Htc

Despite praise for its external construction, the HTC One is a very difficult smartphone to repair, according to do-it-yourself website iFixit. The upcoming HTC flagship smartphone is set to go on sale in the U.S. as early as next month. The device has been praised for its top-of-the-line design, high-resolution screen and front-facing dual speakers But iFixit gave the smartphone a score of 1 out of 10 in its repairability rating. It is the worst rating ever for a smartphone.

Apple and Samsung, there's a new challenger. HTC, the Taiwanese phone maker, has come out with a smartphone that can go head to head with the best of them. The HTC One features an attractive all-aluminum case, large 4.7-inch screen and a speedy 1.7-GHz quad-core processor that when put together makes the flagship smartphone worthy of its $200 price tag and a possible replacement for an iPhone or Galaxy S III. And Apple and Samsung defectors are exactly what HTC needs if it wants to stay in the race against its much bigger rivals.

The Federal Trade Commission said HTC has agreed to settle charges that the Taiwanese phone-maker did not take the steps necessary to secure software used in millions of its smartphones and tablets. Under the settlement announced Friday morning, HTC agreed to develop and install software patches to fix the vulnerability. The FTC charged that flaws in HTC's software and in the company's practices placed sensitive consumer information at risk of being exposed. The federal agency said HTC did not properly train its employees, assess the security in its software, or have a process by which users, researchers and academics could notify the company of security issues.

T-Mobile put the HTC One on sale online Friday, the same day that AT&T and Sprint began selling the device in their stores. A 32-gigabyte version of the flagship device from the Taiwanese phone maker is available from both AT&T and Sprint for $200 with a two-year contract. Buyers can also get a 64 GB version for $300 from AT&T. Sprint and AT&T began taking pre-orders for the device earlier this month. Now users can now pick up the smartphone in stores. Top 10 must-have smartphone apps Meanwhile, T-Mobile, which had confirmed it would carry the phone but had not announced a date of release, is selling a 32 GB version of the device online for $99 down, plus 24 payments of $20 with zero interest, a total of $579, for "well-qualified" buyers.

OnLive, whose abrupt restructuring on Friday left half of its staff jobless, has also put some of its investors in the cold. Among them is Taiwanese cellphone manufacturer HTC Corp., which reported on Monday that it has lost $40 million in OnLive's financial reorganization. OnLive, a video game streaming company, has been struggling in recent months to resonate with consumers who have been slow to embrace its cloud-based games model. HTC, in a statement, said, "Due to lack of operating cash and an inability to raise new capital, OnLive had completed asset restructuring over the weekend.

An image of what's alleged to be HTC's next flagship phone has hit the Web, and the device in the picture looks a lot like Apple's iPhone 5. The computer-generated image, which was posted by UnwiredView.com , shows the back side of a tall and narrow phone. Most of the phone's back cover is black except right at the top and bottom, where it changes to white panels. The two-tone back cover resembles that of the iPhone 5's back. The latest Apple smartphone, which comes in black or white, also has one large back panel that's framed by top and bottom panels in a different shade of the phone's color.

HTC's $300-million investment in Beats Electronics has, so far, resulted in Beats earbuds being packed with Android smartphones. But the partnership may soon take a major step forward as HTC and Beats are reportedly looking to develop a music service that may end up challenging the likes of Apple's iTunes and Spotify. According to a report from the news site  GigaOm , HTC and Beats will roll out a new line of smartphones and tablets with Beats audio features and possibly even a music streaming service that could be unveiled as early as the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain, later this month.  Om Malik, GigaOm founder and reporter, wrote in the report that HTC is leaning on the connections of Beats co-founder and Chairman Jimmy Iovine's connections in the music industry to build a streaming service that "will be offered as a default music client on HTC phones and tablets.

HTC sent out media invitations Tuesday to a press event set to take place on Feb. 19 where the company is widely expected to announce its next flagship phone. The event is scheduled for a 10 a.m. EDT and will take place in New York City. The invite says "Save the date" and features a generic photo of a person on a street. 10 tech companies to watch in 2013 HTC is expected to announce an Android phone called the M7 at the event. The rumored phone is said to have a 4.7-inch screen and a powerful 1.7GHz quad-core processor.

Microsoft Corp., which has struggled for years to capture the attention and dollars of smart-phone users, debuted handsets Monday that will run on its new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7. AT&T Inc. will be the first to offer the phones, starting with the Samsung Focus, arriving in stores Nov. 8. HTC Corp. and LG Corp. will each release a model "a few weeks later," Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at an event in New York to introduce the phones. Each of the three AT&T handsets will sell for $199.

Apple Inc. has persuaded federal authorities to ban U.S. sales of some Google-powered Android phones that unlawfully use iPhone-like features. But don't expect the more than 500 varieties of Android smartphones and tablets to disappear from shelves any time soon. The ruling Monday from the U.S. International Trade Commission was one of the more anticipated developments in Apple's global legal battle with major Android manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Motorola Mobility and HTC Corp.

