Customers look at HTC smartphones in a mobile phone shop in Taipei
Customers look at HTC smartphones in a mobile phone shop in Taipei in this July 30, 2013 file photo. Taiwanese smartphone vendor HTC Corp said on May 6, 2014 it projects revenue in April-June to almost match that of a year earlier thanks primarily to sales of new flagship One M8 beating those of its predecessor. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

Finally, the long-rumoured HTC Desire Eye handset has been unveiled in a special HTC event. As it turned out, the latest Desire Eye is an upgraded version of the HTC One (E8). One E8 is the plastic variant of the metallic HTC One (M8).

The standout feature of the HTC Desire Eye is its 13 MP camera with dual-LED flash mounted on the front and the back. Also, both front and back cameras can capture 1080p video. There is also a Split Capture feature that divides the captured images from the front and rear cameras into 50/50. Additionally, there is a Crop-Me-In feature that can club/embed the Desire Eye user's image into any other image, similar to photoshopping the image, reports GSM Arena.

In addition, there is a microphone positioned near the frontal camera unit. Apparently, HTC has gone overboard with the microphones in the Desire Eye. Apart from the frontal microphone there is one on the rear and another one on the tail-end of the smartphone. This adds up to a total of three microphones that help in getting better audio reception aided by noise cancellation.

Other key specifications of the HTC Desire Eye are a 5.2-inch LCD display and 1080p resolution. The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and backed by 2 GB RAM. The device runs on Android v4.4 OS along with HTC's latest Sense UI. In terms of size, the Desire Eye has a thickness of 8.5 mm and hence it is far from the ultra-thin phones released so far. Nevertheless, the smartphone is IPX7 certified, which means it has a water-resistant exterior.

Other killer features include HTC's well-known BoomSound speakers and camera-centric apps like Eye Experience and HTC Zoe. Apart from the standard connectivity options, the Desire Eye also supports LTE and NFC. When it comes to memory, the handset offers 16 GB of internal storage and microSD card for expansion up to the usual 128 GB. The device is also equipped with a Li-Po 2400 mAh battery unit.

Potential buyers can get their hands on the HTC Desire EYE via AT&T exclusively upon release. Also according to the French tech site NWE, the HTC Desire Eye is priced at €529 in France, which roughly translates to US$674 and AU$760. Readers who own any of the following HTC devices will also receive HTC's Eye Experience camera app shortly - HTC One (M8), HTC One (E8), HTC One (M7), HTC One Mini, HTC One Mini 2, HTC One Max, HTC Desire 612, HTC One Remix and HTC Desire 816.

Bringing the focus back to the peculiar HTC Zoe app, it provides collaborative video editing on the smartphones. Furthermore, Zoe can integrate with RE, which is the new stand-alone action camera from HTC. The good news is that Zoe is not exclusive to HTC devices. HTC is planning to roll out Zoe to all Android device users. Zoe will also be launched for Apple iOS later in 2014.

Also Read

1. Nexus X (aka Nexus 6, Motorola Shamu) Gets High Benchmark Scores, Trumping Other Android Rivals - [Read]

2. Oppo N3 With 5.9-Inch Display, Rotating 13 MP Camera, Snapdragon 805 To Debut On Oct 29 - [Read]

3. 12-Inch Apple MacBook Air With Retina Production Begins In Limited Volume As Release Date Pegged For 2015 - [Read]

RELATED STORIES