HTC's New Flagship Phone Has AI and a Second Screen, But No Headphone Jack (theverge.com)

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HTC's New Flagship Phone Has AI and a Second Screen, But No Headphone Jack (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on Thursday January 12, 2017 @05:20AM from the we-know-better dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report on The Verge: HTC is getting 2017 off to a flying start with an unseasonably early announcement of its next flagship phone: the U Ultra. This 5.7-inch device inaugurates a new U series of smartphones and is joined by a smaller and lesser U Play, which scales things down to 5.2 inches and a humbler camera and processor spec. HTC is touting a new Sense Companion, which is its take on the growing trend for putting AI assistants into phones, plus the addition of a second screen at the top of the U Ultra. As with Apple's latest iPhones, Lenovo's Moto Z, and the HTC Bolt, neither of HTC's new handsets has a headphone jack. The other big change on the outside is the U Ultra's second screen, which is a thin 2-inch strip residing to the right of the front-facing camera and immediately above the Super LCD 5 screen.

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No headphone jack ... by CaptainDork · 2017-01-12 05:22 · Score: 4, Informative

... is a ploy to boost the hardware side with expensive Bluetooth alternatives.

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It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
1. Re:No headphone jack ... by TWX · 2017-01-12 05:34 · Score: 1
  
  So, what makes HTC think I'm going to buy the Bluetooth headset from them?
  
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  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
2. Re:No headphone jack ... by CaptainDork · 2017-01-12 05:50 · Score: 2
  
  The headphones are on a rack right there with the phones.
  
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  It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
3. Re: No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:50 · Score: 0
  
  The most space is taken by a battery. Make a phone with no battery and bundle an adapter for it. That is courage.
4. Re: No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:50 · Score: 0
  
  Market collusion. If you have few or fairly feature limited alternative options, the cost of the 3.5mm jack might force you to choose one of the crappier other options.
  This is similar to the removal of expandable memory (justified by "performance" and reliability to push cloud data storage services ) and user replaceable batteries (justified by water resistance features very few people demanded, though I'm one of theach few who actually needed it).
  Some design choices anymore are due to technological progress, most these days are to make more money. This is due to a consumer market that seems to adopt almost anything thrown at them.
5. Re:No headphone jack ... by Oswald+McWeany · 2017-01-12 05:53 · Score: 1
  
  They probably can't guarantee it, but some people will buy the "official" whatever, even if there are better 3rd party brands available. They don't care if some of the extra money you spend goes elsewhere, as long as some of it comes to them and increases their profits.
  I'm curious for how many people though no headphone jack is a big enough turn-off that customers will look away. Probably depends on the customer. For me, if I had two phones available with similar specs, but one was slightly thinner than the other, but the other had a headphone jack- I'd pick the headphone jack. I wouldn't pay $50 extra or buy a substandard phone just to get a headphone jack.
  
  --
  "That's the way to do it" - Punch
6. Re: No headphone jack ... by Grishnakh · 2017-01-12 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  and user replaceable batteries (justified by water resistance features very few people demanded, though I'm one of theach few who actually needed it).
  This is flat wrong.
  1) User-replaceable batteries do not make it impossible to make a phone water resistant. My Samsung Galaxy S5 is proof of this.
  2) LOTS of people demanded this; so many, in fact, that Apple was finally forced to give in and make their latest iPhones water-resistant.
  The only reasons to eliminate user-replaceable batteries are to save cost, and maybe to profit from expensive battery-replacement services.
  Some design choices anymore are due to technological progress, most these days are to make more money. This is due to a consumer market that seems to adopt almost anything thrown at them.
  This is mostly true, but Apple's adoption of water-resistance in their iPhones does show that consumers still exercise some power. Apple could easily have continued to tell their cultist customers that they don't need that feature, but since it was being offered in several other high-end phones for several years, they could only get away with that for so long.
7. Re:No headphone jack ... by jlechem · 2017-01-12 06:02 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Must be a shitty ploy, my brand new HTC bolt came with wired headphones. They are usb-c headphones but they are wired and they sound really really good. A cheap ass dongle will let me use my 3.5mm headphones if I so desire. I was butt hurt at first but I've gotten used tho them. Now if it was bluetooth only I would have taken this thing back in a heartbeat.
  
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  Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some pimpin in it
8. Re:No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:07 · Score: 0
  
  Right, just like how they don't put CD drives and parallel ports on phones is to sell expensive dongles.
  Technology progresses, get over it.
9. Re:No headphone jack ... by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 06:29 · Score: 1
  
  I know that if there is a top grade phone with replaceable battery, micro-sd slot and headphone jack then I'm in. I'm still using a 2 year old S5 Active because it still meets my needs and I haven't seen anything I consider enough better to make me pay out 700-800 dollars.
10. Re:No headphone jack ... by AmiMoJo · 2017-01-12 06:40 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Fuck dongles. Seriously, fuck needing a dongle to get a 0.01mm thinner phone with worse battery life.
  They are particularly bad for headphones, because you tend to use headphones while moving around where as charging is done stationary. That means strain on the connector, and the headphone socket is fairly robust but the USB port is much more prone to damage.
  
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11. Re: No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:53 · Score: 0
  
  No one uses CD drives or parallel ports. Many use headphones. Progress isn't removing something still extremely common and requiring a dongle. That's regression.
12. Re:No headphone jack ... by robmv · 2017-01-12 07:00 · Score: 1
  
  and still no way to recharge the phone on the desktop at the office, and listen music at the same time while working, without an USB dock or another dongle, or crappy Bluetooth. And no, not every work environment let you install any kind on media player on your desktop computer.
13. Re:No headphone jack ... by decep · 2017-01-12 07:02 · Score: 2
  
  Using the USB C spec does not necessarily push the idea of more expensive alternatives. Using USB C is less "evil" than Apple pushing the lightning connector because USB C includes [the possibility of] an analog audio signal without the need for an external DAC. This means that all that is required to use analog headphones is a USB C to 3.5mm adapter. This would not even fully be considered a "dongle" because it does not require any fancy electronics for functionality. In Host Audio Adapter mode, pins SBU1 and SBU2 directly carry an analog signal.
14. Re:No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 07:17 · Score: 0
  
  This would not even fully be considered a "dongle" because it does not require any fancy electronics for functionality.
  It's an external plug adapter than hangs off the outside of the phone to provide additional functionality. It's a dongle. And it's an easily-lost pain-in-the-ass.
15. Re:No headphone jack ... by greatpatton · 2017-01-12 07:21 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Great and now how are you going to charge and use your phone?
16. Re:No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 07:39 · Score: 0
  
  USB ports are good for what, 10,000 insertions? Using headphones for that just ups the failure rate.
17. Re:No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 07:58 · Score: 0
  
  Now I have to have bluetooth on, opens up an easier path to a forced bluetooth hack on the users device. Forced bluetooth hacks can and are accomplished even when your bluetooth is off, of course, but this leaves the user wide open all the time. Plus further battery drain. Any kid with a laptop and $50 of Radio Shack parts can create a bluetooth hacking device. Now is this why these phone makers are insisting bluetooth headphones are "the next big thing"? Falls right in step with what big brother governments want.
18. Re:No headphone jack ... by jlechem · 2017-01-12 08:12 · Score: 1
  
  Yes this does indeed suck, there are some splitters out there so I can charge and listen but honestly the battery life last a long time streaming video and the charger is very very fast. However this doesn't stop it from being a pain in the ass. Why they didn't put in two ports boggles my mind.
  
  --
  Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some pimpin in it
19. Re:No headphone jack ... by blindseer · 2017-01-12 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  I have a lot of broken and worn headphone jacks that say different.
  Having USB-C ports on portable devices is relatively new so time will tell. Given that the USB-C port is an evolution of the mini and micro USB port I suspect that the people behind this have it figured out. If not then expect USB-D ports or something else to replace them. Sure it sucks having to buy all new accessories when getting a new phone but I'm old enough to remember the days before USB became the charging standard. There were a lot of sucky, proprietary, expensive, and fragile connectors then.
  It's not like headphone jacks were always the norm. I remember all kinds of crazy ports on portable devices to get people to buy accessories from the device maker. At least now we have people following standards like USB-C, Bluetooth, and WiFi. Even the Lighting port is a blessing since we can be reasonably assured it's going to stick around for a while and third parties are making cables, adapters, and accessories with that connector.
  
  --
  I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
20. Re:No headphone jack ... by nmb3000 · 2017-01-12 08:25 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Must be a shitty ploy, my brand new HTC bolt came with wired headphones.
  Pushing more expensive headphones might be a bonus short-term side effect, but the real victory here is the potential of closing the analog hole for mobile devices. I fully expect someone to introduce "end to end" DRM within a year or two which will require an authenticated and encrypted connection from the source (file or stream) through the mobile processor, to the headphones. Non-compliant headphones won't be able to authenticate with the host device and therefore won't be usable with certain DRM'd media.
  Don't be surprised when Apple shows more "courage" and removes the analog audio connectors from their next lineup of desktops and laptops (if they haven't already). The desktop / laptop market will swiftly follow once people accept it on mobile.
  Take a look at HDCP for an example of how this has already been done elsewhere.
  
  --
  "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
  /)
21. Re:No headphone jack ... by blindseer · 2017-01-12 09:00 · Score: 1
  
  I fully expect someone to introduce "end to end" DRM within a year or two which will require an authenticated and encrypted connection from the source (file or stream) through the mobile processor, to the headphones.
  I'm not sure how this helps, it's not like people can't or won't strip the wires from a pair of headphones and wire them to the wires stripped from a microphone. A simpler solution that doesn't destroy the headphones and with only a minimal loss in quality is putting microphones in the ears of a foam head to wear the headphones.
  They can't plug the analog hole.
  
