Ina Fried

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HTC Announces One X+, at Least for the Rest of the World

HTC on Tuesday announced an updated version of its current flagship Android phone, the HTC One X.

The new phone, dubbed the HTC One X+, features the latest Jelly Bean version of Android, along with a higher-capacity battery, more storage and a faster processor.

It builds on the strength of the One X’s camera by making it easier to take take and view pictures. Another new feature, the self-portrait mode, makes “subtle enhancements to the skin and eyes when taking pictures with the front-facing camera.”

The Taiwanese phone maker said the phone will start shipping in some places later this month, but said a North America announcement is still to come. (Carriers in the U.S. often like to make their own announcements.)

The HTC One X was exclusive to AT&T, while T-Mobile offered the HTC One S, a somewhat different, narrower model. HTC also said it will soon offer an upgrade to Jelly Bean for those phones.

Having pared back its lineup after introducing dozens of phones in 2011, HTC has focused most of its attention this year on the One line, which debuted at Mobile World Congress, and, to a lesser extent, on its line of Windows Phones.

That puts a lot of pressure on the company to come up with a hit with each new One release, as well as to better compete against the gigantic marketing muscle of larger rivals Samsung and Apple.

In an interview last month, HTC President Jason Mackenzie acknowledged that the company needs to do a better job of pitching itself.

“We can’t be quiet,” he told AllThingsD. “As a challenger brand … we have to be more bold.”

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Nobody was excited about paying top dollar for a movie about WikiLeaks. A film about the origins of Pets.com would have done better.

— Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com comments on the dreadful opening weekend box office numbers for “The Fifth Estate.”