Hewlett-Packard has been promising a return to smartphones as recently as earlier this month when Yam Su Yin, the company’s Senior Director Consumer PC and Media Tablets Asia Pacific, said that “HP has to be in the game.” Now a leaked rendered image and specification details about an HP-branded smartphone have surfaced, suggesting that the company’s return may be getting close.
Apparently called the HP Brave, the images show a smartphone running Android. The all-touch device is reminiscent of the Apple iPhone 5. It sports capacitive buttons below the display with an LED notification light further below. On the back is the traditional camera with flash along with an HP logo.
More information is revealed in an alleged AnTuTu benchmarking test screen capture. A number of key specifications are identified:
- Processor: 2.0GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 with Adreno 330 GPU
- Operating system: Google Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
- Cellular connectivity: LTE/WCDMA/GSM
- Display: 4.5-inch HD+ (900 × 1600)
- RAM: 2GB
- Rear-facing camera: 14.5MP with LED flash and 1080p video capture
- Front-facing camera: 5MP
The information so far does not give us any hint as to what Yin could have referred to when she indicated that HP wanted to offer a “differentiated experience” on its devices.
HP left the smartphone world back in August 2012 when it gave up on its webOS hardware business. Although HP’s CEO, Meg Whitman, indicated that a return to smartphones would not happen until 2014, perhaps it will happen a little bit sooner so that the company can catch the upcoming holiday season.
Let us know below if you would consider getting the HP Brave smartphone.
Update: HP has issued a statement calling this rumour false. BGR received the following from HP via email:
This is a fabrication. This is not an HP phone. HP will expand to additional mobility categories and form factors where we believe we can offer differentiated value to our customers. We will bring smartphones to market but are not giving a timetable.
Sources : PhoneArena // PhoneArena (2) // BGR