  Don't be surprised when Apple shows more "courage" and removes the analog audio connectors from their next lineup of desktops and laptops (if they haven't already). The desktop / laptop market will swiftly follow once people accept it on mobile.
  If Apple does get rid of the analog audio ports I expect them to be replaced with the Lightning port or whatever they come up to replace it. This gets back to the stripped wires and/or foam head solutions I mentioned before for copying music. This also addresses some of the complaints of the loss of the headphone port on iDevices, now the same accessories work on all Apple devices again.
  I've been looking off and on for years for a headset that has stereo, microphone, and plugs into the headphone/mic port common on Apple devices (desktop, laptop, and iOS) for years. People would sell mono devices and obviously I can get stereo headphones without a mic. There are USB headsets like this which supposedly work on iDevices with the "camera" adapter, but this is an unsupported feature that might stop working at any time with an iOS update. I can also find a number of other adapters to make a number of headsets work. I guess I'm not part of a big enough market for someone to bother making a product to fit. I don't know if this shift to digital ports will make finding a headset to fit all my requirements easier or not but I doubt it will hurt.
  
  --
  I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
22. Re:No headphone jack ... by PoopJuggler · 2017-01-12 09:07 · Score: 0
  
  That circuitry would just be inside the phone, making it bigger, hotter, heavier, and more expensive. When everyone has Bluetooth headphones, what's the point?
23. Re:No headphone jack ... by dgatwood · 2017-01-12 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  Given that micro-USB is the flakiest jack I've ever dealt with, I'd be shocked if they finally figured it out. Each progressive iteration of USB has had more problems than the last, because the contacts are too small to be reliable.
  What makes 1/8" mini plugs awesome is that the contact surface alone is about as thick as an entire USB-C connector. For something that's constantly being bumped, you can't beat large contact surfaces for reliability.
  
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24. Re:No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 09:57 · Score: 0
  
  A simpler solution that doesn't destroy the headphones and with only a minimal loss in quality is putting microphones in the ears of a foam head to wear the headphones.
  Audio recorded with microphones from Apple ear buds or similar headphones is not exactly a minimal loss in quality. Even with destroying the headphones, the first solution of recording from the wires is likely cheaper than equipment that would be required for making a recording of adequate quality with microphones. Of course, if they are made with the goal of end to end DRM in mind, the headphones might be difficult to disassemble without destroying them, or there might not be any easy to access wires, or the circuit might detect if the headphone is disassembled and refuse to decode any audio under such conditions.
25. Re:No headphone jack ... by Khashishi · 2017-01-12 10:30 · Score: 1
  
  Is the analog hole even relevant? I think it's much more convenient for a pirate to use a digital hole (there are plenty) and rip bit-for-bit accurate recordings. Sure, they can fall back on analog if all the digital holes are closed up, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
26. Re:No headphone jack ... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 10:38 · Score: 0
  
  Now only if USB Audio actually worked consistently all the time: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/735-audiophile-switches-ios-android/
27. Re:No headphone jack ... by youngone · 2017-01-12 10:58 · Score: 1
  I'm still using a Galaxy S4 because it works fine for what I need, although I did install Cyanogenmod to get Android updates. (That went really well).
  I look at the various new phones that come out, and they are all missing a feature I want, so I will keep using the phone I have until something better comes along.
  My requirements are:
  
  User replacable battery
  Micro Sd slot
  5" or smaller screen
  3.5mm headphone jack
  Everything else is negotiable. At least with Android, someone will sell me what I want.
28. Re:No headphone jack ... by TWX · 2017-01-12 11:01 · Score: 1
  
  I was using my Galaxy SII until it finally physically died. Like, would attempt to boot and would err that it could find components that are soldered on like the SIM card slot and WIFI.
  
  I replaced it with a Kyocera Duraforce XD. It's not the absolute latest-greatest but it's a ruggedized phone that has replacable battery, microsd slot, headphone jack. Screen is big. There is a smaller version of this phone from Kyocera.
  
  --
  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
29. Re:No headphone jack ... by Blaskowicz · 2017-01-12 11:15 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed but unlike Apple ones, you might buy one for $1 or something like that. Even order a bag of ten or more if you really want.
  The dongle would more easily attach to the male jack than to the USB phone, so it ought to be like 3.5 to 6.35mm adapters on headphones : sometimes there's such a dongle attached on a headphones and you don't even know it's there unless you check there's one.
  Computer-like example : the DVI-to-VGA adapters. I hate them less since figuring out screwing the VGA cable to the DVI-I adapter makes it easier to handle.
  But now there more and more DVI ports that don't carry the analog signals, and this is the same way you might get shafted with phones - if you get one with no built-in DAC, your stuff won't work.
  In all I do sort of like the USB-C analog audio proposal except for charging while listening. Dual USB on phone would be nice (even micro USB for charging only, while USB-C can do everything) but it's useful and costs $0.5, so I doubt we'll see that at all.
30. Re:No headphone jack ... by youngone · 2017-01-12 11:55 · Score: 1
  
  The SII was a great phone, it also has a built in FM radio which I quite like, although Cyanogenmod does not seem to be able to make it work.
  One of my sons had one and really liked it.
31. Re:No headphone jack ... by torkus · 2017-01-13 08:48 · Score: 1
  
  I'm crossing my fingers that Samsung is "braver" and keeps the headphones jack, though it doesn't look like it.
  Whoever DOES release a modern smartphone with a headphones jack will see significant sales based on that fact alone.
  
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32. Re:No headphone jack ... by torkus · 2017-01-13 09:41 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, before everyone had a headphones jack on their phone there was all kinds of crazy, wonky adaptations. Mind you, this is LONG after the 1/8"/3.5mm headphone jack was standardized.
  So finally, after painstaking years, the phone manufacturers finally got their collective heads out of their asses and put standard headphones jacks on their devices. They worked. They worked with trendy shit-buds and dusty decades-old headphones alike. They. Just. Worked.
  Now, long after everyone actually agreed on something that wasn't brand new, proprietary, or just-fucking-stupid, they want to UNDO all that and go back to split standards. Even two is one too many. Especially since it's pointless and you could STILL offer the USB-C/lightning headphones alongside the standard headphones jack.
  As for headphones jacks (and USB ports) breaking all the time...WTF are you people doing to your phones? I haven't broken a headphones jack in a decade or more, and I don't think I've ever broken a micro-USB except on some chinese garbage that was defectively soldered to begin with.
  
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33. Re:No headphone jack ... by torkus · 2017-01-13 09:42 · Score: 1
  
  Yah, back to downloading MP3s then and streaming them from your own cloud server.
  
  --
  You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
34. Re:No headphone jack ... by torkus · 2017-01-13 09:45 · Score: 1
  
  The digital hole is called CDs. Every CD is a very-low-loss unencrypted digital copy of the music.
  Done and done. Granted, people strongly prefer streaming these days and I really don't think it matters all that much. What's to stop someone from taking and making USB/lightning 'headphones' that's just an analog-out signal you could plug into your mixing board/evil pirate tool/elevator speaker system?
  
  --
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35. Re:No headphone jack ... by kuzb · 2017-01-13 10:01 · Score: 1
  
  HTC wants to be Apple so bad. They try really hard - sometimes too hard.
  
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36. Re:No headphone jack ... by Existential+Wombat · 2017-01-13 10:46 · Score: 1
  
  Yea, and Apple will sue them for this.
  They patented not having a headphone jack on a phone.
37. Re:No headphone jack ... by CaptainDork · 2017-01-13 11:00 · Score: 1
  
  They patented not having a headphone jack on a phone.
  Citation, please.
  
  --
  It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
38. Re:No headphone jack ... by grahamsz · 2017-01-13 16:50 · Score: 1
  
  My last HTC phone was the HTC Dream running Android Donut and *it* lacked a headphone port. Instead coming with a weird proprietary USB headphone.
39. Re:No headphone jack ... by syntotic · 2017-01-14 03:41 · Score: 1
  
  WILL IT PLAY NINTENDO DS GAMES???! Please... I think I can concoct a ds with a Pi and a couple of arduinos, but... New Nintendo thing is as horrid as can be. I have liked HTC ideas, no idea (...) why Nintendo abandoned the two screens platform but it is good to see it is not being forgotten. It is, IN FACT, super-convenient! Even for designing apps like the ones Nintendo did not let others develop for DS/DSi.
40. Re:No headphone jack ... by CaptainDork · 2017-01-14 04:15 · Score: 1
  
  Meanwhile, back at.
  
  HTC's New Flagship Phone Has AI and a Second Screen, But No Headphone Jack
  RTFS; RTFA; meet back here.
  
  --
  It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Unfortunate. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:24 · Score: 0

Why?
1. Re:Unfortunate. by TWX · 2017-01-12 05:31 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Because the engineering mantra of designing something that's the minimum needed to do the job properly has been supplanted with a long-term strategic goal to attempt to sell more things to consumers by selling them devices that don't do everything they need out of the box.
  
  The biggest flaw in the concept of this approach is assuming that the consumer will go to the original supplier for future accessories. You'd think they'd learn that consumers will go to whoever is cheapest, or whoever offers the actual best solution, depending on the penchant of the consumer, and that the original supplier is not necessarily the default option. Unfortunately nearly every company that makes products with modules or consumables makes this mistake.
  
  So instead of providing the simple, robust solution they run themselves in circles attempting to influence the market to benefit them only for all that effort to amount to nothing. Apple has historically been the only company that has managed to do this, but even then, there are plenty of users that will go third-party for accessories.
  
