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12/23/2024 12:53:29 am

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HTC to Sell HTC One (E8) and Desire 616 in India in July

HTC One (E8) and Desire 616

Taiwanese handset maker HTC will market its two leading-edge mobile phones in India this month in the wake of rising Indian sales.

HTC will begin selling its well-received HTC One (E8) and Desire 616 late July after formally launching both phones on July 11 at a special event held in Delhi.

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The former is expected to retail at INR 34,990 (about US$580) and the latter at INR 16,900 (about US$280).

The HTC One (E8) is an affordable variant of the company's flagship HTC One (M8). Made of a polycarbonate unibody frame, the E8 comes in four colors: Polar White, Electric Crimson, Maldives Blue, and Misty Gray.

It flaunts a five-inch 1080p (441ppi) screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It's powered by 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor paired with an Adreno 330 GPU. It runs the Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS.

The model has 2 GB of RAM; 16 GB storage (expandable up to 128 GB using a microSD card); a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera with a screen side countdown timer.

HTC claims the model's 2,600 mAh battery is good for 20 hours of talk time and 496 hours on standby mode.

The E8 has a power saving mode that shuts down all except essential apps and services. This helps extend its battery life up to two weeks.

Connectivity comes from a dual nano-SIM card slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and GPS. The E8's Dual Curve Design enables the machine to fit naturally in a user's hand in virtually any position.

The HTC Desire 616 is also a dual SIM device. Its performance comes from a 1.4 GHz octacore processor.

It has a five-inch screen; 1 GB of RAM; 4 GB internal memory (expandable up to 32 GB); an 8 MP rear and 2 MP front camera and a 2,000 mAh battery.

HTC expects to soon own a 15 percent share of the multi-billion dollar Indian smartphone market from the current six percent, said HTC South Asia president Jack Yang.

"India ranks among the top two countries in South Asia for us," according to Yang.

"Growth wise, sales volumes have tripled both month-on-month and year-on-year. The opportunities here are phenomenal. India is one of the countries where products are launched earlier than others."

He said HTC will concentrate on bringing new models at innovative prices to India. He noted that HTC remains strong in the mid-range smartphone segment, or those smartphones selling from INR10,000 to INR30,000.

The HTC Desire 210 sold at about INR8,700 is HTC's cheapest brand in India.

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