Newly announced HTC J Butterfly 3 could be the redesigned One M9 we were looking for

When the HTC One M9 was finally unveiled at Mobile World Congress, there were more than a few fans who were disappointed to find the design didn’t deviate much away from last year’s One M8. It didn’t help matters that only a few weeks prior to the official unveiling, famed tipster @evleaks revealed press renders of an alleged One M9 with a vastly different front face. In the end, that device apparently never made it out of the concept phase with HTC instead opting for something a little more familiar to consumers (perhaps even a little too familiar). But is it possible HTC incorporated that leaked design in its latest handset for Japan?

Announced in Japan, the HTC J Butterfly 3 is the company’s latest high-end device for Japanese carrier KDDI. It packs a design aesthetic eerily reminiscent of that leaked One M9 we saw awhile back, only with a few key differences. One, this phone is all plastic and the perforated speaker holes sit in between the glass display and the plastic bezel. It’s very similar to what we saw with the HTC Desire EYE. Running with that, the Butterfly 3 even packs a similar 13MP front facing shooter like the Eye, mounted directly in the middle of the top plastic bezel. You may remember this was rumored early on to come equipped on the One M9 (and shown in @evleaks’ leaked render).

On the back, HTC’s Duo Camera makes a return (another feature we heard would make it to the One M9 but didn’t), coupled with a 20.2MP rear facing camera. As far as other hardware specs, the Butterfly 3 features a pin sharp 5.2-inch 2560×1440 resolution LCD 3 display, Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB RAM, 2,700mAh battery, IPX5/IPX7 water resistance rating, and comes in 3 color options: red, white, and blue.

There really is a lot here to love and honestly, it makes us wonder if the Butterfly 3 doesn’t trump the One M9 in some respects. The Butterfly 3 will launch in Japan this June on KDDI.

[HTC | via Engadget Japan]

Here’s an early look at the completely redesigned Hangouts 4.0

We’ve heard murmurings that Google was finally about to bring the Hangouts app into the 21st century with a Material Design makeover, and it appears we’re very close. A new leak gives us our clearest look yet at the redesigned app, which seems to be getting new coats of paint from head to toe.

So what’s on tap? Everything is as you’d imagine. Google follows their Material Design standard to a T throughout the app, complete with beautiful drop shadows, slide-out drawers and that all-important floating action button (otherwise affectionately known as FAB). It’s not that Google has never used Material Design in Hangouts, but they seemed to only use it in some areas while neglecting all the rest.

One new actual feature in the mobile app is the ability to change your status, which was a feature that was previously only available from the desktop version of Hangouts. Otherwise, you’re getting the same Hangouts experience you’ve come to know and love, only with a much better (and more consistent) design.

Even with as full of a look as we’ve gotten here, there stands to reason that there are some surprises we might not yet know about. There is also a chance that some things could be added or removed ahead of the big update. Still, it’s nice to get a good early look at what to expect. Now let’s just hope it doesn’t take long for Google to deliver the goods.