July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

‘Tis the season for smartphone news leaks, with Mobile World Congress on the horizon and major players readying their next wave of devices. Today we have our closest look yet at HTC’s upcoming flagship phone, formerly called the M7, via the folks at the Evleaks Twitter account.

Evleaks tweeted an alleged photo of the phone this morning, and it also noted that HTC may stick with the “One” brand the company launched in early 2012. HTC is expected to officially announce the phone at an event in New York City on February 19, so it’s not too difficult to believe that someone could snap a photo of one already.

The photo also matches a render of the M7 that we saw last month, which at the time reminded me quite a bit of Apple’s iPhone 5 design. Judging from today’s photo, it looks like the phone also sports a metallic trim, which is also reminiscent of Apple’s latest flagship phone. (I can’t blame HTC much, even BlackBerry seems to be aping the iPhone 5 design these days.)

Now that HTC is focusing on releasing fewer devices, but making them higher quality in the process, it also makes sense for the company to rally around a single brand for its flagship line. Samsung has the Galaxy S series, Apple has the iPhone, so HTC could easily stick with the “One” brand.

Via Engadget

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

A leaked image of HTC’s next major Android phone has hit the web, and it looks a little familiar.

The above image of the HTC M7, unearthed by Unwired View, shows a phone similar to Apple’s iPhone 5, except with a much bigger screen. You can practically hear the anger and frustration from Apple fans already.

The image comes from a short video telling M7 owners how to install their SIM card. Since there’s no branding, we’re likely looking at a fairly early version of the M7′s design. HTC is expected to unveil the phone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, the same place it officially announced its One series last year.

Specifically, the M7 reminds me of the iPhone 5′s rear, except it features grills for the speaker and microphone. But I’m sure the final version will look a bit different. The last thing HTC needs is to invoke Apple’s wrath like Samsung did.

Despite focusing on releasing fewer but higher-quality devices last year, HTC’s sales are still in the pits. The company reported a profit fall of 91 percent in its most recent earnings report. Like most Android phone makers, HTC is finding it tough to compete with Samsung’s smartphone dominance. The M7 may be the company’s final chance to make a dent against Samsung.

Official details on the M7 aren’t yet known, but Unwired View reports that it will feature a 4.7-inch 1080p display and a 1.7 gigahertz quad-core processor. HTC might also include an IR port in the M7, which will let it function as a universal remote.