It appears that Taiwan’s HTC (TPE: 2498) is going through something of a transition.

Last week the company announced that its’ CEO Peter Chou had stepped down to lead the company’s innovation lab, being replaced by founder Cheryl Wang. On Friday in Taipei the company announced that HTC’s design chief Jonah Becker was departing the company.

“We can confirm that Jonah Becker has left HTC; he had been with the Company since HTC acquired One & Co over six years ago,” a statement from the company read. “We would like to thank Jonah for his work with HTC, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours. He has been succeeded by Daniel Hundt, based in our San Francisco design office.”

This announcement comes just under a year after the Scott Croyle, who held the position of design chief for quite some time, was moving on.

It’s been an amazing seventeen year journey with One & Co and HTC, but it’s time for a new adventure. Stay tuned for details of what’s next.

— Jonah Becker (@JonahABecker) March 26, 2015

Why the departure?

There is no clear reason Becker  chose to depart the company at this time. While HTC’s new One M9 was criticized for its boring design, the company had a series of design wins with its Periscope and VR headset revealed at the 2015 Mobile World Congress.

It could be that the company’s new CEO would like a clean slate as she hopes to reboot the company. With any large firm there are more political alliances than Frank Underwood could deal with and a successful corporate reboot might mean installing new faces.

If HTC wants to properly compete, it needs a new, fresh and compelling design language. Perhaps CEO Wang thinks the only way to effectively do this is through a new team.

The post Another HTC Designer Calls it Quits appeared first on VR World.

HTC (TPE: 2498) Chairwoman Cher Wang replaced Peter Chou as chief executive officer Friday in Taipei after a near half-decade of decline in the face of rising smartphone powers like Xiaomi.

Chou also held the position of president, which he will also be departing.

The company announced the departure Friday afternoon.

Reportedly Chou will not be leaving the company, but will rather be joining the HTC Innovation Lab incubator as its chief officer.

Wang co-founded HTC with Chou in 1997. Prior to founding HTC, Wang founded VIA technologies in 1987. She is the daughter of Formosa Plastics’ founder Wang Yung-ching, who was one of Taiwan’s wealthiest individuals until his death in 2008. The death of Wang’s brother, Wang Yung-tsai, in late November marked a new chapter in Formosa Plastics — a pillar of Taiwan’s economy.

“As an entrepreneur at heart, I am excited to see so many new opportunities, and I am honoured to accept this opportunity to help shape the next stage of HTC’s development,” said Cher Wang in a statement. “In his time as CEO, Peter Chou oversaw the successful transition of HTC from a handheld device manufacture for other brands to a global branded company. In his new executive role as head of the HTC Future Development Lab, Mr Chou will be instrumental in identifying future growth opportunities for the Company.”

HTC’s Innovation Lab has had a low profile so far, however its creations have not. At last month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HTC proved that it was looking beyond smartphones with the launch of the Vive VR headset and the Re Camera.

In February HTC posted positive revenue growth, a first for the company in quite some time. But while HTC new One M9 smartphone and other innovative products like the Vive VR headset have impressed critics, the company needs to continue solid growth to win back confidence from investors.

“We are seeing rapid changes in the industry, with the smartphone as our personal hub connecting us to a growing world of smart devices,” reads Wang’s statement.

“We pioneered the smartphone industry; now we are applying that thinking to realize the potential of a new generation of connected products and services.”

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Virtual reality is undoubtedly an immersive feast for the eyes, and accompanied by surround sound headphones that pump in realistic high-def sounds to our ears, users are pulled into a digital world.

But what about our other senses? What about those who actually want to smell their digital universe?

The attachment is a novel idea, but as you can see it’s a rather bizarre piece of hardware that traps your visage in a claustrophobic mask that looks quite uncomfortable.

The FeelReal Mask is a curious VR peripheral that aims at injecting more “reality” into your virtual reality sessions by simulating the sense of smell to virtual reality (yes, really). It will also deliver minor temperature fluctuations to simulate hot air, wind and even water mist.

It’s rightly labeled as a “mask” considering when you strap it on to VR hardware you’re pretty much obscuring your entire face, trapping your features in a bizarre claustrophobic contraption for the sake of “total immersion”.

The FeelReal Mask as showcased at GDC 2015. (Photo Credit: The Verge)

Since you’re mouth will be completely covered up, the mask features a Bluetooth microphone to ensure you’re not completely vocally cut-off from the outside world.

It seems like a novel concept from the start, but once you see what you have to go through to get your senses doused in the “full VR presence”, the FeelReal Mask will most likely scare everyone off. Smell is an inherently important sense, and is more closely tied to memory than any other of our five senses, so successfully tapping this reservoir could lead to potential interactive gold.

But how does the mask work? Loaded with a cartridge that produces seven unique smells that waft through “odor generating vents”, the oddity is tethered to the headset by Bluetooth and powered by a battery with a four-hour life cycle.

Hot and cool air are funneled through dual-sided vents along your upper cheekbones to simulate wind and the like, whereas the water mist lightly sprays at separate dual-sided vents along your cheeks.

The “odor generator” is right under your nose–like literally right under your schnozz while wearing the headset–and delivers the following scents:

• Ocean
• Jungle
• Fire
• Grass
• Powder
• Flowers
• Metal

The mask is attachable to just about every piece of VR tech out there including the Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus, Valve’s Vive headset and even Zeiss VR One.

The Verge tried out the hardware at GDC 2015 and likened it to “smell-o-vision” for VR.

The publication described it as “strapping a foam block over your mouth and nose, putting yourself at the mercy of its air vents,” and saying that it’s basically a “gas mask arranged into a little smiling face.”

While the FeelReal Mask is certainly a unique specimen in terms of adding smell to VR, we’ve seen other peripherals that aim to bring total immersion to the virtual world.

Hardware like the Dexmo exoskeleton from Dexta Robotics and the mo-capping CyberGlove are helping bring the sense of touch to virtual reality, laying the framework for technologies that could very well introduce hardware of Lawnmower Man-like proportions.

But I think senses like smell (and taste for that matter) are best left to the real world.

The post FeelReal Brings Sense of Smell To Virtual Reality appeared first on VR World.

Valve has confirmed that it won’t be holding a big press conference at GDC 2015 today, contrary to rampant internet rumors of a Half-Life 3 reveal on 3/3 at 3pm.

The news comes straight from Kotaku, who spoke to Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi to confirm the whole thing is a “big mix up”. Valve apparently has no plans to hold any kind of huge press conference today at GDC.

It turns out the confused 3pm “event” is actually a game physics presentation from Valve programmer Sergiy Migdalskiy that aims at teaching “fundamental elements and practical considerations for using collision detection and physics simulations in games”

How did this happen?

