HTC's new flagship phone has AI and a second screen, but no headphone jack

HTC is getting 2017 off to a flying start with an unseasonably early announcement of its next flagship phone: the U Ultra. This 5.7-inch device inaugurates a new U series of smartphones and is joined by a smaller and lesser U Play, which scales things down to 5.2 inches and a humbler camera and processor spec. HTC is touting a new Sense Companion, which is its take on the growing trend for putting AI assistants into phones, plus the addition of a second screen at the top of the U Ultra. As with Apple’s latest iPhones, Lenovo’s Moto Z, and the HTC Bolt, neither of HTC’s new handsets has a headphone jack.

But the first thing you’ll probably notice about the U Ultra and U Play is their all-new design. I got to see and handle the two new phones ahead of today’s announcement and they are strikingly, shockingly glossy. HTC has moved to a new all-glass exterior, which it calls Liquid Surface construction, and the company has spent a lot of time creating a material that mimics the properties, not just the look, of liquid. What that means in practice is that you’ll sometimes get sensational-looking reflections that lend the U phone a quite unique appearance, but more often than not, you’ll just wish for something less "liquidy" to grip. The surface of both phones is ultra smooth and if you don’t put them inside a case, they’re liable to keep slipping out of your hand.

The other big change on the outside is the U Ultra’s second screen, which is a thin 2-inch strip residing to the right of the front-facing camera and immediately above the Super LCD 5 screen. The 5.7-inch Ultra has what is now a pretty standard Quad HD resolution on its main display, and it maintains the same pixel density on the 160 x 1040 second screen. Exactly as with LG’s V10 and V20, this strip serves as a landing spot for notifications, reminders, shortcuts to frequent contacts, and music playback controls.

The specs of the U Ultra are in line with current flagship tier expectations: there’s a Snapdragon 821 at the heart of this new smartphone, along with 4GB of RAM, and a choice of 64GB or 128GB of storage. HTC makes an increasingly rare inclusion by also offering a MicroSD card slot for expansion by up to 2TB of extra storage. The camera has been upgraded with the addition of phase-detect autofocus, but is otherwise unchanged from the 12-megapixel UltraPixel shooter on the HTC 10. You still get laser autofocus, large pixels, an f/1.8 aperture, and optical image stabilization. Amusingly, the front camera of the U Ultra scales to a higher resolution of 16 megapixels, though it also has an UltraPixel mode that produces 4-megapixel snaps.

The 3,000mAh battery may be a little on the small side for the U Ultra’s large display, and the same can be said of the 2,500mAh battery of the U Play. Many other 5.2-inch phones have scaled past the 3,000mAh mark by this point. The U Play’s downgrades from the main U flagship are not insignificant: it swaps the Snapdragon for a Helio P10 processor from MediaTek, halves the storage offerings to 32GB or 64GB, and uses a 16-megapixel rear camera with smaller pixels than on the Ultra model. It also makes do with 1080p display resolution. The biggest shortcoming, though, might be on the software side, as the U Play will begin shipping with Android Marshmallow on board. The U Ultra, on the other hand, is based on the latest Android 7 software, Nougat.

Software is where HTC hopes its U phones will stand out, with a focus on the user — the titular "U" — and a series of so-called AI enhancements that are basically the phone predicting what you’ll want to do and serving up helpful suggestions. Provided you’re comfortable to let the phone learn your habits, it’ll do such things as suggest you recharge it if it knows you’ll be away from a power outlet for longer than it expects its battery will last. Or it will tell you to dress warm on a cold day. HTC already has some geographically and contextually aware suggestions in previous iterations of Sense, but in 2017 those things are getting grouped together under the AI marketing banner. One neat inclusion here is always-on voice detection, which will allow HTC’s AI to accept commands even while the phone’s display is off. And HTC says it has developed a form of voice-based biometric authentication.

As to that missing headphone jack, HTC points to its bundled USonic earphones — a rebranded version of the in-ear headphones included with the HTC Bolt and 10 Evo — and says their improvement in sound is dependent on the more capable connection provided by the digital USB-C interconnect:

We removed the headphone jack because we believe the audio experience on the phone can be so much more than just the simple transmission of sound. The sonar-like capabilities of USonic wouldn’t be possible with a 3.5mm headphone jack. We have microphones built into both earbuds that “listen” for sonic pulses, which can then adjust your audio to match your ears’ unique architecture. We believe the market is ready to push audio into new innovations that benefit consumers’ listening experience.

Why the company couldn’t have done the USonic stuff and still retained a regular headphone jack isn’t made clear, but at this point it’s becoming obvious that the entire mobile industry is shifting to Lightning and USB-C and abandoning the traditional 3.5mm jack. In the case of HTC, that also means owning a pair of USonic headphones that only work with HTC devices, despite having the supposedly universal USB-C connector.

