Taiwanese firm packs an amazing amount of power and much more into this phone
HTC U Ultra is a powerful smartphone in sleek design, a clever interface, good sound system and very good quality camera as well as fast Internet connection.
The U Ultra is the latest flagship smartphone from the Taiwanese IT giant that is available in Thailand. Although HTC announced its latest flagship smartphone in Taiwan on May 16, U11, it is not yet available in Thailand.
The U Ultra is available in Thailand in two elegant colours – Brilliant Black and Sapphire Blue. The Brilliant Black I had my hands on looked really sleek – both front and back look great in shiny black when the display is off.
The U Ultra has a beautifully 3D contoured, liquid-like surface. It has a lustrous, symmetrical, curved-glass construction that reflects light beautifully with colour from vaporous minerals layered to add depth and brilliance from every angle. The polished surface bends and blends seamlessly into the side of the phone allowing it to nestle perfectly in your hand.
The U Ultra also comes in a strong metal unibody that is only 7.99 mm thin and it weighs about 170 grams.
The smartphone is really powerful thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 64-bit quad-core processor running at 2.15 GHz and it comes with a hefty 4 gigabytes of working memory or RAM. It comes with 64 GB of internal storage, which is expandable with a microSD card of up to 2 terabytes. But the microSD card will occupy the second nano SIM slot.
It runs on Google’s Android 7.0 operating system with HTC Sense user interface on top of it.
Yes, the U Ultra has dual nano SIM slots and easy-to-use function for selecting which SIM will be used for 4G data connection. The other SIM will use a 3G/2G network. When making phone calls, you can select manually which SIM to use.
During the test, I found that the U Ultra had good performance. Apps and touch screen were responsive. Games ran fast and smoothly. Video clips also played smoothly. Moreover, the U Ultra can play high-resolution audio files of FLAC 24bit/192kHz format well.
I used AnTuTu Benchmark v6.2.7 to benchmark its performance and found that it scored 142,505 points. According to AnTuTu, the top model is iPhone 7 Plus with 181,421 points.
This HTC flagship phone has a very fast 4G connection. I tested it on TrueMove H’s 4G LTE network and I was impressed by the connection speed. Apps were downloaded very fast and my snapshots were backed up to my Google Photos cloud storage in no time.
I used Ookla Speedtest app to measure the connection speed and found that it achieved the fastest download speed of 118.09 Mbps and upload speed of 34.15 Mbps.
The U Ultra has 5.7-inch Quad HD super LCD 5 display with 2560×1440 pixels. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The high resolution and colourful display make it very good for viewing photos and watching video clips.
And HTC’s interface makes good use of the large display with its Dual Display function.
The Dual Display allocates a tiny fraction on the top of display with a resolution of 160×1040 pixels as a secondary display to give you fast, convenient access to the things you use the most, including your favourite contracts, app shortcuts, event notifications and other things.
Even when the main display is off, the secondary display can give you information like Facebook alerts. You simply lift the phone when the main display is off or double-tap the secondary display to turn it on.
You can swipe left or right to navigate the secondary display to get the information you want, like your favourite contracts, app shortcuts, weather information and Music app’s playing control. You can select which apps will be allowed to display alerts on the secondary display and it is easy to add favourite contracts and app shortcuts to the secondary display.
The U Ultra has good quality main camera with 12 megapixel UltraPixel sensor. The main camera’s HTC UltraPixel 2 image sensor has larger pixel size than most image sensors used in mobile phones. The UltraPixel 2’s pixel is 1.55 microns large, allowing each pixel to capture more light, resulting in better details and more vivid colours.
Moreover, the main camera’s sapphire lens is very bright with f/1.8 aperture so the main camera has good performance in low-light environment.
The main camera has fast auto-focusing thanks to its dual focusing technologies – laser focus and Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF).
Several shooting modes are available including Pro, Photo, Zoe camera, and Panorama. The Photo is like the auto mode that the camera will set everything for you while the Pro will allow you to adjust several shooting parameters, including white balance, exposure compensation, ISO sensitivity, and focus types. The Pro mode can also remain an auto mode if you leave all parameters to the default “auto” options.
Within the Pro mode, you can select from three pre-set scenes – Nightscape, Fast-moving and Close-up. The Nightscape is very handy for capturing a city skyline at night or street with city lights. I enjoyed using this mode to capture beautiful lights at night.
The Zoe camera mode is fun to use as it will capture three seconds of HD video along with the photo.
The main camera is also capable of recording slow motion video at resolution of 720p at the rate of 120 frames per second. Moreover, the main camera can record 4K video with 3D Audio or Hi-Res audio stereo recording.
If you love taking selfie shots, you will be happy that the front-facing camera of the U Ultra has 16 megapixels. Moreover, when using the front camera, you can select between 16MP resolution and UltraPixel. The UltraPixel option is good for taking selfie shots in dark environments because the UltraPixel mode is four times more sensitive to light than the standard mode.
During the test, I found that U Ultra captured beautiful shots with good exposures, good details and colours with the main camera. The front camera also functioned very well and there is also Live Makeup function that allows you to smooth your skin in real time before taking a shot.
The U Ultra has a good sound system. It does not come with a standard 3.5mm stereo jack but it provides a pair of HTC USonic Adaptive Earphones which connect to U Ultra’s USB Type-C port.
The earphones and U Ultra use HTC Usonic audio platform to analyse your inner ear and automatically adapts the sound profile to optimise your listening experience.
During the test, I found that the U Ultra played good quality music via the USonic earphones with clarity, good details of musical instrument and powerful bass.
The U Ultra is also good for sharing music with friends like a portable speaker system thanks to HTC BoomSound feature that uses Hi-Fi edition speakers to deliver loud and clear music.
Moreover, the U Ultra comes with four omnidirectional mics for capturing positional sound and recording 360-degree immersive audio when you shoot a video.
The U Ultra comes with fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi connection and HTC Connect features that allows you to wirelessly stream music or video from your phone to your speakers or TV by just swiping up the screen with three fingers.
HTC Connect supports AirPlay speakers or Apple TV, Backfire compliant multi-room speakers, multi-room speakers that support Qualcomm AllPlay smart media platform, DLNA compatible speakers and TV, Miracast compatible display devices, and Chromecast compatible display devices.
The smartphone also comes with HTC Sense Companion that will learn from your activities and it also has built-in voice recognition. You can give voice commands to HTC Sense Companion to make a phone call and send messages, for example.
Another nice feature of U Ultra is that it has a fingerprint scanner built into the home button for unlocking your phone to add more security. The fingerprint scanner has 360-degree readability, so you can touch a recorded finger at any angle to the scanner to turn on the screen or unlock the smartphone.
The U Ultra has a good battery life with a 3,000 mAh built-in battery that allowed me to comfortably survive a day. The battery supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology and it also comes with Power saving mode and Extreme power saving mode in case of emergency.
U Ultra also comes with Boost+ app to help extend battery life. The app can help you optimise the phone’s performance by allocating resources, removing junk files, stopping irregular app activities and uninstalling the apps you don’t use.
HTC U Ultra has a suggested retail price of Bt22,490.
KEY SPECS
– Platform: Android 7.0 with HTC Sense
– Networks: 4G LTE Cat 11, 3G UMTS, 2G GSM
– CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, 64 bit quad-core 2.15 Ghz
– Memory: 4 GB RAM
– Storage: 64GB internal, expandable with microSD up to 2TB
THE VIETNAMESE government will divest from two major breweries in the country through the open tender method, a Trade Ministry official said.
Bui Truong Thang, deputy director of the Light Industry Department under the Ministry of Investment and Trade (MoIT), said at a press conference on Friday that the Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) and the Hanoi Beer Alcohol and Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (Habeco) will submit their equitisation plans by the end of this month.
The state holds 89.59 per cent and 82 per cent stakes in Sabeco and Habeco, respectively. Together, the two beer makers account for about 60 per cent of the domestic market. Sabeco dominates with 40 per cent.
Thang also said that the MoIT has already submitted to the government divestment and equitisation plans for Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN), and Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem).
He said a similar plan for Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) would be submitted this month.
Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai said he has ordered close supervision of the equitisation process in order to avoid asset losses.
Hai also said that disciplinary action was likely to be taken against MoIT deputy minister Ho Thi Kim Thoa, with the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission viewing her reported wrongdoings as serious.
Thoa is alleged to have committed several violations during her tenure as Communist Party comimittee secretary and director of the Dien Quang Lamp Company, including violations of regulations on equitisation, land management and share transfer. The ministry will announce the disciplinary action publicly when it is taken, Hai said.
According to the inspection commission, as party committee secretary and director of Dien Quang Lamp Company from January 2004 to May 2010, Thoa violated regulations on business equitisation and procedures, and in relation to 6.7 billion dong (about Bt9.9 million) the company had received as an interest rate exemption.
