Ubuntu and Windows set to contest desktop/smartphone hybrid market

Last week, Microsoft announced functionality for their Windows Phone line that looks set to bring smartphones closer than ever before to the capabilities of a desktop PC. But Windows isn’t the only OS looking to blur the lines between the two devices.

Ubuntu also aims to offer a phone that would provide a middle ground between mobile and desktop before the year is out, according to the founder of the company behind the OS, Mark Shuttleworth. Shuttleworth confirmed that the device will launch in 2015 in a YouTube Q&A earlier this morning, according to a report by Liliputing.

However, competition for this slice of the marketplace may become fierce. Microsoft has made no secret of its desires to capture the space that exists between desktops and portables for some time, making pushes both in terms of hardware, like the Surface, and in software, as demonstrated by the device agnosticism of Windows 10.

Related: Ubuntu finally has the phone it deserves. Now it just needs the apps to match

Given that Ubuntu isn’t nearly as familiar to most users as Windows is, it will be a much harder task to market a desktop/smartphone hybrid running the OS to the masses. Shuttleworth mentioned that a smartphone manufacturer is working to make the product a reality, but didn’t give any specifics; until we know which company is involved, it’s difficult to gauge how big the rollout of the phone might be.

Canonical — the company behind Ubuntu — previously made an attempt to fund such a project via IndieGogo back in 2013. While that campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, it did raise some $12 million of its $32 million goal. It’s clear that there is an audience that’s hungry for an Ubuntu-based smartphone with these capabilities; what’s less clear is whether its a big enough crowd to make the development of such a product worthwhile.

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HTC Windows Phone 8X review

The HTC Windows Phone 8X breaks into a Windows Phone 8 market that has been dominated by Nokia since the OS was released last October. In fact, HTC is the only other major manufacturer to have sent us a Microsoft-based handset in that time.

It was well worth the wait, though, because the 8X makes a fantastic first impression. It's built using the same manufacturing process as HTC’s One X range of handsets, and the polycarbonate shell used for the 8X looks superb: the gently contoured rear curves around the phone’s edges to create a border for the screen, and it’s finished in a comfortable soft-touch plastic, which is available in four colours (blue, black, yellow and red).

Build quality is on a par with the Nokia Lumia 820, which until now was our favourite Windows Phone 8 handset. Significantly, though, the HTC is 30g lighter, at 130g.

It’s a strong start, but it’s not all good news: the sealed polycarbonate shell prevents access to any of the internals, so there’s no way to replace the battery. There’s no microSD card for expanding the storage, either.

The 8X has the same size screen as the Lumia, but it packs in more pixels: a resolution of 720 x 1,280 is squeezed into its 4.3in diagonal. It impresses elsewhere, too: the 8X’s 366cd/m2 maximum brightness is higher than the Nokia’s 301cd/m2, and, although the Nokia’s AMOLED screen means it has better contrast and highly saturated colours, we prefer the more natural tones of the HTC’s IPS panel.

Another similarity between the 8X and the Nokia is the CPU. Both are powered by a dual-core, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus, which means an impressive SunSpider score of 913ms and excellent real-world performance. The HTC coped well with top-end games – Asphalt 7 and Mirror’s Edge ran without a hitch – and the Windows Phone 8 UI was responsive and smooth. There was a slight judder when switching from the homescreen to the app list, but we noticed this on the Lumia also.

The Windows Phone 8 app situation is slowly improving, too. Spotify has now been released for the platform, and the BBC has confirmed it’s working on a version of iPlayer that’s optimised for the Windows Phone 8 browser. There’s still no sign of Instagram or Dropbox, however.

As for the rest of the specification, there’s dual-band 802.11n wireless and NFC, 1GB of RAM and 16GB internal storage, twice the capacity of the Nokia. The 8-megapixel camera is excellent, too, producing far sharper snaps than the Lumia 820, with better contrast and colour reproduction.

The HTC 8X’s one weakness is battery life. Its 1,800mAh power pack had 50% of its capacity left after our 24-hour run-down test, which is below average for a modern smartphone. That said, the Lumia 820 is no better.

Of the two phones, then, the HTC is the clear winner. Its screen has a higher resolution, the camera is superior, its exterior is sturdy and appealing and it’s lighter. If you want a Windows Phone 8 device, HTC’s Windows Phone 8 flagship is our new favourite.

Via: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/smartphones/380482/htc-windows-phone-8xposted from Bloggeroid

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HTC Windows Phone 8S review

At first sight the HTC Windows Phone 8S looks almost identical to its more expensive cousin, the Windows Phone 8X. Both have brightly coloured, soft-touch rubberised cases that feel robust and very well-made, but there are some important differences.

The 8S comes in a variety of colour-combinations such as blue and dark grey or yellow and light grey. A small rear panel slides off the pack giving easy access to the micro SIM card and micro SD memory card slots. The latter is useful for bolstering the built-in 4GB of storage and is a feature missing from the pricier 8X.

Our small hands appreciated the more compact dimensions of the 8S. This is thanks to the 4in screen which makes the 8S easier to hold and use single handed compared to smartphones with bigger displays. The downside is that HTC has opted for a relatively low-resolution of 800x480 pixels, but it's still bright and reasonably crisp.

Call quality in central London on the Vodafone network was clear with little distortion. The built-in noise-cancelling microphones managed to filter out the background noise of a busy West End road so that it was barely audible to the person on the other end of the line.

Even better was the battery life. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the 8S lasted nearly 30 hours when used for making a few calls, navigating using GPS and browsing the web over both Wi-Fi and 3G. This is roughly six hours longer than many more expensive smartphones.

Apart from a few occasional slow-downs the Windows Phone 8 interface and various apps felt smooth and responsive thanks to the 1GHz dual core processor. We suspect the slow-downs may be due to the relatively meagre 512MB of memory. This may prove troublesome when running especially apps, such as games, in the future. More expensive smartphones have at least 1GB. We also suspect the relatively small amount of memory is responsible for the web browser's inability to have than a handful of tabs open at the same time. This makes tabbed browsing more irritating to use for heavy web surfers.

Photos taken in low-light using the five-megapixel rear camera are far too blurry and smeared to be of any use. Photos of landscapes and buildings taken in daylight were better, although finer details were still lost. Portraits needed lots of light to produce acceptable results - otherwise lots of noise crept into the image producing unrealistic looking skin tones. Overall, a rather average smartphone camera at best.

HTC have made surprisingly few compromises with the Windows Phone 8S making it a good alternative to inexpensive Android smartphones like HTC's own One V. Although Android has a wider selection of apps, Windows Phone 8 is slowly catching up with new releases such as Spotify and the 8S feels more responsive and faster than many cheap Android phones. Overall the HTC Windows Phone 8S is a good budget smartphone.

*Good points

Inexpensive; Colourful and sturdy; Long battery life; Good call quality

*Bad points

Relatively low resolution screen; Low amount of memory; So-so camera

*Suggested price

£216 without contract

Via: http://www.computeractive.co.uk/ca/review/2252195/htc-windows-phone-8s-review posted from Bloggeroid

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