HTC, smartphone brand from Taiwan, was once one of the biggest names in Android.
After its smartphone team has been acquired by Google, the company that was the first to have introduced a 4G-capable smartphone, has fallen way behind others.
Having previously introduced a non-mainstream smartphone, the Exodus 1s, which was the first-ever phone capable or running a full Bitcoin node, HTC is at it again, by introducing the first-ever phone dedicated for the metaverse.
Calling it the 'Desire 22 Pro', the mid-range smartphone that represents the company's first smartphone of 2022, is meant to allow users to "enter the metaverse," as "the phone to carry you into the future."
The metaverse is at this time, the tech buzzword, and it has been hyping up since Facebook changed its name to Meta.
And here, HTC wants to piggyback the trend, by announcing its first "Viverse" phone, the Desire 22 Pro.
While the Desire 22 Pro itself doesn't have any actual VR features, the device is optimized to work alongside HTC's lightweight VIVE Flow VR headset, with HDCP 2.2 connectivity enabling users to wirelessly mirror content to the VR headset, while a VIVE Manager app also lets users set up and manage your VR hardware.
The smartphone "opens new immersive experiences as the perfect partner for VIVE Flow—whether it’s meeting colleagues in VR, or enjoying your own private cinema anywhere you are," said Shen Ye, Global Head of Product at HTC, in a statement accompanying the announcement.
The Desire 22 Pro comes with the VIVE Flow controller app, but users can install it on any Android phone that supports Miracast and get the same features.
The phone also incorporates cryptocurrency and NFT functionality.
To make this happen, the HTC Desire 22 Pro comes preloaded with apps that allow users access and manage their metaverse content.
Through the Viverse app, users can buy NFTs in a digital marketplace and "create your own virtual space," per an announcement.
With the Desire 22 Pro, HTC is trying to marry its blockchain phone credentials with its VR product line, and stake its claim to 'the first metaverse smartphone.'
Billed as a "powerful midrange device," the IP67-certified HTC Desire 22 Pro has a 6.6-inch Gorilla Glass display with a 1,080 x 2,412 pixel resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate.
It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G chip, a mid-range SoC, has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
The device has a 4,520 mAh battery with fast charging and Qi wireless and reverse wireless charging functionality.
As for the cameras, the phone sports a three-camera system at the back, with a 64-megapixel for its main camera, 13-megapixel ultrawide and 5-megapixel depth-sensing cameras. At the front, a 32-megapixel front-facing camera is present.
For video shooting, there's also image stabilization, night mode, and 120fps slow-motion capture.
With the specifications, the phone is not in the same tier as high-end Android devices or iPhones.