More than 700,000 baht worth of damages were caused as five houses burnt down in two separate incidents in Phuket. Photo: Winai Sarot
More than 700,000 baht worth of damages were caused as five houses burnt down in two separate incidents in Phuket. Photo: Winai Sarot
More than 700,000 baht worth of damages were caused as five houses burnt down in two separate incidents in Phuket. Photo: Winai Sarot
More than 700,000 baht worth of damages were caused as five houses burnt down in two separate incidents in Phuket. Photo: Winai Sarot
More than 700,000 baht worth of damages were caused as five houses burnt down in two separate incidents in Phuket. Photo: Winai Sarot
More than 700,000 baht worth of damages were caused as five houses burnt down in two separate incidents in Phuket. Photo: Winai Sarot
July 07, 2017 18:31 By Phuket Gazette
PHUKET: More than 700,000 baht’s worth of damages were caused as five houses burned down in two separate incidents in Phuket.
The first fire broke out at Baan Klang in Chalong yesterday. Chalong Police received reports of the fire and contacted the municipality for help.
Firefighters spent 30 minutes battling the flames, but the whole house was burned to the ground.
“My wife and I went out to the market and our children left for work. I did not know about the fire until my neighbor called to inform me,” said the owner of the house.
Three pictures of His Royal Highness King Rama IX and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit remained intact. The owner said he planned to re-frame them and hang them in their new house.
Damages are estimated to be about 100,000 baht. A preliminary investigation revealed a short circuit as the cause of the fire.
Chalong Mayor Sumran Jindapol offered financial assistance to the couple and their neighbor offered them a place to stay temporarily.
Another fire this morning caused four townhouses to burn down in Vichit. The fire started in the middle and spread to all four. The inhabitants of the homes, employees of the Bai Toey laundry service, were not present at the time.
“Before the fire started, my employees and I were working at the laundry shop not far from the house. We heard some noise and commotion and we went out there to find out what happened,” said Kusuma Waytangwich, the owner of the business.
Eight firetrucks were sent to battle the flames, which took about 30 minutes to bring under control.
The estimated damage is about 600,000 baht. Police are still investigating the cause of the fire.
July 05, 2017 10:19 By Kasamakorn Chanwanpen
The Nation
Thai media is standing up to the challenges to press freedom, including the media regulatory bill, by undertaking reforms and improving self regulation.
Speaking at an international seminar marking the 20th anniversary of the Thai National Press Council (NPC), the council’s chairman and veteran journalist Chavarong Limpattamapanee identified the challenges facing the country. He said there was a lack of public trust and low cooperation among professionals as well as the pressing issue of the media regulatory bill, which is being imposed by the junta-appointed reform council.
Although self-regulation has been around for decades, the NPC chairman admitted that it still has room for improvement. The public does not trust the media to take complaints seriously and seldom gives official feedback to the media.
While press councils from Sweden, Australia and Myanmar, whose representatives also appeared at the seminar, received hundreds of complaints from the public every year, the Thai council received only 10 to 20.
“The public does not trust that we would handle the case quickly or that we will be able to satisfy them.” Chavarong said. “Rather, they take to social media like Facebook or Twitter. You can find the complaints everywhere and every day but they never want to complain officially to us.”
To tackle the issue, Chavarong said the council was currently working to open channels with the public such as a mobile application to give better access to media organisations to lodge complaints.
The council also has an ethics committee which Chavarong said would take an active role in raising or picking up complaints from the public and follow issues through.
Self-regulation has also been improved with an amendment to its charter last year that called for every newspaper to set up an internal ombudsman tasked with ensuring the outlets follow the professional codes and conduct, he said.
However, the practice has not yet met with success, as some companies did not take it seriously and would not support the ombudsman.
Despite the struggle and low cooperation among the media, the NPC chairman strongly supported self-regulation and opposed legal powers of control proposed by the junta-backed media regulatory bill.
“If there is to be legal power, the question is who will exercise it?” he said. “It is open to interference. When power is involved, people would struggle to be part of it. There is no guaranteed that once [the media is regulated by legal power] it would be free from political influence.”
He said that even though it was prescribed that those exercising power must be a media professionals, the same problem could occur.
“There are hundreds of media organisations in this country. And we do not know how many of them are genuine professionals.” Chavarong said.
He said that national media organisations had discussed the issue with a government representative who promised to review the draft bill and ensure media participation in the drafting process.
Chavarong said he was confident there would be a compromise on the media control issue and self-regulation would be maintained in the end. Media organisations were working very hard to protect press freedom, the NPC chairman said.
A 61-year-old fruit picker suspected of raping and murdering his 40-year-old “stepdaughter” in Chanthaburi was arrested at a relative’s house in his Si Sa Ket hometown on Saturday.
Phetch Pathumwan was presented to the press in Chanthaburi on Sunday along with a metre-long bamboo stick believed used in the murder and then taken to the scene in Khao Kitchakud district to re-enact the alleged crime.