  --
  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
2. Re:Unfortunate. by jellomizer · 2017-01-12 05:44 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Because it takes a lot of space.
  With those notes 7 exploding because the battery was too tightly packed in. That extra empty space can be used to allow for that extra room.
  
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  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
3. Re:Unfortunate. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:46 · Score: 0
  
  I am not certain why this is a flawed concept. The original supplier loses nothing in this scenario since they did not spend the money to build the functionality into their equipment to start with, and if even 25% of the consumers go back to them to purchase accessories it's a win. They offer their phone at a lower price point, and I can get a pair of headphones I like without feeling guilty about sending the ones that came with the phone to the landfill.
4. Re:Unfortunate. by LynnwoodRooster · 2017-01-12 06:10 · Score: 1
  
  Not really. A large 3.5mm TRS jack, with a switch, is around 0.45cc. It's actually quite small. Previous phones are the size of this new HTC, have the same number of hardware features, and kept th 3.5mm jack.
  
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5. Re: Unfortunate. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:21 · Score: 0
  
  Going to the cheapest isn't true.
  Companies that produce massively marked up products like Bose and Beats need to sell just one unit to make up for hundreds of cheap sales.
  People convince themselves that they are getting better value when it's simply a glorified equalizer.
6. Re:Unfortunate. by blindseer · 2017-01-12 08:03 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Because the engineering mantra of designing something that's the minimum needed to do the job properly has been supplanted with a long-term strategic goal to attempt to sell more things to consumers by selling them devices that don't do everything they need out of the box.
  Is this feature reduction or future proofing? I have a laptop with a SD slot and HDMI port that I've never used, except to only prove to myself that they worked, and not likely to use in the future. It also has USB-3 and DisplayPort outputs which with inexpensive adapters I can use to attach an SD card reader or HDMI cable. If given the option now I'd much rather buy a replacement that lacks a SD reader and HDMI port so that I can have a laptop that is just that much smaller, lighter, and cheaper.
  I've had an iPod Touch for years that has seen daily use, and is now going into semi-retirement with my acquisition of an iPhone. That iPod had it's headphone jack damaged about a year ago but after an initial transition period I didn't miss it. I could still dock it with my truck stereo for music. When at home I could stream my music to an AirPort Expess, put in in a dock by my stereo, or just listen to it through the internal speaker. This is how I intend to use my iPhone now. What allowed me to keep that iPod working for me for so long was the ability to get audio and video from the dock port. I didn't need all kinds of ports and plugs on the iPod itself, I just bought the cables as I needed them. These cables and adapters included a composite A/V cable, component A/V cable, USB "card reader" adapter, and the car stereo adapter I mentioned earlier. An iPod with all of those ports on the device itself would have been huge.
  This is a bit different with a laptop due to the inherent proportions of the format. I do remember many many people essentially laughing at Apple for not putting an optical drive in their laptop. Now we have people laughing at them for not having a SD slot. In the past I hated having to need adapters because they were exceedingly large and expensive, or so I perceived them to be, and it seemed I could never find the one I needed when I needed it. What has changed is the technology, adapters are smaller and cheaper now, and with the growth in the internet I have access to many competing suppliers trying to get me what I want when I want it.
  Another change, perhaps just as important, is my perception. I have come to realize that no matter what two devices I have before me that I wish to connect I will need an adapter. We might not perceive this as an adapter but as a cable but every cable is effectively an adapter. Instead of thinking of this as having to buy another damned adapter I think of it as having to get a cable I would have had to get anyway but now I don't have to have a dozen ports on a computer where I'll only use half of them.
  A joke among my friends was that USB stood for "useless serial bus" since when it was introduced there was nothing to plug into it. Now it's replaced nearly everything and I'm liking it. I don't need a laptop with a serial port, Ethernet port, flash card reader, modem port, Firewire port, parallel port, and DVI port like my old one did. When I pack my laptop I also pack the cables I need with the USB adapters attached. I treat the USB adapter and cable as a single unit, if it isn't a single physical unit already. While USB isn't quite "universal" it's close enough that I only need a couple other kinds of ports to plug into everything I need to get my work done.
  Another thing that has changed with time is the weight bearing ability of my knees. Having all those ports on the laptop means weight that I must carry even if I just want to have a laptop with me to do a bit of work at a deli while eating. I'll still pack my bag with my laptop but all those adapters can be left behind.
  So, yes, they do intend for people to come back for the cable they need. Any more I find complaints that a device doesn't have the p
  
  --
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7. Re:Unfortunate. by swillden · 2017-01-12 08:06 · Score: 2
  
  Because the engineering mantra of designing something that's the minimum needed to do the job properly has been supplanted
  Alternatively, given the available more flexible and general-purpose alternatives, the headphone jack is no longer required to do the job properly, so the mantra dictates that it should be removed.
  I've spoken with mobile phone hardware engineers about the issue, and what they say is that there are very compelling reasons to remove the headphone jack. It takes a huge amount of space, particularly due to depth, and does so right in a crucial area where designers would prefer to put antennas. Being able to get rid of it in favor of USB audio allows them to make better phones.
  
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8. Re:Unfortunate. by buss_error · 2017-01-12 08:35 · Score: 1
  
  Not as big a mistake as may seem at first glance. Think printer ink. That is what Apple Et. Al. are trying to do with cell phones - turn them into walled gardens where they are the gate-keepers and every toll exacted goes to their own pockets.
  Go look up who the lobbyists are trying to influence. They are trying to remove any possibility of competition they can, by whatever means they can bring to bear. Telecoms have largely eliminated competition in the transport sector. The barriers to entry keep what limited competition there is to an absolute minimum by simply writing the laws they want and giving it to their paid for legislators to sign & pass.
  You aren't paranoid if they really are out to get you.
  
  --
  Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
9. Re:Unfortunate. by TWX · 2017-01-12 11:04 · Score: 1
  
  I had a phone back in the day that didn't have a headphone jack and one had to use a dongle to get one. It was very annoying, especially since the USB connector is on the bottom.
  
  --
  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
10. Re:Unfortunate. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 12:13 · Score: 0
  
  I don't think anyone is suggesting that you shouldn't be able to buy a super thin and light phone/tablet/laptop if that's what you want. What I am annoyed about is that I cannot now buy one with the ports I need.
  Today I have used the HDMI, SD Card, Power, 3.5mm headphone and USB ports on my 2013 Macbook Pro. If I want to do the same with a 2016 model, I get a very slightly thinner machine, and a bag full of adapters. The total weight and size is more for the same tasks.
  If they want to remove all the ports from the Air and have it charge by induction, I couldn't care less. My issue is that my options for a new OSX machine with the features I need on a daily basis are now: none. Zero. Nada.
  Apple's decision to remove features from their Pro line makes them less useful for (many) professionals. So when I upgrade either I have to carry a bunch of dongles (robbing my of extremely valuable carry-on space and weight), or buy a non-Apple machine. At the moment, I'm leaning towards getting a non-Apple machine, but I worry that this brain-dead meme of removing features for aesthetics is being adopted by other companies like HTC.
11. Re:Unfortunate. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 12:16 · Score: 0
  
  To revise your "laptops without ports are like pants that didn't come with a belt" simile, it's more accurate to say that they now only sell pants without belt loops, and suggest you use suspenders. They will sell you a suspender-to-belt adapter for an additional charge; it looks ridiculous and each adapter only works with one colour of belt, but hey; just use suspenders!
12. Re:Unfortunate. by Blaskowicz · 2017-01-12 15:56 · Score: 1
  
  I wonder if they have something to say about putting dual USB (either dual USB-C, or USB-C plus micro USB) on the phone, because I need power + audio out more often than I need something else.
13. Re:Unfortunate. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 23:43 · Score: 0
  
  Is this feature reduction or future proofing? I have a laptop with a SD slot and HDMI port that I've never used, except to only prove to myself that they worked, and not likely to use in the future. It also has USB-3 and DisplayPort outputs which with inexpensive adapters I can use to attach an SD card reader or HDMI cable. If given the option now I'd much rather buy a replacement that lacks a SD reader and HDMI port so that I can have a laptop that is just that much smaller, lighter, and cheaper.
  WTF drugs are you on? you have always had choice! I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you are referring to a laptop... but fuck man, the options to have next to no ports has been around for a while with tablets.
  Extra ports are a utility for those who need them, you don't so why fucking choose it then?
  Of course you could have received it as a gift or use it for work, in which case, "shut up!"
14. Re:Unfortunate. by swillden · 2017-01-13 04:14 · Score: 1
  
  I wonder if they have something to say about putting dual USB (either dual USB-C, or USB-C plus micro USB) on the phone, because I need power + audio out more often than I need something else.
  Good question. I don't think dual USB would be the right solution, though. USB can deliver data/audio out while pushing power in, so you only need one port. With a miniature USB hub plus a USB audio adapter you'd be able to charge and listen at the same time. And someone could even combine them into one small device. I found one that allows charging the device while getting HDMI output, so something like that.
  Personally, my phone (Pixel XL) charges so quickly and lasts so long that I rarely need power + audio, except in the car where I use Bluetooth audio anyway. The combination of quick charging and long battery life means I charge when it's convenient for me to charge, rather than when the phone needs it. Mostly that means I only plug it in when I'm in the car (where my dock has a charger, so it requires no conscious decision to charge).
  
  --
  Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
15. Re:Unfortunate. by swillden · 2017-01-13 04:17 · Score: 1
  
  One more thought: I actually could see value in two USB-C ports, one at the top and one at the bottom. When using wired headphones, it's convenient to have the wire coming from the top of the phone.
  
