HTC taking on rivals with One
2013-02-20 10:29
Cape Town - HTC has shown its hand in the company's assault on competitors with the new HTC One.
The company unveiled the device at a linked London and New York event on Tuesday before the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and asserted that was intent on taking on brands like Samsung.
"HTC has always been bold and we have never been afraid to take risks," said HTC CEO Peter Chou.
The smartphone is powered by Google's Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system and is a departure from the plastic on many smartphones with its all aluminium case that leaves no space for a memory card slot.
HTC said that user behaviour had changed the mobile market as many people were using their devices to browse rich media content like video and social media directly on the phone.
Interface
"If you look around, people are using their smartphones more than ever; even more importantly, they are using their smartphones in new ways: They're always snacking on a constant flow of information.
"We see this [rich media] as a new opportunity for us to bring new excitement to the smartphone experience," said Chou.
The interface is designed to serve content, and HTC has touted the high end 1.7GHz quad core processor hardware and 2GB of RAM for its ability to deliver an improved user experience.
"This shift in behaviour means that we as an industry need a new approach to smartphones," Chou said.
One of the features unique to the device is the HTC Zoe which instantly captures short videos automatically.
"Zoe automatically captures high res photos and a short HD video at the same time. You just focus on the moment and your HTC One does the rest," said Scott Croyle, HTC vice president of design.
Many smartphone manufactures are racing to ensure that the devices become centres of content management for users and the HTC One also includes an infrared TV remote built in to the device.
Smartphone market
The Zoe feature and multimedia on the phone may serve to be a defining feature in an increasingly crowded smartphone market, especially as Samsung is slated to launch its new Galaxy S4 in March.
"In the new HTC One the gallery can take your Zoes, your photos; your videos and in real time, creates highlight movies," said Croyle.
HTC also announced a partnership with AOL to deliver content as the company looked to creating an ecosystem for the HTC smartphone.
The HTC One is enabled for higher speed LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, but is unclear whether the device will be launched in SA.
- Follow Duncan on Twitter
