back to article HTC rises to challenge after Android struggles in Europe

HTC's handset roadmap for 2010 has been leaked, as usual. Predictably, it is heavy on Android, where the Taiwanese vendor has blazed the trail, but it now needs to defend its early lead from the launches by Samsung, Motorola and others. However, even as excitement about the Android race mounts in north America, the Google OS …

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  1. A. Lewis
    Thumb Up

    The look good.

    I like what HTC are doing with handsets. I've got my eye on one at the moment but will wait until the new year to see if prices come down so I can get a little android of my own.

    I have an allergy to WinMo having had to support devices running it at work. ;)

  2. b4k4

    nm?

    I think htc androids use network manager. At least mine never connects to the bloody network until I re-enter the settings over and over, or maybe re-boot. When I sit at the kitchen table near the fridge, which has the AP on top, it tells me "out of range, remembered"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Works fine for me

      But then so does network manager. Have you considered getting a decent AP?

  3. Optymystic

    Android Carrier!?

    "T-Mobile, the first Android carrier"

    Perhaps this is the explanation. What the hell is an Android Carrier? Android is an operating system. If the mobile phone market did not insist on tying these products to specific phone services the public would have less difficulty buying the phones.

    I want to choose my Android device - pay my £200; choose my 3G provider, pay my £ 20 per month; end of story. Why does it have to be any more complicated than that? Most of the sites I have visited in pursuit of an Android device do not even mention 3G, they just demand an astronomical fee for a bundled service with a lousy lock in. Where's Ofcom when you need it?

  4. Lan ser

    pushers

    Biggest problem with ANdroid in europe is lack of handsets ie even after the sucess of Motarola's Droid in US still no UK carrier for it. Another thing is upgrades US android users get upgrades long before UK/EU.

    With Google's size and money a concerted ad campaign similar to iphone would soon make a difference, lets face it people think iphone because it's continually rammed down the throats of anyone who even glimpses at a tv

  5. Shades
    Thumb Up

    Bravo

    Have HTC finally decided to make the phone I want? So far its like NO phone manufacturer wants me money!! My HTC WinMo phone is absolutely on its last legs but I've never seen a phone that satisfies my inner nerd, the Bravo could just be the one!

    *Drools at the prospect of Android (with the SenseUI) on a 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU with 3.7" AMOLED Capacitive touchscreen*

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have an idea

    I know how to market Android. Why not give previews of the next version 2.0 when the shelves are full of version 1.6. That worked perfectly for the Osborne Portable computer.

    Then when people are concerned about your massive unnecessary data collecting, have your CEO suggest they are guilty of something for complaining.

    Genius!

  7. Tom Mason
    Thumb Up

    I love my magic

    I got an HTC magic back in the summer, and I love it. Within weeks two of my colleagues at work had bought one as well, including one guy who had previously been a mobile troglodyte, but a bit of a linux hacker.

    Most of my non-geek friends don't really have a clue what it is. They like what they see but Android simply doesn't have the brand recognition, and Google is too generic. There's no way for android to become iconic like the iPhone because you can't know that its an android device simply by glancing at it.

  8. abigsmurf

    Cheaper models

    HTC need to come out with their own answer to the T-Mobile Pulse. Their current 'budget' handset, the Tattoo, is double the price of the Pulse and crippled with a QVGA screen not supported by most apps.

    Also, I wish the carriers would get their act together with data and give me included data on contracts under £25 without having to spend extra for a bolt on. Surely in this day and age, data should be seen just as important as texting and calls, especially given how much promotion there is for stuff like emailing, facebook etc.

  9. Gerard Krupa

    Competition

    With the greatest respect for HTC - I've had a number of their phones and really like them, what the Android market needs to pick up is low-cost competition. HTC have never been a provider of mass-market budget phones in either the WinMo or Android worlds. I think with the introduction of Motorola and now Acer into the market prices will start to drop and if LG join the fray too it won't be a bad thing.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ban operator-sponsored handsets

    Therein lies the problem. Let the consumers separately choose the handsets and subscriptions that fit their needs. The current regime is too operator centric, and is obsessed with hiding the TCO of a mobile.