HTC and Valve have teamed up to make the Vive VR headset a reality, leading to speculation that Half-Life 3 could be a perfect launch title.

On the heels of HTC (TPE: 2498) ‘s big announcement in partnering with Valve to make their VR headset “Vive” a reality, gamers started speculating that Half-Life 3 would be a perfect game to release on the new peripheral. It could be a match made in heaven, and it would certainly shake up the games industry.

Then a particular BBC News article came up that seemingly cemented the news. The article had a quote from HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang saying that “We are co-operating with Half-life, and I think… I hope, you know, it will be on it.”

This little bit of interview text had gamers speculating rapidly across forums and social media, fueled to an inferno thanks to this little tidbit in the BBC article:

“Valve is expected to provide more details about the launch at its own presentation at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco on Tuesday.”

In reality, Wang’s words have been misconstrued; she “hopes” that Half-Life will be on the Vive VR headset–but we all know how far rumors have been known to reach. Plus the BBC article in question has been updated with the following text that pretty much nixes hope.

“But the BBC understands that Valve’s own employees were surprised by Ms Wang’s comments as they were not working on a Half-life game for the new helmet at the moment,” an update on the article reads.

The part about a press conference on March 3 at 3pm was mostly fabricated by Reddit posts, which then spread across to Twitter and pretty much had the entire gaming world expecting to see a Half-Life 3 reveal in the afternoon.

Chances are that if Valve’s own marketing director says that it’s a “big mix up”, then it most assuredly is.

This is just another one of those failed Half-Life 3 rumors that drove the internet into a frenzy, and we’ll likely see more rumors spawn until Valve issues some sort of concrete news.

Source: Kotaku

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Smartphone commoditization has hit Taiwan’s HTC (TPE: 2498) hard. The top handset maker by volume in the US in 2011, HTC cratered over the next two years, posting its first annual loss in 2013 as Samsung (KRX: 005930) and low-cost Chinese brands chipped away at its market share. By 2014, HTC was no longer one of the top ten handset brands by shipments and held a pithy 1.5% share of the global market.

Analysts warned of HTC’s impending demise and suggested a buyout to increase its competitiveness. Going private would allow HTC to pursue strategies without an immediate payoff, but which would bear fruit in the long run, such as a push into lower-end handsets, they said.

HTC rejected the idea of a buyout. But it has cut costs, introduced cheaper handsets and is expanding into new product categories.

Following these moves, the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company has returned to profitability for three consecutive quarters. Its fourth-quarter profit rose 49% to $14.8 million over a year earlier, beating analysts’ expectations of $10.4 million. Revenue increased 12% to $1.5 billion from $1.35 billion a year earlier. In the final three months of last year, HTC also posted its first quarterly sales growth since 2011.

HTC is forecasting an annual revenue increase of 30% this year.

Reading between the numbers

Aggressive cost cutting has driven HTC’s improved performance, industry experts say. A key part of that strategy has been outsourcing production of its non high-end handsets. In May 2014, chief financial officer Chang Chialin confirmed that contract manufacturers were making some HTC smartphones. He said the company’s outsourcing volume was below 50% of total shipments, but declined to specify the actual figure.

Compal Electronics (TPE: 2324) is handling a large portion of HTC’s orders. In 2014, the Taiwanese OEM made 2 million smartphones for HTC and may ship as many as 6 million this year, says Arthur Liao, a downstream analyst at Fubon Securities in Taipei. Compal also makes handsets for many other leading vendors including Sony (TYO: 6758) and makes Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Surface tablet.

“Outsourcing has improved the cost structure of HTC’s mid and low-end devices,” CK Lu, a principal research analyst at Gartner in Taipei, told VR World in an interview. “It’s an important part of their strategy to boost profitability.”

But there are limits to the benefits of outsourcing for HTC, because it still produces its premium smartphones in-house. Those high-margin devices are the company’s bread and butter, not lower-end handsets.

At the same time, HTC’s financials may be shakier than they appear. The New Taiwan dollar’s fall against the greenback was an important contributor to recent profitability, says Jeff Pu, an analyst at Yuanta Securities in Taipei.   “HTC was lucky that the NTD depreciated sharply,” he says. “Otherwise, they might have posted a loss in the fourth quarter.”

New product lines

As HTC tries to gain ground against its competitors, it is rapidly rolling out new product categories: tablet computers, action cameras, wearable devices, even a virtual-reality headset. The purpose of that diversification is to provide new sources of revenue and position the handset maker as a stronger consumer brand, analysts say.

“You can’t grow producing smartphones alone,” says Lu of Gartner. “The market is too saturated. HTC is the only major vendor without something else.”

Tablet computers are an odd place for HTC to start. Not only are the devices plummeting in popularity among consumers, but HTC’s previous foray into the tablet market in 2011-2012 was a flop. Its overpriced Flyer and Jetstream tablets each lasted less than a year.

Yet HTC is the producer of the new Nexus 9 tablet, which was released in October 2014. Reviewers have compared the device unfavorably to the iPad Air 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4, criticizing the Nexus 9’s poor battery performance, screen resolution and camera. Sales peaked for the Nexus 9 “in the first few days,” says Pu of Yuanta Securities, adding: “It’s going to be a disappointment.”

The “Re” waterproof action camera shows better potential. Also unveiled in October, the tube-shaped device features a 16-megapixel sensor, a wide-angle lens and HD video recording capability. Since the device connects to smartphones wirelessly, it will be able to live stream directly to YouTube under a planned partnership.

The Re camera is selling well, HTC says. In December, it forecast sales of 20,000 units of the device by the end of 2014, with strong momentum carrying into 2015. Jack Tong, president of HTC North Asia, said at a product launch in February that the Re camera was performing well enough to boost the company’s overall first-quarter revenue.

HTC is competing with GoPro (NASDAQ: GOPRO) and Sony in the nascent action camera sector. Sander Research forecasts that market will grow 16% annually through 2018.

At this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HTC is taking its new product categories a step further with the launch of the Grip fitness band and Vive virtual-reality headset.

Grip is HTC’s first wearable device. The GPS-enabled fitness band was co-developed with the American sportswear company Under Armour, which supplies wearables to the US military. HTC is positioning the device as a fitness wearable rather than a smartwatch, but it does have email, message and phone functions. Grip is also compatible with both Android and iOS devices.

The Vive virtual-reality headset, which uses technology from the US game developer Valve, is the more intriguing of HTC’s two new gadgets. Vive provides a panoramic high-definition view and tracks body and head movements as the user walks. HTC says Vive’s mobility distinguishes it from Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s cardboard virtual-reality goggles, which users engage from the confines of a chair.

But unlike the Samsung or Google devices, HTC’s virtual-reality headset works only with PCs and consoles. HTC says it plans to make Vive compatible with mobile devices in the future.

