How do you follow up a phone like the HTC One? It was only the third smartphone to garner a highly coveted five star TechRadar review and the Taiwanese firm has got a job on its hands to repeat the trick with its successor.
HTC has admitted it's working on something after a myriad leaks, rumors and suggestive benchmark results flooded onto the web - all of which appear to reference the all new HTC One smartphone.
And now UK retailer The Carphone Warehouse has spilled the beans on the new name and release date of the phone - TechRadar was told it will be named the HTC One (M8) and will be available in stores as soon as the event finishes on March 25, although only a few handsets will be available.
The development name of HTC M8 was the first to appear on several occasions, but it appears this title has confusingly been carried forward as a suffix to the launch device... HTC needed to come up with a way of differentiating with the old model, but is something that sounds so definitively like 'mate' the right way to go?
We'd previously seen the HTC One 2014, One 2, One+, One S and One Up all rumored as possible names, but "the all new HTC One" appeared to be the front runner until two UK based retailers popped the handset on their "Coming soon" pages - and now the name has been confirmed.
Is HTC One (M8) really the official name?
Both Three UK and Carphone Warehouse have the phone listed as the HTC One (M8), with the former noting "HTC will announce their all new HTC One (M8) on the 25th March 2014."
The HTC One 2 is in trouble - it's going to have an awful name
Cut to the chase What is it? Sequel to the 5 star HTC One - a tough act to follow When is it out? HTC has an event on March 25 2014 and the phone will be available immediately in select stores. What will it cost? A lot. Big phone, big money.
One thing is for sure, with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Sony Xperia Z2 already here and the iPhone 6 due to launch later in 2014, the new HTC One is going to have its work cut out and it could be make or break time for the Taiwanese firm.
We've rounded up all the latest M8 chatter from around the web to bring you the best picture of what you may see from the all new HTC One 2014.
HTC One (M8) release date and price
After months of speculation and hearsay, the Taiwanese firm finally sent out invitations to an event on March 25 2014, which we know will signal the arrival of the all new HTC One (M8).
The event is scheduled to take place in London and New York, with proceedings kicking off at 3pm (GMT)/10am (EST), rolled back one hour from the original time for some reason HTC won't tell us.
A post-MWC 2014 launch event was always looking most likely as it allows HTC to avoid the launches of the Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2, giving the new One 2 space to shine away from the bustle of a trade show.
With the Galaxy S5 doing such a good job of stealing the show at MWC it seems like this was probably a wise decision.
It looks like the new HTC One will be out of the door quicker this time round, as back in 2013 Samsung managed to announce the Galaxy S4 and get it in stores between HTC's announcement and release of the One, but it seems the brand has managed to get its manufacturing processes up to speed efficiently enough to have the phone available on the day of launch.
HTC One M8 release date: where can I get it?
The statement sent to TechRadar by The Carphone Warehouse says: "The new HTC flagship device will be officially unveiled by the manufacturer at special events in London and New York earlier that afternoon.
"Shortly after, the new HTC One (M8) handsets will be transported directly from the venue of the launch announcement to six Carphone Warehouse stores in London."
We don't know whether this will herald the mass release of the new HTC One, so it could be that only a few phones go on sale on March 25 and others have to wait a few weeks.
There's no confirmation on price yet, but Mobile Fun is listing the handset at £579.99. Whether it has some inside information or whether that's just a placeholder is unclear, but we'd expect the One 2014 to go for between £550-£600 so it seems reasonable (around $975, AU$1050).
How will the M8 beat the five star HTC One?
HTC One (M8) display
Big screens are the order of the day for today's flagship smartphones and various reports seem to suggest the new HTC One 2014 will build ever so slightly on the 4.7-inch display found on the One - with 5 inches being a popular choice, and 5.2 inches also appearing in leaks.
This makes sense as the HTC One is dwarfed by the likes of the 5-inchXperia Z1 and 5.2-inch LG G2 and phones are only getting bigger- people want more screen and with the bezels beside displays decreasing the phone's physical dimensions may not actually change too much.
The rivals Samsung Galaxy S5 | Sony Xperia Z2 | iPhone 6
The 5-inch, full HD all new HTC One screen has been echoed by @evleaks - a usually reliable source of upcoming phone leaks - while resolution appears to be stuck at 1080p. No QHD or 4K resolutions in sight for the HTC One M8 just yet.
