Sounds Familiar

Dan Seifert of The Verge, on HTC’s new flagship One phone (sporting a 4.7-inch 1920 × 1080 display with a remarkable 468 pixels-per-inch density):

But instead of having a soft-touch plastic body, the One features an all aluminum design that is not unlike the iPhone 5 […]

But how do the antennas work if the casing is aluminum? Matt Brian at The Next Web writes:

Developing the One, HTC has opted for an all metal unibody chassis that measures 9mm at its thickest point. Not only does it feel sturdy in the hand, the company says it has been able to use 12 years of R&D to incorporate all its antennae into the metal, using a complex system of patented technologies to automatically utilise antennae not obscured by your hand when you use it.

Back to The Verge:

Oddly enough, HTC felt that the three capacitive buttons that it used on its 2012 Android phones were one too many, and it has pared it down to just two for the One (one on each side of the HTC logo below the display). The button that got the axe is the multitasking key, which HTC believes is not used by most Android customers. We tend to disagree on how important the dedicated multitasking key is (as would most of our readers, we imagine), but HTC has now buried the function behind a double-tap of the home key. Similarly hidden is Google Now, which requires you to long press on the home button.

Aluminum casing with antennas integrated in the exterior? Long press the home button to get a voice-driven interface, double-tap the home button to bring up the multitasking switcher? Can’t quite put my finger on where I’ve seen these things before.

★ Tuesday, 19 February 2013