Tag Archives: htc rezound

Verizon Android 4.0 update rollout schedule leaked

  By admin | April 28, 2012 - 6:19 am | Uncategorized
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HTC-Rezound- -Droid-RAZR

Saying that the Android 4.0 update rollout has been slow in the US is an understatement. But the upgrade is finally picking up pace, with the HTC Rezound, Motorola Droid RAZR, and the Droid RAZR Maxx on Verizon Wireless finally receiving their piece of Ice Cream Sandwich soon, according to a leak picked up by Droid-Life.

A Reddit user, DroidTosser, leaked screenshots of the Verizon Internal Device Update System which shows us the OTA rollout dates for the update to Android 4.0. The timeline is the following:

  • HTC Rezound – May 9 (Size: 297MB) (MOTA – Verizon’s 4G OTA solution)
  • Motorola Droid Razr and Razr Maxx – May 21 (Size: 341 MB) (BOTA – Motorola’s OTA solution)
  • Motorola XOOM 3G and 4G – No date released, testing was completed on April 19 (Size: 106MB) (GOTA – Google’s OTA solution)

As you can see from the leaked road map, only the HTC Rezound will receive the update from Verizon, with the Motorola smartphones getting the update directly from Motorola, and the Xoom 3G and 4G tablets receiving the upgrade directly from Google.

With talk of the Android 5.0 Jellybean OS already making the rounds, it’s about time that carriers and manufacturers get on top of the ICS rollout situation. For now, at least there is some good news for HTC Rezound, Motorola Razr, and Razr Maxx owners on the Verizon network.

Are you excited about the update? Let us know in the comments section below.

No related posts.

This article, Verizon Android 4.0 update rollout schedule leaked , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


To bundle or not to bundle? HTC nixes Beats earbuds from future phones

  By admin | April 7, 2012 - 5:18 pm | HTC
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For all the goodies that the HTC One series devices are packing inside, one can’t help to wonder why Beats headphones are conspicuosly missing from the package. Other recent high-end smartphones from the company, after all, have come with those distinctive red and black earbuds. If you hope to find a pair in the box of any of the new HTC phones, such as the HTC EVO 4G LTE, you’re bound to be disappointed.

HTC product executive Martin Ficther explained to CNET that, for the time being, they have shelved the idea of bundling Beats earbuds with HTC smartphones. The company learnt it the hard way that, at the end of the day, the headphones weren’t really a drawing factor for customers that bought HTC phones, such as the Sensation XL or the Rezound.

According to Ficther, “an accessory like the headphone doesn’t factor in when someone is buying a smartphone.” He then added that, “if they want a Beats headphone, they’ll buy it directly.”

In an attempt to stand out from their competitors, HTC purchased 51% of Beats Electronics for $300 million, in the hope that it will get a mind share boost with young, hip music lovers. Given the less than impressive response from customers, as well as from carriers, tech pundits now question the expensive move. The bundling of Beats headphones wasn’t enough to save the sales of HTC Rezound on Verizon from mediocre results, with the carrier chosing to push the Droid Razr instead over the lucrative holiday season.

So, what’s next for the synergy between HTC and Beats? For one thing, HTC will continue to integrate the Beats Audio sound enhancement technology (a fancy equalizer, basically) in most of its devices. Though it may not be pulling in as good of a number that HTC was expecting, the integration helps create product differentiation.

Lest we forget the recent acquisition by HTC and Beats of cloud music service MOG, which can potentially help cement the HTC devices’ status as the designated Android music phones, and create a complete music ecosystem for HTC users. This is something that the Taiwanese can pull off if they play their cards right.

Will you miss those questionably trendy Beats earbuds from future HTC phones?


NEXT: Get Beats Audio on your non-HTC Android phone
htc-one-x-mog HTC and Beats Audio set to acquire music subscription service Mog? HTC-Sensation-XE-2-2-580x479 Beats Audio – What’s All the Fuss About?

This article, To bundle or not to bundle? HTC nixes Beats earbuds from future phones , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


HTC Rezound 4G for $49.99 with a Verizon contract, Droid Incredible 4G to launch soon?

  By admin | April 3, 2012 - 1:54 pm | Uncategorized
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Yo, deal hunters, bargain lovers, listen up! If you haven’t yet got your hands on a 4G LTE high-end Android smartphone and your favorite carrier around the block is Verizon, Big Red has a special offer waiting for you right now.

The 4G LTE HTC Rezound, one of the coolest Android handsets of these past months, goes for a mere $49.99 with a two-year contract. That’s about as low as a smartphone of this kind can go for at the moment and it’s what Amazon Wireless charges for the Rezound as well.