  --
  Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
SD and battery by Script+Cat · 2017-01-12 05:24 · Score: 4, Insightful

Does it have an SD slot and a removable battery. If not, still a non buy.
1. Re:SD and battery by msmash · 2017-01-12 05:27 · Score: 1
  
  It does have a microSD card slot.
2. Re:SD and battery by Script+Cat · 2017-01-12 05:28 · Score: 1
  
  It has an SD slot!
3. Re:SD and battery by Rick+Schumann · 2017-01-12 05:33 · Score: 0
  
  Does it have an SD slot and a removable battery. If not, still a non buy.
  Never mind that, is it still as full of security holes as a colander, like every other so-called 'smartphone'? If so, then still a non-buy.
4. Re:SD and battery by spire3661 · 2017-01-12 05:36 · Score: 0
  
  OK people need to relax on the removable battery thing. USB batteries are cheap and plentiful now. I agree having a removable is better, but its not the deal breaker it used to be.
  
  --
  Good-bye
5. Re:SD and battery by jellomizer · 2017-01-12 05:45 · Score: 1
  
  Please let me know what type of phone you are using. And how useful is it today?
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
6. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:46 · Score: 1
  
  So, wanting proper features and upgradeability is old fashioned now? You hipsters are such idiots.
7. Re:SD and battery by Script+Cat · 2017-01-12 05:47 · Score: 1
  
  The battery needs to be pulled when this thing gets wet.
  Not if, when.
8. Re:SD and battery by Script+Cat · 2017-01-12 05:51 · Score: 1
  
  LG-VS985/ cyanogen mod.
  Still good
9. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:54 · Score: 0
  
  Amen. microSD slot AND removable battery is a must for my next phone, too!
  Why don't manufacturers understand there are a whole lot of us who have a pent up demand for such a phone...like the Galaxy S5.
10. Re:SD and battery by ColdWetDog · 2017-01-12 05:55 · Score: 1
  
  What? I've had perhaps a half dozen cell phones. Some with removable batteries, some not.
  I never have had to pull a battery because I got the thing wet.
  What in bog's name are you doing?
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
11. Re:SD and battery by Oswald+McWeany · 2017-01-12 05:56 · Score: 1
  
  An SD card may not be important for as many people anymore, but a removable battery could extend the life of a phone by several years. A removable battery easily adds $100 value to a phone IMO.
  
  --
  "That's the way to do it" - Punch
12. Re:SD and battery by Grishnakh · 2017-01-12 06:00 · Score: 1
  
  I'm using a Galaxy S5. Works great.
13. Re: SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:04 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  So when your internal li-ion battery degrades and considerably loses its ability to hold charge, you can carry it around *and* and extra battery pack! Or buy a new phone because the repair cost is so high it makes more economic sense. Yay! $$$$
  Or if whatever reason you want control over your device and just want to completely pull the power quickly, you can try draining the charge over the next hour.
14. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:04 · Score: 0
  
  I buy new phones with high specs with removable batteries and SD card slots. The Oppo Find 7 was the most recent such purchase. It's a few years old, but still working fine for me.
15. Re:SD and battery by Thelasko · 2017-01-12 06:11 · Score: 1
  
  Does it have an SD slot and a removable battery. If not, still a non buy.
  I just bought my wife a new Galaxy S5. IMHO it's the best phone ever made. Everything has gotten worse since. I hope it never goes out of production.
  
  --
  One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
16. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:16 · Score: 0
  
  Or you can just open the phone and replace the battery. If you can't do it some kid at some cell store will for less than the 100 dollar price tag you put on it.
  Luckily the industry see you as a dinosaur and they're swinging the other way on this matter.
17. Re:SD and battery by Z00L00K · 2017-01-12 06:18 · Score: 1
  
  Secure phone - here!.
  And to fix the battery pack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
  
  --
  If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
18. Re:SD and battery by Z00L00K · 2017-01-12 06:19 · Score: 1
  
  He's playing in a bog.
  
  --
  If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
19. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:19 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe not to millennial morons like you, but it is to me.
20. Re: SD and battery by Z00L00K · 2017-01-12 06:20 · Score: 1
  
  And when the li-ion battery swells up you definitely want to change it. I have suffered from that in many cases. Shitty battery technology.
  
  --
  If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
21. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:21 · Score: 0
  
  wetting it in the toilet
22. Re:SD and battery by fbobraga · 2017-01-12 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  Galaxy S4 with cyanogenmod here
23. Re:SD and battery by guruevi · 2017-01-12 06:23 · Score: 1
  
  My iPhone is 5.5 years old, never needed a new battery, still holds ~80% of it's original time. Most people don't keep their phone to the half life of the battery (~10 years).
  
  --
  Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
24. Re:SD and battery by Z00L00K · 2017-01-12 06:25 · Score: 1
  
  Sony Ericsson W810, works fine to make calls on but the battery starts to go sour and it starts to have signs of falling apart - but it works.
  
  --
  If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
25. Re:SD and battery by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 06:39 · Score: 1
  
  Most Android phones don't have a 10 year of even 3 year battery. My wife's LG isn't at 80% and it's less than a year old. If I wanted a phone with no headphone jack, no easily replaceable battery and no sd card slot I'd buy a fucking Apple.
26. Re:SD and battery by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 06:46 · Score: 1
  
  I've dropped one in a toilet a few years ago. Yanked the battery out, dried it as best I could and threw it in a gallon ziplock bag with some rice. Pulled it out a couple days later, replaced the battery and put it back together and it worked good as new. The new ones supposedly are water proof though so I guess you shouldn't need to do this for those.
27. Re: SD and battery by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 06:47 · Score: 1
  
  If you're paranoid or a criminal you really want to be able to pull the battery when "they" are tracking you.
28. Re: SD and battery by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 06:50 · Score: 1
  
  I imagine a removable battery might have made the Note7 repairable.
29. Re:SD and battery by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 06:51 · Score: 1
  
  I went from an S4 (I literally crushed it) to an S5 Active. Speed wise I really couldn't tell any difference in operation.
30. Re:SD and battery by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 06:52 · Score: 1
  
  Is that still being developed?
31. Re:SD and battery by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  I think the S5 is the perfect phone. They should just keep upgrading the logic board, I can't see why anything else needs to change.
32. Re:SD and battery by fbobraga · 2017-01-12 07:28 · Score: 1
  
  yeap, up to the end of last year
33. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 07:44 · Score: 0
  
  Not wanting to be sheep makes you a dinosaur now. God, you people will eat whatever garbage they shove you.
34. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 08:14 · Score: 0
  
  So does my phone, sdcard worked in the stock android 5.1. When the marshmallow upgrade happened, sd card functionality ground to a halt. Recently while screwing around in settings I learned I could re-format it to become integrated with the low phone memory. That worked great for about 3 days, and now the phone has corrupted 2 128 gb cards that I'm currently trying to repair (with no success so far). Either this is common or my phone has been pwned/owned/hacked.
  Does any knowledgeable /. person know if (on Win10) it's possible to into a computer, leaving the owner their administrator rights, but lock them out from making changes to said computer. I found an "extra" 8 digit password astericked out while I was trying to reset/restore my computer. I ended up having to go to a restore point, the only one on this computer. Problem is, I never created such a password myself.
35. Re:SD and battery by Rick+Schumann · 2017-01-12 08:33 · Score: 1
  
  Mock me all you want, at least I'm not paying a premium price to be tracked with millimeter accuracy everywhere I go, and to be part of some Russian or Chinese jerks' bot-net, all so I can be amused playing twitch-games while sitting on the can at work.
36. Re:SD and battery by blindseer · 2017-01-12 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  I know of several places that offer battery replacement services for phones. If a phone is old enough it needs this then it can be done, the phone would have to be worth it though. This service costs money and phones are cheap, so it would have to be a really nice phone to bother.
  For those not wanting to go to the expense of a battery replacement there are battery extender cases for most popular phones. Again the phone must be valuable enough to bother.
  What I find to be the best reason for not offering replaceable batteries is that the batteries are much better now. I've had several phones and similar portable devices and never did I feel a desire to get a new battery even in devices where it could be replaced easily. By the time the battery no longer held enough of a charge for me I felt the device was old enough to toss to recyclers and buy a new replacement.
  Laptops though have been different for me. I replaced batteries in three laptops now and for one of them I feel I may need to replace the replacement. With charging ports on laptops getting standardized like they have been on cell phones the need to replace the internal battery may be unnecessary as well, I can likely get a "piggyback" battery to get an old laptop to limp along for long enough that I would not feel bad to replace it.
  
  --
  I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
37. Re: SD and battery by blindseer · 2017-01-12 09:17 · Score: 1
  
  Aluminum foil doesn't work for this?
  
  --
  I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
38. Re:SD and battery by Bratch · 2017-01-12 09:32 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, removable battery is the #1 requirement for a new phone, and an FM radio would be nice. I'm still on a GN4 mainly for the battery reason, but it doesn't have a working FM radio, not on Verizon at least.
  
  --
  Beware of the Redittor who loans you a Sharpie.
39. Re:SD and battery by guruevi · 2017-01-12 10:22 · Score: 1
  
  That's either defective stuff or defective design. A well designed LiPo based battery powered system simply should not fail in less than 3-5 years, those safeguards should be in the battery for both charging and discharging.
  I would love an Android but it's absolutely a horrendous POS to deal with or interact with as an OS and the majority of manufacturers ignore all laws and regulations including the ones on warranty, usability, safety and copyright. Even large manufacturers like Samsung ship devices with the cheapest possible chargers that simply could not have passed a proper old school UL/CE test.
  
  --
  Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
40. Re:SD and battery by Script+Cat · 2017-01-12 10:57 · Score: 1
  
  O-o
  What happened to the rice!?
41. Re:SD and battery by ChunderDownunder · 2017-01-12 12:28 · Score: 1
  
  Batteries degrade. But perhaps you get a new phone every 2 years on contract and don't notice...
  I'm running a four year old phone and just paid $10 on ebay for a new battery - the phone is good as new. My neighbour, otoh, pays an extra $35/month for the privilege of the new shiny Galaxy S model every 2 years.
  Charging via USB vs swapping in a spare battery at the end of a long day - both have their +s and -s.
42. Re:SD and battery by by+(1706743) · 2017-01-12 12:33 · Score: 1
  
  But that's only half the issue -- the convenience is also extremely important to some people.
  
  Many people carry around modest power bricks in their backpacks, which they basically only use for charging their phone. I know that batteries are getting better in efficiency, and voltage converters can be very efficient, but it strikes me as fundamentally wrong to have to carry around a separate battery, power supply, and cable -- all so that you can discharge one battery to fill up another battery. Why not cut the middle man and just carry around two batteries?
  
  Extending life is certainly one good reason to have removable batteries, but there are convenience factors, too.
43. Re:SD and battery by ChunderDownunder · 2017-01-12 12:36 · Score: 1
  
  No.
  But the developers have started a fork named LineageOS and will resume nightly builds as soon as they procure hardware.
44. Re:SD and battery by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-13 01:45 · Score: 0
  
  No, and not for some time. Cyanogen on the S4 is a dead end and is running with a bunch of known exploits.
45. Re: SD and battery by spire3661 · 2017-01-13 05:59 · Score: 1
  
  Removable in-the-field and replaceable in the shop are different things. The vast majority of phones can have their battery replaced in the shop, trivially. I agree that field removable is better, but that ship has sailed.
  
  --
  Good-bye
46. Re:SD and battery by spire3661 · 2017-01-13 06:06 · Score: 1
  
  Show me a phone that cant have its battery replaced with tools, they are rare. My moto G4 has a replaceable battery, even if its not instantly removable. What exactly is your argument? In-the-field replaceable batteries arent coming back any time soon.
  
  At the end of the day i plug my phone into a battery (one of a set of two specifically for my phone), not the wall. I keep a bank of USB batteries for my devices. That way i dont have to have a wire running next to my bed. The power comes to the phone/device, not the other way around, nor is the device left in some random corner. USB batteries are STUPID cheap now, think of them as wireless power accessories.
  
  --
  Good-bye
But it has microSD and SIM by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:26 · Score: 0

No fingerprint reader either. All it needs are security updates on par with the Nexus and they have a world-beater.
Copycats by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:27 · Score: 0

Enough said.
I don't need any fucking AI, and please keep the headphone jack there.
The 2nd screen strip is nice though.
1. Re:Copycats by Script+Cat · 2017-01-12 05:33 · Score: 1
  
  The AI, is it just another broken voice command interface? Can I ask it how much a ten inch by eight inch by twenty inch box of water would weigh and expect an answer that isn't just a butchered version of the question inserted into a google search.
2. Re:Copycats by wonkey_monkey · 2017-01-12 11:35 · Score: 1
  
  Can I ask it how much a ten inch by eight inch by twenty inch box of water would weigh and expect an answer that isn't just a butchered version of the question inserted into a google search.
  That's the answer I'd give...
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Yeah, I'm Jack by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:28 · Score: 0, Funny

Yeah, I'm Jack, what's it to you? and why are you telling me they won't have headphones?
"Bull" by Rick+Schumann · 2017-01-12 05:30 · Score: 0

Any of you watch that show they spun Michael Weatherly off into, "Bull"? So far it's not such a bad show, if you like Michael Weatherly at least. Recently though I turned off a new episode partway through, because it was a story about a self-driving car developer company whose vehicle killed someone. I turned it off because the damned car had a face, and was having entire, coherent, human-level conversations with people; it was totally self-aware, had a sense of humor, etc. I couldn't stand it. Not because I didn't like the character of the car, but because I know that their totally fictional, science-fantasy representation of 'AI' is what the vast majority of people in the world think is real 'AI'. Then here comes this Slashdot pseudo-news story. People are going to buy this damned phone, thinking they're going to have a new silicon friend in their pocket to keep them company or somesuch nonsense. Seriously, people, can we please do something to educate people that what the press and the media and other people who don't know what they're talking about is calling 'Artificial Intelligence' is actually about as smart as a very smart dog, and not anywhere near being like a human?
1. Re:"Bull" by Anne+Thwacks · 2017-01-12 05:44 · Score: 2
  
  Have no fear - deep in my basement, I am actively working on "Artificial Stupidity".
  Very soon my machine will have the logical thinking capability of a leprechaun on acid, combined with the sense of humour of a clockwork mouse.
  I am planning an IPO in 2019. Invest now, while it still has credibility.
  
  --
  Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
2. Re:"Bull" by Rick+Schumann · 2017-01-12 05:52 · Score: 1
  
  Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  With paper tape punch and reader, or does it have the accoustic coupler (that only fits a standard Bell desk telephone handset) 110-baud modem instead? xD
  By the way where are you still getting rolls of paper for it? I'm down to using paper towels stolen from the dispensers at work. xD
3. Re:"Bull" by msauve · 2017-01-12 08:03 · Score: 1
  
  An ASR-33 has the paper tape, and optionally the built-in modem. A KSR-33 lacks the paper tape unit. The modems came in various forms and combinations over the years, some with rotary dial, some with touch-tone dial, acoustical coupler or DAA.
  
  --
  "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
4. Re:"Bull" by Rick+Schumann · 2017-01-12 08:34 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I'm actually well aware of all that, considering I owned a Teletype. It was the console device for the first computer I ever built (which was on perfboard, and 75% of it was my own design).
5. Re:"Bull" by organgtool · 2017-01-12 09:26 · Score: 1
  
  Have no fear - deep in my basement, I am actively working on "Artificial Stupidity".
  It looks like your technology will be able to replace the leaders of the engineering departments that are making stupid decisions such as removing commonly used ports from their flagship phones.
You truly have to admire by Gorilla_Man · 2017-01-12 05:31 · Score: 1

Their courage.
Nice Job HTC by Nite_Hawk · 2017-01-12 05:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

You'd think with their lacklustre performance over the last 5 years they'd play it safe rather than trying to pretend they are Apple.
Get this message through your thick skulls HTC: You are not Apple. Your customers are not Apple customers. The Android world is a very different place and you aren't in any position to cram user-unfriendly features down people's throats. You will fail if only because there is always some other Chinese company ready to give people what they want.
1. Re:Nice Job HTC by fafalone · 2017-01-12 05:59 · Score: 2
  
  Hey come on now, they're not JUST pretending to be Apple, they're outright copying LG's really neat 2nd screen from the V10/V20 too, right down to the size and location. Can't recommend the v20 enough... not just the 2nd screen, but 3.5mm headphone jack, micro sd, removable battery, and excellent repairability rating... and rootable, though not easily yet. So sad that's a rare combo now.
2. Re:Nice Job HTC by hey! · 2017-01-12 06:00 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  I have a Samsung Galaxy S6, and I hate it. And it's not the UI tweaks, which are minor but generally actually pretty good. And the camera is astonishingly good. No the problem is that the battery life is so bad I have to keep it on Ultra-battery-saving mode unless I'm certain to have access to a charger later in the day. Reviews said battery life was "unimpressive", but what they should have said it was that it was disastrously bad.
  Samsung's had to have known this would be a problem. So what does that tell you about Samsung's attitude toward users?
  It tells me that Samsung isn't a company I want to deal with in the future, because their interest in user experience ends with what happens on the showroom floor.
  
  --
  Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
3. Re:Nice Job HTC by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:12 · Score: 1
  
  Are you ever going to shut up about this? Will you still be whining in 5 years when nobody makes phones with headphone jacks?
  Get over it. Headphone jacks on phones are done. If you don't like it you can start your own phone company and make a giant phone that nobody will want, since you seem to be an expert in the phone market and have clearly outsmarted all the highly-paid professionals who do market analysis all day every day for a living.
4. Re:Nice Job HTC by Z00L00K · 2017-01-12 06:15 · Score: 1
  
  I bought a HTC M9 almost a year ago, but I regret it. .- On/Off button on the side.
  - Bloatware.
  - Chewing through battery badly without being used - lose 10% in 2 to 3 hours.
  Next phone will be something else - Maybe a CAT S60. Otherwise I'd fall back to the Ericsson R250s PRO that I recently installed fresh batteries in - stand by time is incredible on it.
  
  --
  If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
5. Re:Nice Job HTC by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:24 · Score: 0
  
  "The Android world is a very different place"
  While you make grand statements like this the fact is that 99% of the Android customer base really care about a cheaper phone more than they do about any other "feature" of Android. In my years of working with all kinds of mobile platforms I can never recall a single time someone came and handed me their primary device and I had seen an actual, honest-to-RMS hack done on a single one of them. Maybe the odd install of CyanogenMod every now and again but it was done strictly by the "HaX0r!" crowd that couldn't code Hello World in PET Basic if their life depended on it let alone swing a real mod of a mature OS.
  Sorry, dude, but these people know where their bread is buttered and while I don't see a ton of value in removing a headphone jack they're not going swayed by a handful of neckbeards threatening to buy whatever. Every time tech takes a jump there is a cry from a couple dozen people like you about not wanting the new tech for any number of reasons (many better than what you're presenting here) but in a couple years even you will be on the bandwagon.
6. Re:Nice Job HTC by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:26 · Score: 0
  
  HTC doesn't need to be as Apple as Apple, but they need to be more Apple than Samsung. Sense is much better than TouchWiz. They are trying to be different from Samsung and (stock) Android. That you think Apple when you think of them probably means they are doing what they intended. That Apple isn't a positive to you doesn't mean the association wasn't intended and desired.
7. Re:Nice Job HTC by chispito · 2017-01-12 06:34 · Score: 2
  
  Are you ever going to shut up about this? Will you still be whining in 5 years when nobody makes phones with headphone jacks?
  It's a fad. Five years is probably long enough for it to become standard again, when people realize that a cord is less of a pain to deal with than an additional device to charge or an additional adapter to carry.
  
  I bet five years ago you were posting as AC, wondering when people will shut up already, 3D is here to stay.
  
  --
  The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
8. Re:Nice Job HTC by AmiMoJo · 2017-01-12 06:42 · Score: 1
  
  HTC built some of the Nexus devices for Google. They can make good phones, but seem to need help designing them.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
9. Re:Nice Job HTC by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:56 · Score: 0
  
  People complaining about it is obvious proof that you are wrong about nobody wanting it. Just because you're willing to stand in line for whatever garbage they're overcharging you for, doesn't mean we all are.
10. Re:Nice Job HTC by apoc.famine · 2017-01-12 06:58 · Score: 1
  
  Interesting. My S4 started with a shit battery that couldn't get through a day of light use, and after a year I was carrying around a charger and a spare with me everywhere I went. I upgraded to the S7 after I broke my charging port, and that comes with a glued in battery. But the S7 actually gets me through 5+ hours of heavy use on a full charge. On light use, I can charge it nightly and not be worried about running out of juice.
  
  Combine that with the wireless charging, and I've run it dead all of twice since I got it. Wireless chargers are vastly underrated. Being able to throw your phone on the desk and have it start charging means you get in the habit of topping it off, because it's trivial to do so.
  
  As you commented on the S6, the camera is astonishingly good, and the microphone/video is as well. I've taken very good quality video and audio of live music performances, which sounded far better even on the camera speaker than it did to my ear-plugged filled ears while I was there, or even without the plugs in. And yes, it's got a micro-SD slot. And is water resistant.
  
  I intentionally skipped the 5 and the 6 because they looked flat or like downgrades from the S4. I'm pretty happy with the S7.
  
  --
  Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
11. Re:Nice Job HTC by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 07:03 · Score: 1
  
  Headphone jacks will still be here in 5 years. One of the biggest selling items for iPhone 7 is a case that has a built in external battery pack with a 3.5mm headphone jack. So much for thin phones. People find a way to make stuff useful despite manufacturers trying to cripple it.
12. Re:Nice Job HTC by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 07:04 · Score: 1
  
  If you just want to talk on the phone a smartphone is the worst thing in the world to use.
13. Re:Nice Job HTC by Lord+Kano · 2017-01-12 07:09 · Score: 1
  
  Sorry, dude, but these people know where their bread is buttered and while I don't see a ton of value in removing a headphone jack they're not going swayed by a handful of neckbeards threatening to buy whatever. Every time tech takes a jump there is a cry from a couple dozen people like you about not wanting the new tech for any number of reasons (many better than what you're presenting here) but in a couple years even you will be on the bandwagon.
  I live in two different worlds. I am a geek, so I do tech stuff but I'm also a gun guy.
  Do you remember when Smith and Wesson signed a deal with the Clinton DOJ to get preferential treatment on government contracts? The backlash was so swift and severe, the owners had to sell the company to stave off bankruptcy and the new owners had no intention of honoring the deal. To stop this trend, there has to be this kind of a revolt among HTC's customers.
  This one feature might not be a bridge too far for most buyers but I suspect that there's some cell phone maker out there cheering because they know that their sales are going to get a bump from the people who won't ride this wave.
  But, I'm not opposed to tilting at windmills. I'm still continuing my 20+ year one man boycott of Nintendo. I stopped using Opera when they removed the menu bar and I won't use Chrome for the same reason.
  LK
  
  --
  "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
14. Re:Nice Job HTC by blindseer · 2017-01-12 09:26 · Score: 1
  
  People find a way to make stuff useful despite manufacturers trying to cripple it.
  You think that perhaps Apple, et al., anticipated this?
  I've heard all kinds of conspiracy theories about removing the headphone jack all with nefarious intent. What if a phone manufacturer wanted to make a cheap(er) and small(er) phone for the masses while those that didn't mind a larger phone with a headphone jack could just buy the case with them in it? It saves them engineering, marketing, logistics, etc. on making another phone model and every market is still served.
  Perhaps the phone makers want to keep people happy as best they can so they keep coming back for more. Isn't that how a free society works?
  
  --
  I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
15. Re:Nice Job HTC by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 09:33 · Score: 0
  
  This. I was a fanboy because of their rooting policy, history on innovation and better performance. Then I left because of their camera. Now I was waiting for the new model to buy from them, since they started having decent cameras again. But with this I cannot buy from them. Only Apple users take this much shit from a company (and increasingly Samsung users too).
16. Re:Nice Job HTC by ChunderDownunder · 2017-01-12 12:53 · Score: 1
  
  Ironically the cheaper phones seem to have all the goodies such as headphone jacks, FM radio, MicroSD and removable batteries.
  It's flagship devices removing 'em...
17. Re:Nice Job HTC by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 15:32 · Score: 0
  
  Then there's no need to put a headphone jack in the phone, if your case is going to have one anyway.
18. Re:Nice Job HTC by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 15:48 · Score: 1
  
  I don't say Apple can't market the phone in this fashion. I just have no use for it and don't see it as a good selling point. I'm sure a lot of people will love it and some, as I stated, will find a way to work around the defects. The headphone jack is still there for a large percentage of the iPhone7 purchasers. Thus the AC wrongly stated headphone jacks are history which is really what I was refuting. I can be critical of what I feel is a bad design decision because, as you noted, this is a free society.
19. Re:Nice Job HTC by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-13 01:52 · Score: 0
  
  Um, no. Nexus devices of that era were just re-badged versions of existing HTC devices.
20. Re:Nice Job HTC by amiga3D · 2017-01-13 10:16 · Score: 1
  
  I don't need a case with a jack as my phone has one.
Get used to it by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:33 · Score: 0

Get used to having no headphone jack.
People joke around about the "courage" thing, but Apple was right.
Removing the jack is something that's been whispered for a while now. The thing is complicated and takes up too much space. But nobody had the balls to just get rid of it. Apple did, and now everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon.
It's just pathetic, really.
1. Re: Get used to it by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:47 · Score: 0
  
  Like you are used to having half-brain of a lizard, shill.
2. Re:Get used to it by ProzacPatient · 2017-01-12 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  Are you kidding me? 3.5mm is tiny, and an AC audio signal isn't exactly the most complicated thing in the world; even simpler if the phone already has a speaker which I guarantee it does.
3. Re:Get used to it by Rick+Schumann · 2017-01-12 06:00 · Score: 1
  
  The thing is complicated and takes up too much space.
  It has nothing to do with that; TRS jacks/plugs are about as simple and foolproof as you can get, they've been around in one form or another for at least as long as the invention of the telephone exchange. The real reason they want to get rid of it is to attempt to close the 'analog hole' once and for all. So long as there is baseband analog audio available from a device, audio can be pirated. It's not quite as clean a copy as a direct digital copy, but it's good enough. Not having a headphone jack means it's that much harder to make analog copies of audio. Not impossible; for someone like myself and most readers of Slashdot, it's trivially easy and no headphone jack is just a minor annoyance, but for the average, non-technical person, it might be discouraging enough that they wouldn't bother.
4. Re:Get used to it by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:02 · Score: 0
  
  An audio jack is complicated? That has got to be the most technologically-stupid, Apple fanboi logic I have ever heard.
5. Re:Get used to it by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 09:47 · Score: 0
  
  Who is utilizing the analog hole to record stuff? I haven't done anything like that in probably 20 years.
6. Re:Get used to it by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 14:27 · Score: 0
  
  That is dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb. How often to people do this? How do you even do this if you want to? It's not like people generally have cassette tapes plugged into their phones.
2 screens really? by Higaran · 2017-01-12 05:35 · Score: 2

Ok, I get is technically 2 screens, but I just think that is the stupidest marketing idea ever. When you say 2 screens, I want 2 screens that are relatively the same size as each other, not one, and some sliver that can only display 4-5 icons stuck up above it. I'd be okay if they called it something else like notification bar or something, but don't call it a second screen.
1. Re: 2 screens really? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:41 · Score: 0
  
  Technically they are not screens at all, but rather displays. The phone has two displays and no screens.
2. Re:2 screens really? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 10:42 · Score: 0
  
  I'd actually like the idea of a smaller, second screen, if it was an always-on e-ink display. Notifications, date and time without having to fumble for the power button to turn on the primary display (and drain battery).
3. Re:2 screens really? by BESTouff · 2017-01-12 21:38 · Score: 1
  
  I very much like it too. And will probably buy this one as my next phone: https://yotaphone.com/us-en/
what bullshit is this by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:36 · Score: 0

"We have microphones built into both earbuds that “listen” for sonic pulses, which can then adjust your audio to match your ears’ unique architecture. We believe the market is ready to push audio into new innovations that benefit consumers’ listening experience."
HTC Did It First by hipp5 · 2017-01-12 05:50 · Score: 1

I know it's fashionable to praise/crap on Apple for the headphone thing... but it was actually HTC who was first to do it on smart phones. My HTC Dream (the first Android phone) did not have a headphone jack.
1. Re:HTC Did It First by mccalli · 2017-01-12 05:53 · Score: 1
  
  Used to be reasonably common to have proprietary headphone sockets on phones. I seem to remember Motorola did it, and I -think- Ericsson but might be misremembering. There was an iPhone iteration that had a proprietary socket as well (or was it iPod? Not sure - they scrapped the decision after one generation). Taking them away completely isn't common yet but you're right, Apple wasn't the first to do so.
2. Re: HTC Did It First by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:17 · Score: 0
  
  Not having a feature because it's a relatively new product and flat out removing a very widely used feature are two different beasts.
  E.g: My first nokia cell phone didn't have a very large LCD and it wasn't touch based or a 3.5mm stereo jack. No one complained about touch screens then, it was standard. Now everyone seems to wine if a vendor wants to make a tiny LCD screen and remove the 3.5mm stereo jack.
3. Re:HTC Did It First by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:20 · Score: 0
  
  Used to be reasonably common to have proprietary headphone sockets on phones. I seem to remember Motorola did it,
  Yep, I had a Motorola with a weird 2.5" headphone jack.
4. Re:HTC Did It First by sbrown7792 · 2017-01-12 06:28 · Score: 2
  
  2.5" headphone jack
  So that's why those old phones were so bulky!
Faulty analysis by sjbe · 2017-01-12 05:53 · Score: 1

The biggest flaw in the concept of this approach is assuming that the consumer will go to the original supplier for future accessories.
They don't have to go to the vendor for every accessory. Even a fairly modest increase in accessory purchases can make it worthwhile. Furthermore they save money by not having to design and build that part of the phone so every phone is cheaper to make as a result.
1. Re:Faulty analysis by dgatwood · 2017-01-12 09:21 · Score: 1
  
  This is true only up to the point where some C*O recognizes the pattern and decides to build a device that meets people's needs without all the dongles. That's what is known as "disruptive innovation". And when that happens, suddenly the market shifts. That's how Apple got to where it is, and there's nothing stopping some other company from doing the same.
  
  --
  Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
wow now everyone is... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 05:57 · Score: 0

...copying Apple's courage!
1. Re:wow now everyone is... by Excelcia · 2017-01-12 17:58 · Score: 2
  
  Apple isn't courageous. Apple is stupid. Problem is, Apple customers (hipsters) are just slightly stupider, and Apple knows this. They know their customer base will continue to buy what Apple feeds them long after it has become manure. HTC will soon learn there are actual choices among Android devices and leaving vital bits off their phone is not a way to endear itself to the masses.
Apple is the only company making money from phones by Brannon · 2017-01-12 06:00 · Score: 1

It's not a big surprise that other companies are trying to follow them.
Re: Historic Quote by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:05 · Score: 0

- Hillary Clinton
The end by Esteanil · 2017-01-12 06:06 · Score: 1

I guess that marks the end of 8 years of HTC phones for me. Listening to music is one of my most common uses of my phone, and there's literally no way I'm changing over to headsets I also have to recharge.

--
I'm a dreamer, the world is my playpen. But hey, I'm a serious person, I can't dream all the time.
1. Re:The end by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:22 · Score: 0
  
  Well then it's lucky for you that it comes with wired headphones and a dongle.
2. Re:The end by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:46 · Score: 0
  
  Ugh, I don't need another dongle, let alone one with a crappy DAC built in. There's another flagship phone scratched off my list of contenders.
3. Re:The end by CaptainDork · 2017-01-12 07:08 · Score: 1
  
  The margins on smartphones is crappy and the industry has already tried other gimmicks like changing physical dimensions, providing high resolution (even 3D), better cameras, Bluetooth remote control, adorable/utility cases, and shit like that.
  Time to step away from the core competency and sell rechargeable accessories.
  Hopefully, the batter life of airpods can be improved upon to increase sales along with some waterproofing, crap like that.
  
  --
  It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
4. Re:The end by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 07:27 · Score: 0
  
  and no way to charge it and listen to music... such an improvement....
5. Re:The end by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 07:28 · Score: 0
  
  Great, use just one port so it wears out faster, and affects more when it does.
DRM by ArchieBunker · 2017-01-12 06:06 · Score: 1

They finally plugged the analog hole. You know DRM is going to work its way in.

--
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
1. Re:DRM by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 07:48 · Score: 0
  
  They finally plugged the analog hole.
  Not until the audio bypasses your analog ears and is sent in digital form directly into your brain.
2. Re:DRM by ChunderDownunder · 2017-01-12 13:05 · Score: 1
  
  We are Borg!
  Fast forward ten years and Apple will release the iJect, a cybernetic implant. No handset required as drones receive stimuli direct to their mind's eye and information is shared with your fellow collective via a 6G cellular data connection embedded within the subcutaneous device.
I'll be buying my first non-HTC smartphone by rickb928 · 2017-01-12 06:13 · Score: 1

I'm just not convinced. No compelling new feature.
I wanted a removable battery, and that will be hard to find. If I cannot, then HTC is back on my plate.
The second display looks like their answer to the Galaxy Edge. Feh. It's up top, so I have to stretch a finger or thumb to touch it. Smart move there.
Multipoint audio? Yeah, I was dreaming of that. Actually, no.
Water resistance? Well, actually that is interesting. But I bet it doesn't save my phone from being laundered. A dip in the pool yes. Cold water cycle for 18 minutes?
I don't even think a 5.7" phone is a winner for me, my M8 is big enough.
Oh, and the M8 isn't easy to grip, kinda like an iPhone 7. SO the U will be more slippery? Case? Thin is gone. What, did I just lose a feature (thickness) to appearance? Oh, dear, I sound crotchety.
I may by a midrange phone to get buy and wait for foldable phones, which I really do want.

--
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
1. Re:I'll be buying my first non-HTC smartphone by rickb928 · 2017-01-12 06:59 · Score: 2
  
  No, I want a smartphone that lets me SSH into my servers, gives me GPS and maps to drive with, enough storage I don't have to move my pictures every week to the cloud, flexible apps to do things with, supports my work email and workflow apps, and has a removable battery so I'm not on the 2 year/1000 charge cycle treadmill for a new phone due to battery life, when the CPU and screen are still more than enough for me to be satisfied with.
  It would be nice to have a dialer that doesn't take 18 seconds to initiate a call, audio quality that at least meets old landline standards, and yeah, a music player that lets me use an equalizer.
  Thanks for the advice, young grasshopper. You've already gone back to posting pics of your wasabi noodle bowl to your constellation of equally bored and impatient underemployed graduates, so I'll stop~~~~~~NOCARRIER
  
  --
  deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
2. Re:I'll be buying my first non-HTC smartphone by apoc.famine · 2017-01-12 08:32 · Score: 1
  
  In terms of difficulty, it's far easier to make a sealed case water resistant than it is to make one that opens up and has a gasket to fill in the gaps around the openings. That means you're not likely to get both water resistance and a removable battery in the same phone. Not impossible, but as demand for removable batteries isn't super high, the cheapest and easiest way to do it is seal the whole thing up. Looking at the engineering that went into the S7's micro-SD card slot, I can see why they're going to sealed phones.(Google it and look at the images for a quick understanding.)
  
  As for the cold water cycle, my S7 would have a shot at surviving it, as would a lot of the other water resistant phones. It's pressure rated for 5' of immersion for half an hour, so there's a good chance that it could make it through that. The impacts would be the biggest concern. Even if most of them were against wet clothes, all it would take is one good shock.
  
  In terms of the removable battery, the S4 batteries were so shit I was swapping a new one in every day or two, despite charging at both home and work. With the S7 I've run it dead only 2x since I got it, both times in the car on long drives. At some point I should get a car charger to fix that problem....But it really is far more energy efficient, and the battery is far better than the S4. So far, I don't miss swapping batteries all the time. Depending on how the battery ages, that opinion may change.
  
  --
  Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
3. Re:I'll be buying my first non-HTC smartphone by Script+Cat · 2017-01-12 11:00 · Score: 1
  
  Ghost commander and connect bot.
  Sorry no X forwarding. No one has really made that work.
4. Re: I'll be buying my first non-HTC smartphone by rickb928 · 2017-01-12 11:34 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah. Been doing those for a while
  
  --
  deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
5. Re:I'll be buying my first non-HTC smartphone by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-13 01:59 · Score: 0
  
  Water resistance? Well, actually that is interesting. But I bet it doesn't save my phone from being laundered. A dip in the pool yes. Cold water cycle for 18 minutes?
  Do you have any idea what water resistance means? It's a light shower. If you want to immerse a device you want water proof. This is the terminology we've been using for electronics for at least 30 years.
6. Re:I'll be buying my first non-HTC smartphone by rickb928 · 2017-01-13 02:45 · Score: 1
  
  Aaaaaaaaannnd the AC restates my premise. I did not expect it to survive the permanent press cycle.
  Do you read these posts? Or just image them in the lizard brain?
  
