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HTC Unveils the One A9, an iPhone Lookalike That Runs the Latest Version of Android

I guess the antenna bands are only invisible on the iPhone 5 to HTC fans. Since the day that phone came out people were talking about the bands.

So the "design language" is totally different between the HTC One M7 and the iPhone 5 that's the argument?

THIS was the great HTC One S "design language" 6 months before the iPhone 5 came out:
htc-one-s-2.jpg

Suddenly they get a burst of creative inspiration and go from a plastic hunk of garbage to a CNC milled frame with chamfered edges, antenna bands and the EXACT same color schemes! Come on it defies credibility.

I'm not trying to exclaim that Apple is somehow holier than thou because they are not. That doesn't change the fact that they flat out ripped off Jonny Ive and Apple with the M7.
 
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Meh. Clearly iPhone inspired. Although I do think the antenna lines look better on the A9 than the iPhone though TBH all the metal HTC phones have better-looking antenna lines than the 6 and 6s although I still prefer the 5/5s dual-tone look over both.
 
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MacRumors said:
There's also a 4-megapixel front-facing camera and it ships with up to 32GB of storage that can be expanded to 2TB with a microSD card.
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Am I the only one that noticed that it says storage can be expanded to 2TB? How is this even possible??
 
MasterRyu2011 said:
Well come on, I was mainly talking about the aesthetics of the bands. You can't see them with the iPhone 5 or iPhone 5S, so to people comparing designs, they are not there. Yes the iPhone was mostly metal, but still it was not 100 % like the HTC one m7. Invisible bands don't count as part of the design.

You're right, before the M7, HTC had plastic phones. But so what, they went all metal before pretty much everyone, including Apple.
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Excellent point, color matched antenna bands versus color contrasted antenna bands. This in addition to just how different the iPhone 5 was to HTC. People are really grasping at straws just to prove Apple was copied.
 
MasterRyu2011 said:
But you gotta admit the the antenna bands running across the back and an all metal body are pretty important pieces of a design theme. Prior to the iPhone 6, no iPhone was all metal or had these bands running across. These two components are what make a phone face down to be instantly recognizable as the iPhone 6 and 6S, which they clearly copied from HTC.

So if you're saying Apple only copied two things from HTC, sure ok. Just know that they're two really important things.
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The original iPhone and iPhone 5 used a unibody metal chassis. True it's less metal than the HTC one, but it was unibody with metal nonetheless.

The antenna bands is similar to the HTC one, but Apple has used antenna bands since the iPhone 4. You could say the bands on the 6 is an iteration of the glass panels of the 5.
 
MrX8503 said:
The original iPhone and iPhone 5 used a unibody metal chassis. True it's less metal than the HTC one, but it was unibody with metal nonetheless.

The antenna bands is similar to the HTC one, but Apple has used antenna bands since the iPhone 4. You could say the bands on the 6 is an iteration of the glass panels of the 5.
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But from a design standpoint, no. It's a drastic change to see bands on just the side and then across the back. For iPhone, it happened after HTC did it.

About metal, iPhone 5 & 5S had glass and metal, not all metal. That's a big enough difference.

Either way it doesn't matter; HTC is the first major OEM to use all metal unibody on its flagship phone. If people are blasting HTC for copying Apple's design, then there should be no leeway for Apple either.
 
wirelessness said:
I guess the antenna bands are only invisible on the iPhone 5 to HTC fans. Since the day that phone came out people were talking about the bands.

So the "design language" is totally different between the HTC One M7 and the iPhone 5 that's the argument?

THIS was the great HTC One S "design language" 6 months before the iPhone 5 came out:
htc-one-s-2.jpg

Suddenly they get a burst of creative inspiration and go from a plastic hunk of garbage to a CNC milled frame with chamfered edges, antenna bands and the EXACT same color schemes! Come on it defies credibility.

I'm not trying to exclaim that Apple is somehow holier than thou because they are not. That doesn't change the fact that they flat out ripped off Jonny Ive and Apple with the M7.
Click to expand...

They still went all metal with bands before anyone. What is there to dispute about that? One could argue that the Droid DNA built by HTC was also an inspiration for the HTC One. It had that streamlined look, although it wasn't metal. They basically took DNA basic design, made it metal and added lines across the back.

onevsdna.jpg
 
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spinedoc77 said:
Wasn't the iPhone the first one with a camera? I think it also was the first one with a screen, microphone and earpiece, everyone else copied that. At least we know that antenna lines on a metal phone being a necessity are not the same thing as those other things.
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More than that my friend, didn't they invent the telephone.. You would think so reading some of the dros on here..
 
