Hands-on with the HTC 10: A 5.2″ flagship smartphone that has a lot to prove

HTC’s last few flagship handsets have all followed the same formula – a metal chassis, some emphasis on music playback and a non-standard camera setup.

It’s an approach that garnered design awards, but was less successful in terms of units sold. Now, it really needs a runaway hit at the top of the smartphone market.

The HTC 10, its new range-topper, comes with a mildly refreshed look and a focuses the software and camera experience. For the most part, the thinking behind it is sound in trying to go for mass appeal – who wouldn’t want better photos or sound out of their phone?

The phone keeps a metal unibody chassis but brings chamfered edges on the rear that taper to just 3mm thick to give it more definition in a sea of metal handsets, and make it more comfortable to hold.

On the right, there’s a volume rocker, SIM slot and contoured power switch. I’d guess it’s designed to help you feel around for the power button in the dark or a pocket, but it detracted from the ‘premium’ feeling for me.

Buried under the Home button is a super-quick fingerprint sensor, which really did unlock the device almost instantly every time I used it.

The appearance left me mostly underwhelmed for a flagship HTC smartphone at first glance. There’s nothing that’s really out of place, it just doesn’t make me aspire to owning one due to appearance alone.

And boy is it starting to look overweight when put alongside devices like the Oppo F1 Plus and Huawei P9. Both devices below are flat on the table.

However, some people might argue that the design isn’t going to be the defining factor for many – lots of expensive handsets end up tucked away safely in a protective case, thereby negating the thousands of work-hours spent fine-tuning the design. If it performs, the appearance will be acceptable, but it’s not going to blow anyone away.

Two of the key areas HTC has focused on for the HTC 10 are the camera and the Sense-equipped Android Marshmallow OS.

For the camera, there’s now a 12-megapixel wide-angle ‘UltraPixel’ sensor on the rear, and a 5-megapixel UltraPixel setup on the front. Both have Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).

What HTC is aiming for – and claiming in its launch of the 10 – is the ultimate camera experience on a smartphone, due to a combination of an ultra-fast focus and OIS.

In a short test, and only able to review images on the device’s (impressive) 5.2-inch, 2k resolution display, the shots looked well saturated and colorful, though the actual capture wasn’t the fastest I’ve used.

It’s was a similar outcome with the front-facing snapper too, ultimately requiring an extended period of testing for a full review before any sort of judgement can be made.

HTC has also hustled to make sure that the camera features integrate deeply into the core OS.

For example, it worked with Google to integrate Photos functionality and support for more photo formats (RAW, Zoe) into the native camera app, thereby streamlining the storage process and making a less confusing user experience where multiple apps are offered for the same functionality. ‘Pro’ and ‘Prosumer’ modes also make a return in the camera options too.

The decluttering of duplicate apps and personalization of the OS – allowing for icons to be placed anywhere, rather than to a grid and the easy application of new themes for example – is a key change to stock Android for the HTC 10.

While you might be used to getting multiple calendars on your manufacturer-tweaked new phone, HTC’s newest only offers one of each.

It says that it worked with Google here too, and simply kept the best versions of each app available, integrating as much functionality as possible along the way.

The new flagship also gets a new case too – this time called an ‘Ice View’ instead of ‘Dot View.’ The new material allows for higher resolution images to be displayed on the outside of the case and also now supports quick actions, like launching the camera if you swipe upwards twice.

Potentially underwhelming appearance aside, the HTC 10 claims to offer up the best phone and audio experience available on a smartphone – unfortunately not assertions that can be put to the test in a short 15 min hands-on session, but we’ll be bringing you a full review on these and more in the coming days.

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Noodlecake Studios: the tiny Canadian outfit bringing your favorite iOS games to Android

Today, beloved iPhone snowboarding game Alto’s Adventure makes its long-awaited debut on Android. Last week, Sage Solitaire, an addictive digital reinvention of the classic card game, made the same jump. In both cases, the original developer isn’t the one behind the port; instead they enlisted the help of Noodlecake Studios, a tiny company in the Canadian prairies that’s made a business helping mobile developers bring their hit iOS games to Android. The studio also develops its own games — Noodlecake is behind the wonderfully addictive Super Stickman Golf series — and serves as a publisher, helping other developers with everything from tech support to dealing with platform holders like Apple and Google. Not bad for the only professional game studio in Saskatchewan. "A lot of people think we’re bigger than we actually are," Noodlecake’s Ryan Holowaty says.

