In a recently released survey meant for Xbox Live users, Microsoft got a bit curious about people’s smartphone preferences. Fair enough — they’ve got some skin in the game, after all — but there was something slightly amiss about how the question was framed. What the designers of the survey didn’t seem to realize is that there’s no such thing as an HTC Titan III… or is there?
HTC’s Titan series of Windows Phones was meant to draw crowds with their large screen sizes, but the Titan brand hasn’t yet been stuck on a Windows Phone 8 device. Some (like the folks at CNET) are drawing comparisons between the Titan III and another as-yet unreleased device, the HTC Zenith. It’s hard not to, really — back before HTC officially pulled back the curtains on its pair of Windows Phone 8 devices, a report from The Verge pointed to the existence of three new Windows Phones from the Taiwanese OEM. The entry-level and mid-range models eventually saw the light of day as the HTC 8S and 8X respectively, leaving a glaring hole where that third flagship-tier handset was apparently supposed to go.
The Zenith’s purported spec sheet raised more than a few eyebrows — an unspecified quad-core processor was said to run the show, and the device was said to feature a 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 display and support for 42Mbps HSPA+. That emphasis on sheer screen size is a trait featured by both previous Titan models, as the name sort of implies — Titans I and II both had 4.7-inch Super LCD panels, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Titan III moniker get slapped on another device of that size.
Of course, there’s a another, much simpler possibility here. Marketing research types devote plenty of time and attention to couching their questions just the right way, but it’s still possible that the choice in question is just an unfortunate typo that has riled up certain geeky parts of the web. It’s worth noting that AT&T is running some holiday promotion on the Titan II in an attempt to move old hardware, so it’s possible this whole kerfuffle is an attempt to delve into the effects of holiday promotions on device sales or awareness. Or something. Either way, it’s something to be on the lookout for — HTC has never been the most security-conscious company out there, so expect a deluge of Titan III leaks in the weeks to come if it’s actually real.