HTC One (M8) in Glamour Red Coming to Verizon Wireless

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According to our favorite leaker, the HTC One M8 is due to be heading to Verizon Wireless soon in Glamour Red. We saw the HTC One in red last year, but I don’t believe it ever came stateside, unfortunately. It was a great looking color on the HTC One though, and we did get the blue HTC One but it was exclusive to Best Buy. HTC seems to be doing exclusives on colors and storage options. As last year, AT&T had the exclusive on the 64GB HTC One. Which probably didn’t sell super well, but it still would have been nice to have it available on all carriers.

It’s also important to point out that this isn’t the first time that we are seeing reports of a Red and even a blue HTC One (M8) coming soon. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see it hitting shelves soon. What will be interesting though, is to see if the HTC One in red will use the same material as the Glacial Silver and Amber Gold, or if it’ll be the brushed aluminum like the Gunmetal Gray, which is also a bit slippery. Either way one thing is for sure, the red HTC One (M8) is sure to stand out in the crowd, and that may or may not be a good thing.

It’s not uncommon for device manufacturers to rerelease smartphones with a new coat of paint later on in the life cycle of the device. Heck, Samsung does it a few times a year. But usually those colors don’t come to the US, or to the carriers. But the red HTC One (M8) would fit right in with Verizon Wireless, because they are big red. Maybe even a black one with red accents? That would be pretty slick as well.

Are any of you waiting on the red HTC One (M8)? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

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Samsung and HTC Competing for John Legere’s Heart; Given a Gold Galaxy S5

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Yesterday, we saw that HTC was trying to take the spotlight away from Samsung a bit by giving the very outspoken, T-Mobile CEO a gold HTC One (M8). Later on in the day, Samsung Mobile gave him a gold Galaxy S5. Neither of which are found in stores, and thus are collector’s editions basically. So now you’ve got both Samsung and HTC competing with each other for Legere, although I don’t think he cares which one sells more, as long as the T-Mobile variants sell the most.

It’s pretty cool seeing HTC and Samsung giving out their top-tier smartphones to John Legere, and I’ll be honest I think HTC only did it to get some good press. Which did happen, because we all know that Legere can’t keep his mouth shut, especially on Twitter. Now he has a hard decision in front of him, Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One (M8)? In all likeliness he’ll probably be using them both, because he definitely doesn’t want to upset either manufacturer. At least that’s how I view it, I could be wrong. He may also stick to his iPhone 5S that he uses, but that’s the joy of being a CEO, you get to use a different phone everyday.

The Gold Galaxy S5 was not a 24 karat Gold phone like the HTC One (M8) was, but it is still not available anywhere, so that’s still a collector’s edition right now. The regular gold HTC One (M8) is going to be exclusive to Best Buy. So if you want an Amber Gold HTC One (M8) you’ll have to head out to Best Buy and grab one on contract.

How many of you are jealous of Legere and his golden phones? Let us know in the comments down below.

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Image Leaks Show Photos Allegedly Taken With The OnePlus One Camera

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While many of us are waiting to see what the official Oneplus One actually looks like, it seems that we can at least have a look at how pictures taken with the device will turn out. These images leaked over at MyDrivers-a Chinese news source- and show off just a few samples that seem to have been taken with the back camera on the OnePlus One. The company has been secretive of the device when it comes to actually seeing it, but they haven’t been shy about the specs or showing it hiding snugly under a fully exposed Sony Xperia Z1. The Oneplus One is said to come with a 13MP camera with a Sony Exmor sensor and housing 6 lenses.

If anything, some people have been more intrigued about how the camera shots would look as opposed to the phone itself. While we’re quite a bit more excited to see the actual device in all its glory, if were to believe these are indeed images taken from the Oneplus One, we’d love to see more as these actually quite nice. We’re not sure we’d consider this one of the best cameras out there just yet, we’d like to compare some samples that we’ve taken ourselves between the Oneplus One and this years other flagships before we pass judgement. There are a few nature pics and what looks like a selfie, and then one other shot of the same person. The potential selfie image looks too good to us to have been taken with the front facing camera so we’d wager the phone was turned around.

While these may likely be the first images we’er seeing from the Oneplus One, they probably won’t be the last. The question is if we’ll see any more pop up before Oneplus has their announcement that’s planned for the end of this month. Oneplus has been very open about their very first device costing under $400, and with all the other specs we know about and these images, would you consider buying one if you were able to your hands on one? If the phone looks as good as these images, sign me up.

