HTC Ville Ice Cream Sandwich Phone Tipped For Feb 2012 Debut

Another upcoming HTC smartphone has apparently been revealed, the HTV Ville, a 4.3-inch qHD handset running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset. The Ville, according to BGR's sources, will also include HTC Sense 4.0, the company's refreshed UI, and include an 8-megapixel camera with a backside-illuminated sensor and support for up to 1080p HD video recording.

There's also said to be HSPA+ and Beats Audio, along with a 1,650 mAh battery. That's all inside a chassis tipped to be less than 8mm thick, though there's apparently no NFC support because of HTC's decision to use an all-metal casing.

Of particular note, of course, is the absence of any physical or touch-sensitive buttons under the display, since Ice Cream Sandwich shifts those controls onto the touchscreen itself. That's in contrast with the leaked image of the HTC Edge, which still show dedicated controls; that could indicate an older render, and indeed the design of either device – if they turn out to be legitimate – is likely to change before any official announcement.

The HTC Ville will apparently be unveiled officially – under a different name, Ville being just a codename – at Mobile World Congress in February 2012, alongside the HTC Edge, with a commercial release expected in April. Rumors earlier today suggested that the Edge – which is tipped to run NVIDIA's new Tegra 3 processor and have a 4.7-inch display – would go on sale in March or April next year.