to market something as 4G when it doesn’t even meet 3G specs yet?! that’s just… it’s horrible. it’s disgusting. it ticks me off. it’s like saying “hey, i’ve got a fast car, i’m gonna call it a plane – then market it so well that droves of people will think THIS is what planes are! yippee!”.
as an engineer who designs things BASED ON SPECS i find it completely disingenuous. and i hated verizon long before they started claiming 3G or 4G anything (monopoly over copper lines in my geographic area was used illegally to destroy all but one competing internet service – a cable provider, which has its own monopoly issues).
I MUST HAVE IT!!!! MY PRECIOUS…..
Patiently waiting on the Nexus
*Patiently waiting to see the “X phone”*
Now this is worth it! But again just like the rest of you I’ll never be able to get it on Sprint.
sprint is the worst of the big 4 carriers – simple solution: switch to a carrier that doesn’t limit you like Sprint and Verizon do (or any CDMA MVNO does for that matter).
No way. Hands down ATT is the worst. But I would also call it 3 carriers, not 4, since TMobile has never had a real nationwide network, unless your nation is contained entirely within the cities.
that’s funny – i see tmobile as the best of the 4. they have the best 3g service and come the closest to being honest about 4g (all the carriers are lairs re: 4g, since it doesn’t exist ANYWHERE yet).
tmobile coverage was never an issue for me – and i traveled quite a bit while i had their service. i left, eventually, but not because i didn’t like their service.
beautiful, everytime it keeps getting better!!
Nice i’m going to take the Rom from this and put it in my T-mobile version :P
I’d like to know how that goes, if that’s the case, I could see just waiting until the ROMs are released and rooting the Verizon version of either the HTC One, or the S4 and load the vanilla ROM on it! :-)
This. Exactly.
Heck, they don’t even need to sell the phone. Just let the devs at the source.
My Stock HTC One from T-Mo will be a Nexus Edition One moments after source drops for this thing.
(IOW: Time to break out my build-box again…)
I wonder if the AOSP version will have WiFi calling? Or maybe not since it’s not straight from Tmo.
WiFi calling would have to be “ported” from the dev community…
And everyone using 3.0 and 3.4 kernels has been unable to get it working. The app from the 2.6 kernels isn’t compatible. There’s a thread on it on XDA:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2110061
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1922861
I know this is related to Touchwiz but the issue exists with Sense too.
Already got the One…I’ll be fine for awhile.
So just root it and load the vanilla ROM on it when it gets released! Unless you like waiting over a year for software updates from the manufacturer (and your carrier).
The great thing abotu this then, is that the AOSP from this device will help our dev bretheren get all of the hardware on this device working 100% for the AT&T/T-Mob roms already out there.
Screen-blanking, BT call audio issues on CM/AOSP? Kiss ’em goodbye.
This is great news.
Somehow I doubt that. Anything thats proprietary source (camera, beats audio, etc) will not be released to a Dev. So you can forget about 100% working. Won’t happen.
They will likely release those as binaries (like they do for Nexus) and those should work regardless of T-Mo/ATT/Int.
^^^^this. the phone will be apart of aosp which means there will be drivers…
I don’t think all that will be on the Nexus Addition. I think it will be the AOSP camera drivers. I’m kinda worried that it would just be a regular 4MP camera on AOSP.
What about the camera? On AOSP are they just regular 4MP pictures or are you able to utilize the full 300% more light ability?
And I guess I won’t have Zoe anymore, right? I use that way too much to not have it.
But I like what AOSP ROMs have to offer as well. *dilemma*
And SixAxis will work on AOSP ROMs no problem. Grr!!
The sensor is the same…that’s hardware. It’s 4MP and it works “decently”. (I’ve taken pictures with the device using CM 10.1, and they turned out fine, but I am definitely *not* a photography-enthusiast.)
Sure, no burst-mode or Zoe…but it’s all about compromise. Who knows? Maybe HTC will throw a bone and release a camera “app” for this device with those features.
I’m sure 4MP will be fine. It was the low-light that I want. I always tend to take pictures in the dark when I’m hanging out.
And I actually use Zoe. So that’s not something I’m ready to give up. LoL!! But thanks for the info.
New to rooting and flashing. But I have a question. Does it mean, I can buy HTC one from At&T and put exactly same software that Google is putting
on HTC One?
You should ask your questions on XDA. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2115)Those people are great and would give you a more definite answer.
Right now, I’m assuming you can. What Google is putting on is AOSP. CM10 is an AOSP ROM. If you wanted something like what Google is putting on then you can put CM10 on your phone.
Granted there may be bugs. Like I stated earlier, you’d be better off asking on XDA.
