Malaysia's New HTC Flagship Device, Launch of HTC One M9+

#HTCOneM9Plus

There are many things I look forward as each new year begins.  One of them will be the annual unveiling of HTC's flagship device and this year; Malaysia launched the HTC One M9+ .  The event took place recently at ROOTZ Club KL on 28 April, 2015.

HTC One E8 Launch - Here's To GrE8-ness

I had the opportunity to attend yet another launch event, this time for the HTC One E8.  The event took place at The Centre for Asian Photographers, Level 1, The School in Jaya One on August 13. I guess you would know by now that I am a HTC fan as I have always love their smartphone designs. The premium HTC One launched back in April 2013 set the path for future improved designs like the HTC BoomSound dual front facing speakers, making HTC One The Phone Of The Year.  Fast forward a year later, we have had the HTC One Max and the even more premium HTC One M8 (love love love the duo camera lens!).

S K Wong (Country Manager, HTC Malaysia) proudly welcoming the latest addition to the HTC family, the HTC One E8

Happy Moments - Delighted by the GRE8-NESS of the HTC One E8, S K Wong and Shane Chiang

There I was standing before gre8-ness with the HTC One E8. The first in the HTC family to pack a rear 13MP camera feature, it takes photo taking and display up a notch on the 5" screen display. Apart from the already iconic dual frontal facing speakers, the E8 has a dual curve design with tapered sides for a comfortable fit in the hand. It also has the same Motion Launch which was introduced on the HTC One M8 that I have come to really love. Double tapping to wake the screen instead of pressing down the power button gives a longer life to the buttons on the phone in my opinion.  Even picking up a call is so much easier, there isn't a need to swipe/tap the Answer button, all I need to do is just bring the phone up to my ear and the call is automatically answered!

(Left to Right) Wayne Tang, SK Wong, Raymond Tan (COO of Brighstar Malaysia), Shane Chiang (Head of Corporate & Consumer PR, HTC South Asia)

Love The New HTC One M8 : Review

I received a HTC One M8 unit from HTC to review as part of a testing program.  It was great to have a chance to test out this 2014 HTC’s flagship model  with the much anticipated HTC Sense 6 and Android Kit Kat 4.4.  The design of the phone itself is gorgeous - 90% metal unibody (weighing in at 160 grams)  and soft curves along the edges (as compared to the 2013 HTC One model), it looks and feels solid in the hands like a premium smartphone should, especially the clarity of the stunning 5-inch, full 1080p HD display.  

The gorgeous HTC One M8 metal unibody with the Duo Camera lens feature

Here are some of the features that I truly love about the new HTC One M8 :-

·       DUO CAMERA with Ultrapixel and a dual colour flash.  I really love taking photos with the HTC One M8.  With the Duo Camera adding a depth sensor, I can make my images more professional looking with effects like Ufocus which allows me to choose the focus area of my image after I take my shots.   There’s also the Foregrounder that allows me to choose from four variants; Sketch, Zoom Blur, Cartoon and Colorize.  These are the two most frequent effects I use amongst the many others like Seasons, 3D Dimension Plus, Sticker, Copy & Paste and Touch Up. The 5 MP wide angle front facing camera is a great feature too as its clarity is the best I’ve seen so far for taking “selfie” or “wefie”  photos.  The Ultrapixel also works best in low light conditions.  It gets the job done and done well.  Of course, we are not talking about enlarging images to poster size.

 Here's a pic I took and one which I used the Foregrounder "Sketch" to edit the pic.  Cute!

Here's a shot I took in a rather dim place but with lights surrounding this cafe counter. The words on the blackboard are still relatively clear; this is the Ultrapixel at work.

·       MOTION LAUNCH - Along with the HTC Sense 6, the HTC One M8 has this new feature which I love.  A double tap on the screen is all you need to do to see the time.  It turns the lock screen off and on! I love that I can prolong the life of the power button! A swipe downwards while phone is in sleep mode) activates the device that prompts you to say the name of the person you would like to call.  There’s also Auto Answer which allows me to answer a call when I put the phone to my ear, done without touching the screen.  Another great feature for those who have their hands dirty from eating some tasty buffalo wings or wet from washing dishes! Hahaha...

HTC One M8 Malaysia Launch, HTC Keeps Getting Better

It was with much excitement that I looked forward to May 8th where the HTC One M8 was officially launched in Malaysia.  This time round the venue was at DPAC (Damansara Performing Arts Centre).  The HTC One M8 is the 2014 flagship smartphone for HTC and was launched internationally in London earlier on March 25th.

HTC One M8, ready to be unveiled in time

Otterbox for HTC One M8 available that night, along with other cases on display. No Dot View Case in sight though.  I am so tempted to get a Dot View Case!