I know, I know, you’re all probably waiting either for the Samsung Galaxy S III or for the HTC One X (or maybe even the Huawei Ascend D Quad XL), and the Rezound will clearly not be a match for any of these three gadgets, in terms of processing power or looks. On the other hand, you should look at it this way. Are you on a tight budget? Do you only want to spend a few bucks and have a cool and snappy smartphone on your hands?

If your answers are yes, you can’t possibly make a better choice right now than go for Verizon’s HTC Rezound. I mean, aside from the unbelievable connectivity speeds you get, the smartphone is also cool-looking, sports a 4.3-inch full HD screen, and features a dual-core 1.5 GHz Scorpion processor.

You got your download speed, your nice looks, your high performance level, a great screen and don’t forget about the 8 MP rear-facing camera with auto-focus and dual-LED flash! Sure, the 4.3-incher still runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and this might make you a bit uncomfortable, but, on the other hand, the guys at HTC have promised an Ice Cream Sandwich update really soon.

Like I said, the $49.99 price tag is for a two-year Verizon contract only, so if you don’t want to tie yourself to such a contract right now, you’ll still have to pay big bucks for this smartphone (more exactly, the current full retail price $649.99).

Just a special deal or is it more to it than that?

Leaving aside for a moment this pretty great deal from Verizon, we should also say a couple of things about what this kind of offer could mean in the long haul. What am I talking about? Well, usually, when a large carrier like Big Red puts one of its flagships on such a sweet sale, it only means one thing: a new high-end smartphone will be released soon enough.

Our guess is that the HTC Droid Incredible 4G will be finally making its way towards the market. The follow-up to the Droid Incredible and Droid Incredible 2 has been making short appearances in leaks and speculations of all sorts for a while, both under the Incredible 4G name, and a codename, the Fireball.

As you might expect, the future Incredible 4G does not yet have a full official spec sheet, but if we were to listen to speculations, the HTC smartphone should come with a 4.3-inch 720p HD display, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, and a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor.

So, how about it? Will you be picking up a discounted HTC Rezound, will you be waiting for a Droid Incredible 4G, or are your eyes set on an HTC One X, a Samsung Galaxy S3, or a Huawei Ascend D Quad XL? Hit us back with a comment and let us know!


NEXT: HTC Rezound Drops to $199 on Contract, only 2 Months after it’s release
incredible2-10-bucks-650x407 Droid Incredible 2 Drops to $9.99 with a New Contract HTC “Droid Incredible” shows up on Verizon staging site

This article, HTC Rezound 4G for $49.99 with a Verizon contract, Droid Incredible 4G to launch soon? , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


[Leak] Motorola Droid RAZR, RAZR Max and HTC Rezound to get Android 4.0 ICS updates in early April

  By admin | March 31, 2012 - 11:57 am | Uncategorized
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HTC-Rezound- -Droid-RAZR
Although a recent report showed that just less than 3% of all Android devices run on Ice Cream Sandwich, we’re beginning to see more and more devices being updated to the latest version of Android. With Verizon releasing a list of all smartphones scheduled to receive the ICS update (restricted to the smartphones on Big Red’s network, of course), many smartphone owners are eagerly expecting to get a taste of Google’s latest Android version.

Fortunately for some of them, Android Police has just published a leaked Best Buy document that claims the Motorola Droid RAZR, Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx, and the HTC Rezound are scheduled to get their updates in early April. It should be mentioned that these are the most powerful smartphones running Android 2.3 Gingerbread that Verizon has to offer, so it does make sense for them to be updated first.

RAZR, RAZR Maxx, Rezound Android 4.0 ICS

As you might know, the Motorola Droid RAZRand the Droid RAZR Maxx share all of their specs, except for the battery size. The short spec recap: 1.2GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 dual-core CPU (based on the ARM Cortex A9) backed up by 1GB of RAM, gorgeous SAMOLED 4.3 inch display running at a native resolution of 540 by 960 pixels, 8MP camera, etc. According to the leaked Best Buy document, the over-the-air update for both these smartphones is scheduled to begin rolling out on April 4.Probably the worthiest competitor the Droid RAZR has on Verizon, the HTC Rezound is even more of a powerhouse than Motorola’s flagship smartphone. Notable specs include the 1.5GHz dual-core processor (Qualcomm MSM8660 Snapdragon), 1GB of RAM, a 4.3 inch Super LCD display capable of a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution (note: the Rezound was the first smartphone available in the US that showcased a higher pixel density than the iPhone 4S – 342 PPI vs 326 PPI) and the 8MP camera. The same document we mentioned above claims that the HTC Rezound is scheduled to start receiving its Android 4.0 OTA update on April 6.