A developer version of Vive will hit the market in spring and the device will be launched for consumers during this year’s holiday season.

The post HTC Looks Beyond Smartphones at MWC 2015 appeared first on VR World.

HTC (TPE: 2498) kicked off the 2015 Mobile World Congress with its flagship release for 2015: the One M9.

Visually speaking not much has changed since the M8. The phone retains the same design as its predecessors, with the changes only occurring under the hood. The aluminum unibody has a 5-inch 1080p screen, an Octacore Snapdragon 810 SoC, 3GB of RAM and a 2,840mAh battery (which should last a full day). For cameras, HTC is including a 20-megapixel rear facing camera with a f/2.2, 27.8mm lens as well as the ability to shoot 4K video and a front facing camera with its ‘Ultrapixel’ technology. HTC says Ultrapixel technology allows better low-light photography at the expense of resolution.

The phone runs Android 5.0 Lollipop on top of HTC’s own Sense Seven skin.

The HTC One M9 will be available later this month at $649.99 without a contract and $200 with a contract.

All in all the One M9 appears to be an incremental, rather than evolutionary, upgrade from its predecessor. It’s featureset and pricing its compelling but not anything special. In a market where low-cost high-feature phones such as the likes of Xiaomi dominate, HTC can’t expect sales to be anything special for this phone. It just doesn’t present a compelling case to upgrade for users of last year’s model.

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Today Valve formally announced Vive, its virtual reality headset, to the world and delivered details on how the Steam-powered hardware will impact the world of VR.

To make its peripheral a reality, Valve has tapped Taiwainese smartphone maker HTC (TPE: 2498) to manufacture the hardware.

Originally prototyped at ValveVR, Vive is the finalized form of the company’s virtual reality hardware. Vive will make use of Steam VR’s tracking technology as well as tap into the platform’s array of games–but Valve has plans to embrace a wide scope beyond gaming.

With Vive, the partners claim that users will be able to literally be able to seamlessly walk around and explore the VR space thanks to the Full Room Scale 360 Degree Solution, “inspect objects from all angles and truly interact with your surroundings”.

“A gyrosensor, accelerometer, and laser position sensor combine to precisely track the rotation of your head on both axes to an accuracy of 1/10th of a degree, allowing you to look around the virtual environment naturally.”

To tap into the full potential of Vive you’ll need to hook up a pair of SteamVR “base stations” to track your movement, pretty much giving a motion capture effect within a limited 15 feet x 15 feet space.

As for visuals, Vive VR headset will simulate 1200 x 1080 high-definition images at 90 frames-per-second on two screens over each eye, promising to fill your field of vision “in all directions”.

But you’ll need to hook up your own headphones for audio immersion, as the Vive is an eyes-only experience.

As for input, HTC is creating specially designed “simple and intuitive” wireless controllers to interface with Vive, which will be fully tracked to simulate user input within the virtual space. The HTC VR Controllers will be sold and packaged in pairs.

What kind of games can Vive VR host?

A recent thread on NeoGAF showcases a very such game that could fully tap into the potential of the Vive headset. The Gallery, and upcoming project from from Cloudhead Games, looks to be a leading example as to what developers can pull off on the platform.

Below we a quote from the game’s press release that talks about what Vive means for the dev team:

“We now have a hardware target that matches the original vision for The Gallery: Six Elements. To unleash the user into full, volumetric, 360 roomscale experiences with motion control!

“The HTC and Valve VR experience offers hardware so precise and exacting that we now have the fidelity in our mechanics that we did not have access to before. You will not believe this tech until you get a chance to use it yourself. This is something to be excited about!”

But it’s not all about gaming. Valve wants to help bridge the gap between virtual reality and actual reality to change our lives.

Vive can be used to aid in communication between people across the world, simulate travel to foreign countries, and a million other possibilities.

The company is also partnering with entertainment producers like HBO and Lionsgate Films to bring immersive video experiences to the device.

Valve has already shipped out Beta versions of the Vive Developer Editions out to a variety of game devs including Vertigo Games, Bossa, Cloudhead Games, Dovetail Games, Wemo Labs, and more.

“HTC Vive is real, it’s here and it’ll be ready to go before the start of 2016,” Cher Wang, Chairwoman of HTC, said in the official press release.

Be sure to drop by the Vive VR homesite for more information or to sign-up for e-mail announcements.

The post Valve Announces Vive VR Headset Powered By Steam VR appeared first on VR World.

HTC (TPE: 2498) and Samsung (KRX: 005930) both introduced its new low-cost mid-tier smartphones to Taiwan on Feb. 9.

HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone maker, introduced the Desire 626, which is equipped with a 5-inch HD 720p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage capacity, a 13-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and 4G LTE connectivity.

HTC North Asia President Jack Tong (董俊良) described Desire 626 as a feature-rich model at a low price. Without revealing the deal date for its debut, Tong said that the new mid-tier smartphone will be available later this month at US$190 each, and it will target budget-conscious and young consumers.

“We hope that our total sale volume and market share will see significant growth this year,” Tong said.

Tong said that HTC had the highest share in each of the US$483-US$645, US$322-US$483 and US$161-US$322 phone segments in Taiwan last year, and that the company is planning to extend its success to the lower price band this year. He said that HTC is targeting a 25% share of the sub-US$161 phone segment in 2015, which will translate into an estimated 375,000 units of phone sales for HTC and boost the company’s overall market share in Taiwan by 5%.

Samsung Galaxy E7 (Photo Courtesy of Samsung)

For Samsung, HTC’s Korean rival, the new Galaxy E7 is the weapon to compete with HTC’s Desire 626.

The Galaxy E7 is Samsung’s first mid-range smartphone which comes along with a 5.5-inch display and a price tag of US$317.

The E7 also marks Samsung’s latest foray into the sub-US$322 price band, as Taiwanese smartphones priced between US$161 and US$322 accounted for about 33% of total sales last year, up from 24%.

“Samsung is a pioneer of 5.5-inch smartphones,” said Andy Tu (杜偉昱), general manager for Samsung Taiwan’s mobile communication team. “We are aiming to provide a full range of products before the Lunar New Year holiday.”

In addition to the Galaxy E7, Samsung also introduced the Galaxy E5 and the Galaxy Grand Max. The 5.25-inch Grand Max will go on sale later this month at US$257, while the price of the 5-inch E5 will be announced at a later date.

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HTC (TPE: 2498) said on Feb. 6 that its revenue for the first quarter could fall short of analysts’ expectations but is hoping for a business boost for 2016, after it announced its partnership with Under Armour (NYSE: UA), an American sports clothing and accessories supplier.

