My thoughts on the HTC Double Exposure event from last night…

First off I think the real winner for HTC from lat night is the software announced rather than the hardware.  Zoe reaching a full release is great and something I will definitely use on my Oneplus One once they sort the compatibility issue. Opting to also release on IOS later this year could prove to be a master stroke. Pushing the HTC EYE Experience out to current devices is also a great move showing their commitment to current customers once again. The EYE Experience software might not be suited to all but if it works the ‘crop me in’ feature looks really neat.

Now to the hardware. The Desire EYE looks to pack a decent punch and is obviously aimed squarely at a particular market sector but I think they made one mistake, the screen size. Selfies tends to be a young persons game, and there is a reason for that. When you have kids you want to take pictures of them, when you don’t you are more likely to want to put yourself in the shot. I have three daughters aged from early teens to mid twenties and they all use their front camera more than the rear. If I had to guess I would say they use the front camera 90%+ of the time. They just wont look at a phone that size, it’s just far too big. As a parent, I am also not that keen on it either. If one of my younger daughters if out and brings out a massive phone to me it increases the chance of it being noticed, and therefore the chance of someone trying to steal it from her.

Last but not least the HTC Re. If HTC are right and it is not a Go-Pro competitor then it will have to define it’s own market. It’s a nice looking little gadget and the software that Jason described to use with it sounds pretty nice as well, but I get the feeling it’s the kind of thing you would really need to have a good play with to see if it was for you. It is also being priced in the UK for £169 by EE which seems just too expensive to me. I think to be a success it really needs to come at the £100 mark.