IFA 2013 hasn't even kicked it up to full speed yet, and we already have a bunch of new products to look forward to, and the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean-touting Alcatel One Touch Hero sure is one of them. Alcatel, who has been licensing its brand name to Chinese TCL and letting it handle the production of handsets on its own, appears to have taken the Hero part of the device quite seriously – the phablet slated for an October launch is truly trying to catch them all. And by all, we mean every unusual, if cool, feature that rivals have been reserving for their occasional oddball smartphone experiments.
Trendy internals
Taking the torch from the AlcatelOne Touch Scribe HD, the Hero offers an upgrade in pretty much every regard. Starting off with the essentials, it's nice to see that this time around Alcatel has done the display justice – we're looking ata giant 6-inch IPS panel running at 1920x1080 with stylus support.The amount of RAM has also been bumped to 2GB, and we have a 1.5GHz quad-core SoC of unknown make, though Alcatel hasrelied on local MediaTek for the rest of the devices in its newlineup. Keeping up to speed with the trends, the rear camera on theHero is a 13MP unit with a LED Flash, a 2MP snapper resides at the front. The 16GB of storage is thankfullymicroSD-expandable. Giving life to all these internals is a healthy3400mAh battery.
Catch them all
Luckilyfor us and Alcatel both, the company didn't stop here, for althoughsporting some high-end internals, the One Touch Hero will need abunch of extras to sway consumers away from the traditional choiceswhen it comes to smartphones in general. Extras, exactly, is whatAlcatel is offering by the bucketload.
Projectors are awesome, especially on your smartphone
Starringamong these is a 12Lm pico projector add-on that should cater to both thebusiness-minded and those simply looking for some entertainment. While
we've seen this tech fully integrated in phones before, we still prefer that the option is available, rather than not (pending price, of course). Alcatel promises that their solution will allow users to project an image larger than 70 inches. Obviously, don't go throwing away your TV just yet -- pico projectors for smartphones, by and large, have had a sketchy track record at best.
MagicFlip and E-Ink covers
The Alcatel One Touch Hero also comes with a dedicated E-Ink coverthat will give a break to both the Hero's battery and your eyeswhilst reading. An alternative cover, dubbed MagicFlip, connects tothe phablet through a series of pins on the back, providingnotifications via an embedded LED light. Both these covers, along with the pico projector will connect to to the smartphone via the pins on the rear of the phone, meaning that you'll have to settle for one or the other. Once again -- nothing, strictly speaking, new or innovative, as we've seen this tech before.
Bluetooth-enabled accessory phone
Remember HTC's Mini+ bluetooth IR blaster handset that doubled up as a phone? Well, just in case it wasn't apparent enough that the Alcatel One Touch Hero is a true jack of all trades, the company has decided to go for a similar accessory. The bluetooth-enabled device will connect to your, admittedly, much bulkier One Touch Hero, allowing you to take and place voice calls, receive texts and also sync your phonebook and calendar entries, without having to whip out the 6-incher.
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