“HTC finished 2014 with a third consecutive quarter of profitability, and is well-positioned to build on that solid platform in the year ahead by ensuring our portfolio is highly targeted and our message clearly communicated,” said Peter Chou (周永明), CEO for HTC. “Key to our improved sales performance was our ability to offer tailored product mixes at suitable price points within the regions, which enabled us to closely address the needs of specific markets.”

HTC said that the slow business came from a slow season for consumer electronics. The company estimated that the revenue for the first quarter this year will range between US$1.32 billion and US$1.43 billion, down by 6% to 13% from the US$1.54 billion seen during the fourth quarter last year.

Analysts anticipated HTC’s revenue to be flat or increase slightly sequentially based on its wider offering of smartphones and accessories. Gross profit margin for HTC was expected to slide to between 19.5% and 20% during the first quarter this year from 20.4% during the last quarter last year, with the estimated earnings per share of US$0.002 to US$0.015.

HTC said that the company stayed profitable during last quarter last year, with year-on-year revenue growth of 12%, and net income was US$16.1 million. Chou said that the company’s revenue for January was US$396 million, down 19.16% from the previous month but up 26.93% from a year earlier.

Regarding HTC’s partnership with Under Armour during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, Chief Financial Officer and Global Sales President Chang Chia-lin (張嘉臨) said that it may help boost business for 2016.

“We certainly hope that it will become more meaningful in the second half of 2015 and become more material in financial terms into 2016 and beyond,” Chang said.

Chang said that the partnership with Under Armour will drive many follow-up projects for HTC, including some “exciting” non-smartphone products that are expected to be launched in the first half of the year.

Chang, however, did not elaborate what “exciting” products he was referring to.

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Jeff Gordon, HTC’s (TPE: 2498) senior global online communications manager, described iPhone as a “boring” handset due to its lack of unique features on his tweeter on Jan. 28, despite Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) record-high quarterly revenues.

“Congrats to Apple on an amazing quarter. It’s not that I dislike Apple — in fact I use a MacBook Air — but that I find the iPhone terribly boring,” he said. “The iPhone is ‘a boring, easy choice’ that fails to fit his desire for ‘a phone that’s more unique, more personal, more stunning when I take it out of my pocket.’”

Gordon’s remarks were referred to Apple’s selling a higher-than-expected 74.5 million iPhones and generating a record-high US$74.6 billion in revenues in the last quarter of 2014, led by the new big-screen iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Gordon said that his company’s 2015 product roadmap will be “best ever,” with “some huge surprises that will blow you away,” but he did not elaborate.

HTC has invited the press to an event which was scheduled to be organized on March 1, which will be one day before the Mobile World Congress tech fair that will take place in Barcelona between March 2 and March 5.

He did not elaborate.

Earlier this month, the Taoyuan-based phone vendor sent out invitations to media outlets for an event to be held March 1, one day before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) tech fair that will take place in Barcelona between March 2 and March 5. HTC did not reveal any detail of the event but it was speculated that the company will launch the successor to its flagship HTC One M9 during the event, which will also be the world’s largest mobile phone trade show, in a bid to steal the spotlight from other handset manufacturers.

In the meantime, “Hima,” which will come along with a 5-inch quad-HD screen with a resolution of 1440X2560 pixels, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core chipset, 3GB of RAM, a 20.7 –megapixel rear camera, a 13-megapixel front camera and a 3,500mAh battery, is alleged to be the next-generation HTC flagship phone.

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HTC (TPE: 2498) announced its new sponsorship with three professional online gaming teams while the company is moving into the home entertainment sector in addition to its smartphone business.

“Team Liquid, Cloud9 ad Team SoloMid will carry the HTC banner in professional leagues for games like ‘League of Legends,’” HTC said on its official Twitter account.

The renowned smartphone maker also named Walter Wang and Thomas Chen, two e-sports project managers, to launch a top-notch video series with players from the three teams and will offer them the chance to try out some “amazing new HTC devices” in the future.

“E-sports has seen significant growth in the past few years and we see synergy between those who are dedicated to this sport and HTC’s own customer base: people who set their own path and passionately pursue their own brilliance,” HTC said.

HTC, however, did not reveal any details of the amount spent on the sponsorship as of press time.

On Jan. 26, HTC shares gained 1.92% to US$5.09 in Taipei’s stock exchange.

On Jan. 7, an anonymous HTC executive told the U.S. technology website Re/Code that the Taiwanese smartphone maker was planning to expand into connected devices and entertainment in 2015, after diversifying its product line last year with the RE action camera.

By developing new categories of both hardware and software, HTC is hoping to transform itself from just a smartphone manufacturer into a “personal tech company,” the Re/Code report said.

The plan was revealed after HTC announced on Jan. 6 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, that it had formed a strategic partnership with Under Armour (NYSE: UA), an American sports clothing and accessories supplier, to add a newly launched health and fitness app — UA Record — to HTC’s product line.

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The latest statistics from the total amount of sold smartphones from Taiwan’s major mobile phone carriers showed that iPhone 6 64GB was the best-selling smartphone for December last year.

An anonymous smartphone dealer said that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) grasped first place in both smartphone sales value and sales volume for last December. Local Taiwanese consumers’ enthusiasm toward the two new iPhone models with larger displays — the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus — remained strong after the two models became available in Taiwan since last September.

The statistics showed that the iPhone 6 64GB was the top seller among all its competitors for last December, followed by iPhone 6 Plus 64GB, Samsung’s (KRX: 005930) Galaxy Note 4, the iPhone 6 16GB and HTC’s (TPE: 2498) M8.

Meanwhile, HTC’s Desire 816 came in sixth, followed by Asus’ (TPE:2357) Zenfone 5 16GB, Sony’s (TYO: 6758) Xperia Z3, the iPhone 6 Plus 16GB and the HTC Desire 820 dual sim.

The statistics show that Apple took 25.9% of the total smartphone sales volume in the local market last month, the highest percentage, ahead of HTC, Asus, Samsung and Sony.

In terms of sales volume, Apple also ranked the top brand name with a 53.2% share, followed by Samsung, HTC, Sony and Asus.

The smartphone dealer said that although HTC trailed Apple in sales volume and lagged behind Apple and Samsung in sales value last December, several models of the Taiwanese smartphone maker, such as the HTC M8 and the Desire 816 have been on the top 10 model list for nine months, indicating that these models remain popular in the local market.

He said that the market is watching closely the launch of the next HTC flagship model, coded Hima, and a mid-range model, the Desire 626, scheduled for release in early March, which could boost HTC’s shipments in next few months.

The post The iPhone 6 Is the Best-Seller in Taiwan for December: Statistics appeared first on VR World.

HTC (TPE: 2498) said on Jan. 21 that that company is planning to expand its distribution network and improve its brand image this year.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker said that the domestic market will be its priority in 2015.