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Rumor: Sprint And Spotify Working On Potential Deal For Customers

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Rumors are citing that Sprint could have a deal in the works with the popular streaming music service Spotify. This wouldn’t likely be too different from what Beats and ATT have going, if the partnership between Sprint and Spotify goes through users could benefit in at least a couple different ways. This would likely open up Sprint customers to have the capability to pay for the Spotify monthly service charge, by tacking that amount onto their monthly bill that comes from Sprint. This would ultimately be easier than having to pay for it for as a separate bill entirely and could allow music lovers on Sprint to consolidate their charges together.

Sprint customers could also potentially have the benefit of getting special promotion discount pricing on the Spotify Premium monthly cost, which normally sits at $9.99. We’re not sure if this would benefit Sprint as much as it might benefit Spotify should the deal end up happening. Customers already on Sprint might be more inclined to choose Spotify over a competitor like Google Play Music All Access for instance, but it seems unlikely that a deal between the two companies would see many people leaving their service providers to jump ship to Sprint just to possibly get a deal on streaming music. The word is that Sprint plans to make the announcement about the deal on April 29th, so it won’t be long before we know if this becomes official or not.

Sprint’s new Framily Plan is said to be a focal point of the deal that users could get by choosing to subscribe to Spotify. Basically, users on a Framily Plan will presumably be able to share the usage of Spotify for a set monthly cost, which ultimately would break down to be less than if everyone subscribed to it individually. This is similar to what Beats Music and ATT are doing, where a family plan can share the Beats service-up to five people total- for $15 instead of an individual $9.99 per person. Honestly, that’s a pretty good deal and it starts paying itself off after the second person on the plan, so long as everyone actually has an interest in subscribing to the streaming music service. If you’re a Sprint subscriber, would you sign up for Spotify if this deal comes into play?

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Oppo Reverses Decision to Cease R819 Firmware Updates

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Oppo found itself in a bit of a sticky situation earlier this week when it announced it would stop providing ColorOS (Oppo’s custom Android ROM) updates for its R819 phone. Of course, all phones go to a proverbial update graveyard eventually, with most major manufacturers ending support for once-popular handsets after interest has moved onto new devices. The problem here is that the R819 isn’t an old device – far from it, in fact, as the Oppo R819 was only released in September 2013.

Making matters worse is the fact that Oppo advertised frequent updates for the R819. So, not only did the company announce that it would cease firmware updates for a phone that’s just eight months old, but the phone in question was sold on the pretense that it would be updated frequently. R819 users were understandably upset with this development, taking to the internet to voice their discontent. The outrage hasn’t gone unnoticed either, with Oppo originally offering an apology in an attempt to quell the unrest among its R819 users.

Unsurprisingly, many users didn’t buy it and weren’t interested in hearing an apology. With the outrage continuing, Oppo has announced that it will reverse the decision to cease firmware updates for the R819. That’s great news for people who thought they’d be stuck dealing with ColorOS bugs on their Oppo R819, with the company promising that bug fixes will be coming with the now-continued updates.

Even users who weren’t experiencing bugs still have some valid complaints here. It isn’t often we see support for a device ended so quickly, much less when one of the selling points of the phone was that it would get frequent updates. Some users are still feeling a little cool toward Oppo, even after the reversal, but the company has managed to make a name for itself by treating its community well. There are plenty of users who are willing to give Oppo another chance, but let’s hope that it doesn’t try to pull something like this again – we have a feeling Oppo fans won’t be so forgiving next time around.

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Featured Review: Phonejoy Game Controller

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There’s a plethora of Bluetooth game controllers out there for use with your Android smartphones and tablets, but sometimes it can be a tough decision to weigh down your options. I own a few different gamepads myself and while I love them all, each has it’s pros and cons. In this review I’ll attempt to breakdown just about every important aspect of the controller, from weight,(comfort) to responsiveness of the buttons, to battery life, and everything in between. With that in mind, lets get to it. This review is about the brand new Phonejoy controller, which not only had a successful kickstarter, but has already begun shipping to backers and officially started the pre-orders for consumers.

