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HTC Launches Preview Program For New Hardware & Software

HTC’s release of this year’s flagship One M9 failed to gain the levels of adoption expected as it was thought to be too similar to its predecessor, the One M8. The company didn’t give up then and more recently they have released some additional devices, including their latest one, the HTC One A9, which looks a lot like Apple’s iPhone – although this is not necessarily a bad thing, since the trend is one catching in China with several successful smartphones there, seemingly inspired by the Cupertino company design. The importance of having an active community seems to be acknowledged by HTC, as the company has just released a preview program open to all, which will allow some lucky fans to receive new hardware and software before they are released, so HTC can get feedback to improve their products before they reach the market.

The announcement was made during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, and HTC’s officials answered several questions from users. On the initial post, the HTC Preview Team invites the most active members of the Android community to “raise their hands to help contribute with feedback and suggestions.” The text goes on to say that the program will be available for users of the top 4 carriers in the U.S., meaning that only U.S. users subscribed to either Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint will be able to participate, for now. One user did, in fact, ask if other carriers would be supported, especially for the millions of users on smaller MVNOs, but the company representatives only said that they were working to expand it as soon as possible. Another user asked how serious the company would take these feedback, and if HTC could even get to the point of scrapping a product if users didn’t like it. Of course it would be very unlikely to happen, and the answer said just that, noting “the end goals is to develop a device that users love” and users feedback would be useful for making small changes, tweaks, and adjustments. However, if user feedback is overwhelmingly negative, they could evaluate the whole thing.

If you want to take part on the HTC Preview program, just head ou to their website and register for it. You will then be asked to create a HTC account using either your Google or Facebook logins. It is important to say that by registering on the website doesn’t guarantee your spot in the program, and if you already participated on previous Preview programs, your data is already in their systems so there’s no need to register again. Another important remark is that your device cannot be rooted, otherwise it won’t be eligible for participating on the program. Head out to the Reddit AMA topic throuugh the source link below to read all questions and answers.