“The 2015 is crucial to HTC because the company is set to offer a full range of products from entry-level to mid-tier and top-of-the-line phones,” said Jack Tong (董俊良), president of HTC North Asia. “HTC everywhere is our slogan for this year.”

Tong said that HTC is working on the expansion plans of its Taiwanese distribution partners to increase the total number of HTC stores in 2015. The expansion plans were expected to boost HTC’s brand image and promote the company’s products to more local consumers.

“Our new vision for brand is to expand HTC’s reach to everywhere,” he said.

As of now, Tong said, HTC has teamed up with 19 local distributors to run a total of 72 direct stores that only sell HTC products. He said that the number of HTC direct stores in Taiwan will reach 100 in 2015, with sales from the stores expected to double from last year.

In the meantime, Tong also said that the expansion plan is based on his estimate that retail stores will account for up to 40% of Taiwan’s overall smartphone sales this year from 20% last year, fueled by a shorter replacement cycle and more offerings of feature-rich phones at low prices.

As of 2011, HTC primarily released and marketed its smartphones under the HTC brand, and was ranked as the 98^th top brand on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2011 report. In September 2013, HTC was stated that its share of the global smartphone market was less than 3% and its stock price has fallen by 90% since 2011.

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Barclays (LON: BARC) upgraded its stock rating for HTC (TPE: 2498) for the first time since November 2011.

“After about four years, HTC has shifted from its focus on the high-end market, which is now dominated by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL),” said Dale Gai, analyst for Barclays, in his latest research. “We believe that HTC’s strategy changes, including material cost structure improvement and a refocusing on the mid-level market, are finally likely to bear fruit as volume growth leads to a surprise earnings recovery for HTC.”

Gai also mentioned that HTC’s intrinsic values, including strong cash, strengthened intellectual property portfolio and solid partnership with telecom operators, have been overlooked in the past few years, while he also upgraded HTC’s stock rating from “underweight” to “overweight” and raised his price target for HTC shares from US$3.17 to US$6.34.

Gai said in the research that HTC is well placed to take the challenges in future tech trends, including wearable devices and Internet of Things, which is the trend of connecting more devices to each other and the Internet.

HTC, which is also known for one of the world’s major smartphone makers, dropped out of the top 10 ranking for global smartphone shipment last year, a decline that Gai attributed to poor management of its supply chain and inventory, and its underestimation of the growth in China smartphone brands. While the company has been experiencing shrinking shipment volumes and high operating expenses, HTC’s profits have disappointed investors in the past three years and it had only a 1.5% global share of smartphones shipped globally in 2014, Gai said.

“Our structural upgrade now is due mainly to the fact that we believe the company now fully recognizes the nature of the competitive landscape, and due to its strategy of product pricing and manufacturing that we believe is a good response to changes in the industry’s competition dynamics,” Gai said.

The post Barclays Upgrades HTC’s Stock Rating appeared first on VR World.

Hiku scans, records, categorizes, locates, and marks your favorite items to make shopping a no-brainer. The handheld device scans bar codes on your favorite and incidental items. The item is then listed on a shopping list on your smartphone ready to take to the store.

You can assign an item to any number of user-named lists – Safeway, Petsmart, RiteAid, GNC, and so forth. Head for the store, display your shopping list on your phone and proceed down the aisles. In this review, I’ll show you with pictures how easy it was to install,  learn, and use. I’ll also tell you what I did and didn’t like about Hiku.

You’ll need either an iOS or Android smartphone to download the free Hiku app. I tested the Android version as soon as it was released. The beta packaging still only refers to the original iOS version though.

You can buy the related scanning device direct from Hiku. The same device works with both iOS 6.0+ and Android 4.0+ since it sends the scanned information to a neutral cloud. The device contains a 1D linear scanner, a microphone, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery.

Inside the box you’ll find the device, a micro USB cable for charging the battery, and a tiny three-fold 3”x3” Start Up Guide.

Hiku seems like an odd name for an application that creates a grocery list. When I questioned Matt Beebe, head of product and design, he explained: “The name Hiku comes from the Japanese short-form poetry, meant to be said in a single breath. When done well, a haiku communicates meaning in its simplest form, and is beautiful. That captures the ethos of our brand: to bring simplicity and beauty to people’s lives.”

The product’s instructions themselves are simplicity personified. They start by telling you to download the application from the Apple App Store < https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hiku-mobile/id721935991?ls=1&mt=8 > and follow the on-screen instructions to connect Hiku to your Wi-Fi. It needs to be a 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi network. Because I was beta testing the Android version, I went instead to Google Play  for a copy of the software. The product’s documentation obviously needs to be updated to include the new version. When you search for Hiku on either site be careful of what you choose.

A search for Hiku on iTunes and Google Play displays several misleading, but interesting, choices.

One choice might include the following Haiku poem by the 17^th century Japanese master Matsuo Basho: < http://poemhunter.com/matsuo-basho/ >

A field of cotton –
as if the moon
had flowered.

Take a moment to mentally contemplate the image … Now let’s continue with our study of a more mundane topic: grocery shopping.

INSTALLING HIKU

Installation of the Hiku app on an HTC was easy and automatic. You are asked for your Wi-Fi connection.

You are told when to sync your device to the application by placing the device on the phone’s display.

Make note of the warning that accompanies the placement. It is no B.S. The bright pulsating action that takes place during the synchronization is intense.

You’ll be rewarded with a message of success that displays on the phone below the device.

The process creates an icon on the phone’s home panel.

The Hiku icon appears here in the lower right corner of the phone’s display.

To sign onto Hiku, you’ll need yet another password to keep track of. They do have a way of assisting you if you forget it. After you have started a shopping list, you can share that list because it is stored in the cloud not on your phone. You could send your mate to the store and they could access the list by signing in to their own smartphone with the same email address and password you created during set up.

 USING HIKU

The device itself is made of a study, water resistant, shell designed to resist damage to both exterior and interior even when dropped. It is fitted with a magnet that attaches tightly to your refrigerator and is covered by a soft silicon rubber that keeps it from scratching the appliance. The activating button on the opposite side is of brushed aluminum. A recessed window protected with a rubber framing is what you point towards the bar code for scanning to take place. You also can set the device on this end on a flat surface.

Hiku adheres securely within easy reach on the refrigerator door.

The same device can be used with either an iOS or Android phone. The downloaded app on your phone talks to the cloud to retrieve your stored information. Hiku has an established and growing data base of 17 million bar codes that it draws upon.

The same device can be used with either an iOS or Android phone.

With the oval Hiku device in hand, I began scanning a variety of items and checking how they showed up on the phone.

Most familiar items were quickly categorized by the program.

When you select to display Details, you are able to edit the information. You can change the name in your list that was associated with the bar code, assign the item to another aisle, and enter the quantity you want to purchase. You can mark common items as “Regulars”.

