HTC Announces the HTC Desire Eye, Re, and the Nexus 9

HTC Announces the HTC Desire Eye, HTC Re, and Nexus 9

In a span of 2 weeks, HTC has announced several new products in hardware and software. On Thursday October 9 at Double Experience, we were shown the bulk of HTC’s latest innovations such as the HTC Desire Eye, a product dead set on pushing the envelope on HTC’s mid-tier HTC Desire phone line-up. The phone made for enhancing how we take pictures uses the same camera and LEDs on both sides on the device. Aiming to change how we stay in the moment, the HTC Re is the mobile companion that makes taking action shots or videos easier than ever before. The HTC Eye Experience pushes the cameras of HTC devices even further with new software features. And last but certainly not least, last Thursday (Oct 16) HTC announced their most recent collaboration with Google to bring us the Nexus 9. So let’s go deeper into HTC’s latest barrage of products.

HTC Eye Experience

First up on the software side is the HTC Eye Experience, a new camera software suite designed to empower photo and video taking for the latest HTC devices. Auto Selfie relieves users of the hardships and fumbling involved with selfie-taking as you can just face your device at you for two seconds or use audio queues to take your shots. Dual Camera allows you to simultaneously take photos and videos with both the front and back cameras. Crop Me In is a feature that uses the front camera to capture you as you shoot and uses the Scale and Position feature to allow you to change how you appear in the rear camera picture’s shot. Face Fusion is a fun add-on that takes the pictures of two people and blends their features together. Face-Tracking enhancements were made to combat jittery video calls and to allow the cameras to now track up to 4 faces at once. Screen Share allows users in a video call to share their screen instantly to the call’s participants. A bevy of HTC devices owners will gain all of this new functionality in the coming month via a software update.

Confirmed Devices to receive the HTC Eye Experience:

HTC One (M7), HTC One (M8), HTC One E8, HTC One Mini, HTC One Mini 2, HTC One Max, HTC Desire 816, HTC Desire 820 and HTC Butterfly 2

HTC Desire Eye

Why go so in-depth into the HTC Eye Experience? Well, all of this new camera functionality will be present in HTC’s latest Desire line product, the HTC Desire Eye. Aiming to satisfy the picture taker in all of us, the HTC Desire Eye will have the same 13 MP camera and flash LED on both sides of the device. Now selfies will have the same level of clarity as any picture you would take with the rear camera. The phone will sport a 5.2 inch HD screen and will house two front facing speakers powered by HTC BoomSound. The BoomSound experience will be complemented by a dedicated noise cancelation system to make video and voice calls clearer than ever. The phone can even withstand an accidental dip as it will have a waterproof rating of IPX7 – meaning it can be immersed in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. Here’s a few shots of the HTC Desire Eye.

HTC Re

Using the latest in stabilization software, the HTC Re is the one-hand camera on the go capable of shooting 16 MP photos and 1080p video. The device is designed to be both simple and ergonomic with its curved architecture. Re is always on, using a low energy capacitive sensors to activate and ready itself the moment you grab the device. A simple press of the button takes a photo while a long press takes a video. A smaller secondary button allows you to take slow motion video. The lens is a 146 degree wide angle lens for capturing the scene at almost any angle. Re is waterproof as it allows you to take it underwater for those submarine shots. No PC software needed as HTC has developed apps for Android and iDevices for you to sync pictures or control the Re remotely. With the app, you can actually stream what the Re is recording to the device you’re using. Live broadcasting functionality will be available in coming months, thanks to a partnering with YouTube.

Nexus 9

This time around, HTC takes their stab at the next Google Nexus tablet in the form of the Nexus 9. This is HTC’s first ever making of a tablet and it couldn’t come sooner. The body of the tablet will be of brushed aluminum connecting the screen to a rubberized-grip back as seen in the previous iterations. It will be 8.9” in size and will weigh 436g. It will house an Nvidia® Tegra® K1 64-bit dual-core processor, front (1.6MP) and rear (8MP) cameras, a 2K screen with 2048×1536 resolution, and dual front facing speakers featuring a dedicated smart amp and HTC BoomSound. Last but not least it will be the first tablet to feature Lollipop, the latest Android OS. The Nexus 9 is available for worldwide pre-order now in the Google Play store. Shipping and retail availability will begin on November 3. The pricing for the various versions will be $399 for 16 GB, $479 for 32 GB, and $599 for LTE.

HTC has definitely brought a lot to the table this month. I personally waited for years for HTC to come out with a tablet product, but I never imagined it would be their own take on the Nexus. It’s also a treat that a big chunk of the latest HTC device users will be able to enjoy the HTC Eye Experience that will come with the HTC Desire Eye right out of the box. In case you missed the stream, here’s a few more shots we took as we walked around during the HTC Double Exposure.

 † Official HTC product images and specs provided by HTC