Is this the boxfresh M8?
More recently the phone appeared on eBay, and though the listing has now gone it was there long enough for some screenshots of the box to circulate and these too show the handset as having a 5-inch screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution.
The most recent reveal is the most official yet as it comes straight from Chinese wireless authority Tenaa, which has certified the phone and in the process confirmed that it will indeed have a 5 inch 1920 x 1080 screen. With almost every previous rumor also pointing in that direction it's looking all but guaranteed to be the case, which is a bit disappointing, considering we're expecting the LG G3 to ship with a Quad HD screen.
Based on the variety of rumors, leaks and reports we've pulled together a render of how we'd like the All New HTC One to look:
HTC One (M8) processor and RAM
The HTC One arrived on the scene with a relatively decent 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, but things have advanced since then and the HTC One (M8) should be in for quite an upgrade.
An early benchmark pointed towards Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 SoC, clocked at 2.26GHz - the same as the LG G2.
But it now looks all but guaranteed that the final version will ship with the newer Snapdragon 801 chip. As not only does a recent sales guide leaked by GSM Arenafor the HTC One (M8) say as much but we've even now got word from Chinese wireless authority Tenaa that itwill be rocking a Snapdragon 801 chip clocked at 2.26GHz.
When it comes to RAM it looks like 2GB is a pretty safe bet. Tenaa confirmed as much and most other leaks are also quoting 2GB of RAM for the HTC One (M8), which would be the same as the original One - but still plenty to run Android.
Really, while we'd love an extra gigabyte in practice it probably wouldn't be noticeable.
For those of you who love gaming on your smartphone there's some potentially good news, as the HTC M8 has also been linked to the Qualcomm Adreno 330 GPU which will enhance the graphical output of the handset.
HTC One (M8) operating system
No surprises here, when the M8 finally launches under whatever moniker HTC has managed to bodge together you can be sure Android will be hiding under the hood.
The good news is that it's been tipped to be the very latest version -Android 4.4 KitKat and the latest leak from Tenaa all but confirms as much- and of course it will be coated in a heavy layer of HTC's Sense overlay.
To be honest, we'd be very surprised if the new HTC One came running anything other than KitKat. The Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 are both running Android 4.4, so it makes sense for HTC to follow suit.
Word is that the HTC One (M8) will come with a brand spanking new version of Sense too and there's even a new video leak of what purports to be Sense 6.0 in action. The look has changed a little as icons are now flatter and there are a bunch of new gesture controls.
You can wake the handset by double tapping the screen, or head straight to BlinkFeed by swiping right when the screen is off or swipe left to launch the widget panel. You can also quick-launch the camera by hitting the volume button when the screen is off and the phone is in landscape orientation.
You can expect the new HTC One (M8) to run Android and Sense smoothly, as while its quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM aren't quite what we'd hoped for they should still be more than enough to handle anything Android can throw at them.
We've possibly even had a closer look at the new UI for the HTC One (M8), after a 14 minute video appeared on YouTube appearing to detail many of the software functions on the handset.
HTC One (M8) camera
HTC broke the cameraphone mould with the One as it introduced itsUltrapixel lens and proceeded to slap it on the Mini and Max variants of the handset as well.
The technology was met with mixed responses and questions were raised when the camera transpired to be equivalent to a 4MP snapper - albeit letting in a hell of a lot more light thanks to the larger pixels.
The HTC One was the first to sport Ultrapixels
Some will be hoping HTC ditches the Ultrapixel tech in favor of the traditional megapixel approach on the One (M8) and with the likes of the 41MP Lumia 1020 and 20.7MP Xperia Z2 on the market, competition is fierce.
However, the key questions centre around what those dual cameras might be for, as it seems odd to have something that does the same job twice and we can't see HTC going back down the 3D route.
The same sales guide that we mentioned earlier has more info, with GSM Arena reckoning "the so-called Duo Camera will allow the user to choose the focus point and create bokeh effects. The camera will also enable 3D effects. Presumably "effects" means more than just 3D photos and videos."
