Is HTC making a comeback with a metaverse phone?

Image: HTC

HTC has been out of the phone game for a long time. It even sold part of its mobile division to Google for the Pixel product line five years ago. However, the company is teasing a new entry for 2023 with the hashtag #seeUsoon, hinting at its U series.

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HTC will reportedly debut a 5G phone in July

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Despite encountering losses in its smartphone business, HTC looks like it wants to give the segment another try. Gizmochina reports that HTC Tawain's Chen Boyou recently said that when 5G arrives in Taiwan, HTC will launch 5G-ready phones. Rumour has it the first 5G phone will come in July, but we don't know whether it'll be a flagship device. The last flagships the company released were the HTC Exodus 1 and HTC U12+ back in 2018. PocketNow reports that a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor will power it. 

Aside from the 5G device, HTC will reportedly launch a 4G-only Desire 20 series mid-range device next month, which is believed to be the HTC Desire 20 Pro. The handset will supposedly run on a Snapdragon 665 chipset and 6GB of RAM, plus it'll have a triple-camera system, fingerprint reader, and HTC's first punch-hole display phone.

The limited edition Vive Pro McLaren VR headset is an F1 fans’ dream

If you’re an F1 fan and have over a thousand dollars to spare, this limited edition version of the Vive Pro might be a dream purchase. The Vive Pro McLaren Limited Edition VR headset comes with the rFactor 2 McLaren Edition and McLaren Garage VR experience. The former is for those who want to experience what it’s like driving an F1 car and the latter for those who want to experience what it’s like to be part of the pit crew. This headset also comes with McLaren games and a six-month subscription to Viveport. How much will this set you back? US $1,550 or roughly CA $2,050.

Source: GSMArena

HTC launches blockchain phone you can only purchase using cryptocurrency

While HTC has been scaling back on its hardware business, it hasn’t fully left. In fact, the Taiwanese company just launched a blockchain-centric phone it’s calling the Exodus 1. Said device is now available for pre-order and can be bought online for 0.15 bitcoins or 4.78 ether tokens (which is roughly US$960 or around CA$1,250). It’ll ship in December. As a niche, premium device, the Exodus 1 does pack in some high-end specs. It features a 6-inch quad-HD+ display, 16-megapixel dual rear camera and 8-megapixel dual front camera with 4K video, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB internal storage.

What makes it special though is the software inside the device. It comes with HTC’s own Zion cryptocurrency wallet and a secure enclave for your private keys, virtual cash, and, in the “very near future,” all of your data, too. It’s an area isolated from the Android operating system. The phone will also run decentralized apps on the blockchain and have a “Social Key Recovery” function that will give you access to your funds if you lose your keys. It’ll use a designated number of trusted contacts.

Source: Engadget