HTC Petra smartband tipped, could be weeks away


HTC is going to launch its very first wearable in the form of a smartband called Petra, a new report suggests.


Prolific rumour-spinner Upleaks has outed the device, and says it’s going to launch at the end of Q1 2015, putting the device mere weeks away from release.


What’s more, it’s also reckoned that HTC will eschew Android Wear for its own real-time operating system, developed in-house.


According to the leak, the wearable will land with a 1.8-inch flexible PMOLED display, with a resolution of 36 x 160.


This indicates we’re looking at a relatively typical, slightly curved smartband screen, rather than a round-faced smartwatch.


The Petra band is also tipped to be water/dust proof rated at IP57, weigh 23g, and come in small, medium, and large sizes.


The chipset is listed as an ST Micro STM32L151, and the device will offer Bluetooth, GPS, POGO Pin, and USB support.


The actual capacity of the battery isn’t mentioned in the leak, but the battery life is listed as ‘3 days plus’.


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It’s also going to support Android phones (4.4 or later) and iOS devices (7.0) or later, and rocks a host of features including an alarm, timer, stopwatch, music control, camera shutter, sleep analysis, fitness tracking, weather, scheduling, and smartphone notifications.


There’s also a footpad included, apparently, which will help improve the accuracy of step tracking.


The device will come in a range of colours, including teal, lime, black, blue, and grey.


It will reportedly launch worldwide, but sales will kick off in the USA initially, starting in Q1 this year. Mobile World Congress 2015, perhaps?