14 DAY TRIAL // Rumor has it that HTC plans to release another Android beast to match the Windows Phone 7 offering, possibly by the end of the year.
We already reported about HTC Eternity, the company's WP7 flagship smartphone that features a brilliant 4.7-inch capacitive display and runs Windows Mango.
It appears that the guys over at Pocketnow have learned that HTC Eternity and a new Android high-end smartphone called HTC Runnymede are expected to be released in the same timeframe, by the end of the year.
HTC Runnymede is one of the first devices that is a direct result of the recently announced collaboration between HTC and Beats Audio.
In this regard, the Runnymede will be delivered with SRS Surround, dual microphones and Beats headphones, which will be automatically recognized by the handset the moment they are plugged in.
Although the phone is not equipped with a dual-core CPU, HTC Runnymede can still be considered a powerful device with its single core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255, which was also embedded within the HTC Flyer tablet.
Another strong point of the Runnymede is the 8-megapixel main camera with dual LED flash, autofocus and HD 720p (60fps) video recording capabilities.
It is also worth mentioning that the main camera features backlit sensor, 28mm wide-angle lens and focal ratio of f/2.2.
Furthermore, HTC Runnymede packs 16GB of internal memory, 768MB of RAM, as well as a secondary 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls.
The smartphone is powered by Google's Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) platform and features the upcoming HTC Sense 3.5 user interface.
Unfortunately, the large 4.7-inch capacitive display is said to support 480 x 800 pixels resolution, which seems a bit weird.
The phone will be under 10mm thick and will be delivered with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as DLNA function and built-in GPS receiver.