  --
  deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Even the competition's execs must be fanboys by Tony+Isaac · 2017-01-12 06:26 · Score: 1

Obviously, if Apple does it, it must be the way to go!
Multiple reasons by sjbe · 2017-01-12 06:35 · Score: 2

The only reasons to eliminate user-replaceable batteries are to save cost, and maybe to profit from expensive battery-replacement services.
Those are legitimate reasons but they aren't the only ones. By making the batteries not user replaceable companies like Apple avoid a variety of problems. The most important consideration is that don't have to worry about poor quality batteries from third party vendors. This can cause all sorts of headaches including warranty claims, product image problems, counterfeit batteries, lawsuits, etc. Being able to maintain full control over the product should in principle result in a better or at least more consistent product. Another consideration is that by sealing the device up tight they don't have fitment issues where pieces come lose or break unexpectedly. The more parts that can move the more chances something will break.
1. Re:Multiple reasons by torkus · 2017-01-13 08:44 · Score: 1
  
  The only reasons to eliminate user-replaceable batteries are to save cost, and maybe to profit from expensive battery-replacement services.
  Those are legitimate reasons but they aren't the only ones. By making the batteries not user replaceable companies like Apple avoid a variety of problems. The most important consideration is that don't have to worry about poor quality batteries from third party vendors. This can cause all sorts of headaches including warranty claims, product image problems, counterfeit batteries, lawsuits, etc. Being able to maintain full control over the product should in principle result in a better or at least more consistent product. Another consideration is that by sealing the device up tight they don't have fitment issues where pieces come lose or break unexpectedly. The more parts that can move the more chances something will break.
  I expect the battery quality aspect is even more prevalent in the thinking than people realize, but it's more than that and above.
  Structurally, it's much more efficient to have hard joined pieces and be able to rely on the whole case for strength when you design. The S5, while a great phone, is not as rigid as it would be if the back was permanently affixed. Plus, the snap-off, slide-off, or other attachment methods take up precious interior space. Maybe not a lot, but there isn't much to begin with. The seals on any removable cover will also wear out much more quickly than a fixed seal. So to make a battery user replaceable, you have to make your device larger, less durable, AND take into account poor 3rd party batteries ruining the phone's reputation.
  While replacing a battery is handy, it's not THAT much smaller than bringing a battery pack or using a battery-case, some of which DO have removable batteries.
  To be honest, I respect what HP did in their latest round of laptops - made them slightly thicker and significantly increased the battery. Oh, and they have a headphones jack too. FML.
  Assuming Samsung makes this stupid choice as well, this will be the first generation of cell phones that I DON'T upgrade to since...pretty much Nokia/StarTac era.
  
  --
  You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
bluetooth promotes government surveillance by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 06:46 · Score: 0

A wired connection is difficult to snoop, but a wireless connection with weak encryption is quite easy to access remotely. Your wireless keyboards and wireless headphones reveal your password and conversations. And when you're away, the connection can be used to access the device, the latest trick is to simply reply all of the voice command audio activity ( the whole "OK Google" thing keeps tons of .WAV files for all the commands it didn't understand, which is usually all the background noise)
PS - sorry if this sounds like a paranoid rant. But several of my friends work for companies that develop digital forensics software, and they're always trying to get me over to the dark side. (I'm a platform software engineer in the mobile industry, so I have experience with a lot of the low-level internals of a wide variety of phones and tablets)
1. Re:bluetooth promotes government surveillance by rickb928 · 2017-01-12 07:02 · Score: 1
  
  You can have your keystrokes monitored by a variety of methods, none of which require that your keyboard be wireless. Your fingerprint can be grabbed from a distance. Data from your PC can even be transmitted via audio to another and hopscotched to the one that is fully compromised and has access to its remote master.
  Bluetooth is not the only vector. Hell, a Stingray is your real threat.
  
  --
  deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
2. Re:bluetooth promotes government surveillance by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 16:07 · Score: 0
  
  stingray? why are you not using encrypted VoIP with your phone?
3. Re:bluetooth promotes government surveillance by rickb928 · 2017-01-13 02:50 · Score: 1
  
  Um, because none of my incoming calls do?
  Because none of the people I call know what VOIP is, much less encrypted VOIP...?
  Because SNOW 3G and UEA2 are sufficient to keep out all but state-level actors, they can break what they want at either end.
  There is no absolute security.
  
  --
  deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Hey, HTC! by nightfire-unique · 2017-01-12 06:57 · Score: 0

That whole reality distortion field thing? You know, that thing that led to Steve Jobs' death from a treatable disease?
Yeah. Your customers ... they don't have that.
Making a product worse is not going to help your sales.

--
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Re:Apple is the only company making money from pho by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 07:01 · Score: 1

Apple and Google are in the best place. They control the software that runs on their hardware. Apple in particular owns an entire ecosystem with no competition. If you want to run iOS then you'll use an Apple phone. End of story. I haven't bought one (I use a Mac computer for video work and Linux for everything else) despite owning a Mac computer because no sd card or removable battery and now no headphone jack. If all the major Android manufacturers end up doing this nonsense then I'll have no reason to use Android. But I think there will always be someone willing to make a phone for people that like these things. I notice almost all the iPhone 7 users at work have the case with built in external battery pack AND a 3.5mm headphone jack. Amazing isn't it? They keep making the damn thing thin by removing stuff and people keep fattening the phone up by adding that stuff back.
More bad news by PPH · 2017-01-12 07:18 · Score: 1

I hate to be the one to break this to you people. But there is no cassette drive either.

--
Have gnu, will travel.
people still buy htc products? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 07:24 · Score: 0

come on now, there are so many clueless trime travelers around?
1. Re:people still buy htc products? by ChunderDownunder · 2017-01-12 13:13 · Score: 1
  
  Pixel is a Google-branded HTC phone.
  But yes, I would expect HTC and LG to stop producing phones within 3 years as more recent entrants such as Huawei and xiaomi conquer the lower end. Moto will probably live on in the US market as rebranded Lenovo devices.
Nope, nope, nope by Stormwatch · 2017-01-12 07:26 · Score: 1

No jack, no buy, no thanks.

--
Circumcision is child abuse.
HTC Hero by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 08:06 · Score: 0

was one of the greatest phones I had. This one, I think not.
AI? You mean, AS, right? by OneHundredAndTen · 2017-01-12 08:25 · Score: 1

Artificial Stupidity is a more appropriate tag. Such stuff in current phones is amusing, for a while, tolerable, if they keep quiet unless told otherwise, somewhat useful, for very simple requests, and totally incompetent for anything that requires a bit of planning, insight or sagacity. In time, I am sure they will become deserving of the AI tag. As of today, they are just AS.
Thanks, HTC!! by organgtool · 2017-01-12 09:35 · Score: 1

For years, I've refused to buy a new phone because they always had an annoying headphone jack. I always hated it with its stupid port and for providing me with the option to listen to music while charging. I was really excited when Apple innovated the iPhone 7 without the headphone jack but I'm not really into the iPhone right now because it doesn't offer enough dongles yet. Thank you, HTC, for recognizing what users want and giving us a reason to shell out money for a new phone!
Putting on layers vs taking them off by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 09:37 · Score: 0

To play devil's advocate, If I want all those layers on, I can put them on, but if someone else doesn't want all those extra layers, if the phone were built with all of them already on, they'd be out of luck.
Turning off devil's advocate mode, apple's no SD slot sucks, especially considering they did it purely as an idiotic marketing thing (ie, wanting the phones differentiated by the size of their memory). No headphone jack sucks even more. Trying to spin all that as 'courage' just makes them look pathetic, almost sinking to political levels of spin.
But hey. Like Trump, quite a few people voted for Apple. Maybe not the majority, but enough
1. Re:Putting on layers vs taking them off by amiga3D · 2017-01-12 15:42 · Score: 1
  
  I don't care what Apple does really. I'm just not paying 800 dollars for something that doesn't fully suit me. That's a lot of money for something that's limited by design.
USB-C is analog too by Blaskowicz · 2017-01-12 09:53 · Score: 1

I fully expect most USB-C headphones to be analog in fact, if this phone does support analog audio over USB-C.
I wonder if you can have a cable with USB-C on one end and jack on the other end.
Although if you have to use a powered USB hub just because you don't have separate plugs for power and audio, then your USB analog headphones are useless unless there's a DAC in the hub, or plugged into the hub. And if you use a PC to power the hub, then you plug either a DAC or digital headphones.. Then who the hell is going to take control of the DAC or headphones, PC or phone? Perhaps you will need hardware to follow the UGDP standard, i.e. USB Gentlemen's Dueling Protocol.
Has AI by allo · 2017-01-12 10:10 · Score: 1

Stop confusing hardware with software!
The smartphone has i.e. a camera. The operating system has something they call AI.
1. Re:Has AI by ChunderDownunder · 2017-01-12 13:16 · Score: 1
  
  Al is short for Alfred, yeah - Bruce Wayne's butler?
Don't ask why. Ask how. by PMuse · 2017-01-12 13:04 · Score: 1

You will fail if only because there is always some other Chinese company ready to give people what they want.
Will they fail?
Apple dropped the headphone jack.
Samsung dropped the headphone jack.
HTC drops headphone jack.
Moto Z and Moto Z Force lack jacks.
Google Pixel, however, has the jack.
LG V20 has the jack too.
How did so many of these corps arrive at the same decision at the same time? Possibilities:
#1. Each corp sees the same need for this.
#2. Each corp is watching the others and copying their moves.
#3. Collusion.
#1 is unlikely. Dropping the headphone jack adds user expense and eats battery life for a trivial space savings.
#2 is unlikely because more corps would have broken ranks to keep the headphone jack and scoop up the segment of the market that wants one.
So, how did so many of these corps. manage to do the same thing at the same time?

--
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
LG by nachtelfjeiu · 2017-01-12 14:25 · Score: 1

Why doed the lack of headphone connector get linked to iPhones but does LG deserve no mention in regards to the second screen? Bias?
For me, no big deal. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 22:53 · Score: 0

I understand the annoyance over the lack of a headphone jack, and probably wouldn't buy a phone without a headphone jack.
But... I've not used the headphone jack on any smartphone I've had over the last 10 years (at least 6-7 different handsets) one single time at all.
So while I want there to be one, I know I really wouldn't miss it if it wasn't there.
So by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-12 23:33 · Score: 0

If Apple says, "suck my dick", all the manufaturers are left drizzling out the nostrils?
Fuck no headphone jack!
Oh, the courage! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-14 04:16 · Score: 0

Courage!
That is all.