HTC has sent out invitations to a pre-MWC media event in Barcelona, starting rumours about the introduction of new products. The invitation shows a starry sky and the words ‘Utopic in progress’ – sufficiently abstract as to not give anything away! However, the HTC One M8 was launched in late March 2014, so a successor is chief among the rumours.
The HTC One M9, codenamed ‘Hima’, is said to sport a 5″ screen with either 1920 x 1080 or 2560 x 1440 resolution. Internally it will run Android 5.0 on an octa-core 64-bit Snapdragon 805 or 810 SoC, with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The phone is also said to feature a 20MP rear camera and a front camera with HTC’s Ultrapixel (low-light) technology.
A smartwatch has also been linked to the MWC event. It is thought that the watch will have HTC’s new UA Record app (developed as part of a partnership with sports brand Under Armour) pre-installed. However, aside from the presence of an accelerometer, no more details about the watch could be confirmed by sources.
Finally, another smartphone – codenamed the Ace Hima Plus, possibly a phablet version of One M9 (HTC One M9 Max) – has appeared in the rumour mill, but is not expected to be shown at MWC. It will have a 5.5″ display (2560 x 1440), a fingerprint sensor and thin bezels, but will otherwise be similar to the One M9. Sources say that the One M9 Max will not be launched until August or September this year.
