HTC One (2014) aka M8 Rumour Update: Expected Specifications and Launch Details

Since the beginning of the New Year, internet has been flooded with rumoured features of the upcoming HTC One (2014) aka M8. Speculations suggest the new HTC flagship model will have major improvements over the previous variants and might debut as early as March this year.

We have sifted through multiple reports to come with a list of specifications which we believe are likely to feature in the HTC One successor.

Display and Design:

One of the notable features of the 2013 HTC One was its zero-gap, unibody metallic cover, and many tech critics and fans had heaped praise on its curvaceous body. It looks like HTC will keep the same aesthetic look for its successor but with a minor design tweak to accommodate a bigger display and finger print scanner on the back.

American business publication Bloomberg, citing an insider, has claimed that the HTC One successor will have a 5.0-inch plus screen (less than the 5.9-inch HTC One Max).

The leaked snapshot of the alleged HTC M8, published by Chinese website ePrice, also concurs with the new report.

It is said the new HTC phone may either have a full HD display or QHD (aka 2K) 2556x1440p resolution screen. Many are pegging HTC to use the latter feature in its 2014 flagship handset, if it really wants to challenge world smartphone leader Samsung, which is also speculated to use 2K resolutions display in the upcoming Galaxy S5.

Processor, RAM and Storage Capacity:

According to reports, HTC One (2014) is likely to ship with either Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series CPU or the new 805 series chipset.

If twitter spy, @evleaks is to be believed, HTC One may come with Snapdragon MSM8974 (800 series) processor but he has some apprehension that this specification may change before the official announcement.

Many believe the smartphone industry seems to have reached a saturation point, where every new phone is more of an incremental model in terms of specifications, rather than innovation.

Apple's iPhone 5S raised the SoC (System on Chip) standard to 64-bit architecture in late 2013, now Samsung is also touted to come up with its own 64-bit based Exynos 6 Octa-core CPU in the Galaxy S5. Many HTC fans are hoping Taiwanese company will at least use the new 2.5GHz 805 series-based processor in the upcoming phone.

HTC new phone is expected to ship with at least 2GB RAM (or 3GB) and come in 32GB/64GB storage variants.

Camera:

When the Taiwanese company launched the HTC One in 2013, the firm boasted that the phone housed an innovative ultra-pixel camera, capable of absorbing 300-percent more light than the conventional smartphone cameras in the industry. But it soon turned out as a gimmicky feature that did not live up to the tech critics' expectations. They felt the HTC smartphone's camera fell short against rivals (Nokia Lumia 1020, Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z1).

Now, it seems like HTC will use an enhanced version of the ultra-pixel camera (probably increase in pixel count and wider lens aperture) with twin sensors, having better focus and depth of field to snap good quality photos.

Mobile Operating System:

HTC One (2014) is all but certain to run on the new Android KitKat OS (probably the latest v4.4.2) along with new custom HTC UI Sense v6.0.

Key features of KitKat OS include smarter caller ID, more organized message grouping Hangouts (now all text-SMS, audio and video chat will now under one roof), quick access to settings, wireless printing (select HP printers), Quickoffice word document app, Bluetooth MAP (Message Access Profile) and many more. [To know more about key features of Android v4.4 KitKat OS, Click Here]

Battery:

The 2013 4.7-inch HTC One boasted a 2,300 mAh battery, and so the company might bump up the new phone's capacity to at least to 3000 mAh (more the better) to support a big high-resolution 5.0-inch screen.

Special Attributes:

In late 2013, HTC had launched a new phablet - One Max - with finger-print sensor on its back-side; so many believe HTC One (2014) is also certain to house this biometric screen-unlocking technology.

There are already scores of rumoured HTC One (2014) snapshots circulating in the media which have consistently shown a small hole atop the rear-camera module, leading many to believe the empty space on the back-panel might be saved for the finger-print sensor.

Launch details:

In early December, a UK high court judge, while pronouncing the verdict on the patent dispute between HTC and Nokia, unintentionally revealed that the Taiwanese company's next generation flagship phone (the rumoured M8 aka HTC One 2014) may make its debut in February 2014.  

Now, a new report from Bloomberg suggests the company is likely to launch the new generation HTC One around March end.

Co-incidentally, rival Samsung is also rumoured to launch their new flagship phone Galaxy S5 in the same month in London.

Rumoured specifications of HTC One (2014) aka HTC One Two: