HTC has announced a new flagship phone using its HTC One brand rather than the rumoured M7 codename. The new HTC One runs Android on a Qualcomm 1.7GHz quad-core processor and has an aluminium body containing a 4.7-inch HD screen.

There’s a strong audiovisual focus to the new HTC One, with the company introducing three new features: HTC BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe and HTC BoomSound.

Faiza Elmasry of voanews.com writes:

Imagine shopping for clothes online and being able to run your hand across the screen on your computer or smartphone to feel the fabrics. That kind of simulation technology could be available within the next five years.

Huawei has announced a couple of high-spec smartphones at CES 2013 today.

The Huawei Ascend D2 is an Android device with a 5-inch 1920x1080 display, 13 megapixel camera and a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU.

A recent projection from ABI Research has calculated that over one billion cameras were fitted in smartphones and tablets shipped last year.

Almost every current smartphone has a built-in camera, with around a third having both rear-facing and front-facing cameras. An even higher proportion of tablet devices has two cameras.

Photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Company has arranged a deal that’ll see a consortium of companies paying around $525 million to buy and license over a thousand of its patents, including its digital imaging patent portfolio.

The consortium, which has been organised by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation, is believed to contain Adobe Systems, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Fujifilm, Google, HTC, Huawei, Microsoft, Research in Motion, Samsung and Shutterfly.