Not one, but two cameras on the rear of the One 2 (credit: nowhereelse.fr)
A recent specs reveal from Chinese wireless authority Tenaa also makes mention of the camera, claiming that it will have a 16MP and 4MP lens.
This is the first we've heard of 16MP and it's not clear whether the 4MP camera is the other one on the back or whether it's the one on the front, so the camera is one of the few ways in which the HTC One (M8) may still surprise us.
One thing we can say for sure is that Zoe is making a return as a new video teaser from HTC itself confirms it. Unfortunately it doesn't say a whole lot else, but it suggests that Zoe will have even more features this time around.
HTC One (M8) chassis
Something which really made the HTC One stand out from the crowd was its all metal body - something only Apple had really fully embraced before, and it gave the handset a supremely premium look and feel.
HTC has clearly realized how important its flagships design was, as a new teaser from the company promises that the all new HTC One will be 'even sleeker'.
Those dual cameras show up again
While the teaser sadly didn't actually show the phone, a huge number ofimages have slipped out claiming to show the body of the HTC One (M8), and it appears almost identical to the One - no surprise, why change a winning formula? Though the edges look to be metal this time around as well, which would certainly make it sleeker.
Moving the navigation buttons on screen will allow the HTC One (M8) to sport a larger display, without the need to hugely increase the dimensions of the phone's body - @evleaks hasn't just said "the M8 looks strikingly like the M7," but also revealed images of the handset in its three rumored colors - grey, silver and gold.
The All New HTC One in gold (credit: @evleaks)
The All New HTC One in silver (credit: @evleaks)
The All New HTC One in grey (credit: @evleaks)
A 12 minute video supposedly showing the handset also appeared onlineand it's pretty convincing, showing a phone which looks a lot like the HTC One, but with the new additions we've seen rumored- such as the dual camera.
It also reveals that this time around the buttons stick out a little, so they're easier to find and press.
If that video wasn't enough, another series of photos have wormed their way onto the web, showing off a device which looks very similar to the one that starred in the clip.
Here we see two slots - one on either side of the handset - which points towards the possibility of a microSD slot on the new HTC One, plus the headphone jack looks to now be on the base of the handset.
Plug headphones in here (credit: Weibo)
We've also now seen how the HTC One (M8) compares to other handsets, as a handful of new shots have appeared, which, rather than featuring the HTC One (M8) in isolation, put it next to other phones like the iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4. They reveal a handset which size wise looks to fall somewhere between the LG G2 and the Sony Xperia Z1, though it's chunkier than either.
Speaking of the dimensions, we can now all but confirm that the HTC One (M8) will be 146 x 70.5 x 9.5mm and 157g, as a Chinese wireless authorityouted them as such.
HTC One (M8) storage
One thing HTC had managed to stay pretty quiet about was how much storage we might see in its new flagship, but even that's seemingly been let out of the bag now. Chinese wireless authority Tenaa has revealed that the HTC One (M8) will come with a choice of 16 or 32GB of storage and that it will also have a microSD card slot.
Though it's worth noting that a microSD card laden version of the original HTC One was released in Asia but didn't make its way over here until a lot later, so it's possible that this will be a regional variation which we won't initially see here.
HTC One (M8) fingerprint scanner
With the One Max rocking a fingerprint scanner on its rear it opened the door to the same tech making its way onto the All New HTC One - and why not? Touch ID has been a big hit for Apple on the iPhone 5S and now Samsung's included a fingerprint scanner of its own in the Galaxy S5, so the floodgates really are open for this sort of thing.
Early leaks apparently showing the back plate for the HTC M8 showed not one, but two substantial circular holes in the body - and everyone assumed one would be for the finger scanner.
One of the best things about the HTC One was its dual front-facing speakers with BoomSound and the all new HTC One looks to have the same tech, but according to a new teaser it's going to have even better sound this time around.
Cover up
The new HTC One may get its own smart cover too, after @evleaks posted not one, but two images of a case which appears to be riddled with tiny holes.
While the first image shows a black version of the case, the second post suggests there could be a series of colors available including blue, green and red.
There are a lot of holes there (credit: @evleaks)
The holes aren't just for show it seems, with clock and weather icons shining through from the screen - as @evleaks puts it: "Holes. Time. Colors."
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