HTC Announces New Desire EYE, RE Camera & EYE Experience At New York Event

HTC have just finished up their New York event and they had quite a bit to show us. From a new ‘Selfie-focused’ smartphone to a brand new action camera device called the RE, here is a rundown of what they announced:

HTC Desire EYE:

The new Desire EYE is HTC’s flagship mid-tier phone even though it’s specs pretty much rival and even supersede the One M8. To start, the biggest selling feature of the Desire EYE is the 13MP cameras, with one on the back and one on the front. Both have dual LED flash and a low F stop for better low light performance.

You also get a 5.2″ full HD screen with newly designed BoomSound stereo speakers, a dedicated camera button on the right hand side. (thankfully, the power button has also been moved to the side.)

Under the hood, you have a quad-core Qualcomm 2.3GHz processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage with a Micro SD card slot for expanding this. There are also 3 microphones to improve noise cancellation and sound quality in video calls also. These specs are on par with the One M8 but unfortunately, the battery is only 2400mAh compared to the M8s 2600mAh but the upside is the device is IPX7 certified meaning it is water proof for up to a meter for 30 minutes.

There’s no word on Irish availability but we should expect more info in the next few weeks.

EYE Experience

The new Desire EYE comes with some pretty nifty software updates to in relation to the 2 13MP cameras. There’s improved face-tracking for video calls, the ability to share your screen during video calls, ‘Live Makeup’ which auto-enhances your selfie shots live on the screen before you take them.

There’s also ‘Voice Selife’ & ‘Auto Selfie’ which allows you to take photos simply by saying ‘cheese’ and a cool little feature called ‘Crop Me In’ which takes an image with both the front and back cameras and automatically crops you into the rear cameras photo to make it look like someone else took the picture.

All of these features will launch on the new Desire EYE which will come in a choice of a red or blue colour option. These features will also come to other previous HTC phones such as the One M8 and Desire 820 in a future software update.

RE Camera

What was the biggest surprise on the night was the reveal of the new HTC RE Camera which is a strange looking ‘action cam’ device which is shaped like an electric toothbrush. It has a 16MP sensor, ultra wide-angle lens, records in 1080p at 30FPS and 720p 4X slow motion video.

There is also a HD microphone and speaker on board and a cool grip sensor which turns the device on the second you pick it up. It’s IPX7 and IP57 certified so no need to worry about dropping it in the pool and there’s a 8GB memory card in it’s SD card slot which is expandable up to 128GB.

It will obviously come will all the attachments you can think off so you can mount it to your head or your bike and there will be an added battery pack you can pick up also. It will in 4 colours, white, orange, turquoise and navy.

It will launch with it’s own dedicated app which will work on both Android and iOS and you will be able to use your screen’s phone as a remote viewfinder.

They were pitching it as a device you simple pop in your chest pocket, mount onto your head/bike and just enjoy whatever it is you’re doing and wanted to record. Unfortunately, we have no info on an expected arrival time here in Ireland.

Here is the full press release from the event:

HTC Desire EYE: Simply the best selfies

Continuing HTC’s heritage of breakthrough smartphone innovation, today also sees the launch of the company’s new top-of-the-range HTC Desire model, the HTC Desire EYE. With one of the best front-facing cameras available on the market today, and software that puts you center frame and looking your best, the HTC Desire EYE captures life’s big and small moments in perfect clarity. Sporting market-leading 13MP front and rear cameras for detailed image quality that allows you to zoom, crop and print without compromise, the HTC Desire EYE is fully equipped for those who love to take great photos, videos and selfies. BSI sensors capture crisp photos, even in low-light conditions, and intelligent dual- LED flash on both cameras provides flattering, natural tones when ambient light levels drop further.

Three dedicated microphones take HTC’s signature audio quality to even greater heights, ensuring crystal clear voice and video calling whatever is going on around you.
HTC BoomSoundTM and a stunning 5.2” Full HD display combine to make the HTC Desire EYE the ultimate multimedia companion and the perfect way to view your photos and videos.

The bold, bright, dual-colour, waterproof2 unibody design is not only stylish but ensures that capturing your best side is as simple as possible, with a dedicated two-step camera key for focus, and capture providing comfortable, instant access to great shots, even one-handed.

Featuring HTC’s new HTC EYE Experience and Zoe, with a Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 801 processor and high-speed 4G connectivity, editing and sharing your best shots will also be smooth and effortless, wherever you are.

HTC EYE Experience: Designed for you

It’s not just about the hardware though. The HTC EYE Experience takes mobile imaging software into a new league with unique features guaranteed to make you look your best.

1 Compatible with Android 4.3 and upwards, iOS 7 & 8
2 Crop-Me-In is currently only available on the HTC Desire EYE

Taking video chat and conference calls to a new level of quality and performance, The HTC EYE Experience’s face tracking keeps you perfectly framed at all times. And because staying in touch means more than just talking to a single person, up to four people in the same room can also be tracked comfortably, with each face cropped and positioned on the screen for maximum clarity. So enjoy the freedom and flexibility of services like Skype without worrying about exactly where you or your friends are standing, as the camera will follow everyone. Want to share even more on the move? The option of screen sharing brings desktop functionality to smartphone-based video chat for the first time.

The HTC EYE Experience opens up a new world of creative opportunity, thanks to the new Split Capture function. Combining simultaneous photos and videos taken on the front and back cameras into one split-screen image or video, this creates a new selfie experience, allowing you document your journey and your reaction without relying on thumbnail views. Crop-Me-In places you at the heart of the action by cropping you from the image or video taken with the front-facing camera and positioning it within the scene captured by the main camera, opening the door to more extreme, exciting selfies and videos3. Voice Selfie removes the need for awkward hand contortions by enabling you to trigger the shutter release with a simple command. Simply “say cheese” or “smile” as soon as you’ve struck the perfect pose or trigger the video recording with “action” or “rolling” commands.

Popular additions to the HTC Desire 820 are also included in the HTC EYE Experience such as face fusion, the feature that allows you to merge your face with that of a friend or celebrity for a completely original look and Live Makeup, where you can set the desired level of skin smoothing and preview the effect in real-time before the image is captured.

Zoe: Life as you experience it

With the new Zoe collaborative video-editing app it’s easy to remix your photos and videos into stylish highlight reels, with beautiful themes and soundtracks that can be shared5. Allowing friends to remix their content with yours, Zoe creates the ultimate highlight video for all to enjoy and share through their favorite social networks.

Zoe 1.0 brings flexibility to the community, enabling short, medium and long Zoes that can be made up of just a couple of still images, or an entire series of video clips, with its new

3 Rated IPx7, 1 meter underwater for 30 minutes, out of the box.