HTC are expected to release android 4.2.2 near the end of this month or July and in Q4 android 4.3. One of the biggest gripes was how the HTC One handled the menu settings, but fortunately the latest update to 4.2.2 not only has a way of resolving that but also now allows swiping up to get Google Now.

Other improvements are to Blinkfeed allowing for more options and customisation, a battery percentage and toggles in notification centre for settings, the ability to have an empty dock and Daydream. They are other standard 4.2.2 tweaks and general system improvements. The Video Highlights/Zoe have been improved. New themes include Seaview, Atlantis, Hammerville, Gotham, Boulevard, Boardwalk, Lilyton. And they rock big time. The camera has been optimised even further and so far is snapping better quality shots first time with less fuss.

If you are feeling brave, you can install a custom Android Revolutions over at XDA Developers and have 4.2.2 right now. It is important to carefully follow all the instructions and remember installing this custom rom will void your warranty.

My HTC One is now on 4.2.2 courtesy of this custom rom and its ok so far. Some screen shots below.

This is my home screen that has stayed on my HTC One this week. Using Nova Launcher with a transparent status bar, MIUI v5 icons and a simple black with wooden dock wallpaper.

Across the globe, China and Japan have a variant of the HTC One that has dual sim and a micro SD slot.

But why?

HTC’s Jeff Gordon, the company’s Senior Global Online Communications Manager went on record to say that the Chinese version of the One is designed specifically for the smaller Chinese radio bands, which means additional space inside the device is available for the microSD slot. That space isn’t available to us in the global version.

Do you believe that?

HTC struggled at release to deliver hardly any HTC One smartphones when it launched back in April. It struggled with inventory and other production issues.

However, despite the above problems and fierce competition from Samsung, it looks like it is on track to have sold 5 million phones by the end of May.

On top of that HTC has doubled production to keep up with demand which it is still struggling to meet.

With Samsung shipping 10 million S4’s, who will be left to buy the next iPhone?

The Verge has reported that HTC’s Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, has left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC’s overall product strategy, handling the global launch of the One.

The Verge added that it was not just Kodera who left. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession, most recently Jason Gordon, the company’s vice president of global communications. Other fresh departures include global retail marketing manager Rebecca Rowland, director of digital marketing John Starkweather, and product strategy manager Eric Lin. Then there have been production issues and delays with the One and First.

But in reality how worried should we be? Well, if your HTC One works really well, then I personally would not be too worried. The hardware is still excellent and if HTC should kick the bucket, which I very much doubt, the clever people at XDA Developers will keep it running for many years. In fact, the custom rom development of the HTC One is very active with some splendid results.

And looking at the Verge reporting its way over the top. HTC is a large corporate and it looks like all the above is probably part of a corporate shuffle which is normal in the corporate world. Or a few people got new jobs or got squeezed out. Whatever it is, it’s not the end.

Over the weekend I installed a custom rom, Android Revolution , on my HTC One. I mentioned yesterday I did this with the blessing of Three UK, although they will probably deny they actually said this, but they did! I got fed up waiting for the HTC One software update that would improve the camera considerably.

The process to go from a Three branded phone to a unlocked bootloader, rooted and custom rom took me hours but I was reading all I could find about how to do this process and having difficult understanding the language. However, now I realise what everything means in idiot language, the process isn’t really that difficult. I will write a guide, linking in various articles next week.

So why is my phone supercharged. Well for a start it has a stock version but the latest version available for the HTC One. This includes all the latest versions of the stock apps, the camera fixes and other bug fixes, new Sense 5 features, battery optimisations, speed and memory optimisations and special tweaks. During installation of this custom rom you have two screens where you can select or deselect whether you want certain apps or tweaks installed or not. For example, you can deselect Facebook if you never use it. You are also given the option to install extra apps that are important and would more than likely install afterwards. As the phone is rooted, I now can have additional features using Apex Launcher. But sometimes the simplest of tweaks make the world of difference.

Instead of always having to reach for the power button to switch on the HTC One, I can press the volume down. Genius as I hold my phone in my my right hand. Next handy tweak is a long press on the back capacitive button brings up the menu. So now more three dots at the bottom of the screen in some apps. The battery icon now shows the actual percentage. And system toggled are now shown in the notification centre.

I have been so impressed with this setup that I went on an app spending spree in the Play store. I now have a complete range of android apps and games to envy my iOS collection.

My next quest is to connect game consul controllers: PS3, Xbox and Moga Pro and play some game classics. I already have the SNES emulator installed and have been playing old game classics of mine from Super Mario World to Karting.

And so far what I have done is rock solid. And to change the rom is now a quick 15 min job, thanks to Titanium Pro backup.