HTC to unveil Windows Phone 8 devices by third week of September

Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of talk surrounding the upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices. The projected launch date for these handsets are expected to take place by November, but if a report by Chinese website WPDang is anything to go by, then HTC will be hosting an event to unveil its line up of Windows Phone 8 handsets by as early as the third week of September.

As per a report by The Verge based on the information from the Chinese website, the author Tom Warren states, “Chinese site WPDang is reporting that HTC will unveil its new Windows Phone 8 devices at an event in the third week of September. Although Microsoft is expected to finalize its Windows Phone 8 software in September, with devices available in November, the rumored September events could indicate that devices may arrive earlier than expected.”

Windows Phone 8 devices to come this September

This is not the first time we have heard about HTC preparing Windows Phone 8 devices, as an earlier report indicated that it was working on three handsets called Zenith, Accord and Rio.

As per an earlier report by The Verge, the HTC Rio will sit at the bottom of the range and will pack in a 4-inch WVGA display, 14.4Mbps HSPA connection, a 5MP camera with 720p video capture. The processor is expected to be Qualcomm MSM8227, which is part of the company’s S4 line-up. The Accord is the middle child of the trio, upping the screen size to 4.3-inch and a 720p Super LCD 2 display. Also onboard is a 1080p capable 8MP camera sensor and 42Mbps HSPA+ capabilities, NFC support and a whole gig of RAM. It also states that it may come with a slightly more powerful MSM8260A SoC onboard.

Finally, we come to the Zenith, which appears to be HTC’s flagship offering for WP 8. This beauty will pack in a 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 display with a 720p resolution and the same 8MP sensor and if we’re lucky, then we may get the awesome burst mode from the One X as well. The Zenith is also rumoured to be powered by a quad-core S4 chip, although the exact model is not known. There’s obviously no details on pricing yet, but if we had to speculate, then HTC’s WP 8 line-up should align with their Android offerings, so the Rio could be around Rs.20,000, the Accord's sitting at around Rs.30,000, while their flagship, Zenith, could be priced at around Rs.36,000.

Windows Phone 8 is the next evolution of Microsoft’s Windows Phone that’s loosely based on Windows 8, in the sense that it shares the same kernel, APIs and drivers. Microsoft claims that with Windows Phone 8, similarities between Windows 8 and this latest smartphone OS is more than just skin deep. He states, “We’ve based the next release of Windows Phone on the rock-solid technology core of Windows 8.”  Expanding on this, Joe Belfiore, Manager of Windows Phone Program stated that Windows Phone and its older sibling will share common networking, security, media and web browser technology, and a common file system. These features will translate into better performance, more features and new opportunities for app developers and hardware makers to innovate faster.