After the Android 5.1 rollout began for the Google Play Edition LG G Pad this morning, the Google Play Edition One M7 and M8 are also now receiving the update. HTC VP of Product Management Mo Versi confirmed on Twitter that the company has received approval for the updates and that the rollouts have commenced. Android 5.0 Lollipop rolled out to the Google Play Edition M7 and M8 in December of last year.
Last week, word emerged that the Google Play Edition HTC One M8 and M7 would be receiving their respective Android 5.0 Lollipop updates sometime this week. HTC has now given us a solid date, though, saying that the two devices should receive their updates this Friday, November 21st.
It was reported last month that the HTC One (M8) and original HTC One (M7) would be receiving an update to Android Lollipop within 90 days of receiving the latest operating system build from Google. Consider that countdown started. HTC this afternoon tweeted that it has received the source code for Lollipop and will be releasing the update three months from today as expected.
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According to tweets recently posted by HTC, the company’s One (M8) and One (M7) will be getting the recently announced Lollipop update sometime within 90 days of receiving it from Google. These devices are added to the long list of Android hardware that will be receiving the update, along with many of Motorola’s lineup, and notably, most relatively recent Nexus devices (including even the 2012 Nexus 7).
@nickmgray We're aiming to update the HTC One (M8) to Android 5.0 within 90 days of receiving the final software from Google. Stay tuned!
— HTC (@htc) October 15, 2014
@imdiane This applies to the HTC One (M7) as well.
— HTC (@htc) October 15, 2014
HTC’s CEO holding what a appears to be an unreleased M7
This morning, the folks over at UnwiredView claimed to have a spec list of two unannounced HTC phones said to launch sometime after HTC’s Feb. 19 M7 announcement. The first phone, named the “M4”, is said to be a mid-range phone, being a step-down from the M7 and a step-up from the G2. Its specs are displayed in the chart below.
UnwiredView’s alleged M4 spec chart.
The chart shows the device to have a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 4.3-inch HD display, 2GB of RAM, and a 13MP camera. With phones in the ‘low’ 4-inch range nowadays light on specs, HTC seems to want to turn that around with the M4.
The second phone UnwiredView claimed to have the specs for is the G2. The G2 is a budget-phone that, if the charts are to be believed, won’t even launch with Jelly Bean but rather Ice Cream Sandwich. Since the M4 is supposedly launching with Jelly Bean, one can infer it will never get an upgrade to Jelly Bean if the G2 launches with ICS.
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While all signs point to HTC launching these two devices at MWC, UnwiredView claimed these phones won’t launch at February’s press event or MWC—but rather much after.
HTC just sent out invitations to the press asking them to “Save the Date” for a 10 a.m. press event on Feb. 19 in New York City. It’s unknown what’s going to be announced at the event, but it could reveal the much-rumored M7 phone with the launch of Sense 5.0. The M7 is rumored to be HTC’s newest flagship with a 4.7-inch display and, of course, Beats Audio. If the M7 is announced at this press event, HTC’s presence at MWC could be a lot quieter.
HTC’s rumored upcoming flagship device, the 4.7-inch ‘M7’, was looking quite iPhone-like in the last set of alleged leaked renders. Today, we get images of the device from a couple of other sources that show HTC might be experimenting with various designs ahead of the product’s launch.
The first set of images, above, come from AndroidPolice, and they show off Sense 5.0 with rearranged home and multitasking buttons. We also get a look at the backside of the device that oddly shows a different Beats audio logo and flash position than the rendered images (below) posted by HTCSource yesterday. It’s of course possible that we’re looking at a prototype of the device in the photos above, and perhaps the renders are closer to what the finished device will look like. Hopefully we actually get eyes on the device next month a Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
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