Depending on whom you talk to, the recently leaked HTC Ruby will either have Android or Windows Phone 7 Mango running the show. Now we cannot say for certain which of the two will get the job, but it looks as if it will go in Android’s favor. However, there does not seem to be any doubt regarding the carrier, as it looks as though the handset will be coming to T-Mobile.
The rumors of the handset started back up a few days ago after images had been leaked onto Flickr. They were not direct images, but seen in a reflection after being used to take a few snaps of the Flyer tablet. Phone 4 U was able to zoom in and clear the image up a little, and was able to make out a number of key features.
The first is the carrier, as you can clearly make out T-Mobile and the second is the inclusion of a dual LED flash. We cannot say for certain if this is in fact the Ruby, or if that will be the final name of HTC’s upcoming handset. Surely no one would have been so stupid, as to allow a future smartphone to be leaked on the Internet due to a reflection, although stranger things have happened?
You will notice that the Ruby is running the HTC User Interface, but that’s about all we know. We cannot be certain if it is a just US model, or if it will be coming to the UK as well? We have no ideas as to specs, but we do know that it will either be an entry or mid-level device — so do not expect a dual-core processor, 8-megapixel camera and 4G or 3D technology.
As this is still a prototype the design could change a great deal, which was just the case with the Droid Bionic. The final release version of the Bionic is very different to the one that we saw during CES 2011 earlier this year. HTC knows that it is not all about the top-end phones, as there is a huge profit to be made in phones like the upcoming Ruby, if things are done correct that is.
Strangle the images have now disappeared on Flickr, so one has to wonder if it was a marketing ploy, why else would it have appeared online and then taken down again? If HTC had demanded the removal of these images, then surly we would have heard about it by now?
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