No 1700mhz. So no tmobile hspa+ unless you are in a refarmed area.
Should be fun when it gets built for the current T-Mo One. Best of all worlds…
Where did you get that at?
Unless Key Lime Pie is going to have some really useful and feature packed software I wouldn’t do it. You can simply root and go back whenever you want. But Stock Android contains nothing worthy to compliment that hardware. I can careless about the branding of “Beats” but those front facing speakers won’t be the same. That camera definitely won’t be the same as far as quality. No IR Blaster. And the features alone that the camera could do. Your left with a very attractive “nexus like” phone but stripped down at what made the phone from the beginning. It would be smarter to save money and get an actual Nexus or root. Same goes for the Galaxy S4 Edition. It’s all software based. You won’t get the same quality features. Key Lime Pie must come with some force. Because today’s custom versions of android are useful. So maybe this is good in the long run? But what will you say when the N5 comes out later this year? I just think people forget your phone won’t be the same or even better actually just because the build and camera specs are higher. Basically all you really benefit off of right NOW will be the screen and physical build of the phone. The S4 version is pretty much the same with additional removable battery and memory. I’m going to consider these phones future proof. That’s the only thing I can be optimistic about when it comes to this. Otherwise Google could’ve done this a long time ago.
This is what I was thinking. The speakers could be the same with DSP Manager. But as far as other things, I don’t think random developers will utilize the camera. I’m imagining regular 4MP photos.
I guess we wait and see. Maybe HTC gave them the drivers. We’ll find out when this phone gets released.
HTC will HAVE to release drivers….if not look at the current state of AOKP or CM for this phone. there is no doubt google will have access to anything they want in the phone…
Ah!! I think I have it backwards. The camera’s and speakers abilities are based on the software right? The drivers just help the kernel understand what the hardware is.
So the drivers aren’t the issue. You will need the software behind the camera and other stuff to be placed on AOSP if you wanted all the HTC One had to offer.
What are you talking about? The speakers and camera are hardware. The pictures and sound are just as good on AOSP as they were on Sense.
I was trying to understand, not spread knowledge. I always thought that the software had something to do with the way photos came out as well.
As you can see, hardware is not my forte. LoL!!
There is some software processing of the image after it is taken but even AOSP does this. Same with sound, you have DSP.
No amount of software can make bad hardware function good. Case in point, my HTC One sounds great and takes good photos on CM10.1, my old evo3d running the same build sounds horrible and even with it’s 5mp camera looks like crap.
Hmm… The thing I was getting at was how it functioned. For example having black-only printer drivers on a color printer would prevent that printer from being able to print in color.
I thought something similar was happening with this phone on AOSP. I thought it would have AOSP drivers of some sort which would hinder some of the full capabilities of the hardware.
But it’s starting to make more sense now. Thanks for the insight.
But then in that printer case, the drivers have to be from the same manufacture for that even to happen. So I was just confusing myself. LoL!! Oh my gosh. So much to learn.
wont need beets, DSP manager. why no ir blaster? that’s a hardware deal…and with the worlds 2 best phones having IR blasters im sure someone (if not google/android) will make software to control it. The only thing you will be missing on the camera that anyone would miss would be zoe….and with the gs4 and HTC one having camera software that can take rapid burst shots and remove forgin objects i bet stock anroid is soon to follow… I respect your opinion but your points are invalid…
US only again?
Google Galaxy s4….nah
Black Nexus 4….nah
White nexus 4…was going to wait for it
Google HTC ONE..ding ding ding!!!!
Agreed this looks great, but I’d rather get a Nexus and save $300.
you are right. i cannot spend $600 on a phone, im just not that rich..im waiting for the White nexus. i like how it is black in front and white in the back..its like “Good meets Evil” lol
Personally, I’d rather spend the $250 extra for a much better screen, much better speakers, and actual usable space(13GB on Nexus 4 vs 28GB on the New Nexus One) to install large Apps, an arguably better build on the New Nexus One, and a possibly better camera on the New Nexus One. The space alone is worth the extra money to me, the rest is just bonus…Also the New Nexus One makes the Galaxy nexuS 4 pointless….
Is there a reason why the comments are closed for the IPS tech article below this one?
We will do those comments here. LoL!!
So this explains why my HTC One always looks like it’s bright. (Came from an E4GT or GS2) I read about IPS technology. I always thought the auto-brightness was horribly wrong. But Better Battery Stats shows my screen brightness usage at Medium and Dim. It’s rarely at high.
That’s amazing. I can see in the sunlight so perfectly. LoL!! I used to think AmoLED was the way to go. Where have you been IPS display? =.P
yeah, I do admit, that LCD look great outdoors but I believe that amoleds have more benefits. I think thats also the reason why while having an awesome lcd panel (ask apple) Sammy decided to go with amoleds for their high-end lines.
