Our very own HC - NO "i" just handed my his review for the ZTE F160. No, it doesn't have a 5" 4K display, 16 core processor or 8GB of RAM with dodeca-band LTE support. Instead, it's a feature phone (AKA dumbphone). Here it is:



It's inevitable. Now that smartphones have out shipped feature phones for the first time. Mundane usage like voice calls and even SMS are declining for many subscribers as these activities are being replaced by social networking (e.g. Facebook, Google+), on-the-top messaging (e.g. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger) and VoIP calls (e.g. Skype, Google Talk).



Here at HoFo, we mostly focus on smartphones these days. Smartphones like my brand spanking new Samsung Galaxy S 4 which is the very definition of ‘all the bell and whistles’.



So when I told my fellow HC that I wanted to check out the F160 candy bar handset from ZTE, he wondered if I was really serious. ...

The Blackberry Q10 arrives today. For BB who have been waiting for a device with a physical keyboard this is the one they were waiting for.

It's kind of funny that as recently as yesterday the Bold 9900 was actually the keyboard Blackberry to get. So, before today there's basically been a vacuum in the market because really, there was nothing else to buy.

I tried the Q10 yesterday and I must say, if you're you're coming from a BB7 or older device you're going to some adjusting to do. While the keyboard will feel familiar, BB10 is a touchscreen optimized OS. As such, the physical menu buttons (send, blackberry, back, end and trackpad) are gone. To be honest, I felt a little lost at first even though I use a Z10 from time-to-time. I can live without the trackpad and send/end buttons but my fingers kept looking for the back and menu buttons.

That said, it won't take long to get used to the new layout. BB10 is pretty intuitive to use.

Size-wise it feels like a QWERTY BB. compared to the 9900 the front of the Q10 is a little more rounded like the Bold 9790. Since the menu buttons are gone the screen is now square shaped unlike the Z10's which is rectangular. I'm not sure what kind of impact the square shaped screen will have on which apps the Q10 can run. I hope BB knows what they're doing because too many screen sizes was one of the reasons why there weren't a lot of apps for previous versions of the BB OS.

The battery cover appears to be carbon fiber or some sort of composite-fiber material. When you remove it, you can see the fiber on the other side of the cover too. It's pretty slick.

If you get the Rogers version, it will have support for their 2600Mhz network which means it download over LTE at up to 100Mbps. More importantly, the 2600Mhz network is less congested than their AWS LTE network (which I find isn't terribly congested).

Will it sell well? I think so. It will sell whether it's a good device or not because there's a pent-up demand for a keyboard BB which the Z10 didn't address. Luckily for BB there aren't a whole lot of comparable devices on the market so in that sense they're catching a break here. ...

Samsung has done so well with their Galaxy S line that a) many people don’t know what Android is b) people think other Android phones are copies of the Galaxy S series (the irony).

So, without a doubt, one of the most important phones of the year is the Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s a 5” 1920x1080, quad core monster with a 13 megapixel camera and a giant 2600mAh battery.

However, there are a number of alternatives like the HTC One and Sony Xperia ZL with similar specs that are cheaper alternatives. So, let’s see if the GS4 has what it takes to stay on top. ...

Three years ago, when thought of a high end Android phone, the first name that would come to most people’s mouths would have been HTC. HTC has always had a heritage of releasing great hardware. While people were ooh-ing and aww-ing over Blackberry Bold’s, HTC was releasing monsters like the HTC TyTN II. In fact, even though HTC hasn’t been doing so well in the marketplace lately, they’ve never stopped releasing awesome hardware.

Here’s their latest, the HTC One. A phone with a 1920x1080 display wrapped in a sexy metal body. HTC has bucked the trend and gone with a ‘less is more’ approach with the One’s camera. It also has a new version of Sense and louder speakers.
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Today is the big day! The HTC One is launching across North America today!

Check out our HTC One threads:

• Bell
• TELUS
• Rogers
• AT&T
• Sprint

The T-Mobile version will be coming soon.

It's got a 4 megapixel camera which in HTC-speak is called an 'Ultrapixel'. So Ultra means '4 million'. It has a quad-core Qualcomm processor that's clocked at 0.425 Ultrahertz (1.7Ghz). You also get 500 Ultrabytes of RAM (2GB), 8 Ultrabytes (32GB) or 16 (64GB) of storage. You get a 4.7" display with a 1920x1080 display, 2300mAh battery running on Android 4.1.2.

I got a HTC One the other day and I've been comparing it with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and I must say, the One more than holds its own. It's ultra-competitive.

Who's getting one? ...

Just got word that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is coming to Bell on May 3rd for $699.95 straight up or $199.95 on an eligible 3yr contract. It will be available in either Black or White (I think). Pre-orders launch on Monday. If you pre-order you can get it as soon as April 27th.

Check out the banding. Apparently it supports LTE on 700/AWS/850/1900/2100/2600Mhz. I'll have to double check that but if that's the case that's amazing. DC-HSPA+ (42Mbps) on 850/1900/2100 too.

Now the big question: Coke or Pepsi? I mean do you get the HTC One next week on the 19th or do you wait another 2 for the Galaxy S4? One things for sure, HTC's One delay is going to cost them. ...

2012 was an exciting year for phones. High definition 1280x720 displays became common along with quad core processors. A few years ago, I would have never imagined that phones would sport specs like this. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, we now have phones with even higher 1920x1080 displays. That’s right, the same resolution as the TV hanging in your family room. ...

HTC, AT&T and Facebook have just announced the HTC First. It's basically an Android 4.1 phone with what sounds like an overlay made by Facebook. From the specs it sounds like a mid-range phone with a 4.3" display, Snapdragon 400 processor and LTE. It will be an AT&T exclusive.

The overlay is called Facebook Home so it sounds like a Facebook-centric homescreen that has cover feeds (friend's news feeds), notifications, chat heads which sounds like the ability to Facebook messenger without leaving your current app, App Launcher and built-in Instagram.

From its specs it sounds like it's not aimed at phone nerds but rather people who less concerned about specs and more interested in Facebooking.

Pre-orders start today and will be available on April 12 for $99.99.

Who's getting one? Quick! Someone make a MySpace phone! ...

This just in, the webcast is still going on but at the urging of the American Heart Association, Google is going to stop naming future releases of Android after desserts. A spokesperson at Google had this to say:

While we all love Google’s lighthearted names for Android; Cupcake, Donut, Eclaire, FroYo, Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jellybean, since we’re in the middle of a war against obesity here in America we feel it’s our duty to help the cause. Going forward, future releases of Android will now be named after heart-healthy fruits and vegetables.

The next versions of Android will be known as “Kale”, “Lettuce”, “Mushroom”, “Nectarine”, " Orange", "Pear".

Our hope is that giving Android healthier names will encourage Americans to make healthier food choices.

To help lead the way we’re also happy to announce our new Android Mascot. While the old’s very cute and round stomach was a result of an unhealthy lifestyle. The new one is trimmer and healthier. He will most certainly, live longer which means he’ll be able to buy more Android devices over his lifetime.

What do you think of Google’s Android overhaul? Should they just stick to computing? Who liked the old, chubbier mascot?


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