Taiwanese mobile manufacturer HTC unveiled its latest handset that will battle head on with the titans in the smartphone market.

The HTC One is powered by Google's Android, but the company has distinguished it from rivals by using new software to replace icons on the home screen with a personalised stream of news articles, social networking updates, photos and video.

The new smartphone from HTC wowed critics and reviewers at the launch events in New York. The new handset offers a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor; Near Field Communication; LTE mobile broadband; stereo speakers; a big, 4.7 inch screen with a 468 pixel-per-inch resolution; and a 4 "ultrapixels" camera.

The new HTC smartphone will battle against other smartphones in the market such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

The latest Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is powered by a 1.6GHz Exynos 4412 quad-core processor and has a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display with resolution of 1280 x 720 and 267ppi. It also has 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD to 64GB), an 8-megapixel rear camera with 1080p video capture and 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera.

It runs on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, has LTE connectivity, supports NFC, has a 3100 mAh battery and users also have the advantage of the S Pen stylus.

Below is the comparison of the two devices in terms of some of their specs and features.

Screen Display - Samsung Galaxy Note 2 sports a massive 5.5-inch Super AMOLED with 1280x720 pixels. Although the HTC One packs a smaller 4.7 inch screen, it boasts a higher pixel resolution of 1920x1080 with 468 ppi.

Processor - Both devices is powered by quad core processors paired with 2GB of RAM. However, HTC One's processor is clocked at 1.7 GHz compared to Note 2's 1.6 GHz.

Operating System - Both smartphones run with the latest Android Jelly Bean OS.

Internal Storage - The HTC One comes in 32GB and 64GB variants while Samsung Galaxy Note 2 gives more options to consumers with its 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants with expandable storage up to 64GB.

User Interface - HTC One boasts its HTC Sense 5 UI that will battle against Samsung Galaxy Note 2's TouchWiz.

Camera - HTC One comes with 4 ultrapixels rear shooter compared to the phablet's 8 megapixel camera.

Battery Life - Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has longer battery life with 3100mAh compared to HTC One's 2300 mAh.

The handset will be available in March in 80 countries around the world, including in Australia. Vodafone, Telstra, Virgin Mobile and Optus are all listed as carrying the device.