HTC One launched in India for Rs 42,900: In stores by end April

HTC’s newest flagship phone, the HTC One was launched in India on Monday for a price of Rs 42,900 and will be available in stores by the end of the month. “People today immerse themselves in a constant stream of updates, news and information. Although smartphones are one of the main ways we stay in touch with the people and information we care about, conventional designs have failed to keep pace with how people are actually using them,” said Faisal Siddiqui, Country Head, HTC India at the launch. “A new, exciting approach to the smartphone is needed and with the new HTC One, we have re-imagined the mobile experience from the ground up to reflect this new reality.” Key features of the device are as follows: [caption id=“attachment_691393” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Performance: • It has a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB of RAM. • 32 to 64GB of storage space. • Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, LTE and a 2300mAh battery. It will support LTE as well. • It runs Android 4.1.2 but don’t get too excited as it also comes with a rather generous helping of the newer version of HTC’s Sense User Interface. According to  Computer World, the new User Interface, this isn’t stock Android — but rather far from it. When you first boot up the HTC One, you’re taken to a new tile-centric screen known as BlinkFeed. This looks a lot like Flipboard and serves as an aggregator for news and social media updates. BlinkFeed: While HTC One runs Android 4.2, it’s comes with HTC’s new Sense user interface as well. As this  TechCrunch post argues, this seems to be HTC’s tacit acknowledgement that a fight over who can build the best Android hardware isn’t one it can win against Samsung. BlinkFeed is the user live tile user interface that is on the HTC One. These are very similar to Windows Phone 8 tiles and work like an aggregator for all your news and social media content including videos and photos. This effectively means that HTC has put its own mark on the home screen of the smartphone and so it won’t be like a stock Jelly Bean device. The Ultrapixels : The smartphone has a 4 megapixel camera and before you think that this is too little hold on. HTC is actually using an UltraPixel Camera in which the pixels are larger in size on the sensor. So while the camera resolution might be 4 megapixel, the size of each pixel is much, much larger. The camera is aided by a new dedicated ImageChip and a newer sensor. According to HTC, Ultrapixels will let users will be able to quickly shoot true-to-life images with the best colours, even in low light conditions. For more details on this you can check out this post by  Gizmodo. Sense Voice: With this, HTC is promising users voice clarity even while talking in the midst of a large crowd. The smartphone has dual built-in microphones that detect loud ambient noise and will then dynamically boost the in-call voice to compensate. A built-in remote: The HTC One also comes with Sense TV, which will let users select TV channels, access program guides, adjust audio, etc with their smartphone. HTC is in discussion with cable operators in different countries, and hopes to offer a more interactive package for consumers, according to analysts who attended a conference with HTC. The screen resolution: The HTC One has a 4.7 inch screen with with a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. That’s about 468 pixels per inch (ppi). HTC One clearly wins the screen wars and knocks out Apple’s iPhone 5 which has a screen resolution of 326 ppi. Design: The new design is all aluminum and the smartphone has a unibody chassis with chamfered edges. It comes in both white and black, and a rounded rectangle look. It does look too much like a bigger iPhone. • HTC One features two speakers, at the top and bottom of the screen, producing a stereo effect when the phone is turned on its side for movie viewing. Another unusual feature is an infrared diode that lets the phone serve as a universal remote for a TV or media center. The smartphone which was launched in New York in February, has been widely called HTC’s last shot at trying to regain it lost glory in the smartphone market. HTC was not in the list of top five smartphone device manufacturers for 2012 in the latest IDC report. HTC Corp in fact, reported a record-low quarterly profit on Monday that missed analysts’ estimates after the delayed launch of the HTC One further undermined sales amid tough competition from Samsung Electronics and Apple. Watch video introducing the phone: