“Spring is Coming” states a teaser posted by HTC Taiwan on their Facebook page on Wednesday. The picture gained more traction with its caption “HTC will give you an unexpected surprise” which caused stir on the internet especially among avid smartphone users that an HTC 11 is on its way.
HTC teases “unexpected surprise” on March 20 (file photo)
Early January, HTC’S president of smartphones Chia-Lin Chan said that the company would unveil its new flagship when the needed latest mobile CPU technologies would be available. He also added that the said new product would not be announced in MWC which, by the way, ended few weeks ago.
Given the history of HTC 10 which was announced in April 2016, the timing is about right for HTC to unveil its successor, however, the company has launched two new phones, the HTC U Ultra and the U Play in December, which makes it unlikely for another smartphone scheduled this spring.
Dropping off the HTC 11 on the list, IBTimes raised two possible products instead to grace this spring – a Vive 2.0 VR Headset or a Vive fitness tracker.
The Vive 2.0 VR headset has a high chance since its predecessor, the Vive headset, was launched in April 5, 2016, not to mention the huge success of Vive last year, making it HTC’S bestseller for 2016.
Moreover, CNET also confirmed it beforehand in February that HTC is cooking up a new virtual reality toy you can use on the go.
“Vive is very top end, and in the coming months you’ll see our plans in terms of mobility and VR, and it’s not a phone slapped onto a headset,” Chia-Lin Chang said in an interview with CNET. He also added that the mystery VR product would be launched before the end of this year.
The Vive 2.0 is expected to be a wireless VR headset which can also be connected to a PC over a wireless network using a $220 HTC Vive accessory. In an attempt to provide a better user experience, Vive 2.0 would more likely have 4K screens with a refresh rate of at least 120 HZ and a room-scale capability.
Whether its HTC 11 or Vive 2.0, HTC would surely want a product that contributes well to its business’ growth while making an impact to today’s technology. We’ll find out two or more weeks from now if a smartphone can overthrow a toy in terms of its demand.
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