HTC One is going on tour to prove it's 'everything your phone isn't'
Wonder if it will have groupies?
If you're perfectly content with your smartphone, you may want to avoid HTC's upcoming HTC One Live Experience Tour, because according to the phone maker it will make you question everything about your device.
The theme for the new HTC One ad campaign is "Everything Your Phone Isn't," and HTC is looking to prove that by taking the new flagship across the U.S. and letting consumers see it in person.
The HTC One Live Experience Tour will be comprised of three separate parts: lounges for "product experiences" and free live concerts, showrooms for the HTC One, and demos and on-screen content in select movie theatres.
The point of all this? To prove that your phone sucks compared to the HTC One.
But I like my phone
That shouldn't be the most difficult task in the world, considering how impressive the HTC One is - TechRadar had so much trouble coming up with points against the phone in our review that we actually included "alarm too simple."
The HTC One showroom portion of the tour will give customers a chance to check out the phone in-person in malls in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, LA, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. starting April 11.
They'll feature more than just the smartphones sitting on pedestals, including "interactive experiences" called "a mobility-powered playground" according to an HTC press release.
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The experience in movie theatres will be less complex, with live demos in lobbies, commercials on the big screens, and "entertainment content" to be added to movie screens (plus TV and internet channels) in the future.
Did you say something about free concerts?
The HTC BoomSound Lounge will be the main draw of the HTC One Live Experience Tour, especially once you hear who they've got performing.
To highlight the HTC One's front-facing stereo speakers (with a dedicated amplifier and Beats Audio!), HTC has enlisted hip-hop music producer, Pharrell, to perform in the BoomSound Lounge in New York, Grouplove in Chicago, and Manchester Orchestra in LA.
We're not sure you really need live concerts to show off a phone's stereo speakers, no matter how nice they are, but we're not going to complain.
The BoomSound Lounge experience will also feature pop-up listening booths in those three cities, plus locations (minus the live concerts) in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. These locations began opening today, and they'll also host live broadcasts of one of the concerts, though HTC has yet to specify which one.
AT&T and Sprint will be the first carriers to offer the HTC One in the U.S., and it will be available starting April 19 for $199 with a contract.
Head here for more info on the BoomSound lounges and concerts.
Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.
Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.