HTC might be on the verge of launching the refresh to its five star HTC One handset, but that doesn't mean it has forgotten its other customers (you know, those who can't afford £500) as it looks to take on the budget market with a new Desire model.

Suggestions that HTC is planning on launching a new budget model first surfaced last week, and today more details have emerged giving us a rather colourful taste of what is on offer.

Chinese site ePrice has been passed pictures apparently showing a new HTC handset in a variety of colours (red, orange, blue and yellow), leaving it to take to take on the incredible budget Moto G handset.

Cheap and cheerful?

­The new handset is expected to include a 5-inch 720p HD screen with an 8MP camera, leaving the UltraPixel technologies to remain on the high end HTC One range.

The upcoming Desire will apparently run Sense 5.5 over the top of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, leaving it lagging behind the KitKat toting Moto G.

The leak also suggests that a MediaTek octa-core processor and 1.5GB RAM will also come inside the upcoming budget handset, retailing at 2000 Yuan (around £200, $330, AU$380).

While we can't vouch for the authenticity of the shots - so take the report with a decent pinch of salt - we may be looking at an MWC 2014 launch for this handset.

• Does the HTC Desire 500 warrant a baby brother?

Source : techradar[dot]com

BlackBerry's woes are well documented, but the Canadian firm isn't giving up without a fight as news surfaces that it's planning to launch some new handsets very soon.

The news comes from Foxconn's CEO Terry Gou, whose company recently signed a deal with BlackBerry to design and produce a series of low-end handsets for emerging markets over the next five years.

BlackBerry is said to be eyeing up MWC 2014 in Barcelona as the platform to showcase its new wares, with Gou being quoted by Focus Taiwan saying: "We are working with them to design a new device, and we will showcase multiple devices at the trade show in Barcelona in February."

BlackBerry set to emerge

One of the rumoured entry-level handsets is apparently codenamed "Jakata", and will be targeted at countries such as Indonesia and Mexico.

BlackBerry is shifting its focus to a more business-orientated view, but insists it isn't giving up on the consumer side of things - and perhaps its new focus here is low-cost, low end devices.

It's not clear whether BlackBerry will aim to bring any of the rumoured handsets to the UK, or indeed how many phones it will actually reveal during MWC at the end of February.

• Here's what else you can expect at MWC 2014

Source : techradar[dot]com

The Galaxy Gear might not have been a triumph, but at least a number of Samsung bods have recognised that a rethink is needed for its next smartwatch.

Rumours of what the Galaxy Gear 2 may or may not feature have been floating about for months, and the latest we're hearing is that the watch will have a completely new design with a flexible display.

How that new design will actually look isn't made clear, but "an industry source" told ZDNet Korea that Samsung is changing up the parts that "looked dull or boring," which hopefully means cutting down that bezel for one thing.

Galaxy quest

The same source also said the Galaxy Gear 2 is likely to be launched in April or March in London. Samsung previously said that the Galaxy S5 would launch at this same time, joined by the new Galaxy Gear.

Interestingly, this new tipster also claims that the big unveiling is set to happen in London. Could this be where the S5 is also unveiled? It certainly makes sense for Samsung to bundle the two closely together.

Samsung is reportedly keeping a close eye on what Apple and LG are up to with their own smartwatch efforts. Here's hoping the Korean company has something more appealing by the time the iWatch (probably) rolls around.

Source : techradar[dot]com

We've heard a few things about the upcoming Nokia Lumia 1520 mini, including that it might be called the Nokia Lumia 1520V, or even the Lumia 930.

We're now able to put a potential face to those names, as well as reveal a little more about what the Lumia 1520V may pack inside its slender frame.

An image spotted on microblogging site Weibo MiLeaks claims to show the upcoming Nokia Lumia 1520V (the V stands for Viisi, the Finnish word for five). Interestingly, the picture shows the full three columns of live tiles that also adorn the Lumia 1520 phablet.

That 4.3-inch full HD screen which has been rumoured previously might actually be a 4.45-inch HD screen with a more realistic sounding 768 x 1280 screen, according to WMPoweruser who spotted the new specs on WPBar.

New specs sound sensible

Other leaked specs include a 2370mAh battery, giving it slightly more juice than the 2300mAh battery that is found in the upcoming Sony Xperia Z1 Compact - which seems more palatable than the 3000mAh option we've seen elsewhere.

According to twitter tipster @NextLeaks the Lumia 1520V will actually launch as the Nokia Lumia 930, presumably as an update to the Nokia Lumia 925.

Given that @NextLeaks has only posted six tweets to date, we are currently advising a far less healthy dose of salt, even if the Lumia 930 name seems a little more realistic.

Either way, we shouldn't be left waiting to long to find out who is right with the Lumia 1520 mini expected to launch alongside Windows Phone 8.1 in April.

Source : techradar[dot]com

We now know at least one product we'll definitely see for sure at MWC 2014: LG has announced that it will announce the LG G Pro 2 at the phones show in February.

Unfortunately we'll have to wait until the show kicks off to find out anything more concrete about the handset, which looks set to take the LG Optimus G Pro's place in LG's oversized phone line-up.

Go Pro

It may not be the eagerly awaited LG G3 (which is now pegged for a later 2014 release date), but the LG G Pro 2 will see the original Pro's get a spec-boost if some leaked information is anything to go by.

We're expecting a 1080p 6-inch screen (up from the original Pro's 5.2-inch affair) as well as a Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM and Android 4.4 KitKat.

Whether we'll see the handset launch in the US, UK or Australia is anyone's guess at this point, but given that the G Pro never made it beyond Korea's borders then we'd say possibly not.

• Find out what we made of the LG Optimus G Pro

Source : techradar[dot]com