While it’s definitely nice to know that ICS updates will soon reach the most powerful Gingerbread smartphones, there are still many devices on the aforementioned Verizon list, and people are starting to get impatient. Here’s hoping the remaining devices will get their Android 4.0 updates in April as well.

No matter what happens, we’ll keep you updated as usual.


NEXT: Motorola DROID RAZR vs HTC Rezound: LTE Superphone Superfight
motorola-spyder-leak-photos-feature-image Motorola DROID RAZR (a.k.a. Spyder, DROID HD), XOOM 2 Leak Photos Show Devices’ Near-final Forms droid_razr_maxx Motorola and Verizon announce the Droid Razr Maxx and Droid Razr in Purple

This article, [Leak] Motorola Droid RAZR, RAZR Max and HTC Rezound to get Android 4.0 ICS updates in early April , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Beats Audio – What’s All the Fuss About?

  By admin | March 5, 2012 - 9:33 am | Uncategorized
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As you may know, in August 2011, HTC bought the majority ownership of Beats Electronics, the company that makes the favorite high-end headphones of Dr. Dre, Lady Gaga, and a bunch of other celebrities. Beats Electronics’ business model is simple – create product, get rapper/basketball player/movie-star endorsement, sell like crazy. But when they paid $300 million for Beats, HTC probably wanted more than just a piece of the niche, albeit lucrative high-end audio equipment market. HTC wanted to take advantage of the valuable Beats brand image.

Erick Renko/Flickr

Fast forward to MWC 2012. In Barcelona, HTC launched its new generation of smartphones, the One series, including the One X, One S, and One V. The new One phones all sport prominently the red Beats logo on their back. HTC claims that the integration of Beats Audio technology into its new smartphones will give customers an “authentic sound” experience. But what exactly is Beats Audio?

Beats Audio – Is it For Real?

At the most basic level, Beats Audio is nothing but a fancy equalizer. As The Verge’s Chris Ziegler noted in a review of the HTC Rezound (another Beats-branded phone) , Beats Audio works great in combination with the red headphones the come with the Rezound, which HTC claims that are a $100 value. The Beats equalizer makes the music sound much “bigger”, with deeper basses and fuller sound.

The improved listening experience is made possible by a combination of software and hardware, because, as Ziegler notes, the headphones sound relatively dull when the equalizer is not running. Annoyingly, the Beats processing software doesn’t always kick in when using music streaming apps, such as Pandora or Spotify, but HTC promised to make the Beats API available to app developers for better compatibility.

Ziegler claims that the Beats experience is, in most cases, on par with the experience of using a high-end (like in $500+ high-end) pair of headphones. If that holds true for the One series, music lovers have a strong reason to buy HTC’s new Beats-branded smartphones.

Beats Audio is Just a Package Flashing Away

So, Beats Electronics hardware plus Beats Audio software makes for great music. How about Beats software on its own? You can find out yourself, without buying a new HTC One phone. All you need to do is install a custom package, courtesy of XDA Developers. XDA member RockoDev reversed engineered the Beats application and made it available as a flashable package that you can install on any ROM based on Android 2.3 or higher.

The prowess of the Android modding community never seizes to amaze us. But will this ripped Beats Audio app give you that “authentic sound” promised by HTC, without those expensive Beats headphones? That’s not guaranteed, but many users that tried it out reported an improved listening experience. Of course, that could be just placebo. If you decide to try it out, let us know your opinion in the comments.

To wrap it up, the One series’ Beats Audio integration will get you more than a cool Beats logo to boost your status, although we don’t have any information on the headphones on the upcoming One phones. We’ll check’em out as soon as they come out and get back to you with more juicy details.

Related posts:

  1. Get ‘Beats Audio’ on Motorola Photon 4G
  2. HTC Sensation XE Vows More Thump-thump Pleasure with Beats Audio Technology
  3. HTC Sensation XL Gets Official – Beats Audio, 1.5GHz CPU and 4.7″ Display

This article, Beats Audio – What’s All the Fuss About? , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


HTC Says first ICS Updates will take place in March, Also Adds More Devices to First Round of Updates

  By admin | February 9, 2012 - 6:39 pm | Uncategorized
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HTC just gave word on its’ official Facebook page that the first round of Android 4.0 updates would be available before the end of March, and it looks like the HTC Thunderbolt will not be in the first round. So what phones are getting updated?

