HTC unveils new 'selfie' phone, the Desire Eye

HTC on Wednesday launched the Desire Eye in a bid to cash in on the popular selfie trend in the market. Apart from being an AT&T-exclusive at launch, no pricing and availability details have yet been mentioned.

It's the selfie phone you've been dreaming of, boasting a front-facing camera with virtually the exact same specs and features as the rear cam. Both are 13-megapixel imagers, and each has a dual-LED flash — almost unheard of on a front camera.

The main difference between the two camera is the field of view: the front camera's is slightly wider, the equivalent of a 22mm lens, while the back is 28mm.

The Camera app on the Desire Eye includes some neat upgrades, including the ability to combine photos from both cameras, Frontback-style. You can even have the front camera detect your face and crop you into the image captured by the rear camera.

“It’s a smart move by HTC to introduce the Desire Eye, given the consumer frenzy around selfie pictures,” said Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight. “The company has undoubtedly beaten others to the punch with this design and rivals will watch closely to see whether it is a capability that appeals to consumers.”

Although the Desire Eye looks much different than the One, it features the same processor, dual front-facing speakers, and screen resolution as its high-end sibling. The Desire Eye's screen is slightly larger at 5.2 inches when compared to the 5.1-inch One. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM. It is also waterproof to 1m for 30 minutes with a plastic body.

The phone will be available in the white and orange-red color pictured here, but the company says there may eventually be other options available.