Today, HTC sent out invitations to a press event in New York next month and, inevitably, this has given rise to much speculation over what the company has planned.
There are two devices that we"ve been expecting from HTC for some time: the first is linked to rumours that it will be building a new Nexus tablet for Google; the second is a new Windows Phone, which - as fans of the platform will know - is long overdue.
It"s been almost two years since HTC launched its last all-new Windows Phones - in fact, its 8S and 8X were defined as the "signature" phones for the Windows Phone 8 launch. Since then, the only addition to the range has been the 8XT, a lightly reworked version of the 8X, exclusive to Sprint.
A new HTC Windows Phone has been rumoured for some time; back in March, the first solid information began to circulate that HTC was intending to develop a WP version of its One M8, expected to be called the W8. In June, Microsoft"s Nick Parker said of the company"s partnership with HTC: "New things are coming, so get excited."
In recent days, further details have begun to emerge, revealing that the company is indeed planning to launch a version of the One M8 running Windows, possibly to be called - wait for it... - the "HTC One (M8) for Windows". Yesterday, another report claimed that the device would be shipped to Microsoft Stores on August 20, before going on sale on August 21.
With HTC"s latest press event scheduled for August 19, you can probably see why we"re expecting to see the new Windows Phone make its début there, rather than the Nexus tablet. But if you"re still not convinced, consider this: Daniel Rubino, editor-in-chief over at Windows Phone Central, tweeted that he had received an invite to the event, but his colleagues over at sister-site Android Central did not.
Put all of this info together, and it seems to paint a much clearer picture, indicating that the long-awaited launch of the Windows Phone 8.1 version of the HTC One will finally come next month.
Of course, a modified version of an existing Android device isn"t quite the same as an all-new HTC Windows Phone. But the One M8 is such a great handset that we suspect many Windows Phone fans will still be pretty pleased.
Source: Re/code