I scanned a variety of shapes and conditions. Flat cardboard boxes of course do well. Yet, I had no problem with the bar codes being recognized on round cans, moist milk cartons, wrinkled labels, irregular tubes, or cellophane covered containers.

Hiku read bar codes of various and sundry shapes and conditions.

Hiku has three audible signals which translate into: It’s Added. Bar Code Not Recognized. Voice Not Recognized. One item Hiku didn’t recognize was a bottle of Port wine. I guess it doesn’t read Portuguese codes. However, referring to the paper Start Guide that came in the box, I found the solution.

Afer I scanned the bottle again, I immediately pushed the silver button, aimed the scanner at my mouth and said “Porto Morgado” using my best accent. Bingo. Hiku can even spell. There it was on the No Aisle category along with the Epson ink cartridge that the system didn’t know what to do with either. Hiku even spelled the brand name correctly from my verbal input.

I assigned my after dinner drink to the Beer/Wine/Liquor aisle.  Now that Hiku has my Port in its data base anyone can access the information immediately because I “taught” Hiku the bar code.

Porto Morgado has been added not only to my shopping list, but to Hiku’s data base for everyone’s benefit.

Alphabetical aisles come already defined, such as Baking/Spices, Dairy, Grains/Pasta, Meats, Produce. You can add a new aisle which I could have done for the ink, but I decided School/Office Supplies would suffice. I also could create a separate Shopping List for, say, Staples, and assign the Epson ink to that list instead to my general Grocery List.

PROS and CONS

To get started, you can name a list, go to that store, walk the aisles scanning bar codes from your common purchases to quickly set up a thorough list in the order in which you will find them in the store.

As you learn how to use Hiku, if you can’t figure something out, you can tap My Hiku and display links to the site’s FAQ’s or send an email to support@hiku.us. For example, although Hiku has an almost flat, easy learning curve, I didn’t intuit how to remove an item completely. I could “Cross It Off” by swiping it, but to get it off that list the FAQ that displayed on my phone told me I needed to hit the Clear button. I could not locate a Clear button, so I will contact Support for a more specific direction or graphic.

The My Hiku also has Tips, which are a reiteration of the compact Start Up Guide, so help is always a tap away on your phone. It is in place to allow language selection for voice recognition with three forms of English, two forms of Spanish, German, French, and Italian. The product currently supports English only. The other choices will be an enhancement.

Finally, the company responds to problems as evidenced by this notation on their website about their first version. “We’ve identified an issue in the hiku mobile app version 1.0 where new item refresh fails for AT&T customers under certain conditions. The issue is now fixed, available in the App Store as version 1.1. You can download it.”

CONCLUSION

This compact, patent pending, shopping assistant could be called a gadget according to Merriam Webster which says: “Gadget: an often small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty.”

Hiku is something that is new and unusual, as well as practical. Introduced at San Francisco’s Pepcom in November, Hiku saves the user time, provides organization to an often chaotic procedure, and is easy to use. Instead of scurrying from aisle to aisle, backtracking to the canned vegetable aisle because you forgot to get lima beans when there, you can methodically move up one aisle and down the next, checking items off your list.

I did not find a way, however, to mark that I had put the item in my shopping cart. So for now, you’ll need to remember what you selected and what you still need to pick off a shelf and place in your basket. It’s time to request an enhancement.

I was told that another enhancement I wanted had been requested by other users as well: printing. If your neighbor offers to pick up a few things for you when they go to the store, you’d probably prefer to give them a printed list instead of access to your Hiku account.

This scanner is also perfect for someone who has difficulty writing, perhaps due to severe arthritis. Scanning or speech can take the place of painful attempts at maneuvering a pencil.

Hiku is priced at $79, but I think $50 would be a better price if you weren’t sure you’d really use it once you had it. Also, if you were just counting dollars, a smaller price in today’s economy might be more enticing. However, it depends on how you value your time. This device is definitely a time saver, and “time is money”.

Founders Rob Katcher, CEO, and Rajan Bala, VP Engineering, urge you to “Get the App”.

This app is a must for the busy person who has a deadline and an empty refrigerator that needs filling. No fumbling for a list, no forgetting the one special thing you went to the store for. It’s a convenience for every single mom with limited time, any bachelor who hates to shop, and every person who has a large family and a long, varied shopping list.

Hiku is seeking retail partners 9bizdev@hiku.us) and developers (devrel@hiku.us) to pair their product with Hiku. You should contact them on their career page if you are an experienced mobile software engineer or a data scientist looking for a job.

The post Hiku: Add it to Your Shopping Cart appeared first on VR World.

HTC plans to enter lower-end 4G phone market in 2015

HTC (TPE: 2498) said on Dec. 2 that the company is preparing to manufacture lower-end 4G LTE-enabled phones as the segment gains popularity in Taiwan.

HTC Desire 620 is now the cheapest 4G phone which costs US$225 each, while the company intends to launch new 4G phones with a lower price tag in 2015.

“The segment accounts for some volume in the overall market, and HTC will not be absent from it,” said Jack Tong (董俊良), president for HTC North Asia.

Tong, however, declined to give a specific timetable or actual pricing for the upcoming low-cost 4G phones.

IDC, tech research firm, said in a Nov. 27 report that Taiwan’s smartphone shipments for the third quarter hit a record high of 2.45 million units on the back of the launch of Apple’s two new iPhone models as well as strong demand for mid-range models from other brands.

Local business urges the government to keep Duh Tyzz-jiun in his office after the Cabinet reshuffle

Lin Por-fong (林伯豐), chairman for the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce , Taiwan, said on Dec. 3 that Minister of Economic Affairs Duh Tyzz-jiun (杜紫軍) should remain in his office after the Cabinet reshuffle.

“Duh is very well acquainted with Taiwan’s industrial development, and his departure would be a loss for the country,” Lin said.

On behalf of the association’s members, Lin described Duh as a “decent person” and experienced official.

Duh, along with Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and other ministers, resigned after the Kuomintang’s (KMT) being defeated during the elections on Nov. 29. Duh said that he will not return to the post even if nominated by the new premier.

Duh took oath of his office four months ago, when then-minister Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) resigned over the gas blasts in Kaohsiung on July 31, which was an accident that killed 30 people.

Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo will succeed the premier’s office

Taiwan’s Presidential Office confirmed on Dec. 3 that Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) will take oath of office on Dec. 4 and become Taiwan’s new premier.

Mao’s new job came from Jiang Yi-huah’s (江宜樺) stepping down after the Kuomintang’s being trounced during last Saturday’s elections. Mao will be President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) last premier before his presidential term ends in 2016 if there are not other surprises.

An anonymous source said that Mao does not plan to carry out any major reshuffle for the Cabinet at this moment, while most ministers will be kept in their offices.