HTC One Max Review

If some of you can recall, I received a HTC One Max unit from HTC for my testing and review sometime back in mid Dec 2013.  My opinion of the HTC One Max is not one full of technical jargon but of one of a “layman” view of the phone.  Now as a user of the HTC One, the HTC One Max looked huge when I first laid my eyes on it.  However, after using the HTC One Max for about two months now, my HTC One is now such a small phone to me whereas the HTC One Max has now become my favourite and feels just spot on right in my hand.  Some parts of this post were taken from the previous post but I have elaborated further with my own experiences in each of the highlighted features.

The HTC One Max oozes pure entertainment excitement with great performance specifications.  The phablet size HTC One Max running on Android 4.3 with a 5.9" full HD 1080p display looks simply awesome.  Weighing at only 217g, this phablet packs a punch!  While most of the HTC One specifications are found in the HTC One Max with the same premium design. there are several additions to take note of:

• A micro SD card slot has been added (up to 64GB) plus a  free 50GB of online storage on Google Drive for exclusively for HTC One Max owners.  I personally rejoice with this addition as I take a lot of photos (I really mean A LOT) and being able to store my photos on the SD card is great news to me! I really love the photos that I take with the HTC One Max.

Here's a shot I took of a sunset view at Mont Kiara

The Joy Of HTC One ... HTC Zoe, Sense 5, BlinkFeed, Battery and more ...

I received my HTC One phone while I am on vacation in San Francisco and have been taking it out with me on my daily walks.  There is so much to love about the HTC One...apart from what I have written about it from my earlier post of the HTC One launch.

For one, the battery life of HTC One is really good.  I use it often to take photos (lots of it) and editing, for Facebook and surfing...Using it heavily between the hours of 10am till 4pm (cos that's when I am out and taking photographs!), after a total usage for about 15 hours (from the time I switched it on at 9am till the time I took the screen shot of the battery level) I am left with a 24% battery juice.  I am extremely happy with the performance.  I do not use the Power Save feature and control the brightness and the timing of the phone manually.

I have also become more up-to-date with news around the world.  Well, the World news is kinda depressing at times...so, I keep myself happier with news from the Entertainment world instead.  With BlinkFeed, I can do just that without having the dig for the information via search engines.  Once I choose my options from categories like Food, Music, Movie, Politics, Gadgets etc etc..news about these are just a fingertip away.  You can choose from a "pull-down" tab of which category you would like to see on the BlinkFeed page ... and presto, you are now updated with the latest news and trends! Check out this screenshot I took of my Movie news :o)  Read more about BlinkFeed HERE ...

WooHoo ... coincidentally, news about my favourite couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on my BlinkFeed!

As most of you would know, I love photography and HTC One's camera app with added features has made it one of the most used feature of the phone.  I have it daily on me as I go for my walkabout around San Francisco .... and so far I'm pleased with it.  The Ultrapixels allow me to take great low light pics (regardless of some complaining of the low 4 Megapixel camera...it's not like I will be making extra large prints of my pics.  I think it's great enough for a fullscreen laptop viewing!).  I am not a technical person, not so critical on specs...I just like what I see and get with the HTC One and that makes me one happy camper!

I took this pic in a dark room with the TV as the ONLY light source....though grainy, I am still impressed that it was able to capture the texture and the shadow of the blanket on the bed. I have not done any further editing to this photo.

Well, of course the HTC Sense with the added Zoe feature which takes a 3 second moving shot allowed for a nifty feature - a Zoe Sequence Shot.  This means that I can choose several frames from the moving shot and combine them together for a sequence shot.  Read more about HTC Sense 5 HERE ...

Cool right? Shot at Embarcadero.  Once again, no further editing was done to this photo.

HTC One Malaysia Launch - This is THE One!

This was ONE event that I was really looking forward to.  Prior to its arrival here in Malaysia, I have been reading great news about the HTC One in worldwide reviews.  The launch was held in Studio Lounge, Tropicana City Mall last night.  Walking into a dark venue, the glow of the HTC display stand with the HTC One on a pedestal attracted me immediately even though I was surrounded by a crowd; "Resistance is futile".

The Awesomeness of HTC One X ! At the launch of HTC One Series, Pavilion

I was at the official launch of HTC One series yesterday at Pavilion and it made me sad, looking at my current HTC Sensation. Hahaha....

I have always love HTC and it was naturally my one and only choice when I bought my first smartphone last year.  However, after looking at the HTC One X (RRP RM2099), my 9 month old HTC Sensation looks almost like an antique (and it left the other competing brands in the dust too, in MY opinion).  HTC One V was also showcased, being the smaller and less impressive of the two but still a good value at a RRP of RM999.