One of Microsoft’s mates in the Windows phone world has long been HTC, with a report claiming that the HTC One M8 will arrive as the One W8 with Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 installed.
A new report says HTC is set to finally release a smartphone running Windows Phone 8.1, based on the HTC One M8 hardware.
It’s expected to be called the HTC One W8 and run the Windows Phone 8.1 “Update 1”, which itself is expected to support interactive smart-cases like “Dot View Case” for HTC’s One M8 which displays information when the phone cover is “closed”.
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This new “smart” case feature would help Windows Phone models close the gap that Android has enjoyed with various smart cases available from HTC, LG and others.
The news comes via
The Verge, whose sources tell it a new HTC Windows Phone is on the way, the first since its the Windows Phone 8-powered HTC 8X launched in 2012.
Updates to the phone OS will see “folder support”, letting end-users group tiles together to form folders of apps, as seen on iOS and Android.
Improvements to activating Cortana when in-car are also due to arrive, as is support for 1280 x 800 res screens, 7-inch devices and Voice over LTE (VoLTE).
VoLTE support lets users make phone calls over 4G, rather than just using 4G for data and 3G for voice and data as is the case with today’s 4G smartphones.
WinRumors founder Tom Warren
tweeted the news and said that a Windows version of the HTC One M8 “should be out later this year”.
