It looks like the HTC One will also be getting the Google treatment. When Google announced at the Google I/O 2013, that it would begin selling a Samsung Galaxy S4 that would be free from TouchWiz and other Samsung features, in exchange for a Nexus experience, many smartphone users soon began wishing for the same in the HTC One.
HTC was quick to deny that it would be partnering with Google to release an HTC One Google Edition, but now, according to a new report, the smartphone is coming sooner than anyone could have originally thought.
According to sources, the HTC One Google Edition may be announced anytime this week. The HTC One, just like the Samsung Galaxy S4 will initially only be available in the U.S. and will be sold via the Google Play Store. This wouldn't be the first time, however, that Google and HTC has partnered up for a Google Edition smartphone. HTC was Google's partner on its first Nexus smartphone, the Nexus One.
The HTC One is a huge hit for HTC, so it would make sense that HTC would want to see even more success by partnering with Google and offering HTC One that runs on stock Android. The only concern is that many of the popular features in the HTC One rely on HTC Sense, the skin HTC runs on top of Android to make the smartphone more user-friendly. Especially, it's unclear how the UltraPixel camera found on the HTC One would work since it relies on the HTC software. The HTC One also includes HTC BoomSound, which uses Beats Audio and HTC software to reproduce excellent sound.
If Samsung and Google can figure out how to get rid of TouchWiz and other Samsung specific features for the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition, it's very likely HTC and Google can do the same. There has been no announcement for a press event by HTC or Google for this week, so all we can do is wait and watch.
