The HTC One with stock Android (via Hugo Barra on Google+)
Google’s Sundar Pichai has revealed that the HTC One is also going to get the stock Android treatment, with a new edition of the smartphone to be made available alongside the TouchWiz-free Samsung Galaxy S4 on 26 June.
Pichai, who was originally senior vice-president of Chrome and apps, and recently took the same title for the Android division, was speaking at the AllThingsD D11 conference, which wrapped up in California yesterday.
A Galaxy S4 with an unadulterated Android OS was announced earlier this month at I/O, and this device will be available on Google Play for US$649 come 26 June.
The pure Android version of the HTC One drops on the same day, at a lower price of US$599. However, this edition will have half the internal storage capacity of a standard HTC One at 32GB.
It seems Google is now making moves to standardise the Android platform for a more consistent user experience despite numerous manufacturers. However, Pichai did assure conference attendees that the platform will still allow for differentiation.
Unfortunately, Irish consumers are not currently able to purchase devices through the Google Play store, which is so far the only place these devices will be available.