Design

First off, lets start with the design. Compared to other gamepads out there, the Phonejoy actually has quite a unique design that seems a little weird at first but once you hold it in your hands it seems more natural than one might think. The controller is made of a nice soft-touch plastic that feels nice in the hand, and each individual button has a soft rubberized top layer. The controller is more compact than others, which for the most part is a huge benefit. The controller houses your standard A,B,X,Y buttons, a D-Pad, two joysticks, start button, back button, your power on/off switch, and a set of left and right bumper and trigger buttons up top. The buttons all fit nicely in their respective locations and the design placement is rather pleasing to the eye and feels comfortable when in use. On top next to the right bumper and trigger you have your micro USB port where you plug in the controller to charge. The controller splits apart to hold your phone in the middle, so unlike having a top-heavy arm/clamp like with the MOGA, the Phonejoy houses your device right in between the left and right sides of the controller, just like you’re using a portable gaming device. Think SEGA Game Gear. On the back, you’ll notice a nice little depression in the controller where your fingers tend to sit, I find that this gives you a nice little grip on the back of the controller for a more secure fit in the hand. You can see the Phonejoy monkey face mascot imprinted on the back right where the depression is, providing a nice little bit of aesthetic. Overall the design is great and looks better than just about every other controller out there, the compact design also makes it easy to tote around.

Comfort

The controller is fairly light weight, so using it to play for extended periods of time shouldn’t get uncomfortable for the most part, but that will honestly depend on the user. For me I found it to be rather comfortable to hold for hours at a time. As I stated above each button on the controller has a nice soft rubberized top layer, so pressing them continuously doesn’t rub your fingers raw or leave them feeling sore. Once again, this may change depending on the user. Normally when holding a controller of Phonejoys compact size when out of use, it almost feels too small. This isn’t a problem of course when not using it, but it can feel a bit cramped as this is how you use it with devices that don’t fit in the middle like a tablet.(My nexus 7 will fit in the middle when in portrait mode, but not in landscape which is how I play most games on it) The workaround I have found to this issue is just to take my Nexus 4 and place it in the middle of the controller to hold it in place while in portrait mode, so it actually spaces the controller sides apart a nice distance and I can play games on my Nexus 7 more comfortably. It also serves as a nice and easy way to see anything that happens on my device should I get any incoming notifications, as I can quickly pause the game on my tablet, and interact with the phone that is essentially already in my hands.

Functionality

The controller actually functions quite well. The pairing and connection process for devices is easy, and remains this way. The slide mechanism opens without much effort, and on the inner edge of each side of where the controller splits, there are little rubber pads that span the height of the controller to help keep your device in place. It also has interlocking teeth of sorts on the front that sit just above the edges of your device on both sides, so the phone can only be removed from the top where you slid it in or the bottom and not backward or forward, making it near impossible for your device to fall out accidentally. All of the buttons respond well and have great feedback, and even though some reviews have been less than fond of the feedback response from the D-Pad saying you have to press too hard, I have found that using the D-Pad is pretty easy and I don’t have to press down with excessive force to make it work. The joysticks work great. I do wish they were just a tiny bit more raised, but even sitting almost flat like they do they work wonderfully. The top bumper and trigger buttons can feel a little out of place depending on how big or small your hands are, but overall they are easy to press.

Battery Life

Battery life is listed as being somewhere between 8 and 12 hours, depending on individual use. I have found it to be closer to 8 than 12, but it did last longer than 8 hours for me personally which is great, and seems like better battery life than both my Nyko PlayPad Pro controller and my MOGA Hero Power. Once the battery dies, you can simply plug it in to charge with the included USB power cable,(no a/c adapter included) and juice it up. If you’re a heavy gamer you might see the battery life die faster than others, but you should get at least 8 hours out of it.

Build Quality

The build quality of the controller seems extremely solid. The material used to make the controller and the buttons seems sturdy enough to withstand a very long life of use by even the most hardcore gamers. The sliding spring mechanism in the middle where you place your phone seems like it’ll hold for a long life as well. Nothing on the controller feels cheap, which is something you absolutely don’t want with a gamepad. Even the accessories feel premium. Phonejoy definitely pulled out all the stops.

Accessories And Extras

This is where the Phonejoy shines a little bit more than other offerings. There are three different bundles you can buy: The Basic bundle, the Advanced bundle, and the Pro Gamer bundle. For the purpose of this review though we’ll focus on the bundle that I personally have which is the Pro Gamer. This bundle includes the USB charging cable to plug your controller in and charge it back up. The cable is fairly long and has the flat tangle resistant design which is a huge plus. You’ll also get a soft pouch to carry the controller, the cable and anything else you could need like a set of headphones. The pouch feels nice and premium and has a draw string like closure. Since the phones headset jack and charging port will be covered up when using the Phonejoy, should you want the ability to charge your controller or plug in headphones for a more immersive experience with your games, you’ll get the headphone and charging adapters which you plug into those ports before you slide the phone into the controller.

