HTC to Debut New Flagship Smartphone in March

It’s that time of the year once again: time for the major smartphone manufacturers to unveil details of their latest flagship devices. In this case, it seems HTC has released an official unveiling date, March 25, for the follow up to last year’s HTC One. The Taiwanese manufacturer’s latest flagship smartphone will get the star treatment with two concurrent events in New York and London.

Right now, the device is known by its codename, M8, but it’s very likely the final name will feature the word “One” in order to fit with HTC’s recent naming conventions. As for the device itself, rumors suggest it will sport a brushed aluminum body like the HTC One as well as a five-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, and 3GB of RAM. Of course, the device will likely be running the latest version of Android, version 4.4 KitKat.

Leaks also suggest the phone will feature two camera sensors on its back, which will give it improved focus times and light metering. Since this is mostly speculation, though, this is all subject to change, but it’s very likely the actual product will be very similar to what’s been envisioned.

It’s likely HTC will also announce the official launch date of its new flagship on March 25. Like the HTC One and 2012’s HTC One X, it’s a good bet the M8 will make an appearance in late April — barring any unforeseen trouble.

Unfortunately, HTC has a history with this. Last April, the HTC One was delayed due to shortages of crucial components. Likewise, in May 2012, the HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE were delayed due to an ITC injunction.

Meanwhile, in order to better compete with Apple and Samsung in the U.S., HTC has launched a program dubbed HTC Advantage which essentially guarantees that its latest flagship will receive two years’ worth of Android updates, extra Google Drive storage, and cracked screen replacements within six months of purchase.