Sorry, hopeful fans all-too-expectant for HTC to release a smartwatch — the company single-handedly quashed rumors of such a product, saying that there's nothing of the sort is on the cards.
The long anticipated and oft-leaked smartwatch in question had long been whispered about, even earning "Halfbeak" as a codename. Many thought it was dead, but a recent sighting of the Under Armour logo-clad smartwatch rekindled hope, an optimism that has now been cut short by HTC itself, confirming that it won't happen.
No HTC Smartwatch Anytime Soon
"I can tell you that we're not going to have an Android watch," said Chialin Chang in a new Tbreak interview. Chang is HTC's president of smartphones and connected devices. "I don't [think] we've nailed it with [the experience of] watches."
Chang didn't acknowledge Halfbeak or leaked images of the purported HTC smartwatch. He did, however, reason out market uncertainty as HTC's primary reason for its cold feet. He noted that even Apple, a behemoth brand, is declining when it comes to smartwatches. If Apple can't get it right then who can say HTC will? The inhibition is acceptable, especially considering that smartwatch sales dipped by more than half in Q3 2016.
Even Motorola has opted to take a break from releasing new smartwatches.
Of course, that doesn't mean that Under Armour can't ask HTC to manufacture a fitness-focused smartwatch and stamp it with Under Armour's logo and call it a night, which is what happened with Google's self-branded flagships, the Pixel and Pixel XL, products manufactured by HTC.
A New Flagship Phone With Snapdragon 835 On The Cards?
HTC's U Ultra is its newly unveiled smartphone, but many were curious as to why the handset doesn't come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip under the hood and instead packs a Snapdragon 821 chip. Chang reasons out that the decision to go with the Snapdragon 821 was made months ago, suggesting that "it's the best CPU out there."
The company didn't hold out for the Snapdragon 835 because the chip was simply not ready, according to Chang, adding that he himself isn't sure whether smartphones slated to be announced at this year's Mobile World Congress will pack Snapdragon 835 chips, which would throw a lot of rumors down the bin, if true.
However, Chang did suggest that when the snapdragon 835 is finally ready, HTC will release a flagship.
"When the new CPU comes, HTC will have another flagship," Chang said, although he didn't explicitly state that the flagship will come packing with it. But if the next HTC phone does indeed arrive with an industry-standard CPU, those disappointed with the U Ultra can put their processor qualms to rest.
HTC U Ultra
The U ultra is HTC's newest top-tier offering, rocking a 5.7-inch Quad HD screen with a pixel density of 513 ppi. Under the hood is a 2.15 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor, an Adreno 530 GPU, 4 GB of RAM, and up to 128 GB of internal storage.
On the back is a 12-megapixel camera able to record 4K video at 30 fps, and on the front is a 16-megapixel camera that can record 1080p video. There's also a front-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a 3,000 mAh battery to keep everything juiced up.
HTC hasn't fessed up an official release date for the U Ultra or the U Play, another one of its new flagships. Interested buyers can check out HTC's online store as the company will soon begin accepting preorders for the handsets.
