HTC 'Halfbeak' Android Wear Photos Leaked; Your Next Fitness Smartwatch?

After two years of waiting, rumors that HTC put the plan of making of its Android Wear had been put to shelf may finally rest: A Weibo user posted the images of the HTC and Under Armour smartwatch collaboration, the "Halfbeak" fitness smartwatch.

The HTC smartwatch was reportedly codenamed "Halfbeak"--a geographically widespread fish named for their distinct jaws--following the trend of naming Android Wear products after fishes.

The Verge reported the fitness smartwatch has logos of both HTC and Under Armour and a heart sensor, which should be the case given the previous partnership of the two companies on the HealthBox kit of fitness hardware.

"Halfbeak" also has a rubber, exercise-friendly interface and a 360 x 360 circular display, the same display used by the older Moto 360 Android Wear.

Taiwan-based company HTC has not officially announced any release dates, but Engadget reported the image poster of "Halfbeak" the exact model he posted was part of the project already put to shelf.

This year is a perfect opportunity for Android Wear to keep its pace in the smartwatch competition as Apple Watch slows down, according to Macrumors.com.

While Apple Watch remains as the most popular smartwatch with 2.2 million estimated sales in the first quarter, it had declined to 52.4 percent from the previous quarter's 63 percent, citing "increasing competition from Android Wear rivals such as LG and Motorola."

Other Android Wear partner companies such as Motorola, Samsung, LG and Asus had already released their smartwatches. HTC, on the other hand, planned to release its own brand of wearable technology but decided to hold it off.

HTC Creative Labs team leader Drew Bamford told Re/code in 2014 that time's crop of wearables in the market was not perfect for smartwatches.

"We've seen a lot of general purpose wearables come to market," Bamford said in the article. "There's not a strong reason to wear one every day. When we come to market with our product we want to make sure the product has a strong point of view and there is a really compelling reason to strap it on your wrist."

The release of the new Android Wear could help regain HTC its followers after its smartphone game last year with One M9 was not received well by the public due to being "too similar" with its predecessor One M8.

Cnet.com reported HTC had been removed in September 2015 from the Taiwan Stock Exchange Taiwan 50 Index, a list of the top 50 highly valued blue chip stocks, after its market share dwindled and stock prices plummeted.

It reportedly laid off 15 percent of its workforce and cut operating costs by 35 percent. That time, HTC held 2 percent of the smartphone market share--around a fifth of its 10.7-percent share in 2011.