Add T-Mobile and Sprint to the list of carriers that have announced when they will start selling the widely anticipated Samsung Galaxy S 4. T-Mobile on Wednesday said it will let users order the device online starting April 24 and will sell the smartphone in some of its retail stores starting May 1. The 16-gigabyte version will cost $149.99 up front  plus 24 monthly payments of $20, or a total of $629.99. Sprint, meanwhile, will make the phone available for preorder online starting Thursday.

Facebook's first phone--really an HTC First smartphone with the social network's home screen--hits the stores on Friday but we just got one in the mail for a sneak peek. When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Facebook Home interface for smartphones last week, the founder of the social network touted how it would change users' experience. We'll be unboxing the HTC First, which is the first smartphone to feature Facebook Home, live via Spreecast at noon. Join the Times' Michelle Maltais and me at noon as we check out this new interface for Android devices.

After posting record-low quarterly profits , HTC is hoping for a big hit with the "One. " The Taiwanese phone maker is set to release the HTC One later this month on AT&T and Sprint. The smartphone is slated to be HTC's flagship device, and early reviews of its hardware have been generally positive. We just received a package containing our review unit and we'll be unboxing it live during a Web video chat. Join us at 11 a.m. with your questions as The Times' Michelle Maltais and I check out the HTC One. PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013 HTC was initially hoping to release the One in March, but a shortage of camera parts forced the company to delay its launch to April.

Last week, the long-rumored "Facebook phone" was introduced in the form of the HTC First. Although the smartphone wasn't developed by Facebook, it will be the first to be pre-installed with "Facebook Home. " Facebook Home is an interface for some smartphones running the Android operating system. It replaces the main home screen with a "Cover Feed," which displays the latest Facebook status updates and photos uploaded by users' friends. Facebook Home also comes with "Chat Heads," a feature that lets users chat with friends while using another app. The phone is half the price of most flagship smartphones because it doesn't have the best hardware specs.

It's official. There is no stopping Minecraft.  Some time overnight, the indie gaming phenomenon passed 10 million downloads . That figure doesn't include the units bought and played on Xbox 360. PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013 Minecraft has only been available as a full-version download since November 2011. Since then, the brainchild of Swedish programmer Marcus "Notch" Persson has becoming one of gaming's most remarkable stories. At $26.95 a copy, and given that Persson largely bootstrapped the development, the success has no doubt made him a remarkably wealthy person.  In addition to the continued growth of the game itself, which allows players to build and mine in a virtual environment that has the look and feel of an 8-bit game from the early '80s, Minecraft has also spawned countless YouTube videos in which players show off and discuss their work.  10 million copies sold of Minecraft PC (and mac (and linux)

Eager T-Mobile customers wait no more: The iPhone 5 is finally on sale. The big pink carrier began accepting pre-orders for the super-popular Apple smartphone on Friday. Over the last few years, the iPhone has been available on all other major U.S. networks except T-Mobile, but that is set to change. Pre-orders for the T-Mobile iPhone 5 are to arrive to users on April 12, the same day it goes on sale in stores. PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013 Users can head to T-Mobile's website to pre-order the device starting at $99.99 plus 24 payments of $20, for a total of $579.99, for a 16-gigabyte version of the Apple smartphone.

Beats by Dre, the Santa Monica-based maker of high-end headphones founded by rap pioneer Dr. Dre and veteran music executive Jimmy Iovine, is expected to shortly announce a deal to acquire digital music service MOG, according to executives familiar with the transaction. The agreement, which is not yet finalized, calls for Beats to pay roughly $10 million for MOG, a Berkeley, Calif.-based streaming service with about 500,000 subscribers. A MOG spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment. A Beats spokesman declined to comment.

A rumor sprang up this week suggesting that Samsung would release a 5.8-inch smartphone in Europe that would be its biggest phone yet. The name of the device, however, leaves some of us scratching our heads. Fonblet? The term appears to be a combination of the phonetic sound of "phone" with the back end of the "tablet. " But as silly as the name is, it raises the important question of what we should call these oversized devices. Samsung kicked off the whole smartphone/tablet hybrid device trend in 2011 with the launch of the 5.3-inch-screen Galaxy Note.

HTC, a brand known for making great hardware but never promoting it properly, will begin a marketing campaign Friday for the HTC One, its latest flagship smartphone. But going up against Samsung, a company that has been pumping billions into the marketing for its smartphones, HTC knows it has to be savvy about how it markets its phone. That's why the Taiwanese company will focus on new media and viral marketing to get the word out on the HTC One. "It's one thing to make a great device -- HTC has done that before," Mike Woodward, president of HTC America, told The Times this week.

HTC announced a new smartphone called the "First" Thursday that has been optimized for Facebook Home, a new interface for the Android operating system. The Taiwanese phone maker said the HTC First is the "ultimate social phone. " The device was designed specifically for Facebook Home, a smartphone Facebook-centric interface also announced Thursday. The HTC First will be available from AT&T for $99.99 - pre-orders will be taken as of today on the carrier's website. It will go on sale in stores April 12 to coincide with the launch of Facebook Home.