HTC

Waiting is never easy. And in the fast-paced smartphone market, it feels like you can wait forever before buying a new phone, because there's always a better one around the corner.

For the smartphone consumer, it's a delicate balance in deciding when to pull the trigger on the next smartphone purchase. While the upgrade cycle of devices seems nearly constant, I've noticed that the spring and summer have become the sweet spot for the introduction of most of the year's hottest devices.

In this Ask Maggie, a reader is already content to wait for the Samsung … Read more

There's one complaint that often crops up with the Galaxy S III: it feels "plastic-y."

At a time when competitors are using glass, aluminum, and even higher quality plastics such as polycarbonate, Samsung has stuck to its guns with a thin, bendable plastic body.

Which is why the Galaxy S4 won't stray too far from that design philosophy.

CNET sat down with Y.H. Lee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business, to discuss the company's thoughts on design. When Samsung looks at what materials to use, it isn't just taking into consideration … Read more

HTC quietly confirmed today (or should I say quietly and brilliantly?) that its custom Sense 5 interface will come to select 2012 Android smartphones. A post on the company's Facebook from last week tells of multiple models which should expect the new HTC experience.

The short list of devices tapped for the HTC Sense 5 UI are the HTC One X, One X+, One S and the HTC Butterfly. HTC does not explicitly name which iterations will see the update though it mentions "global variants." Depending on how loosely this is interpreted, we might see the Droid … Read more

The Ultrapixel camera is the jewel in the HTC One's smartphone crown, but camera hardware is only half the story.

Click through the photos below to check out the torrent of filters, modes, and editing tricks that come stuffed inside this new smartphone's software.

The camera app features two modes -- normal camera mode and Zoe mode. In normal mode, you'll see a number of filters along the bottom of the display. These allow you to see your photos with Instagram-esque image tweaks before you hit the shutter button. Handy.

Tap the top left of the screen … Read more

Sprint subsidiaries Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile finally joined the LTE wave today by acquiring their first devices compatible with Sprint's growing network. Though both carriers carry WiMax handsets, Sprint began phasing out that network in favor of LTE last year.

Virgin's Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE is another member of the company's ever-expanding Galaxy family. Its feature set shows that Virgin continues to up the ante on its smartphone lineup.

Running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 5-megapixel camera with HD video capture, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, … Read more

Our friends at CNET Asia got their very lucky hands on an HTC One for a brief test drive with the device's promising new camera. Indeed, it's worthy test since the shooter is one of One's most interesting features.

Though the One's camera has a 4-megapixel resolution, that's not the whole story by any measure. As Brian Bennett wrote in his First Take earlier this week, the camera features an updated ImageSense system, new ImageChip 2 hardware, and a revamped light sensor. HTC says that UltraPixel Sensor will be able to create more detailed pixels. … Read more

Mobile handset maker HTC has agreed to settle a complaint filed against it by the Federal Trade Commission accusing the company of failing to take "reasonable steps" to patch a security flaw in software running on its smartphones.

As part of this settlement, HTC has agreed to patch handsets that were left vulnerable to the security risks. And the company has agreed to develop a security program to address future security issues on its handsets.

HTC has already begun rolling out the patches to devices in the U.S., according to the FTC.

In its complaint, the commission … Read more

In case you don't know, HTC really wants you to buy its new HTC One.

So much so that the company is willing to pay you at least $100 for your old handset should you opt for its flagship device.

Sounds great, right? Well, as you'd expect, you have to read the fine print. Instead of a crisp $100 bill, HTC will give you a Prepaid Visa Card worth $100 or the trade-in value of a used cell phone, whichever is greater. The deal, obviously designed to drum up interest in the new Android phone, runs through March … Read more

Apple supplier Foxconn said it is temporarily slowing down recruitment in its factories in China. The move comes amid questions about the enduring demand for the iPhone 5.

A Foxconn representative said in an e-mailed statement to CNET that the decision was "due to an unprecedented rate of return of employees following the Chinese New Year holiday compared to years past."

However, the Financial Times reported a more drastic move -- a hiring freeze -- and attributed it to fewer orders for the iPhone 5.

Foxconn denied that the move was related to any single customer and added … Read more