Honestly, it’s really an opinion rather than a solid fact. Some people prefer the deep blacks and the saturated colors of AMOLED, while others prefer the bright and true to life IPS.
i see why they closed the “sponsored” articles comment section. Kinda tough to sell when everyone was defending amoled. Yes, the reason is because lcds are much easier to obtain.
Maybe because it’s actually an ad (“sponsored “), rather than a tech article?
It’s a “Sponsored Post.” Can’t have people shit-talking the sponsors.
*Faints*, *Recovers*, *Lists Nexus 4 on Amazon*, *Re-Faints*
Awesome. I’m liking the new direction of the Nexus program! Let me guess though, no Verizon CDMA/LTE version as always.
Pointless for me anyway, I won’t pay more than $199 for a phone I have no problem waiting for a contract to be up and signing a new one.
Verizon wouldn’t dare let their iron fist go enough to let us customers breath with this.
How about a new Nexus device which will actually be affordable if buying out of pocket…
New nexus won’t come until end of the year just like every other nexus released thus far. Can’t expect one 7 months after the last released.
No one expects a Nexus phone to be released right now… but an announcement would be nice–or at least a solid teaser. I think the Google Experience devices are nice and all, but they are way too expensive for many people. Announcing a true Nexus device would help alleviate the sting of paying full-price for a device.
Wondering about the camera though
I like this, a lot. That two-button setup at the bottom though, is disgusting. I have the Droid DNA on Verizon now, but I often miss the on-screen buttons from my Galaxy Nexus.
Anandtech is reporting no AWS HSPA+, which is a deal-breaker for people who don’t live in the top 25 markets and use T-Mobile (such as myself which is why I complain).
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6995/google-announces-htc-one-with-nexus-experience
So is engadget. Basically makes this phone pointless since there is already a developer edition with the same lack of aws
Bummer. it’s not like AT&T bans devices with AWS. Look at the Atrix HD – that phone, locked on AT&T, supports AWS and if you get it unlocked it works great on T-Mobile. This is dumb. Everyone should do pentaband HSPA+ and support as much LTE as possible. It’s in the manufacturer’s best interests to create a single piece of hardware (ignoring CDMA carriers).
why no pentaband, why!?!?!??! other than that, GO HTC!!!!!!!!!
Yeah I’d actually strongly consider an unlocked, Nexus-experience HTC One but they’re not making one that I can use.
hahaha! The Nexus One lives on!
Ah!! Nexus One… HTC One. You just made me happy pointing that out. The Nexus One was my 1st Android phone. I never changed OS’s after that.
Same here! I call this phone the New Nexus One and my name for Samsung’s GE phone is The Galaxy nexuS 4.
The G1 was my first Android phone, never switched Os’s after than either.
I was hoping for a miracle with that silly button configuration, but this is still very tempting.
Agreed. If they ditched HTC retarded button layout I’d sell my One today. They didn’t so I’ll just wait for a rom dump. I’m so happy right now… lol
I already have an AT&T One so I’m content. But this is definitely great news
So…? Which one do you call the stock HTC One? Stock means original right? Shouldn’t the stock HTC One be the one with Sense? But then one would be thinking about Stock Android when they say Stock HTC One. The same goes for the S4. I would like this to be established before these phones come out. =.P
I can see this becoming confusing later on. LoL!!
WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR DENIAL, HTC?!?! Don’t play with our emotions like that! >:O
lol Chris. I’m sure you can get a good price for your Sensible One on Ebay :)
It’s the Developer Version. I should be able to flash this stock Jelly Bean ROM without any problems. ;)
Yea that’s a little weird how blatantly they lied and then weeks later… “Oops, it looks like we really are releasing a google experience phone”
I like the S4 better myself, but regardless, I am super excited to hear there is more than one manufacturer partnering with Google like this. If this becomes a trend, it could be a hugely positive thing for Android.
I had a One for a week. I couldn’t get pass the buttons not really working unless you pressed directly on it. The lack of a menu button which made apps have that black bar at the bottom of the screen. I’ll end up with the GS4 GE instead. Nice phone though.
Please bring the stealth black One. It is teh pure sex.
should probably have mentioned that this device does not support aws 1700 mhz. hspa+ 42mbps won’t be compatible if you’re on t-mobile. So if you’re not in a LTE or refarmed area, you may not have a very good time with this device.
