New rumors say launch time is coming for HTC and Under Armour’s first smartwatch

By Andy Boxall January 19, 2015

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According to a report published by Bloomberg, which quotes an anonymous person “familiar with the matter,” HTC will launch its first smartwatch in March. The wearable device’s debut will probably come at the same event where we’re expecting to meet the One M9 smartphone. It’s scheduled for March 1 in Barcelona, the day before Mobile World Congress begins.

Bloomberg’s source says the smartwatch will be the work of both HTC and Under Armour, the sports and fitness brand. The pair announced a partnership at CES 2015, and talked about the collaboration resulting in “athletes everywhere taking their performance to the next level in a more connected and intuitive way than ever before.” A fitness wearable wasn’t confirmed, but certainly sounds likely.

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The report doesn’t offer any specifications or details on what form the wearable will take, outside of calling it a smartwatch. It’s not the first time we’ve heard about HTC’s intention to make a wearable device, but in mid-December last year, it was claimed the firm had something very different to a traditional smartwatch in the works, and that it was working with developers specializing in fitness to make it standout.

Should it release a smartwatch of some kind, HTC certainly won’t have the market all to itself. Samsung, LG, Motorola, Asus, and others all have smartwatches on sale already. If a March release date, speculated in previous reports, is accurate, HTC will probably have to compete with the Apple Watch for attention.

The Bloomberg piece also mentions the One M9, or whatever the 2015 flagship Android phone from HTC will be called. It says the phone will be similar in design to the One M8, have a Snapdragon 810 processor, Dolby 5.1 audio technology, the Sense 7 user interface, and come in either grey, silver or gold.

We’ll be at HTC’s launch event right before the start of MWC 2015, ready to bring you all the latest news.

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