HTC aims to bounce back with One

In a bid to reclaim its standing in the smartphone market, Taiwanese handset maker HTC has launched the HTC One; its flagship Android smartphone.

In January 2013, the firm saw itself slip out of the world’s top five smartphone vendors, according to research firm IDC, when it was surpassed by Huawei and Sony. However, with the launch of the HTC One the firm claims to have “re-imagined the mobile experience from the ground up”.

The handset has a 4.7-inch full-HD display, a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor and 2GB RAM. It has front-facing stereo speakers built into the device with a dedicated amplifier and the device uses HTC Sense 5, the firm’s user interface skin, which is layered on its Android devices.

Key features of the skin include HTC BlinkFeed; which transforms the home screen into a single live stream of information such as social updates, entertainment and lifestyle updates, news and photos. HTC Sense TV also transforms the phone into an interactive program guide and remote control for most TVs, set-top boxes and receivers.

The device is “striking”, according to Julian Jest, research analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. “Although the device is powered by Android OS, it is highly distinguishable from the “Android mass” in terms of both usability and elegance of design,” he said. “Clearly, the introduction of One will help HTC to differentiate its brand from the typical Android identity without losing the high performance qualities the OS can offer.”

According to Jest, the launch has come at an ideal time, when iPhone sales are slowing down and advanced users are now looking for more innovative devices to satisfy their appetite to explore the new technology horizons.

“However, HTC has to get the pricing right with the One. It is unlikely that network operators will give their support to a device that they will need to subsidise heavily – and from a vendor which has struggled to compete with Samsung, the market leader on the Android OS,” said Jest.

“A speedy delivery of the device to a wide range of mobile operators will be vital, and may just give it the head start it needs to grow its market share ahead of the latest Galaxy device from Samsung.”