Details of HTC U emerge

HTC have already released two top-end handsets this year – HTC U Play and U Ultra (see the MWC hands-on here) – but neither were exactly a replacement for last year’s HTC 10.  Rumours of this year’s iteration of their flagship have long abounded under the codename ‘Ocean’.  Now we have several more details about what the forthcoming handset will include.

It is believed that the phone will officially be known (simply?) as the HTC U.  The phone is rumoured to come with:

  • IP57 rating (meaning that it can be submerged for half an hour in a metre of water);
  • there will be both a single and dual sim version;
  • the 3.5mm headphone jack will be absent.
  • a Snapdragon 835 chip
  • 5.5″ QHD display
  • 12MP camera
  • HTC Sense 9

Nothing particularly exciting or revelatory about these features I hear you say.  But wait, keep reading, for here is the exciting and novel bit:

These are shots of the new device as revealed by serial leaker Evan Blass on his twitter account.  HTC’s innovation in the device is a ‘touch-sensitive‘ frame.  Put simply, there will be sensors embedded in the sides of the handset that can be used to trigger certain actions, so a gentle squeeze might be set to open the camera app.  This will be known as ‘Edge Sense’ and will also use swipes and other customisable gestures.  Sounds intriguing and as soon as the device is released, which is thought to be within the next few weeks, we’ll bring further details.