HTC's “Halfbeak” smartwatch appears again in new photos

The HTCsmartwatch codenamed “Halfbeak” has broken cover once again. The device has been rumored forever and finally materialized in October last year, when we were treated to the first leaked images of the HTCwearable. Now, a new suite of images has cropped up on Weibo that seem to indicate there’s more to the story than a forgotten prototype.

The images show the same design we saw previously, with two dedicated buttons on the right, a circular watch face with no flat tire and a rubber strap with Under Armor co-branding on the back, next to some pogo pins and a heart-rate sensor. Like the previously leaked photos, this unit is running a version of Android Wear and Google Play Services from mid-2015. You can view a bunch more photos on Weibo.

Assuming the photos are legit, we might finally see the HTCOne Watch, or whatever it will be called, unveiled at MWC 2017 next month. As you know, Android Wear 2.0 is due out in early February – a couple of weeks ahead of MWC – so the timing makes sense, even if it is a little weird not to see a pre-release build on the pictured device.

There’s no guarantee that this watch is going to be announced in Barcelona next month, but HTCis due another Under Armor collaboration and if the device hasn’t already been scrapped, then the arrival of Android Wear 2.0 is as good a time as any to finally release it.

Would you like to see a HTCsmartwatch? Or is Halfbeak better left on the shelf?