HTC in disarray: staff departures, 'disastrous' First, and production problems cloud company's future

The Verge:

The Verge has learned that HTC’s Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC’s overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One.

Too bad, the HTC One looks much better than the pieces of cheap plastic spewed by samesung every month.

The sad state of tech reporting. Sam Sheffer, The Verge: “Those are some unique glasses.” “Are you wearing Glass?” “He’s got Google Glass on!” My appearance can be ostentatious at times, but wearing Google Glass in public drew a truly unparalleled amount of attention — never have I seen so many strangers (and people I know) give me this look of, “uh, what’s on your face?” I wore Google Glass to Justin Timberlake’s show at Roseland Ballroom this past Sunday for two reasons: to get a good understanding of what it’s like using the headset in the real world, and because Glass seemed like a perfect fit for watching and recording a concert. I also wondered if I might steal justa little bitof attention away from Justin. I don’t want to write about tech anymore, this is just revolting.
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The sad state of tech reporting.

Sam Sheffer, The Verge:

“Those are some unique glasses.” “Are you wearing Glass?” “He’s got Google Glass on!” My appearance can be ostentatious at times, but wearing Google Glass in public drew a truly unparalleled amount of attention — never have I seen so many strangers (and people I know) give me this look of, “uh, what’s on your face?”

I wore Google Glass to Justin Timberlake’s show at Roseland Ballroom this past Sunday for two reasons: to get a good understanding of what it’s like using the headset in the real world, and because Glass seemed like a perfect fit for watching and recording a concert. I also wondered if I might steal justa little bitof attention away from Justin.

I don’t want to write about tech anymore, this is just revolting.

Source: theverge.com

The Verge reviews the Samsung Galaxy S4

They had this to say:

I don’t like holding this phone, and I can’t overstate how much that informs the experience of using it. It makes an awful first impression, slippery and slimy and simply unpleasant in your hand. My white review unit is completely smooth and glossy, with a subtle checkered pattern that looks textured but is neither grippy nor textured anywhere on its body. Even the silver band around the sides, which is obviously supposed to look like metal, is plastic. Everyone I showed the GS4 to frowned and wrinkled their nose as if it smelled bad, before rubbing their fingers on the back of the phone and then handing it back to me — that’s the opposite of the standard reaction to HTC’s One, which everyone wants to ogle and hold.

This also:

The Galaxy S4 is fast and impressive, but it’s also noisy and complex. The One is refined, quiet, comfortable, beautiful, and above all simply pleasant. I love using that phone, in a way I haven’t experienced with anything since the iPhone 5. That’s why, when my contract is up in June, I’ll probably be casting my lot with HTC instead of Samsung.

Other than that, it’s great!

Verizon nets 677,000 new wireless subscribers, activates 7.2 million smartphones, 4 million iPhones in Q1

The Verge:

During an investor call this morning, Verizon elaborated on its device activations for the quarter. In Q1, the company says that it activated a total of four million iPhones, half of which were the iPhone 5. That translates to just over 55 percent of all smartphone activations for the quarter. A year ago, Verizon reported 3.2 million iPhone activations.

So, Apple is doomed then.

Apple's bounce-back patent rejected by the Patent Office, but Samsung hasn't won yet

The Verge:

The internet was abuzz yesterday with reports that Apple’s infamous “bounce-back” patent, US 7,469,381 , was “tentatively invalidated” by the US Patent Office. That’s one of the patents Samsung was found to infringe, and any action by the USPTO will have major consequences. Unfortunately, all those reports were extremely premature —patents can’t be “tentatively invalid,” just like people can’t be “tentatively dead.”


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