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Smartphone fans looking to pick up the HTC One in its largest storage capacity—64GB—will have to turn to network operator AT&T, which has revealed it will be the exclusive carrier for that version of the device.
There has been no word yet from AT&T or Verizon—which will carry the 32GB version of the One—as to the price or release date for the smartphone. With the One, HTC is joining hands with as many partners as possible. In addition to AT&T and Verizon, the phone is expected to be available on Sprint and with T-Mobile.
HTC has also signed up more than 1,400 content providers around the world, including MTV, the Associated Press and ESPN, so users can see glossy content constantly updating, not just from their Facebook and Twitter feeds but also the biggest media houses in the game.
HTC needs to attract consumers away from iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices, and the One, an Android Jelly Bean-running smartphone with a 4.7-inch full-high-definition display, a new version of the HTC Sense user interface, and BlinkFeed—a home screen that’s a constantly updating media stream—is the company’s best shot.
The handset market also focused on two key areas of intense interest: the camera and the sound. HTC BoomSound pairs Beats Audio technology with front-facing stereo speakers and a dedicated amplifier, while the camera uses the company’s Zoe software, which allows users to make short videos using film clips and still images.
For those consumers who are interested in picking up an HTC One, they might also want to know that it will be almost impossible to repair if damaged. The One scored a 1, “a first-ever for a cell phone,” according to iFixit Chief Information Architect Miro Djuric. It turns out the HTC One’s guts are glued into the machined aluminum casing. Presenting a photograph of the One’s innards on the iFixit site, the team called the amount of work required to get that relative beauty shot “immense.”
In a blog post, Djuric said it took the team more than half an hour to separate the rear aluminum case from the functional components of the phone. In the process, the team had to permanently mangle the plastic bezel surrounding the aluminum case. “It’s possible that prying at a snail’s pace while applying heat could minimize this damage, but we’re not too hopeful,” the report said. “This phone was not made with openability in mind.”