Why the gimmicks?

[Nubwy]

Seems like the only company realizing that gimmicks don't sell is LG this year. They dropped the modular aspect of the G5 and gave us a nice looking G6 made from metal and glass. HTCs U Ultra was a flop and the second screen idea was horrible. The HTC 11 looks now to introduce another non essential and gimmicky squeeze feature.... what gives?!

 

[dov1978]

The Android market is flooded with phones that all look similar with similar specs. HTC are looking for a USP (unique selling point) to stand out from the crowd and to be fair to them they've found a fresh idea. Whether it's actually useful or not is another story but at least they're trying I guess.

 

[digitalbreak]

They said it in the launch - Phones are becoming big, too tall, too wide and its just hard to reach the top or certain areas in the screen to launch/do the things you want to do. The Edge Sense is HTC's way of innovating in that space.

 

[aviatordoc]

Makes sense to me.

 

[popartist]

I had been feeling that it could be a gimmick too but I had some time with the phone last night and it is actually implemented usefully and well, did not seem too fiddly at all in launching stuff (seems especially useful in launching the camera). Also a feature discovered last night is long-pressing some app icons is that long-pressing will pop up a sub-menu where you can go straight to a feature such as video for the camera and compose for email, which I thought was pretty cool.

 

[Morty2264]

I think this is a good feature that a lot of users will enjoy implementing. Quick-launching the camera app or flashlight app, for instance, would be convenient for many.

 

[wmurch3]

I think this is a good feature that a lot of users will enjoy implementing. Quick-launching the camera app or flashlight app, for instance, would be convenient for many.

Yeah it's kind of boring right now though. It would have been cool if it acted like a scroll wheel too so you could navigate with it. Maybe a future version?

The scroll functionality would only be enabled after a squeeze though to keep from accidental scrolls.

 

[eshropshire]

Seems like the only company realizing that gimmicks don't sell is LG this year. They dropped the modular aspect of the G5 and gave us a nice looking G6 made from metal and glass. HTCs U Ultra was a flop and the second screen idea was horrible. The HTC 11 looks now to introduce another non essential and gimmicky squeeze feature.... what gives?!

Yes and the G6 is doing so well we are already seeing BOGO offers and massive discounts. LG rushed the device to the market and is paying the price. They could have waited 30+ days and had the 835 processor, or they could have sold the Asian version in NA and they would be doing a lot better.

 

[ruebourbon99]

I see what you did there aviatordoc ; )

 

[Eggmundo]

I see what you did there aviatordoc ; )

What?

 

[BowtomePhil]

Sense

 

[Ry]

I like seeing companies trying new and different things.

 

[Morty2264]

I like seeing companies trying new and different things.

Exactly! This "squeeze" feature will certainly set HTC apart from the rest!

 

[Wildo6882]

I like seeing companies trying new and different things.

Exactly. These companies need to do something to differentiate themselves. I like to see them trying something new; I can see it having some actual use, too. Especially for someone like me who has 5 month old twins and I frequently have a kid in my arms, so a quick access to something like that with one hand would be awesome.