We're hearing this week about a new HTC model that is expected to debut later this year: codenamed "Proto," it sounds like a refreshed One V, though it's unclear how the device will be positioned at retail or whether it'll be offered as a member of the One series. Measuring 9.62mm thick, the Proto has a 4-inch WVGA SLCD display — up from the One V's 3.7-inch component — along with a 5-megapixel camera, 4GB of storage, 512MB of RAM, and 7.2Mbps HSPA. One V owners frustrated with performance might be most intrigued by the Proto's processor bump, though: it'll have a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8225 (a lower-end member of the Snapdragon S4 series) clocked at 1GHz, which is a good deal better than the One V's single-core unit. The Proto is lined up for Beats Audio branding, but we don't know whether that'll be affected going forward in the wake of the equity realignment that happened a couple weeks ago.
HTC has been relatively quiet on the global stage since the big One series announce at MWC in February — will the Proto mark the start of the next volley?