HTC’s VR/AR smartphone could be announced as soon as next month.
It appears as though HTC is getting back in the smartphone game after a nearly four-year hiatus. According to a new report by the Taiwanese publication DigiTimes, the company’s VR division, HTC Vive, is working on an all-in-one mobile device with a focus on VR and AR functionality.
While speaking to DigiTimes, HTC vice president Charles Huang confirmed that the device will function in tandem with Viveverse, and will feature onboard “metaverse” functionality. Originally revealed last week during the 2022 Mobile World Conference (MWC) in Barcelona, Viveverse is an open-source metaverse composed of various interactive worlds, apps, and games accessible via smartphone, PC, and the Vive Flow, the company’s new “standalone” VR glasses.
If true, this would make the VR-enabled mobile device the first smartphone produced by HTC since the HTC U12+, which was released back in 2018. According to DigiTimes, HTC’s Android-powered metaverse smartphone could be announced as soon as next month, though the company has yet to confirm. The news comes at an interesting time with HTC having just recently unveiled its own original metaverse.
Whereas other companies continue to gravitate away from mobile VR, HTC appears to be embracing the aging market as they search for new ways to incorporate smartphone technology into their existing product line. The Vive Flow already requires an Android-powered smartphone in order to operate. Perhaps this metaverse smartphone will work in tandem with the company’s lightweight VR glasses.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more about this unique device sometime next month.
Credit: HTC Vive