The adapters have connection ports for each on one end so you can plug in both things if needed. There are two downsides for me personally here. The adapters have a rectangular form factor, so they are supposed to sit flat against your phones edges when plugged in. Since I’m using a Nexus 4, the headphone jack adapter doesn’t sit flat like it’s supposed to because of the rounded edges of the device and placement of where the headset jack on the phone is. This wouldn’t be a problem for devices that have a flat top edge though, so most phones should be able to use it just fine. This can cause a problem it seems when the Nexus 4 is placed inside the controller if too much pressure is applied, and the possibility of the headset jack bending or breaking can’t be ruled out.(I’m afraid to try using it for this reason) The charger adapter works as intended and fits in place great. The two last accessories you get with the Pro Gamer bundle are the tablet kickstand, and the travel case. I myself did not receive the kickstand, which I believe is because it was one of the different kickstarter versions of the product. The original Pro Gamer bundle you pre-order from retailers will have it though. I can’t speak to how it works myself, but it looks solid in design and functionality and will be great for propping up your tablet for a better angle while playing. The travel case is a real gem and a pure joy to have, as it’s made from a hard material with a soft micro-fiber or velvety interior to keep from scuffing your controller. It also has a little mesh pocket on the inside of the lid to hold the accessories and headphones. It has a zipper enclosure so it stays closed tightly and securely. It even has a nice little plate emblem on the top of the lid with the Phonejoy branding which looks nice.

Pros And Cons

While there were a few cons to this controller, they were far outweighed by all the great things that any gamer should love about it which makes this a really great product and a must have for any android gamer. The only cons I found with it are that, while you can charge your phone while you are gaming with the Phonejoy, you can’t charge your phones battery directly from the Phonejoy, you’ll have to use a separate power source along with the included USB that you get with the bundle, or your own cable if you buy the Basic bundle. The other downside is not a reflection of the Phonejoy controller itself as it has to do with my phones design and not the controller or its accessories, and I’m talking about the headphone adapter. Since I can’t use it, it is a slight disappointment but easily overcome for me because I can just connect my Bluetooth stereo earbuds. This is because the Nexus 4 supports multiple Bluetooth connections to the device simultaneously as do many other devices. The controller basically shines on all other fronts. It’s the best controller I have used of the four or so others I have tried while gaming with my phone and tablet.

Overall

In the end, the Phonejoy is hands down the best Bluetooth gamepad that I have used. It has great battery life, a premium feel to it that overshadows all others and is really comfortable to hold for extended gaming sessions. The included accessories are a huge plus if you spring for the Advanced or Pro Gamer bundles, and the design makes for a better and more natural feel for gaming with your mobile device. It’s also extremely portable, and with the included travel case to keep it and the accessories protected, you can take it with you anywhere as the case will easily fit in a small bag pocket. Without a doubt, the Phonejoy is the absolute best android controller you can buy. You can pick up the Phonejoy Gaming Controller on Amazon starting at just $69.99 for the Basic bundle, or step it up to either the Advanced bundle for $79.99, or go all out on the Pro Gamer bundle for $89.99. When you compare the Pro Gamer bundle to what you get from the MOGA Power Pro, the Phonejoy is easily the better deal and feels like a better product.

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Razer Delays The Launch Of The Nabu Smartband To make Sure It’s Hypoallergenic

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With all the wearables available out there today one of the more interesting ones has got to be the Razer Nabu. We know that it isn’t as equipped with features as any of the smartwatches, but it has two things going for it that just might make it a contender-at least we’re hoping so-which is the fact that it might immediately have a presence as the leading for gamers, and its subtle functionality and elegant design are completely understated. While some are seeking a wearable that not only looks great but can provide them with a ton of features, other simply want a smartband that can notify them of incoming messages and calls, and log activities and other aspects of their everyday life. This is the Razer Nabu.

The smartband from the gaming accessory behemoth was due for a scheduled launch last month, but reports are surfacing that state Razer wanted to make sure that they didn’t run into the same issues as Fitbit who had to recall their Fitbit Force band. Razer is simply trying to avoid causing consumers who purchase the Nabu smartband skin irritation when worn, which we have to applaud them for even if it means a longer wait for a product we were generally interested in. This is only a minor setback as though, as Razer takes the time to make sure that they do things right and launch a product that doesn’t have any health risks, sources are saying that they have only pushed the launch date back a little with the Razer Nabu smartband now scheduled for a release sometime in late May or early June.

If this is the case, we think it’s perfect as the Razer Nabu will be arriving just in time for summer, when we can out and be active in the sun and get some exercise while it’s warm. If you already pre-ordered a Razer Nabu yourself you’ll have to wait a bit longer but thankfully that wait is only a couple months it looks like. We’re looking forward to getting our hands on one of these and living life with it on our wrist for a good few weeks.

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