  11. Rob
    Happy

    Loyal to HTC

    I've been on HTC handsets since the days of the Orange SPV phone, granted I felt like I was still a beta tester with that one but over the years the improvements HTC have made and the ideas they've brought to their models has been v.good.

    I've not yet been stuck for an upgrade when looking at their catalog. I'm on a TouchPro 2 now and it's the best phone I've had from them so far.

  12. Paul Charters
    Stop

    Spyware?

    'Consumers recognise the Google brand, but still do not understand what Android is'.

    Well, I avoid it because I expect it to be sending every bit of data I have to Google and it's marketing partners.

    I know I'm paranoid to a degree, but I cannot see Google as anything other than the vast marketing machine that it is, with the hope of pumping adverts at me 24/7 in the hope that repetitive marketing will steadily brainwash me into buying the products listed. Android I only see as a means to get my data, and the data of everyone in my contacts, in order for this to happen.

    I genuinely expect Google's various OS's, whether mobile or desktop or whatever, to, at some point, start pushing adverts directly onto my screen, probably eventually linked by GPS. eg. Oh look, I just walked past a shop and BAM! HERE IS YOUR HISTORY AND THINGS YOU'VE BOUGHT BEFORE THAT YOU CAN BUY HERE! BUY BUY BUY! BUY NOW!

  13. Martin Nicholls
    Terminator

    It's because..

    We're not as gullible for pure hype and no substance as the Yanks..

    The droid is half-assed and badly designed, the hero was just horific.. Apple couldn't put out a decent phone if they actually even tried, the palm is a palm..

    Had high hopes for the Liquid A1 - but it's only 1.6 and a huge waste of that cpu by underclocking it.

    The bravo looks like a potential but who knows... HTC are good at trying to sell more than they can produce, I got burned with the TyTn II.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    Yes I recognise the brand

    and that's why I wouldn't even think of having them spying on me 24/7. Maybe the Americans are less concerned about their privacy?

  15. Jacqui Smith's DVD Collection!
    Happy

    HTC were damaged

    HTC were damaged by Windows mobile, when I got my Hero my friends despaired "WTF did you get a HTC for" once they had a play they changed their tune.

    IMHO El Reg needs to redo the Hero review, yes it was slow when it first came to market, but that firmware upgrade in September made a huge difference in speed.

  16. Paul Shirley

    @El Reg needs to redo the Hero review

    And perhaps review some of the hacker ROMs for the geekiest of readers. A jailbroken iPhone is still just an iPhone, a rooted Android can be like having a whole new phone. Faster, prettier, more functional. And easier to strip off the crapware the networks insist on installing ;)

  17. JeeBee
    Go

    Ready to take off..?

    I've got a Hero - I think ElReg should revisit the review when the 2.1 firmware comes out for it. Apparently it's got all the slowness back :-( - I hope this is fixed by the time the release firmware is out.

    Android is very nice, but still young. 2.x is a step up I'm sure. I've seen a fair few people with Android phones recently, I think they're just picking up a little now. They haven't really been pushed until this quarter in most places, and next year is when they'll be pushed a lot more, with 2.1,

  18. Renato
    Thumb Down

    Slowness

    Just cut out Java and run native applications.

    Symbian does it, Windows Mobile does it, JesusPhone too... Heck, why can't we have the ol'Google from the 90s when it innovated using the KISS principle?

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    No Promotion, No sales

    It looks simple to me. Not a single UK carrier mentions Android (Or Google for that matter) until you do a search for it on their site. All those that carry the iphone (or will do) push it like their survival depends on it on the front page. The carriers don't seem interested to me. The iphone automatically gets a data inclusive tariff, Look at O2 for example, who carry a solitary, token Android phone, they seem to think you are quite happy with it without a data tariff. Its only offered as an option on the higher pay monthly rates. What's the point of getting an Android phone with no data tariff? Until the carries can see £££, they won't push it. Its strange really as they must be able to make more money out of Android than with Apple's oppressive deal

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Native IS available on Android

    http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/1.5_r1/index.html

    Get coding, Renato...

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