Noodlecake was founded in 2011, and started with just two people. Jordan Schidlowsky and Ty Haugen had worked together for years at a local software company in Saskatoon, and had watched the rapid rise of mobile gaming with growing interest. They pitched a few game ideas internally at the company, but the bosses weren’t interested, so eventually the two set out on their own. Over the course of the next year they slowly brought over people from the software company to fill out the studio. Now, Noodlecake is comprised of 10 people (an additional six people work at a separate software consulting firm that operates within the studio). Incredibly, none of the original staff had any experience making games professionally. "When we initially got into game development, it was a business decision more than a passion decision," Holowaty explains. "It just so happened that all of us came from a gaming background. But it was a pure business decision at the time."

At first, the team toyed around with various ideas for its first game, working on prototypes that didn’t really go anywhere. At the same time, they were playing around with building a tool for simulating physics in a game. "It turned out that it was more fun than what we were working on," Holowaty says. The experiment eventually morphed into Stickman Golf, a modest success that did well enough to warrant a bigger and better sequel. The follow-up Super Stickman Golf on iOS was much more successful, helping to make a name for the studio. But the process of porting the game to Android proved to be "a nightmare." Schidlowsky, Noodlecake’s tech lead, struggled through the process, and afterwards found himself determined to never go through that experience again. So he went to work building a tool that would make the porting process much simpler.

"IT WAS A PURE BUSINESS DECISION AT THE TIME."

The project proved successful, but once the tool was finished, the studio had to make a decision. Holowaty remembers thinking "We’ve got this tech, and we can use it internally, but we should be leveraging this somehow because there’s going to be a ton of developers who want to use it." They thought about licensing the tech, letting other game developers pay to use it, much like companies like Epic and Unity do with their popular game engines. But then they had another idea. "We started strategizing using it as a way to release titles on Android for other developers," he says, "but the catch would be that we’d put it underneath our publishing umbrella."

It turned out that other developers didn’t need much convincing. When Noodlecake first started approaching people about the idea, the studio offered to essentially do all of the work, handling the technical side of the port and then sharing revenue with the original developer after the Android version was released. "Pretty much everyone we pitched that to said ‘absolutely,’" Holowaty says. The first game Noodlecake published on Android wasTrainyard, an early iPhone puzzle game from solo developer Matt Rix. From there the business grew, with Noodlecake porting popular games like Framed, Punch Quest, Qwop, and Wayward Souls.

For many developers, working with Noodlecake is the difference between having an Android version and not. The challenges of Android development — the bigger range of devices to support, the issues with piracy, etc. — can be too much to deal with, especially for teams of just a handful of people. "I’m a one-man band, so the time requirement to issue fixes, deal with support emails, and test on devices is a serious impediment to getting my own work done," says Sage Solitaire developer Zach Gage. "And if I can’t work on new things or finishing projects, that’s a big problem."

"IF I CAN’T WORK ON NEW THINGS OR FINISHING PROJECTS, THAT’S A BIG PROBLEM."

Today Noodlecake’s business is split pretty evenly. Half the team currently works on the porting and publishing side, while the other half is focused on finishing the much-anticipatedSuper Stickman Golf 3, which is expected to launch sometime this year. In addition to simply porting games to Android, Noodlecake’s publishing efforts have expanded over the years. The studio now helps smaller developers release games on both iOS and Android, leveraging its business and technical knowhow, assets that a lot of smaller game developers lack. In the case of Alto’s Adventure on Android, the studio even helped transform the game into a free-to-play title to better suit the platform. The studio currently publishes a new game every two or three weeks, and is pitched new ideas constantly. "I can’t even put a number on the amount of submissions we get every week," Holowaty says. "We get everything from games that we look at and are very impressed with, to one guy making some really basic Flappy Bird rip-off."

The landscape of mobile games changes rapidly, and over Noodlecake’s relatively brief five years of existence, the company has already seen seismic shifts, like the change from paid games to free-to-play. So even though the studio’s present very much remains in mobile, Noodlecake is also looking to expand to new platforms in the future. "I wouldn’t be surprised if you see the Noodlecake logo pop up on Steam or PS4 in the next year," says Holowaty.

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Facebook Messenger Gets Multiple Account Support; SMS Integration Being Tested

Facebook has confirmed that it is testing the return of SMS support for the Messenger app on limited Android users. SMS integration in Messenger will once again allow users to send and receive SMS messages from the app. The company has separately added multiple accounts support for users of the Messenger app for Android.

