HTC has denied that it is working on a “Google Edition” HTC One with stock Android, but it seems the Taiwanese company may have simply been trying to cover it up.
Earlier this week, one source claimed such a device is in the works, and now the same claim — this time from multiple different sources — has started circulating again. According to the latest rumor, an HTC One with stock Android will be announced within the next two weeks.
It took less than 60 minutes for HTC One “Google edition” rumors to begin circulating after Google announced the Galaxy S4 with stock Android at Google I/O last Wednesday. HTC was quick to dismiss those rumors and state that it had no plans for such a device, but according to one source, that’s false.
They claim an HTC One with stock Android is in the works, and that it’ll launch this summer.
Google Hangouts was revealed last week at I/O, and ever since it’s been a huge success. However, now it looks like AT&T are going to rain on Google’s parade by blocking video chat on its mobile network — just like it did with FaceTime on the iPhone.
I used to mock Apple years ago because they advertised Apple as the fun alternative to stodgy, boring Windows.
The idea that Apple was fun and Microsoft was not was a misdirection at best. Windows was the biggest games platform and Xbox was the best console game (in my opinion). Apple had no games to speak of.
Five years ago, all that changed: Apple launched the iOS App Store, and it quickly became the biggest games platform ever, now making twice the money as portable game consoles. Apple’s App Store hit right when the casual and mobile games market was ready to take off in a big way.
The Android market is no slouch in the gaming arena, either, and will soon overtake the portable game console market as well.
But the mobile gaming market is still in its infancy. The Android gaming scene is about yesterday’s games — isolated, causal time-killing games, for the most part. So to take it to the next level, Google this week announced Google Play Games Services.
There are two gigantic opportunities that are potentially unique to Google: multi-device gaming and gaming as a mainstream spectator sport.
We were surprised to see no new Nexus hardware at Google I/O on Wednesday. We were expecting at least a new Nexus 7, and possible a white Nexus 4 with 32GB of storage. The closest we got was a Samsung Galaxy S4 “Nexus edition” with stock Android.
But we may not have to wait too long before Google updates its 7-inch slate. In fact, it looks like the company has already begun teasing the device in its new promotional video for Google Hangouts.