  • HTC Sensation
  • HTC Sensation 4G
  • HTC Sensation XE
  • HTC Sensation XL
  • HTC Rezound
  • HTC EVO 3D
  • HTC EVO Design 4G
  • HTC Vivid
  • HTC Incredible S
  • HTC Desire S
  • HTC Desire HD

Here’s HTC’s full official statement:

HTC has been working hard to get its Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades ready, and we’re excited to announce that our first round of ICS upgrades will roll out by the end of March for the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation 4G and HTC Sensation XE, followed soon there after by the HTC Sensation XL.

In addition, we can confirm Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades will be coming later this year to the HTC Rezound, HTC Vivid, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G, HTC Incredible S, HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD. Stay tuned for more updates on Ice Cream Sandwich releases in the coming weeks.

Not a bad roster to start off with. But surprisingly the HTC Thunderbolt is missing. Thunderbolt owners just can’t catch a break, hopefully either HTC surprises us and brings an update to the Thunderbolt by March or it’s at the top of round two, whenever that will be.

Is your phone listed here? Are you excited to finally get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich on your HTC device? Let us know in the comments.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

  1. White HTC Sensation with ICS coming to Europe on March 1st

  2. HTC Announces First Wave of Devices to Get Ice Cream Sandwich Upgrades

  3. Want Ice Cream Sandwich on your HTC Sensation? Just pick your ROM

This article, HTC Says first ICS Updates will take place in March, Also Adds More Devices to First Round of Updates , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Tool to Help HTC Rezound Themers

  By PoorCollegeGuy | January 31, 2012 - 8:00 pm | Android
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Theming can involve a number of long and tedious activities. Applying the same theme to dozens, even hundreds of icons. even more tedious is taking those icons and putting them back into the apk files they came from.

For users of the HTC Rezound, there’s one less step from concept to completion. XDA Senior Member MrSmith317 has created a .bat script that automatically switches out the icons in the com.htc.resources.apk, framework-res.apk and SystemUI.apk for your themed ones. As with any new software, there are a few peculiarities that people who want to try it and some potential improvements that could be added in future releases. As MrSmith317 explains:

Only gotcha is that it is case sensitive providing the APK name. I’d love to hear feedback if you give it a try. I’ll revise this again in a bit after I get some feedback. If there’s interest I’ll build one that allows XML swaps as well.

The instructions are very easy to follow so there’s virtually no learning curve for those who are still new to the theming world. Just drop the icons into the appropriate folder and run the script.

For those themers out there who want to check it out, you can find the script download, the instructions and discussion about it in the tool’s thread.


HTC Rezound Is A World Phone, Works On GSM Networks

  By admin | January 30, 2012 - 11:00 pm | Android
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Verizon might tout its LTE capabilities, but what if you’re not in the US and thus can’t use the HTC Rezound on Big Red? Good news, as the Rezound includes radios that enable it to work globally on all GSM networks. How come?

Well, forum member i rule123, who’s based in the UK, accidentally ordered one for Christmas, under the impression that it was a world phone – which many promptly pointed out not to be the case. However, that didn’t stop him from trying, and after receiving his Rezound and equipped with a SIM card from T-Mobile UK, he went ahead and switched off LTE, only to find a menu with options for “Global mode”, “GSM only, “WCDMA only” and so on.

Indeed, after some more trying, it turned out that he was able to make and receive phone calls and use data with no problems at all – the only thing not working is sending SMS, regardless of the ROM used.

If you’re really sharp-eyed, you may have noticed that the Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8660 SoC found in the Rezound is listed with GSM and UMTS support, and also used in the HTC EVO 3D. Still, if you want to read up on possible issues before ordering an HTC Rezound for yourself, head over to the forum thread.


HTC Rezound Getting OTA Update, Improves Stability

  By admin | January 29, 2012 - 1:00 pm | Android
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Verizon began to roll out a new update to the HTC Rezound a few days ago. It’s not Ice Cream Sandwich yet, but rather a maintenance release that mostly improves stability and fixes a few other odd issues here and there. According to the official documentation, the new update bring the software version to 2.01.605.11, baseband to 0.95.00.1118r, and the following changes:

  • Updated signal strength meter to 5 bar Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).
  • Screen Timeout issues while connected to Wi-Fi have been resolved.
  • Resolved issue with Mobile Hotspot data stalling while multiple users are connected.
  • Improved audio quality during voice call.
  • Reduced forced closures related to the People application.
  • Improved device stability reduces continuous resets.
  • Resolved issue with Task Manager stopping Mail background service.

Even better, there’s no reason to hold back on this OTA update since it has already been rooted – a forum thread details the process. Alternatively, you flash a pre-rooted stock ROM with the OTA cooked in.