HTC One E9 and One E9+ have been in our rumor section for quite some time. We recently learned that the HTC A55 we thought is the One E9 is actually the One E9+ and it was quietly revealed by HTC China ahead of its debut on April 8 in Beijing.

HTC One E9+ is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6795M chipset with octa-core CPU, 2GB RAM, and 16GB of expandable storage. It features a 13 MP camera at the back and 4MP UltraPixel camera at the front.

Now, back to the HTC One E9. It is rumored to pack a lower resolution display and camera – it should feature a 5.0" or 5.5" 1080p display and a 13MP rear camera. Previous rumors suggest a Snapdragon 810 chip instead of MediaTek, but this is yet to be confirmed.

Today we got some leaked press renders of the HTC One E9 for you, courtesy of @upleaks. The device looks identical to the HTC One E9+ though this is hardly a surprise – a big display at front, stereo BoomSound speakers and a plastic rear panel.

HTC One E9

The One E9 and One E9+ are rumored to hit different markets this spring. Hopefully we'll know more on April 8, when at least one of them will be officially detailed.

Source |…

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Perhaps unsurprisingly so, the upcoming HTC Butterfly 3 is said to be exclusive to the Asian markets. This information comes from the upleaks Twitter account.

BUTTERFLY3(B3) will be exclusive to Asian markets.— @upleaks (@upleaks) March 30, 2015

The Butterfly series has mostly been intended for the Asian markets, with both the previous phones launching in Asia first and then had a limited release elsewhere. The Butterfly 3, too, is said to launch in Japan first but will then likely be available in some other markets, such as India. If you're outside Asia, however, you likely won't see that phone in official form but HTC might have some similar variant for…

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HTC has started rolling out the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for its 2013 One flagship device – One (M7) in India, Singapore, Malaysia, and other regions. The Taiwanese company finally is reaching out with the OTA to several regions for the two year old handset.

The One (M7) gets the Lollipop OTA packaged in a build version 7.21.707.105 measuring 774.82MB for India. The build will have different version number for each region but will be more or less around 800MB.

The new Lollipop update packs the new Lock screen and notification user interface with improved privacy features. The Recent apps menu will support multiple pages and removes the current limit. This update is same as the one that was rolled out for Europe last month.

We recommend to download the Lollipop OTA on Wi-Fi network and let us know if you find something interesting with the update.

Thanks for the tip – Akshay and Harsh…

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LG has just announced the global rollout of its new mid-range devices and now one of them has already gone live for the Indian market. The South Korean company’s India website has listed the Spirit for INR14,250 ($228). The Spirit follows the rear-mounted power and volume buttons design, which started with the LG G2.

The all new LG Spirit, with model number LG-H422, boasts of a curved design and features a 4.7-inch 720p display. It houses a quad-core 1.3GHz mobile chipset with 1GB RAM and packs 8GB storage, which can be expanded with up to 32GB microSD card.

Flaunting an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and auto focus, it boasts fancy features, such as Gesture Shot. The 1MP front facing camera can deliver selfies ideal for social networks.

By default, it runs Android 5.0.1 Lollipop wrapped in LG UI and supports dual-SIM configuration with smart forwarding option. Knock Code feature for security has been integrated and a 2,100 mAh battery powers the handset.

#twitter-widget-0 {width: 590px !important;}

NEW launch " #LG Spirit" (LG H-422)
Rs.13690/-

Key specifications:
✨Gently Curve design… http://t.co/NuwjyGVRzY http://ift.tt/1DbWQOr Manish Khatri (@MAHESHTELECOM) March 29, 2015

Though the official MRP of Spirit is INR14,250 ($228), an Indian retailer has revealed its best price at INR13,690…

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Samsung's Tizen-based Z1 smartphone, which went on sale in India back in January this year, has received another over-the-air (OTA) update.

