This photo, taken of a Sony Xperia Z3 (or perhaps a Z2) gives a lot more away than you think. This photo clearly shows the reflection of a phone with HTC branding on the rear, which looks suspiciously like the photos we posted the other day. It’s not a high quality photo, nor does it reveal much else about the rumoured HTC One (M9) (or the Hima, as its come to be known).
Or does it?
Actually, that photo reveals a lot. Looking at the EXIF information embedded in the photograph, we can determine a number of interesting things. Firstly, the Camera Model is “HTC 0PJA10”, and we know the photo was taken about 15 hours ago at the time of writing.
We also know where the photo was taken.
That’s where the EXIF information shows the image was captured. Smack bang in the middle of Taipei, in Taiwan. What else is in Taiwan? HTC, of course. However, the coincidences don’t stop there. Let’s look a bit more closely. I wonder who else might reside in that white building where the photo was taken.
In the screen capture shown above, the photograph was taken where that grey marker is. Funnily enough, HTC occupy that building. Now, this isn’t just Google Maps playing silly buggers. Looking at property that HTC own or use in Taipei, we know that HTC owns the lot at the intersection between Bao-Zhong Road and ZhongXing Road, within Xindian City, Taipei County. What do they do with that property? Well, they bought it back in 2008, for a cool $134 million AUD, for the stated purpose of developing a 8,000 square metre R&D headquarters.
Edit: Here’s a few more photos, some of which were taken in the same place, around the same time, presumably as sample shots from the HTC One (M9)’s camera. They’re not great photos, but they DO confirm the location and time information which we’ve already seen above.
An HTC employee, or someone at least present at HTC’s R&D building in Taiwan has taken a photograph, showing a reflection of a phone that looks unmistakably like the leaked photos said to be of the HTC One (M9)? I don’t think it gets any more confirmed than that.
We need only wait a month or so; HTC is holding a press event in Barcelona on 1 March (the invites went out a little while ago), and the rumour is it’ll be a phone and some kind of wearable launched. Will it be the HTC One (M9)? Almost certainly, now.
So apparently Android Police is reporting that the ever reliable “sources close to the issue” have come out to say all the leaked photos were engineers trolling us with prototype models. Thank God for that because the design was just way way too similar to the M8.
That’s very cool (and silly of them)