A company spokesperson confirmed the SMS integration testing to TechCrunch, and said, "At Messenger we are always trying to create new ways for people to communicate seamlessly with everyone. Right now, we're testing the ability for people to easily bring all their conversations - from SMS and Messenger - to one place."

"It's a really simple way to get, see and respond to all your SMS messages in just one app. By choosing to access your SMS messages in Messenger, they're right alongside all the other enhanced features that Messenger offers," the spokesperson added.

According to the initial details, Facebook is currently testing the SMS feature with limited Android users in the US. As of now, there is no word when the feature will have a wider rollout.

For those unaware, Facebook's Messenger app had the ability to send and receive SMS messages back in 2013 but after an update the feature was removed by Facebook due to low traction.

Users are reporting (via Android Police) a new SMS Settings pane in the Messenger app and are able to use Messenger as main SMS client. For differentiating from other services, a purple colour is seen for messages in SMS pane. Additionally, the text input box for SMS says "Write an SMS message" to prompt users that this is a regular text message box.

In addition, the multiple accounts feature has also begun rolling out gradually for Android users. The new multiple accounts feature is likely targeted at users who share their devices within the family or friends. The new addition will mean that multiple people can log in to Messenger from a single device.

A spokesperson confirmed the multiple accounts feature for Android users to TechCrunch, saying, "Millions of people share phones with their family and friends. Until now, there hasn't been an easy way for people to access their individual Messenger accounts from shared devices. To address this, we've launched a feature on Android to enable multiple people to log in and use Messenger from a single phone."

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Intex launches fitness smart band FitRist at Rs. 999

Intex Technologies has announced the launch of its fitness smart band – FitRist. The smart band is available at Rs. 999. FitRist will be exclusively available on online marketplace – Snapdeal.

FitRist comes with an OLED display and is equipped with various health and fitness features such as step monitoring, distance measurement, calorie count and monitoring of quality of sleep. FitRist is blue tooth-enabled. Once it is synced with the smart phone, it displays all kinds of notifications including monitoring calls. The band helps the user control music track on the smart phone, thereby customizing the music experience. The band also helps in tracking the smart phone device.

“Intex has always aspired to bring innovation and tech products that will improve and empower the lives of consumers. We have expanded our wearable segment with FitRist smart band for the fitness freak and tech savvy youth. We are happy to partner with the one of leading online marketplace – Snapdeal for bringing the fitness device exclusively to consumers and are confident that the platform will ensure quality reach,” stated Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, Mobile Business Head, Intex Technologies.

The sturdy FitRist is powered with a battery which can last up to 12 days. FitRist features Remote Shutter – this feature controls the mobile camera from the band itself. FitRist is water-resistant and splash proof to prevent from rains and accidental spills. The smart band comes in two colour variants of Dark Blue and White. The FitRist is compatible with Android 4.3 or above and iOS 7 or above. It weighs 21 gram.

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Microsoft's New App Can Identify the Breed of a Dog From Its Photo

Remember Microsoft's funny website that could almost accurately guess your age? Well, the Redmond, Washington-based company is at it again. It has released an app called Fetch! which utilises facial recognition and artificial intelligence to recognise your dog's breed. It is available for Web users as well on what-dog.net.

Microsoft on Thursday announced the release of Fetch! for iPhone users. The app allows users to take a picture of a dog you see (or use one from your photos library) and identify its breed. But wait, there's more.

"There was an interest in creating a framework that would allow you to take a domain - in our case, dogs - and recognise numerous classes, such as breeds. We were interested in enabling an app to allow you to make object recognition extraordinary, fun and surprising," says Mitch Goldberg, a development director at Microsoft Research whose Cambridge, U.K based team built the experience.

"We wanted to bring artificial intelligence to the canine world. We wanted to show that object recognition is something anyone could understand and interact with." Microsoft insists that the app utilises machine learning, so it will only get better with use.

Coming to the other interesting feature of the app, you can click your image (or any person you want) and the app would tell you the type of canine you would be if you were a dog.

"This is the kind of app you're going to take out when you're with your friends," its description reads. "You'll make fun of each other, comparing which breeds you look like, and posting the tagged photos."

The app comes from Microsoft Garage, the team inside Microsoft that utilises some of its time on weird - most of the times awesome - things. In the past few months, they have released a number of apps for the rival platforms.

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