Sized at 26.9MB, the update has build number Z130HDDU0BOC7 and brings Tizen to version 2.3.0.1. Given the size of the update as well as the fact that there is no change log available for it, it's safe to assume that it is primarily a bug-fix or performance update.

However, there have been reports that the update has brought along the ability to download Asphalt 8 game updates using cellular data – it was previously restricted to WiFi…

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LG’s latest mid-range smartphone quartet went official in mid-February, just before MWC 2015. The South Korean company has now announced the global rollout of its mid-rangers – Magna, Spirit, Leon, and Joy.

Out of the four, only Magna, Spirit, and Leon will be available in 3G or LTE variants. Metallic back covers are used to distinguish the LTE models.

The hero of the quartet is LG Magna with 5" 720p display, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, Android 5.0 Lollipop with LG UI, and 2,540 mAh battery. It packs 1.3GHz quad-core CPU and 21Mbps HSPA+ network connectivity. The LTE variant boasts a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU with Cat. 4 LTE.

LG Spirit bears similar set of hardware as Magna with minor differences like a 4.7" 720p display and a 2,100 mAh battery. Select markets will get Spirit with 5MP rear camera and 1MP front camera.

The Leon packs same SoC options and network chips for 3G or LTE models. It offers 4.5" FWVGA display and a VGA front camera. A 3G variant will feature 1GB or 768MB RAM, 8GB or 4GB storage and 8MP or 5MP rear camera options. The LTE variant features 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, and 5MP rear camera. A 1,900 mAh battery powers these versions.

The entry-level Joy will ship with Android 4.4 KitKat, 4" WVGA display , and 11.9 mm thickness. A dual-core CPU is packed in this device along with 512MB RAM, and 4GB storage. At rear it packs 5MP fixed focus camera and VGA camera in the front. It has the same 1,900 mAh battery as the LG…

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According to a new report, an update to Android 5.1 Lollipop will bring updated TouchWiz UX to Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The latest TouchWiz debuted alongside Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.

Most global versions of the Korean giant’s flagship phablet are currently running Android 5.0.2. Should it arrive alongside Android 5.1, the new user interface will surely be a welcome addition to the Galaxy Note 4.

Unsurprisingly, Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge will be the first to receive Android 5.1. There is no timeline on the update for the Note 4.

You can find out all about the latest TouchWiz UX by Samsung in our Galaxy S6 review.

Source…

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After a number of rumours and leaks, HTC quietly listed the One E9+ smartphone on its website in China. The Taiwanese manufacturer has not mentioned a launch date or price for the new handset yet.

The actual specifications of HTC One E9+ are close to the previously rumored ones. The handset features a 5.5" Quad HD display with 534 ppi pixel density – the sharpest screen to appear on an HTC phone to date. Oddly, the specifications page lists the display as having 1080p resolution.

HTC One E9+ is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6795M chipset with octa-core CPU, 2GB RAM, and 16GB of expandable storag. It features a 13 MP camera at the back and 4MP UltraPixel camera in the front.

Featuring a dual nano-SIM configuration, the smartphone will support both FDD-LTE and TD-LTE network bands. Other features include dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, and dual front speakers.

Weighing 150 grams, the smartphone includes a 2,800 mAh battery. By default it will run Android Lollipop, dressed in HTC Sense 7 UI. The One E9+ will be offered in meteor grey, gold sepia, and classic rose gold two-tone colour options.

Source |…

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Counterclockwise is a weekly write-up that looks back on the history of mobile devices, concentrating on the current time of the year – late March in this case. This time around we got caught up tracking the launches of the flagship Android phones by HTC, Samsung, Sony and LG, but there was also enough time for a couple of curiosities.

Game of Phones

HTC made the first Android phone in partnership with a US carrier, the T-Mobile G1. The HTC-branded device was known as the Dream and in late March 2009 it was arriving in Europe. Looking through the archives we see that late march has seen some bitter rivalry between Android flagships.
A year later to the day Samsung unveiled the I9000, aka Galaxy S. From the humble beginnings, Android flagships were getting quite sophisticated with large, sharp displays and HD cameras. The Galaxy S was not alone though, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 hit the shelves just a couple of days after Samsung made its announcement.

