Dubai: HTC is determined to remain a force in the smartphone industry by introducing two new Android smartphones — the HTC U Ultra and the HTC U Play — with machine learning or artificial intelligence capabilities.
Chialin Chang, president of smartphone and connected devices business at HTC, said that the “U” stands for you [users]. The company has designed its artificial intelligence software, called ‘Sense Companion,’ to listens to users, “capture users” and picks the best content for you.
“Even the USonic hi-res USB Type-C headset is different. Every person’s inner ear is unique as their fingerprint. We all experience sound differently. It analyses your inner ears with a sonic pulse and then adapts to you. It is like having a sound engineer in your phone, now you can hear the details you were missing,” he said.
HTC is touting its artificial intelligence aide as a proactive assistant that can show relevant reminders and alerts throughout the day, similar to Amazon’s Alexa.
Chang said that the Sense Companion can use your weather data to suggest if you should dress warmly or to leave earlier than usual for work if traffic is forecasted.
HTC said that the Sense Companion will not be incorporated into smartphones until the end of February. The AI is a combination of Goggle Assistant, device information and third-party app information.
“After we get it right, we will put it [AI] on last year’s M10 smartphone too,” he said.
Sense Companion will have its own window, a 2.05-inch display located above the main display, similar to what LG launched it in V series. The second display delivers prioritised information for you without interrupting the main display.
The 5.7-inch HTC U Ultra is powered by a 2.15GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, Quad HD Super LCD display with a dual display of 2.05 inch with Gorilla Glass 5 on the 64GB model and Sapphire Glass on the 128GB model. It houses 4GB of RAM and microSD support up to 2TB. It is priced at Dh2,799.
The HTC U Ultra includes four omnidirectional mics, which capture positional sound and allow for 360-degree immersive audio recordings.
HTC is also playing up the camera on its new smartphone, which has a 12MP sensor and a DxOMark rating of 88. That’s higher than the iPhone 7’s score of 86, but lower than the Google Pixel’s 89. The phone also comes with a 16MP front-facing camera for snapping selfies.
DxOMark measures the performance of a camera’s lens and sensor. Higher scores indicate better overall camera quality.
The HTC U Play is a 5.2 inch smartphone with Gorilla Glass which features the 2 GHz MediaTek Helio P10 processor. It sports 3 or 4GB of RAM and 32 or 64GB storage capacity. The microSD support up to 2TB. It houses 16MP front and rear cameras. It is priced at Dh1,799.
Both devices will be available in four colours — brilliant black, cosmetic pink, ice white and sapphire blue. Availability in the first week of February.
