New Delhi: HTC will be launching its latest flagship smartphone, the HTC One (M8) in India in April. The company has updated the device by giving it a larger screen, extra camera features and better software. The smartphone maker has not revealed the price of the smartphone.
TheM8 Google Play Edition will be up for pre-order at the Play Store starting Tuesday for $699 (Rs 42,250 approximately).
The HTC One (M8) looks premium as it is 90 per cent metal. The new device is slightly longer and wider than the HTC One, and is 17 grams heavier than the HTC One. HTC also claims that M8 has a stronger construction and advanced antenna design for better network reception.
HTC One (M8) sports a 5-inch IPS LCD full-HD display (1080 x 1920p, 441ppi) with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
Under the hood, the device is powered by a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and 2GB RAM. The phone will be available in 16GB and 32GB internal storage variants with a microSD card slot that supports cards of up to 128GB capacity. The phone takes a Nano-SIM, which is a standard for most flagship smartphones in 2014. HTC will also offer 65GB of cloud storage space on Google Drive.
The device runs the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat, with HTC's Sense 6.0 UI on top. It includes on-screen buttons for navigation and a new version of BlinkFeed, a homescreen utility that brings personalized updates from the user's preferred news sources and social networks.
A striking feature of the M8 is the Duo Camera set-up at the back. The new device uses not one but two camera lenses. While the primary rear camera of the M8 makes use of the same 4-megapixel UltraPixel technology that was found in last year's HTC One, it is the second rear camera that captures depth information, and gives the ability to do things like refocussing images. The effect lets you add a powerful blur effect, or other special effects, to select parts of the image while leaving the rest untouched.
The phone's front-camera features a 5MP sensor with f2.0 wide angle lens for taking selfies.
The M8 comes with front-facing dual stereo speakers and amplifier. The company claims the new speakers offer 25 per cent better sound than the ones on the phone's predecessor.
The new device from HTC also offers feature known as Motion Launch – gesture controlled shortcuts – to let you activate the screen, answer calls, and turn the lock screen on and off without swiping or tapping.
Another interesting offering by HTC is a Dot View flip cover that displays notifications, time and weather updates and the ability to answer calls, without the need to uncover the phone. The cover will be sold separately.
HTC has also included a 2600mAh battery with the One (M8) and thrown in a 'Extreme Power Saving Mode' that basically turns into a touchscreen feature phone, as users only have access to calls, messaging, calendar data and calculator app. This 'extreme' mode is designed for situations when you expect to be away from a power source for long durations.
