There was a time when HTC reigned over the smartphone landscape, dominating its rivals with more than 50 percent of the market share. A decade later, HTC is still around, but it is far better known for its VR equipment. Today, HTC announced a new handset that would be coming to market on June 28, centered around the 'Viverse'.

So you might be asking yourself - what is the Viverse? The Viverse is described by HTC as:

A Metaverse ecosystem that connects people from all walks of life to an open and accessible virtual world. Through this new form of living, everyone is empowered to explore, work, and play in a safe environment, each experience is unique, and your transactions and data are secure.

While this sounds all well and good, HTC has not provided much information about what we can expect. But, from a previous report, the phone will be a high-end device that will integrate "metaverse" functions. While this all sounds quite gimmicky, this isn't the brand's first rodeo in this space. Back in 2018, the firm announced the Exodus 1, a phone built with cryptocurrency in mind. Naturally, this device didn't exactly catch the attention of the world and fell under the radar shortly after its announcement.

Metaverse > Crypto?

Although the same might occur for HTC's upcoming device, it might stand a better chance, especially since the firm has quite a bit of expertise in the virtual reality space. Despite not receiving much press coverage, HTC has released new smartphones over the past few years. Most of these devices have been low to mid-range products with uninspiring designs and limited regional availability.

The last time HTC delivered a high-end smartphone, the firm released the HTC U12+. The phone wasn't available in retail stores in the United States and offered some unique features like doing away with standard physical buttons and making way for pressure-sensing bezels. Will this phone perform any better? Time and the Metaverse will tell.

Source: HTC (Twitter)