Taiwanese device manufacturer HTC has officially announced its flagship handset for 2016 --- the HTC 10.

Announcing its latest flagship smartphone, HTC said that the device will be priced at $699; and will start shipping in May. The handset will be available in two color options is the US --- black and silver. However, in international markets, HTC will also be offering a 'gold' color option for the HTC 10 handset; and, in Japan, the handset will be available in a special 'red' color.

In announcing the new HTC 10 handset, HTC said that customers can, with effect from Tuesday, April 12, place pre-orders for an unlocked version of the HTC 10 via the company's online store. The handset, in the US, will also be sold by Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile wireless carriers.

HTC newest flagship smartphone, HTC 10, is the successor to the M9 handset launched by the company in 2015. The new handset attractively amalgamates the design of HTC's M series with the A9 device which was launched last fall. The designing of HTC 10 took nearly one year; with HTC integrating feedback from its customers throughout the handset's development process.

Some of the key features of the new, Android-powered HTC 10 handset include a 5.2-inch, quad HD Super LCD 5 display; a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor; 4GB of RAM; a 12-megapixel rear camera; a 5-megapixel front camera; a massive 3,000mAh battery; and support for Quick Charge 3.0 through the USB Type-C port of the handset.