As promised, HTC has started the push to get its new EYE features to its flagship smartphone, at least for those who purchased one under T-Mobile‘s patronage. This practically puts the One M8 on the same level as the surprisingly premium, except in looks, Desire EYE, with the added bonus of a premium design and duo camera setup. Meanwhile, Verizon customers need not gnash their teeth as the OEM promises the same treatment for the Verizon One M8 tomorrow, at least if all goes well.
HTC semi-surprised the mobile world when it revealed its new digital imaging thrust from multiple fronts, from an odd-looking but decent RE camera, to the high-end but plastic Desire EYE, to its new suite of camera apps and software as part of its new EYE Experience package. The latter, which came with the HTC Desire EYE by default, was promised to trickle down to many of the company’s smartphones. Of course, it isn’t surprising that the 2014 flagship would be the first to get it.
Mo Versi, HTC’s VP for product management, yesterday tweeted about the upcoming EYE software update for the One M8 under T-Mobile’s care. That update has arrived today but also brought a small little surprise with it. The firmware update bumps the Android version to 4.4.4, marking the last KitKat version before the smartphone switches over to Android 5.0 Lollipop. The 4.4.4 update itself was quite small and rushed, practically just an urgent security update. So the real focus here is, of course, on the new EYE camera features. If you need to get up to date on those, HTC has provided some tutorials on how to use them.
Mo Versi and HTC aren’t done yet. Taking to Twitter again, the exec noted that they have received technical approval for the same update, this time from Verizon. So Verizon customers need just wait for the update to roll out tomorrow, barring any last minute issues, to get the very same features on their HTC One M8.