Yeah I noticed that too. That is unfortunate. Maybe they’ll fix that before launch? lol
On Sprint now but seriously looking at moving to T-Mobile. Sick of the 3G-only service and high taxes and Sprint surcharges, and no availability of pure Nexus phones. Can T-Mo users provide feedback? Excellent, good, not so good? Thanks!
Just went T-Mo from VZW. Went from LTE in my area to HSPA+…no big. Worth the compromise…big time. Call quality improved, and I have far fewer outages.
Thanks … given that I have zero LTE service now anyway, and Sprint’s signal is getting so bad that it’s actually draining my old Palm Treo’s battery, I think it’s time to switch. TMo actually gave me unbelievable pricing on a 5 line family plan with a 2.5GB cap per line. That’s plenty of data considering the price. Now I just need to figure out the phones … at least I have better choices than with Sprint. Getting tired of envying people with the Nexus 4.
What more could you ask for? How bout hspa+ support for tmo. Way to f it up HTC. THIS is why your company is in trouble
So the reason why HTC is in trouble is because there is no hspa+ support for tmobile? Really? Why don’t you go to tmobile and buy the same damn phone which has hspa+42, root it and flash an aosp rom?
Yeah, mistakes like this are the reason they are in trouble. I don’t want to root and flash. Samsung already made a phone that has hspa+ and lte.
This is pretty tempting, however I will be waiting for the next Nexus phone released in october/november of 2013 at the sweet price point of $349…… that’s where i’ll be.
Wonder if this’ll come in different colors too¿
I swear I bought lottery tickets from that guy last week.
“will only come with 32GB of internal storage. That’s all fine and dandy for most folks, but without a microSD card slot on this version it might be a deal breaker”
Still blows the nexus 4 out of the water for space (as well as speakers). Course it is more expensive, but a nice phone for that price and google updates.
Any word on how HTC will handle the camara and speaker software?
The speakers require Beats – aka Boomsound in that application – in order to not sound tinny.
Beats is proprietary.
How’s that supposed to work out??
Have to assume that Zoe will disappear for the same reason…
I’ve had HTC phones in the past that had beats, and it only worked through the headphones anyways. I was under the impression with the One that they were just big speakers, with more watts, and that’s where the sound came from. I could be wrong though, which wouldn’t surprise me.
You’re right, Beats has been a headphones-only feature before – but on the One they make an exception and call the stereo speakers + Beats = Boomsound.
An HTC rep told another site that the IR blaster will be disabled, No HTC camera features, and no beats audio switch. I assume the same is true for the S4 – all features will be disabled.
IMO that’s a pretty major fail for the ONE being stripped down like that! However on the flip side of things I’m so cool with the GS4 Google varient coming without any touch wiz features. Give me that 13 megapixel shooter with stock android all wrapped up in the S4’s form factor and I’m good!
They should release a s3 version at a better price point more less so I can get a perfect rom I still have half my payments left on this thing and its still a good device
I’m very happy with my N4 but this is a killer phone.
No T-Mobile HSPA+? :(
How about a price model that is in everyone’s range?
16gb $449
32gb $499
People who purchase from Google Store are likely familiar with tech , they will then suggest to their friends who would generally sigh a contract.
Moral of story : $100 can make the difference of 300,000 in sales to 3 million (Nexus 4) any one?
Google just announced hTC ONE is the best ever made android phone.
ROM DUMP! ROM DUMP!!
Make this available in Canada! Please!
Ahhh the return of the htc nexus one :-)
As amazing as this sounds. The sexiest phone to date running stock Android just seems so freaking awesome but it would be nice if there were a way to keep some of the software from HTC. Specifically the camera software. That’s one of the major bonuses of having the device but I’d imagine it will be replaced with the stock Android camera. If it wasn’t for it being able to get updates directly from Google I think I would rather have the developer edition so I could run stock when I want or roms like CM, PA, AOKP, etc… When I want. I think the biggest thing is the direct updates from Google.
I looked at the S4 and One at T-Mobile today. I am in favor of the One. What should I do? I sold my S3 for $345. I can buy a Nexus 4 from Google or Ebay outright. I can also buy a One, S4, Note II, Lumia 925, or iPhone 5 with a down payment around $350. Suggestions?
i would recommend the S4
I bought the One because i Liked the interface from HTC. The plain vanilla version doesn’t interest me. I’m sure its great for those that want it though.
There it is, my new phone!!
I’d consider this if it could do USB OTG. I’m wondering that about this and the GS4 Google Edition too. Anyone heard anything?
Considering it does USB OTG with stock sense I don’t see why it wouldn’t do it on AOSP.
It works on my One with CM10.1 on it.
Sprint, please.
If I had the money, and if I didn’t get the Nexus 4 near when it came out, this would have been my next phone. Sadly, it’s a no-go for me. :(