Taiwan’s HTC has taken the wraps off the HTC One — previously codenamed the M7 — its new, top-end Android smartphone and the successor to the highly lauded One X.
And, according to the company, the device will be launched in South Africa on Vodacom and Cell C, possibly as early as next month. There’s no immediate word on when it’ll be coming to the other operators.
HTC is hoping the new phone, which has been unveiled less than four weeks before rival Samsung Electronics is expected to launch the Galaxy S4, will grab the attention of consumers with its camera, screen resolution, updated software and fast processor.
The phone, which has an aluminium, unibody design, features a 4,7-inch display — the same size as the One X — but its resolution has been bumped up to 1080p for a massive pixel density of 468ppi. Remember, 1080p is the resolution of that flat-panel TV in your lounge, packed into a screen that fits in your hand.
The HTC One has a quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1,7GHz, supports 4G/LTE networks and comes with 32GB of storage.
The camera is likely to get a lot of attention: HTC is clearly taking the fight to Nokia and the Finnish company’s flagship Windows Phone handset, the Lumia 920, which features its patented PureView technology. The HTC One has a custom-developed imaging sensor with larger pixel size to absorb more light. It also features optical image stabilisation.
The “UltraPixel” camera has an f/2.0 aperture lens and a sensor that apparently gathers 300% more light than traditional smartphone camera sensors. “This new approach delivers astounding low-light performance and a variety of other improvements to photos and video,” HTC says.
There’s also an ultra-wide-angle front-facing camera that supports 1080p video capture.
Another feature HTC hopes will get the punters excited its BoomSound, which offers front-facing stereo speakers with a dedicated amplifier and integrated Beats Audio. There are also dual microphones for capturing high-quality audio.
HTC also introduced a new version of its Android overlay, called Sense, and unveiled HTC Sense TV, which, it says, turns the HTC One into an “interactive programme guide and remote control for most TVs, set-top boxes and receivers”. In addition, HTC BlinkFeed offers a unified centre for social networking, entertainment, news and other feeds. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
