HTC"s Windows Phone 8X will likely remain the company"s flagship Windows Phone device.
When rumors began to surface regarding HTC"s Windows Phone 8 device lineup, there was word that one device – codenamed "Zenith" – would be the company"s flagship phone. Now it appears Zenith won"t be HTC"s flagship phone because it won"t be made at all.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, HTC has cancelled its plans to produce a "large-screen smartphone" that runs on Windows Phone 8 because of Microsoft"s guidelines for the platform. An unidentified source told Bloomberg that Microsoft"s software doesn"t allow resolutions as high as Google"s Android operating system. When the first rumors of HTC"s Windows Phone 8 lineup were leaked, the Zenith was said to feature a pixel density similar to Apple"s Retina display.
Microsoft has imposed several hardware restrictions on smartphone developers for their Windows Phone 8 devices, and one of those restrictions is resolution. Currently, Windows Phone 8 devices can"t exceed a resolution of either 1280 x 720 or 1280 x 768.
Bloomberg"s source stated that HTC ultimately decided a Windows Phone 8 device featuring a large screen wouldn"t be competitive against its own large-screen Android devices and those of Samsung and other smartphone manufacturers. Representatives from both Microsoft and HTC declined to comment on Bloomberg"s report.
Source: Bloomberg