The post Cross-strait News Daily Round-up for Dec. 3 appeared first on VR World.

We’ve made up a list of our favorite Android phones of 2014 and they are all some of the best phones that money can buy in 2014. Now that all of the major phones have launched for the year and the holiday shopping season is upon us, there is no reason not to help you find the right phone for you or a loved one.

LG G3

LG’s G3 is probably one of our favorite Android phones of this year for multiple reasons. This is because The LG G3 has a fantastic 5.5″ 2560 x 1440 display and a laser fast 13 MP (literally uses a laser for focus) camera that grabs fantastic photos in both light and dark scenarios. Any camera that can take great photos in the dark is going to be a great all around camera as a rule of thumb. The thing that makes the LG G3 so great is also the fact that the phone itself has almost no bezel on the sides of the phone which makes it feel like there is almost no phone and all screen. As such, the LG G3 has the same screen size as the iPhone 6+ but a much much smaller body and as a result is more comfortable to hold. In addition to having one of the highest resolution displays of any phone to date, LG also gives the LG G3 expandable memory and a removable battery which is a big deal to a lot of users.

The LG G3 also has a Snapdragon 801 and great battery life thanks to the 3000 mAh battery even though it does have a fairly large and power consuming display. On Verizon’s network the LG G3 easily lasts over a day of normal usage and with Wi-Fi could last you up to 2 days. The only drawback of the LG G3 is the fact that it lacks a good speaker or front-facing speakers like the HTC One M8, one of its competitors. However, the G3’s biggest weapon is also price… even though Samsung and HTC launched before LG did with the LG G3, LG’s pricing was so competitive (both on and off contract) that it forced Samsung and HTC to drop their prices in order to compete which immediately resulted in lower prices for consumers regardless of their choice.

The post Top 5 Android Phones of 2014 appeared first on VR World.

Here is the daily roundup from Japanese consumer tech and tech business websites for November 20, 2014.

Xperia Z2 Tablet software upgrade features PS4 remote play
Sony announces that the next software update for the Xperia Z2 Tablet will be available around the end of November. This will primarily include a PS4 remote play option, along with other nifty options such as the AR Fan multi-device 3D camera feature.

HTC releases Nexus 9 this late November
HTC Japan plans to release the Wi-Fi version of Nexus 9 in the country by the end of the month. The 16GB and 32GB models will be available at $340.00 and $390.00 respectively.

Panasonic opens appliance support website
Panasonic publicly opens a support website to provide assistance and support specifically to its cookware appliance owners.

Opera Max extends to Japan officially
Opera Software officially opens the Opera Max Android app to Japan, and will now be available for download locally for free at Google Play.

Amazon orders now accepted at Ministop stores in Japan
Starting the end of this week, orders at Amazon.co.jp can now be received at all Ministop convenience stores nationwide.

Overclocking event to open at Osaka
With the cooperation and sponsorship of four major motherboard manufacturers, a PC overclocking event is scheduled to open at the end of the month at Osaka’s Nipponbashi shopping district.

Kabuku launches 3D printer design contest
Kabuku Inc.’s Rinkak 3D printing community announces the launch of a design contest for 3D printer enthusiasts. The contest itself is international, and is free to all individuals interested in creating their own original work using 3D printers.

The post Opera Max Japan, Overclocking event, 3D Printer contest: The Headlines in Tokyo for November 21 appeared first on VR World.

These days, tablets are offered in several sizes and configurations that cost anywhere between $150 and $2,000. With such a wide variety of devices, it is easy to find one that suits your needs. These are the best tablets of 2014:

Nvidia Shield tablet

Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) Shield tablet is its second foray into the world of portable devices after the Shield handheld, and this time around Nvidia is looking to attract a wider audience. The Shield is targeted at users looking to play games on their tablet (a burgeoning segment thanks to the availability of visually striking games on mobile), and the hardware under the hood highlights the tablet’s pedigree: The Shield comes with Nvidia’s Tegra K1 chip with a 192 core GPU that can hold its own against anything in the world of mobile GPUs. The CPU features four Cortex A15 cores clocked at 2.2 GHz.

The 8-inch form factor tablet comes with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200, which means a pixel density of 283 ppi. Also included is 2GB RAM, 5 MP front and back cameras, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac connectivity and Bluetooth 4.0 LE. The frontal stereo speakers look similar to what HTC (TPE:2498) offers in the One M7, and they deliver where it matters; with sound coming out crisp and clear. Also available with the tablet is a DirectStylus 2 stylus that allows you to take notes on the tablet among other things.

This being a gaming-oriented slate, Nvidia is rolling out what it is calling Shield-optimized titles that are tweaked for the tablet. The list of games is continually growing as Nvidia brings more publishers on-board. Nvidia also recently announced its GRID service, which allows Shield users to access 20 blockbuster titles for free. It is clear that Nvidia is looking to build an ecosystem of content around the Shield tablet, which is encouraging. Users with a GeForce GTX card can also utilize Nvidia’s GameStream technology to stream games to the Shield tablet. The tablet is set to receive the latest version of Android this month, which will bring a whole host of new features.

The Shield tablet is available for $299, which is the 16GB Wi-Fi only model. The 32GB version, which also features LTE connectivity, is available for $399. For consumers looking for a more affordable solution to the Shield, Xiaomi’s Mi Pad offers the same hardware in a distinctly iPad-esque design for around $199. While Xiaomi’s offering may be marginally more affordable, it lacks the Nvidia-specific utilities included in the Shield.

HTC Nexus 9

The wait for a larger tablet in the Nexus series is over, with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) deciding to go with HTC this time around. The motive for doing so was to not give preference to one vendor over others, which is great as consumers get to benefit from different design philosophies. The Nexus 9 is being billed as a premium tablet, and is positioned closer to the high-end segment. The 16GB Wi-Fi only version costs $399, with the 32GB model available for $499. There’s a 32GB variant that offers LTE connectivity, which will retail later this year for $599.

The pricing for the tablet is justified considering the hardware it features. The Nexus 9 comes with an 8.9-inch IPS LCD screen that offers a resolution of 2048 x 1536 in a 4:3 that is more reminiscent of the iPad that an Android tablet. The tablet comes with a coating of Gorilla Glass 3 that offers a layer of resistance to scratches. Under the hood, there’s a 64-bit NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip that features the 64-bit Denver CPU clocked at 2.3 GHz along with a 192 core GPU. At this stage, the inclusion of a 64-bit CPU is more future proofing than anything, and the weird 4:3 ratio means that certain utilities do not scale as well (for good reason). The 2GB of RAM may be a bit of a concern for some, and while the tablet can currently handle anything available in the world of Android with ease, memory may become the bottleneck in the future.