Chanthaburi police chief Pol Maj General Charan Jitjeujun claimed Phetch had confessed to beating the victim on the head with the stick, ending a fight following a drinking session that left both of them drunk.
The woman’s body was found on Friday morning with trousers pulled off and shirt partially opened.
Phetch allegedly told police that he removed her clothes for sex, but discovered she was dead and fled. He also claimed he didn’t rape the woman, since she’d consented to sex.
The contradiction and further contradicting evidence at the scene led police to charge Phetch with murder pending forensic tests, which could bring additional charges including rape.
Phetch, who only met the victim when both were on their way to seek fruit-picking jobs in Chanthaburi late last month, were not related. He said she asked him to act as her stepfather.
Their employer told police the victim had phoned his wife on Thursday night to say she wanted to quit because she could no longer tolerate Phetch’s sexual harassment. She allegedly often complained to the wife that he’d tried to molest her.
May 13, 2017 01:00 By PAREZ LOHASAN,
NAKARIN CHINWORAKOMON
THE NATION
‘MASTERMIND’ of Pattani car-bomb identified with eight accomplices, said to have fled to Yala.
ONE OF the suspects in the Big C Pattani car bomb explosion has identified eight accomplices, including the mastermind behind the attack that injured more than 60 people on Tuesday.
Fourth Army Area chief Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich yesterday released a list of the car-bomb suspects.
The list is based on information from Su-ai-mee Sama-ae, who has been interrogated at a military base in Pattani province since his arrest on Thursday night.
According to Su-ai-mee, Annungwa Kazor is the alleged mastermind, while Maolana Samoh and Abdul-aze Japakeeya are responsible for finding others to actually carry out the attack.
He said that Isma-ae Morzu was in charge of getting the vehicle that would be used as the car bomb. Manasay Zyredee was tasked with assembling explosives and concealing them in the vehicle, alongside Muhammad Kazor. All along, Ruslan Baimor and Bukhori Lamzoh served as lookouts.
To get the vehicle for the plot, the gang allegedly lured Nuson Kajornkam, a tent-service provider from Yala province, to Pattani and killed him on Tuesday morning, according to Su-ai-mee. About five hours later, his pickup truck was packed with explosive-filled cylinders and parked in front of the Big C Pattani.
Nuson left behind his wife, who is a nurse, and their two children.
His widow, Sawitree Kachornkham, said yesterday that she did not want to live in Yala anymore because it was not safe, even in broad daylight.
The death of her husband was a big blow. “I hope such a thing will never happen to anyone else. I really would like to ask the killer whether they have ever loved someone,” she said.
Pattani Governor Weeranan Pengchan said all eight suspects implicated by Su-ai-mee had criminal records.
“They are wanted for many other crimes in Pattani and Yala,” he said.
He added that the ongoing investigation suggested that the eight suspects had already fled to the neighbouring Yala province.
Pattani Special Taskforce’s chief Maj-General Jatuporn Klampasut said that the chief executive of the Tambon Nong Chik Administrative Organisation and a local imam had been aware of Nuson’s killing.
“At this point, there is no evidence that they directly took part in the robbery. So, we have just interviewed them for information. We have also questioned five locals for the same purpose,” Jatuporn said.
Suspicious activities
Colonel Yuttanam Petchmuang, a deputy spokesman for the Forward Command of the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, said Piyawat had already asked relevant authorities to gather evidence fast to bring all the culprits to justice.
Following the explosion, an arrest warrant was issued for Makorseng Ma-ae, 25. But authorities are still searching for him.
Yuttanam urged people to alert authorities if they detected any suspicious activities.
HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn has assigned a delegate to provide flowers and gifts of support to victims at hospitals.
Unrest has raged in Thailand’s deep South for more than a decade. Bloody incidents have taken place on almost a daily basis.
Yesterday afternoon, more than 100 religious leaders, community leaders and locals joined a prayer in front of Big C Pattani to ask for peace. They condemned the use of violence, including the blast that hit the area a few days ago.
Meanwhile, the Sheikhul Islam Office has released a letter condemning the incidents in Pattani province that injured 61 innocent people when two bombs were detonated on Tuesday afternoon at a Big C store in Muang Pattani district.
The office said that the vicious act had been designed to take innocent lives and thus violated the teachings of Islam, which clearly forbids such a crime.
The Sheikhul Islam Office urged the perpetrators to refrain from engaging in further violence against local residents.
The office also implored the government to do everything in its power to prevent such incidents from occurring, while providing assistance to victims and bringing the culprits to justice.
The letter ends with a plea to the |administration to find peaceful solutions to end the violence that is plaguing the South, especially by means of promoting public |participation.
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