HTC One unveiled with UltraPixel technology

Today HTC unveiled the new HTC One smartphone at a special media event which took place parallelly in New York and London. HTC has focused on four elements on the HTC One – Design, Camera, Audio and Software.

The device features a 4.7 inch touch display with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution, up to 64GB of internal storage, a 4 megapixel camera with UltraPixel technology which is capable of 1080p HD video capture, a secondary camera for video calls and is powered by a 1.7GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 320 GPU.

The HTC One will have an aluminium unibody design in a 9.3 mm thin frame and weigh 143 grams. It will Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with the promise of Android 4.2 in its future. HTC has also introduced Sense 5.0 with BlinkFeed which has been greatly streamlined for performance.

The curved edges and the clean finish in the Aluminium unibody design of the HTC One is comparable to the Apple iPhone 5. The device is mostly dominated by its 4.7 inch Super LCD3 display which has a 1080p full HD resolution and is protected by Gorilla Glass 2. The display has an amazing 468 ppi pixel density which is one of the best in the market. It also has two front facing stereo speakers which promise an unparalleled listening experience.

The HTC One runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean which features an all new simplified version of HTC Sense. This results in a homescreen populated by large tiles which are updated through your social networks and apps. HTC calls this feature BlinkFeed. It is clear that HTC has taken some inspiration in its work with Windows Phone 8.

HTC has also included a feature called Sense TV, which essentially turns your device into a TV remote. It uses a built in infrared blaster which can be activated through the power button. The Sense TV feature also acts as an interactive program guide.

UltraPixel camera

While the HTC One brings some amazing features on an Android handset, its most impressive feature is its camera. While most modern smartphone cameras have 8 megapixel sensor, the HTC One has a simple 4 megapixel camera which features a technology known as Ultrapixels.

An Ultrapixel is basically a larger pixel which basically helps the HTC One achieve better low light photos by allowing more the larger area of the pixel to absorb more light. For example, the Sony Xperia Z has a 1.1 micro pixel, while devices like the Nokia 808 PureView, Nokia Lumia 920, Samsung Galaxy S III and the Apple iPhone 5 have 1.4 micron pixels. HTC has managed to reach 2 microns with the HTC One, which is great for such a thin smartphone.

There are other technologies which contribute to a great camera experience on the HTC One, like shorter the pixel buckets which allow light in faster with less refraction to the sensor. The HTC One sports a compact 1/3" backside-illuminated sensor and F2.0 aperture on 28mm lens. Additionally, the sensor itself is on suspension, similar to Lumia 920, making it only the second phone with some sort of optical image stabilization.The OIS is said to be two-axis, with 2 GHz oscillation, meaning it can compensate thousands of movements per second.

Obviously all these camera functionality needs additional processing power, which is achieved through the HTC ImageChip 2. This chip along with the Snapdragon processor adds features like <200ms continuous autofocus speeds, HDR photos, HDR video and slow motion video recording. All these features result in amazing night time photos which are better lit, have improved exposure and featuring a minimum level of digital noise.

Aside from the hardware, the company has also heavily invested in the camera software called HTC Zoe. This software allows recording high resolution pictures and video at the same time, resulting in a professional content with zoom animations, color and sound effect and retention without the need to learn photo or video editing.

Users can choose themes and tracks and remove content that they are not interested in. The files are saves in a proprietary HTC format which can be updated through Zoe Share to HTC’s servers and shared with friends and family in the span of 30 days.

BoomSound audio enhancement

The HTC One features a new enhancement called HTC BoomSound, which is the dual front facing stereo speakers which have built in amps and Beats Audio support. The audio enhancements are also visible in the video recording with an HDR microphone.

Availability

The HTC One is expected to be available in the by the end of March 2013 through over 185 wireless carriers and major retailers around the world. The device will be available in the U.S. through AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile but surprisingly not through Verizon. Additionally the HTC One will be available in over 80 more countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In Europe, wireless carriers H3G, Orange, Telefonica/O2, T-Mobile, Tele2, Vodafone, and many more will be offering the HTC One. A complete list of carriers and retailers where the handset will be sold at is available in a press release below.

Press Release