With Mobile World Congress 2015 drawing to a close, it would be unfair to only focus upon the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge. There is plenty of other news to come out of Barcelona, not least of which was the announcement of HTC’s brand new flagship handset, the logically titled One M9.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79T_XvhkHLc
According to HTC Chairwoman, Cher Wang, “HTC has built its reputation on challenging expectations in the mobile industry”. The big question surrounding the Utopia in Progress Event at this year’s Mobile World Congress would be whether or not HTC could challenge the expectations that had been set by several trend setting handsets.
HTC One M9 – What’s New
Avoiding the temptation to make this a small section, we want to point out the positives that come with the launch of a new flagship.
Dolby Surround Sound
Even prior to the HTC One M7 and HTC One M8, a certain amount of pride is attributed towards the sound that comes from the HTC One series, which has seen partner, Beats Audio, come and go. Boomsound and HTC’s trademark front facing speakers will now benefit from Dolby Surround Sound technology, meaning that your Netflix or Showbox experience will be better than ever.
Camera
While the M9 sees the departure of the unusual but somewhat successful Duos Lens, the camera is shaping up to be a real market leader. The primary camera boasts 20 megapixels, with 4K video shooting capability and a Ultrapixel front-facing camera which works brilliantly in low light.
The Rest
This is where a certain level of disappointment and respect comes in. A new phone every year is a tough thing to take if you like keeping up with the very latest tech. The M9 really softens the blow for M8 users, as there are no real leaps and bounds forward. Many of the other features which were announced at Mobile World Congress this year suggest that software rich improvements should be available to, at the very least, M8 users. This are features such as a new Gallery, Context bases information presentation and the “love it or hate it” Sense 7.
Should you buy the HTC One M9
This section is going to mirror the conclusions reached during our review of the Samsung S6 & S6 Edge Launch. If you are an M8 user, rest assured, there should be no real rush to grab an M9. While the M9 is almost certainly going to be a success and a beautiful piece of crafted technology, both Samsung and HTC have released underwhelming flagships this year.
If you are interested in knowing more about the HTC One M9 prior to launch, you can register your interest with Irish suppliers Vodafone, Three and Carphone Warehouse.
Pebble pioneered the use of ePaper in their wearable time pieces. ePaper is very similar to the eInk display found in the Amazon Kindle. The benefits of ePaper are manifold, namely combining long battery life and ease of viewing in any lighting conditions. The first Pebble Smartwatch was restricted to a black and white screen. This restriction has been lifted, making way for a gorgeous colour ePaper screen. Although the screen will be vastly improved, battery life is actually set to be prolonged by a further two days.
Many Pebble users were crying out for a colour screen, but the second innovation comes as a bit more of a surprise. The Pebble Time will feature a built in microphone, but still maintain it’s water resistance rating (the mind boggles). This will likely be a feature which grows over time, but will initially support all major Android apps such as SMS, Facebook, Whatsapp and hundreds more. iOS will initially be a little more limited.
