HTC unveils a new family of One

HTC has just unveiled four new smartphones under the family name of One at this year’s Mobile World Congress. The One X and the One S which were earlier codenamed as the HTC Endeavour/Edge and the HTC Ville have been launched along with the One V and also the One XL. The company previously offered a sneak preview of the new devices in a cryptic picture on its Facebook page.

The One V will be powered by a 1 GHz processor with 1GB of RAM and will have a 3.7 inch screen, 5 megapixel camera on the back and be capable of 720p HD video recording. The One V will be one of the first HTC phones to launch running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The One V is said to be what was codenamed the HTC primo and is reported to also have Dr Dre’s Beats Audio technology on-board which would partner it with the HTC Rhyme.

Prior to their launch it was assumed that the One XL would be a larger version of the One X, in the same way that the Sensation XL was a larger version of the earlier Sensation. On closer inspection, the One XL and One X are the same size, have the same screen size, screen resolution and almost identical features across the board. The key differences are that the One XL will merely be dual core, unlike the quad core One X, and will come with LTE support. Incidentally, LTE is what the extra L stands for in the name.

It is the HTC One X that will be HTC’s first quad core smartphone. Many think HTC was hinting at these cores when it published a picture on its Facebook page of a white device with 5 written on the back.

The One X and One XL will both have a pretty large 4.7 inch Super IPS LCD2 screen. This new technology will offer far greater colour contrast and sharpness compared to earlier LCD screens and should give HTC a new competitive edge against Samsung and Apple, as one of the main areas that have brought the latter two companies success is their Super AMOLED and Retina Display screens.

Launched collectively at Mobile World Congress the family One could be on the market by the summer.

It’s an exciting announcement from HTC who seemed to lose a little ground in terms of the smartphone market in the UK towards the end of 2011. A great marketing campaign at the beginning of the year and a wide range of new devices proved to be a winner with consumers but momentum dropped off and there wasn’t any major new release for Christmas.

However combining a new range with Android 4.0 and a quad-core processor could give HTC the injection they need to start 2012 with a bang. Focusing on their strengths, i.e., giving each smartphone its own personality that worked so well with the Rhyme is a tried and tested method and has helped HTC secure its place in the UK market. The quad-core will be a game-changer leaving many competitors to catch up and will offer a whole new experience for ICS as it will just be that much faster.