The HTC U is expected to be the first smartphone with sensors on the sides that let you squeeze the phone to perform some actions without unlocking the device or tapping the screen.

Details about the phone have been leaking for a little while, and now HTC has announced a “Squeeze for the Brilliant U” event that’ll take place on May 16th.

The event is scheduled for 2PM in Taipei, which is 7AM in London and 2AM in New York… an the fact that HTC is giving us international times suggests that the phone will eventually be available around the globe.

Technically, HTC hasn’t actually confirmed anything yet, but the teaser Tweet and launch event website both strongly suggest that early reports were accurate: the phone’s hallmark feature is the pressure-sensitive frame that will allow you to control some functions by squeezing.

Other rumored features include a 5.5 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 128GB of storage and a microSD card slot.

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3 replies on “HTC U smartphone with squeezable controls launching May 16th”

  1. I’m looking forward to the $400-$430 phones coming out this year. I doubt that i’ll pay 1.5-2x more for a squeeze feature.

  2. It’s very nice they’re tapping into this tactile input interface, but I sense an enormous potential for phone case to fill this void for other phones.

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