As for HTC, it was still working close with Google. The HTC Desire was arriving in T-Mobile UK stores alongside the Xperia X10. The Desire was the HTC base for the Nexus One. A couple of years in, Android already had its biggest players vying for consumer attention.

A year later LG was pushing for dominance with the LG Optimus 2X, the first dual-core Android and first phone with 1080p video recording. This was a year before the Optimus G, which took the Nexus line away from Samsung, which had snatched it away from HTC.

Samsung's first Nexus device, the Nexus S, was based on the original Galaxy S and came out soon after it in late 2010. The next installment was only loosely based on the Galaxy S II and was dubbed Galaxy Nexus. Anyway, the Galaxy S II itself was close to launch in March 2011 and one unit was already previewed.

Samsung Galaxy S II

HTC wasn’t taking the Nexus coup laying down. The HTC Pyramid was going around the rumor mill, the device to become the Sensation. HTC couldn’t decide on a name for its flagship line – Magic, Desire, Sensation, but it finally settled on One.

A year later the HTC One X was nearing launch and impressed with benchmarks of its two Krait cores. That was the AT&T model though, the international version was going to use the latest Tegra, the chipset line that also powered LG's Optimus 4X.

The latest S flagship was close too, the Samsung Galaxy S III had leaked though the image and specs proved inaccurate. Anyway, it did come with a quad-core processor as did the international One X.

Sony was ahead in that it was already shipping the Xperia S, but the phone was a bit behind the curve. It had a dual-core processor – a Snapdragon chipset, but pre-Krait. While a dual-core Krait could put up a fight against a quad-core Cortex-A9 in a Galaxy S III or a One X, the Scorpion didn’t cut it. Also, the 4.3" 720p screen of the Xperia S while sharp was smaller than its opponents. Big screens is a trend that is still defining the mobile market.

A year later Sony had unveiled the Xperia Z line, including the Xperia ZL. That generation was catching up and had a quad-core Krait processor and a large screen (5" 1080p).

Samsung had also switched to Snapdragon after the mostly Exynos-powered S III generation. The 70% of Galaxy S4 units would be powered by Snapdragon 600 (the latest Qualcomm chipset at the time, the Xperia Z/ZL were a generation behind).

HTC still wasn’t 100% happy with its flagship name and decided to drop the letter. So, the HTC One it is. Or will be anyway, as the launch got pushed back from March 2013 to late April except for several markets.

Android's March madness as Samsung was launching the Galaxy S5 across the world. HTC had reconsidered the letter thing and added brackets for good measure as the HTC One (M8) launched with a dual-camera.

Sony got out of lockstep as after the Xperia Z/ZL generation it started a "two flagships a year" strategy. It seems like it abandoned it after the Xperia Z3 launch late last year though. LG also took itself out of the yearly year rush and launched the LG G2 and LG G3 later than its competition, but brought better specs in a bid for the top.

This March saw the latest Galaxy S and HTC One launch, we're still waiting for Sony's and LG's devices.

Double down on storage

Before smartphones, most phones didn’t…

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Samsung brags about the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 panels used for the Galaxy S6 edge and it might have a good reason for that.

Both the back and the dual-curved 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display have protected by Corning's latest. A Korean video demonstrated the true strength of the glass panels used in Galaxy S6 edge through a brutal drop test.

In the video, the woman first shows the display working normally and then slams the phone three times on the floor. The result was rather impressive with the phone sustaining next to no damage.

That's hardly a scientific approach to testing the toughness, but it should certainly give Galaxy S6 owners some extra piece of mind – even if they do drop their new and expensive phone, chances are it won't mind too much.

Thanks for the…

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