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MasterRyu2011 said:
But from a design standpoint, no. It's a drastic change to see bands on just the side and then across the back. For iPhone, it happened after HTC did it.

About metal, iPhone 5 & 5S had glass and metal, not all metal. That's a big enough difference.

Either way it doesn't matter; HTC is the first major OEM to use all metal unibody on its flagship phone. If people are blasting HTC for copying Apple's design, then there should be no leeway for Apple either.
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2 similarities that can easily be argued vs 10 similarities added and 5 characteristics REMOVED from the HTC A9.

That's pretty overwhelming.
 
Thanks!!! Coming from a guy who joins MR a few months ago and 99% of all of your posts are Apple bashing. What's more delusional? Hanging out on an Apple forum looking for people to snipe at or at least trying to back up your opinions with some evidence?

Again, HERE is the great HTC 'design language' in 4/2012:
htc-one-s-2.jpg

Then come the iPhone 5 in 9/2012:
apple-iphone-5-white-all-sides.jpg

Followed by the iPod Touch 5th Generation in 10/2012:
refurb-2012-ipodtouch-product-silver

Then all of a sudden HTC comes out with the M7 6 months later in 4/2013. And you seriously think HTC came up with this design in some sort of Apple Free Vacuum? It defies logic and credibility!
htc-one-m7-silver.jpg
 
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MasterRyu2011 said:
They still went all metal with bands before anyone. What is there to dispute about that? One could argue that the Droid DNA built by HTC was also an inspiration for the HTC One. It had that streamlined look, although it wasn't metal. They basically took DNA basic design, made it metal and added lines across the back.

onevsdna.jpg
Click to expand...
Sorry, they did not.
Iphone 5 had the rear antenna bands first. The iPhone 5 was not all metal that is true. But the iPod Touch 5th Generation certainly was all metal. Again, both devices 6 months BEFORE the HTC One M7. Not to mention the blatant ripoff of the Black, Silver, Gold color scheme and the chamfered edges. All of those stolen design ideas went straight into the M8 and now the M9 as well. They are not just stealing the design ideas. The rear antennae bands are an engineering solution to the antennae problems faced with the iPhone 4/4s.
refurb-2012-ipodtouch-product-silver
 
wirelessness said:
Sorry, they did not.
Iphone 5 had the rear antenna bands first. The iPhone 5 was not all metal that is true. But the iPod Touch 5th Generation certainly was all metal. Again, both devices 6 months BEFORE the HTC One M7. Not to mention the blatant ripoff of the Black, Silver, Gold color scheme and the chamfered edges. All of those stolen design ideas went straight into the M8 and now the M9 as well. They are not just stealing the design ideas. The rear antennae bands are an engineering solution to the antennae problems faced with the iPhone 4/4s.
refurb-2012-ipodtouch-product-silver
Click to expand...

I'm looking at my iPhone 5 right now and I do not see any visible antenna bands. Sure--they're probably covered in glass, but we're talking about design as the subject of this stealing business. So design wise, no iPhone 5 did not sport an ALL-METAL phone with bands that run across that you CAN SEE. They went from using glass to cover the the bands to all metal.

Are we really now patenting colors? Do you know how pathetic that sounds? Black, silver? black and silver are generic common colors. Sure I'd give you gold, but still that's hardly copying --- more like following market trends. 15 year old teenage girls go crazy for the gold color, so why not.
 
MasterRyu2011 said:
I'm looking at my iPhone 5 right now and I do not see any visible antenna bands. Sure--they're probably covered in glass, but we're talking about design as the subject of this stealing business. So design wise, no iPhone 5 did not sport an ALL-METAL phone with bands that run across that you CAN SEE. They went from using glass to cover the the bands to all metal.
Click to expand...


Seriously? The band or whatever you want to call it is clearly there exactly where the glass meets up with the center section of the rear case. There is a piece of material that also clearly extends around the sides of the case meeting with the front panel. That said, I don't think this is purely a design choice but needed to improve/permit reception. This is the same technical requirement that forces the more obvious stripes on the iPhone 6, they serve the same purpose.

I would actually concede that the HTC M7 did indeed have the first full metal rear housing (except the iPod Touch 5th Generation which was all metal 6 months before). That housing had to have the same type bands that are on the iPhone 5. So, Because Apple was the first smartphone without using plastic on the exterior case. They needed to develop this technical/design requirement. I guess the design integration that Apple managed on the iPhone 5 is so sleek most people don't even know they are even there.
 
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