As first reported by The Information, Google is testing a new try-before-you-download feature for apps that will let your try an app and not waste all that time, battery and data-usage downloading it. This feature will allow Android users to test out apps faster and then buy the ones they only find worthwhile. It’s similar to demoing a video game before you decide to make a purchase, but with trial apps on Google Play.
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A room full of technology bloggers and journalists laughed when HTC’s associate vice president of industrial design Claude Zellweger uttered the above phrase while introducing HTC’s latest smartphone during a full day of closed-door meetings earlier this week.
“Plastic is nothing to be ashamed of.”
And it is funny, in a bizarre way. During its meteoric rise to the top of the smartphone industry, Samsung has managed to give plastic a bad name. The company’s phones, while durable, feel cheap. All of them. Even Samsung’s first phone to feature metal edges still looks and feels cheap compared to rival devices .
But plastic doesn’t have to look or feel cheap. And HTC’s latest smartphone, the Desire Eye, is a great reminder of that simple truth. It’s plastic and it’s proud.
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HTC has made plenty of accessories in the past, but it has never really been an “accessory maker.” Similarly, the Taiwan-based smartphone maker has a long and storied history of building terrific software experiences, but it has never been a “software company.” Now, things are changing.
On the heels of the release of its most beautiful and capable smartphone in the company’s history, HTC reported second-quarter revenue that continued to decline. The company’s high-end Desire phones have also been selling well, but HTC’s return to profitability is thanks largely to its cost-cutting efforts over the past few quarters.
Something has to change.
HTC continues to focus mainly on refining its smartphone lineup, but phones will no longer be the only business that matters at HTC. The company is now starting to dabble outside of phones, and is working on some unique apps — including its first stand-alone iOS app, Zoe, which will launch this fall after the Android version exits beta on Wednesday.
On the hardware side of things, the new RE is HTC’s first attempt at a truly unique and useful accessory that will draw new eyes to the HTC brand.
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Welcome to the new HTC. This company might look like the HTC we’ve known for years, but 2014 marks the start of a major shift for the company that stems from more than just its recent struggles. The smartphone market is changing, and it’s happening faster than anyone expected. New entrants are consuming the low end, Apple and Samsung’s stranglehold on the high end is tightening, and the middle is getting squeezed on both sides.
Amid diminishing revenue and widely publicized cost-cutting efforts, HTC must react.
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It’s no secret the demand for the iPhone 6 is huge, but what would you be willing to trade to get one if you don’t have the funds to buy one? Over in Detroit, one homeowner who can’t get rid of his house and is willing to trade it for an iPhone 6 Plus.
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HTC is in the midst of a period of change as it tries to return not just to profitability, but to sustained growth. The one thing that never seems to change, however, is the quality of HTC’s products, which is always class-leading. HTC’s last big smartphone launch brought the world the beautiful all-aluminum HTC One (M8), which was easily the best Android smartphone of the year until Motorola’s new Moto X came along to spoil HTC’s fun.
Will today’s event see HTC retake the throne?
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Earlier this week, we tipped our hat in awe at Comcast’s ability to deliver customer service that was so bad that it literally ended up ruining a man’s career. Now, Comcast has come out and publicly apologized to the man for the trouble he’s gone through, although the company insists that no one at Comcast told his employer he should be fired.
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Watch out, smartphone manufacturers: Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy is back and he’s going to bend more of your high-end devices. Hilsenteger, whose video that showed him bending the iPhone 6 Plus with his bare hands quickly went viral, has decided to give Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy Note 4 phablet the same treatment that he gave to Apple’s massive new smartphone. The results, you’ll be interested to know, will not make Samsung all that happy.
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One of the last places that Blackberry has a foothold over Android and Windows Phones is Capitol Hill, which just happens to be a hugely important market for the company’s future hopes.
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Over the past several months, wireless carriers have found themselves in hot water over a “cramming” scandal which involves placing third-party charges on customers’ bills without permission. Like T-Mobile before it, AT&T has been caught billing its customers for $9.99 subscriptions to ringtones and premium text message services that they never signed up for. Worst of all, AT&T kept at least 35% of the charges.
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