Latest HTC One 2 snaps put a kink in earlier leaks

Oh HTC, how you love to tease us so! Even as the Taiwanese manufacturer announces plans to target the cheaper end of the smartphone spectrum, new images surface from the higher end of the food chain.

A pair of new images purported to be of the HTC M8 have popped up on the radar, and they come bearing gifts for fans of the company's flagship smartphones.

Also referred to as the HTC One 2, the handset pictured above surfaced earlier this week on the website HK-Android.info, looking an awful lot like an improved version of the HTC One it's expected to replace.

The most notable change here is the home button is front and center in place of the HTC logo, although this image seems to indicate capacitive touch is being used instead of the on-screen software buttons suggested by earlier rumors.

Say cheese

The HTC M8 has previously been tipped to feature a 5-inch, 1080 x 1920 LCD display powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor. It is also said to have 2GB of RAM and run Android 4.4 KitKat with HTC Sense 6.0.

While those specs don't appear to have changed, the back of the handset seems to indicate big changes ahead for the camera, judging from the dual LED flash clearly on display here.

The positioning of the flash lines up with previous leaks, though one such dual flash image was deemed to have been conjured thanks to Photoshop magic by an HTC employee.

The sequel to HTC's critically acclaimed One (which won a 2013 Editor's Choice nod from TechRadar) has been rumored to arrive with an improved version of the UltraPixel camera, which theoretically produces higher quality images from a lower megapixel count.

All welcome changes, but there doesn't seem to be anything particularly groundbreaking here, so HTC might want to stay the course on those lower-priced handsets if it wants to make it through 2014 unscathed.

• No HTC One for you? Check out our review of the latest LG G2 instead!

Galaxy S5 metal frame leaks suggest sturdier smartphone, bigger screen

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has been leaked so often and regularly at this point that we've already developed a pretty good idea of what it's going to look like on the outside.

Now new photos have surfaced purportedly showing what the next Galaxy is rocking on the inside.

The latest leaks comes by way of Nowhereelse.fr. The French tech site alleges the Galaxy S5 will come with a metal interior frame for some much needed rigidity after a line of Samsung phones classically known for their chintzy, all-plastic bodies.

Rockin' body

Based on the frame's measurements - 143.8mm (5.6 inches) tall and 72.2mm (2.8 inches) wide - the new Galaxy S5 could very well feature a larger screen than the Galaxy S4's 5-inch display.

Compared to the Galaxy S4's dimensions, 136.6 x 69.8mm (5.38 x 2.75 inches), the new metal frame is slightly longer. This could mean the Galaxy S5 will have a widescreen aspect ratio display.

The images of this completely straight metal frame don't match up with our renderings of a bending Galaxy S5, but it gels with our theory about it having metal accents.

What we know so far

The new shots are also just the latest in a long string of Galaxy S5 leaks and rumors.

We've heard unsubstantiated reports that the S5 will have an eye scanner as well as a 16-megapixel camera to watch you. Inside, the smartphone could also come packing one of the very first 64-bit chips for an Android system.

On top of that, the Galaxy S5 supposedly will come with a 560ppi display as well. Again, we're going take all of these specs with a grain of salt until we get more definite proof, but the rumors are certainly swirling for Samsung's next handset.

We may even see it as soon as CES 2014, so the days until the Galaxy S5's release may be waning.

• Uh oh, it looks like the Xbox One is develop some of its own day one jitters.