Smartphone's Trick: You Can Squeeze It

HTC may have just unveiled the new favorite phone of selfie lovers. Instead of having to fumble for a button to snap a photo, users of the new U11 can simply squeeze the phone to open the camera app, and squeeze again to take a selfie. But that's just one possibility with its Edge Sense feature, reports CNET. The pressure sensors on the sides of the device—which can be used with gloves, per Engadget—can open up to two apps, including the flashlight, voice recorder, and Facebook, and can even be used to send a text message, reports Wired. The user simply programs the feature to perform based on whether it senses a short squeeze or a long one.

"Before, it was a hassle to reach these features, but we simplified it into a single motion," HTC says. As the phone doesn't ship until June, it's too early to tell how useful the feature will be, or if apps will be triggered when the phone gets bumped inside a pocket, for example. But while TechCrunch refers to Edge Sense as "pretty silly," CNET notes HTC has discovered "an entirely new way to interact with a phone." The U11 has plenty more going for it: It's water resistant, features a 5.5-inch display with 2,560-by-1,440-pixel resolution, between 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a fingerprint sensor, four built-in microphones, and a sleek, glass-like body. The phone will retail for $649. (More smartphones stories.)