Other specs include an 8 MP camera at the back, 1.6 MP front shooter, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac connectivity, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, A2DP, apt-X and microUSB 2.0. The Nexus 9 comes with a 6,700 mAh battery and is available in three color variants: Indigo Black, Lunar White and Sand. One of the more interesting features of the tablet is the frontal speakers. These are not stereo BoomSound speakers like the ones on the One M8, but they still provide a much better sound that what is considered common in this segment.

In terms of build quality, the Nexus 9 loses points as it just isn’t near the level of what other tablets in this category cost. There is a lot of flex, particularly at the back of the tablet, when you press down on it. There also seem to be issues with build quality as a whole, which is not too dissimilar to what we’ve seen when Asus launched the Nexus 7 2013 last year. These issues were resolved within a month, but if you are buying the Nexus 9 as soon as it launches in your territory, be sure to check the device for build quality issues.

Apple iPad Air

Sure, the new iPad Air 2 comes with the faster A8X SoC, which as it turns out, comes with a semi-custom GPU along with the custom CPU design in the “Cyclone” architecture. The new processor has visible gains when playing games, but that doesn’t mean that last year’s iPad Air is obsolete. Far from it, and aside from the lack of Touch ID, there isn’t much to differentiate between this year’s tablet and last year’s offering. Combine that with the fact that the original iPad Air is now available for a discount, and the tablet from 2013 sounds like a much more enticing prospect.

In terms of the hardware, the iPad Air features the A7 SoC with a dual-core ARM v8-based CPU clocked at 1.2 GHz. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the first manufacturer to kickstart the 64-bit revolution for mobile devices, mainly due to its ability to control hardware and software. The iPad Air comes with a screen size of 9.7 inches and a resolution of 2048 x 1536, which comes out to a pixel density of 264 ppi. There’s not much to say about the iPad Air, as it is often considered to be the benchmark for judging tablets against. With the discounted price, the iPad Air Wi-Fi only 16GB version is now available for as low as $399, with the 32GB costing $449. The LTE models have also seen discounts, and are now available for $529 for the 16GB version and $579 for the 32GB variant.

Surface Pro 3

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is positioning the Surface Pro 3 against the MacBook Air, touting several benefits like a kickstand, touchscreen and stylus. Clearly, the tablet is intended for work, but it excels at being a portable tablet as well. One of the standout features of the Surface Pro 3 is the hinged kickstand, which allows you to position the tablet at several angles.

Designed for power users, the Surface Pro 3 is available in configurations starting from $799, for which you’ll get a 64GB SSD and an Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) Core i3 CPU clocked at 1.5 GHz. The Core i5 CPU clocked at 1.9 GHz is available for $999 for a 128GB SSD, and for $1,299 when paired with a 256GB SSD. The 1.7 GHz Core i7 variations are also available for $1,549 and $1,949, which feature a 256GB and 512GB SSD. Judging by the price points targeted by Microsoft, the Surface Pro 3 is more an Ultrabook-style notebook than a mere tablet.

The pricing may seem like a lot for a tablet, but the Surface Pro 3 is unlike anything else that is available in the world of computing today. The touchscreen responsiveness is at par with what you find in other tablets, and the performance figures are in line with that of Ultrabooks that feature Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Microsoft has successfully managed to cram incredibly powerful hardware in a lightweight form factor.

The build quality offered by the tablet is outstanding, the 12-inch screen with a resolution of 2160 x 1440 is one of the best available and the optional keyboard docking stand adds to the functionality of the Surface Pro 3. With a full version of Windows 8.1 Pro, the tablet’s main area of focus is productivity, but that does not mean that it cannot be utilized for multimedia consumption. The kickstand makes it ideal to prop up the tablet in various configurations, and the hinge is built to last.

Other hardware features of the Surface Pro 3 include 5 MP cameras at the front and back, full-size USB 3.0 port, mini DisplayPort, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity along with stereo speakers the feature Dolby Audio-enhanced sound. Also included is a stylus that offers various levels of pressure sensitivity. The ability to run a full-fledged version of Windows enables users to install and run intensive games like League of Legends, Civilization V, and The Elder Scrolls Online. The tablet can also connect with an Xbox 360 controller for Windows.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S

Samsung (KRX:005935) is known to make a lot of tablets on a yearly basis. For those looking for entry-level slates, there’s the Galaxy Tab series. The Galaxy Tab S series is targeted at the mid-tier and high-end markets, with three variants on offer. All three versions are available in Wi-Fi only and LTE editions, with the non-cellular models featuring Samsung’s Exynos 5420 hardware, while the LTE variants come with Qualcomm Snapdragon 800.

The design of the tablets in the Galaxy Tab S series are a notch above what you’d find in the Galaxy Tab series, and the screens similarly offer higher resolutions. All three tablets come with a 2560 x 1600 resolution AMOLED display that Samsung claims is the best display on a tablet. The AMOLED panel does make colors stand out, but it does tend to over-saturate. The tablets are available in storage variations of 16 or 32 GB, come with 3 GB RAM as standard, 8 MP camera at the back, 2.1 MP shooter at the front, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac connectivity and microSD slots that can accommodate 128GB cards.

With prices starting as low as $399 for the 8.4-inch variant, the Galaxy Tab S series is a viable contender if you’re looking to buy a tablet that offers a high-resolution screen and high-end hardware.

The post Five Best Tablets of 2014 appeared first on VR World.

In a video titled, The Art of the Sizzle w/ David Bruce, HTC (TPE: 2498) satirically mocks the entire concept of the sizzle video that is designed to make you excited and intrigued by a simple video of a smartphone. There’s no doubt that HTC has participated in some of these sizzle videos, but the reality is that their competitors, namely Samsung, Nokia (now Microsoft), and Apple have really gotten the smartphone sizzle video down.

In fact, if you watch most smartphone introductions nowadays, you are almost guaranteed to watch some sort of a sizzle video in advance. Some companies like to focus on abstract angles and unique system features, while others simply try to make the phone look exciting by doing interesting motions and graphics alongside. A good example of this is Apple’s own iPhone 6 sizzle video. If that doesn’t give you a good idea of what’s in a smartphone sizzle video, then you can watch Samsung’s own Galaxy S5 introduction video.

The truth is that its actually quite hard to get a bunch of press and operators excited about a phone, especially since most phones nowadays are essentially the same phone with incremental upgrades and very little real innovation from one model to another. After all, it isn’t very profitable to be making major technological improvements from generation to generation. So, you need to focus on the exciting parts of the phone and accentuate them with the sizzle reel that gets people excited about your phone and gets their attention in preparation for the actual launch or actual unveiling in person or when people see them in stores.

Apple are the masters of these videos and I suspect that HTC is mostly mocking them with this video, however Samsung likes to do a lot of the same things that Apple does so it isn’t much of a stretch to consider Samsung part of this fad.

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