HTC's Desire 826 (2)
HTC's focus on photography and taking more smashing pictures continues with its newest flagship Desire 826 smartphone, which the company promises will make fleeting memories in life spectacular.
The 5.5-inch smartphone is the successor to the first 64-bit Android-based smartphone, the Desire 820, which was introduced last year at IFA in Berlin. It has a full high-definition screen that can display images at a 1920 x 1080-pixel resolution
The Desire 826 was introduced on Monday ahead of International CES at a media gathering open only to a few media outlets.
HTC hopes its new smartphone will make memories smashing with the help of a front camera developed by the HTC called UltraPixel. The camera has a faster shutter speed and captures more light, which leads to larger and vivid pictures, said Darren Sng, vice president and head of global product marketing.
So if you love selfies, the smartphone is for you. HTC also has a deep message that life is short, so smartphone pictures should capture those memories better.
"Every memory we capture is important for life, and life is fleeting. Once it's past, it's lost," Sng said.
The smartphone also has a picture-taking and image-editing capability called the "Eye" experience. It can take auto selfies, add makeup on the fly and do split captures.
Its camera has a 13-megapixel low-light rear camera. The smartphone has Android 5.0, code-named Lollipop, and an eight-core Snapdragon processor running at 1.7GHz.
It will have two LTE SIM slots. Beyond better pictures, the smartphone also will deliver booming sound with Dolby Audio support.
The smartphone will initially ship in China starting in the middle of January. It will be available in the U.S. and Europe at a later date. Pricing for the smartphone was not immediately available.
HTC has been dabbling in cameras lately. Late last year it introduced the Re handheld camera that could webcast video and take adventure shots.
Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com