With the HTC M8 launch just around the corner it might seem a little odd that HTC is currently talking about targeting the middle ground rather than the premium end of the market.

Driven by two years of poor sales and a corresponding 80% share price drop the Taiwenese firm has said that it will look towards its cheaper range, currently toting the HTC Desire 300 and Desire 500, as a way of combating the heavy decline.

Speaking to Reuters in New York HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang stated that she believes the problem was that "we only concentrated on our flagship. We missed a huge chunk of the mid-tier market".

Looking lower

This means that HTC will look to releasing handsets around $150 to $300 (around £90 to £180, AU$168 to AU$335) putting them up against the likes of the impressive Moto G, although avoiding the "very, very low-end market".

According to Richard Ko of Taipei based analyst firm KGI Securities a move to more affordable handsets is needed as "low-price and high-spec" is a "trend for this year". A quad-core budget HTC Desire 310 would certainly fit that bill.

Lower price points would allow HTC to target both the established smartphone markets dominated by Samsung and Apple handsets, as well as emerging markets where Chinese manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE are making waves.

A need to take on the marketing might of Apple and Samsung has also been highlighted as rave reviews of the HTC One (including our own five-stars) didn't translate into strong sales. Not even Iron Man could help despite being backed up by sharp suits and hipster trolls.

Back to basics?

When it comes to producing cheaper handsets HTC certainly has the know how having made its name as a manufacturer of network branded handsets, although that isn't an area that HTC plans to return to in its effort to boost sales.

"We're not even considering that," Wang confirmed - stating that manufacturing partnerships must include HTC branding alongside those of mobile carriers.

2014 is certainly shaping up to be an important year for HTC with the invitations to the HTC M8 launch event due to be sent out in about two weeks sitting alongside a fight to stave off a third straight quarter of operating losses.

Talk of Samsung releasing two flavours of its Galaxy S5 flagship may have died down in recent weeks but that hasn't stopped two massively-varied spec lists showing up on benchmarking app AnTuTu.

Picked up by Sam Mobile, the first benchmarks show the almost-expected quad-core 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU and 3GB RAM Galaxy S5.

Interestingly this higher powered SM-G900R4 variant's display is also set to rock a 2560 x 1440 QHD resolution appearing to dispel rumours that it would only pack a 1080p screen.

Things take a little turn for the worse when it comes to the SM-G900H variant with the majority of specifications taking a hit.

That quad-core Qualcomm CPU has been upgraded to an octa-core Exynos but has been clocked at 1.5GHz with only 2GB RAM to back it up.

Location, location, location

A full HD 1920 x 1080 screen is also set to feature on this lower-powered handset - likely the one we saw mentioned a couple of days ago.

Elsewhere, specs match up a lot better with the same 2MP and 16MP cameras and Android 4.4.2 KitKat, although the higher-powered variant does also come with 32GB of storage compared to the 16GB in the G900H.

This means we could be set to see two rather different handsets roll up in a couple of weeks time at MWC 2014 but questions still remain as to why.

Samsung was always likely to launch models of its flagship in order to better suit different markets. Best guesses involve the Galaxy S5 varying because of one key factor; 4G LTE. After all, last year's Galaxy S4 drew a lot of criticism for the same reasons - so here's hoping that it's just the same as previously, where two CPU models were unleashed for different markets.

• If that's set to be the case, John McCann will certainly be happy.

Apple's iOS 7.1 isn't expected to make any revolutionary changes to the OS, but a few welcome bug fixes are certainly expected.

And as for when we'll get our fingers on it, some "reliable sources" have told 9to5Mac that we can expect the update in March, echoing a claim we'd previously heard.

We're told not to expect any surprise features beyond some speed enhancements, an improved Calendar app and a bunch of bug fixes.

Though there's also a chance we could see Apple's anticipated iOS in the Car feature debut alongside.

• Tempted to go Apple? Read our iOS 7 review.

It has been rumoured for a while that the Windows Phone 8.1 update will have a notifications centre to catch-up with iOS and Android and now we know it's going to be an all-action solution.

According to the first leaked screenshots, Microsoft's interpretation of an all encompassing notifications portal will be called the 'Action Centre.'

For a start, isn't that way better than Notifications Centre? Secondly, judging by a 'Microsoft Confidential' email obtained by Winphollowers, it actually looks kinda neat too.

The Action Centre shows applications segregated by icons, while there's also a 'Clear All' option and a chance to access 'All Settings' within the portal.

Intelligently managed

According to the screenshot, and accompanying text, Action Centre is a "central location to surface missed notifications," while apps can "intelligently manage notifications," meaning you can choose which apps you wish to receive them from and silence others.

There's also a toolbar offering quick access to Bluetooth, Driving Mode, Airplane and Wi-Fi settings with a single tap, much like the Android OS.

Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to be detailed at Microsoft's Build conference in San Francisco on April 2.

• Windows Phone 8.1 is probably going to have a Siri rival too...

The forthcoming HTC M8, or HTC One 2 as its been coined, hasn't even arrived yet, but there's already word of the inevitable scaled back version for those with smaller pockets.

According to prolific phone leaker @evleaks, the HTC M8 mini will arrive with a 4.5-inch, 720p display. That's up from the 4.3-inch 720p screen that headlined the HTC One Mini.

There's also an improvement in the processing department, with a 1.4GHz Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor, supposedly on-board. The current HTC One Mini also rocked the Snapdragon 400, but with only two cores.

Interestingly, the leakster claims the M8 Mini will have also have the on-screen buttons speculation suggests will be present on the full-size device.

Yeah, M8

In the camera department Mr. Leaks reckons there are 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel ensemble to be found on the HTC M8 Mini, while the HTC Sense 6.0 UI may also be along for the party.

Traditionally, the likes of HTC and Samsung have given it a few months before outing the smaller versions of their flagship handsets and we'd expect that to be the case this time also.

However, given this information is out there at this state, it's not out of the realms of possibility that HTC could launch both handset's simultaneously.

If HTC does indeed launch a handset branded 'Mini' at 4.5-inches, what does that mean for the iPhone which maxes out at a dinky 4-inches?

• HTC One 2: Should Samsung be worried?