The HTC U Ultra with 64GB of storage goes on pre-sale today for $749 from HTC.com in a choice of either blue, black, white, or pink. Deliveries in Taiwan will begin by the end of January, but the rest of the world will have to wait until March. The U Play will follow later this spring, though there’s no hard indication about its price, which will fluctuate depending on the local market.

HTC is also going to launch a limited edition U Ultra with a sapphire glass screen on the front and 128GB of storage. Pricing and launch date for that device have yet to be announced.

SOURCE : http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/12/14236978/htc-u-ultra-play-announced-price-release-date-specs-features

iPhone 5 falls short of analyst estimates despite massive sales

Selling 5 million iPhone 5s in the first weekend of availability certainly sounds like a win. Apple sold roughly 1 million more iPhone 5s in its first weekend of availability compared to the number of iPhone 4S’ that Cupertino sold in that smartphones first weekend of availability. Despite moving 5 million units the first weekend, the iPhone 5 fell short of some analyst estimates.

                                                BusinessWeek reports that supply constraints delayed shipments meaning Apple’s newest smartphone missed estimates put forth by some analysts. Apple has admitted that demand for the new smartphone was higher than availability of the device leading to delays of some early online orders. Shares in Apple stock declined, reports BusinessWeek, due to concern that supply constraints could hamper Apple’s ability to outpace rivals such as Samsung.
Analysts are concerned because the iPhone represents about two-thirds of Apple’s profits and is a crucial product for the company. Analyst Brian White from Topeka Capital Markets had said that he expected Apple to sell 6 to 6.5 million units, excluding Internet purchases that haven’t been shipped, in the opening weekend. He believes that Apple falling short of his estimates has to do with supply constraints rather than demand.
Apple stock shares fell 1.3% to trade at $690.79 at the close of trading. However, Apple stock has still gained 71% this year. Apple doesn’t figure Internet orders into its sales totals until the phones are delivered. That means that the presumably massive number of sales made online during the opening weekend that weren’t delivered aren’t counted in Apple’s 5 million unit record weekend. Analyst Brian Marshall from ISI Group expects that counting orders in transit right now, Apple moved 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 units.

Apple sells over 5 million iPhone 5s, investors worry about supply

Apple has said that more than 5 million iPhone 5s sold in the three days since it hit stores. (AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK: Apple Inc sold out of its latest smartphone, with more than 5 million iPhone5s sold in the three days since it hit stores, the company said on Monday. 

While sales were solid, analysts were concerned that Apple was unable to produce the new phone fast enough to meet demand. 

The early total for the iPhone 5 topped sales of the iPhone 4S, which sold more than 4 million units in its first weekend after Apple introduced it in October 2011. 

Expectations for new Apple products are so high that Wall Street appeared not to be wowed by the latest numbers. Investors sent shares of the stock down 1.4 per cent at $690.14 in mid-morning trade. 

"It appears investors were disappointed with the slowdown in growth in the first weekend," said BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk. 

Apple said while the majority of iPhone 5 pre-orders have been shipped to customers, many were scheduled to go out in October. 

The world's most valuable technology company is being closely watched for any supplier problems that may slow down the smartphone production. 

"We believe that sales could have potentially been much higher if not for supply constraints," William Power, an analyst with Baird Equity Research, wrote in a note. 

He forecast Apple selling 8 million to 10 million units in the fiscal fourth quarter ending in September. 

One of Apple's key suppliers for screens, Sharp Corp, is struggling with high costs and scrambling to raise funds to pay debt. 

Riots forces Chinese plant shutdown 

Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles iPhones, closed a plant in China on Monday after about 2,000 workers were involved in a brawl in a company dormitory. It was not clear how long the shutdown would last. 

Additionally, Apple is facing stiff competition from smartphones that run on Google Inc'sAndroid software, which has become the most-used mobile operating system in the world. Apple's key supplier as well as rival, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, has taken the lead in smartphone sales. 

The iPhone 5 has been one of Apple's most aggressive international rollouts to date. The phone will be available 31 countries on Sept. 28 and in more than 100 countries by the end of the year. 

"Expectations for Apple are always white hot," said Colin Gillis, a research analyst with BGC. "It's not just enough for them to break records but to smash them." 

Apple signalled last week that pre-orders outstripped initial supply and that many phones would not be available until October. 

The iPhone is Apple's highest-margin product and accounts for half of its annual revenues. 

On Friday, fans lined up at stores in cities around the world to get their hands on the new phone, which is thinner and lighter and has a bigger screen.