HTC
Windows Phone 8X

HTC had a long track record of working with Microsoft on mobile devices. It was the first company to offer a commercially available Windows smartphone when the Orange SPV was unveiled in 2002.  The HTC 8X (and its mid-range sibling, the HTC 8S) were announced at a time when HTC had turned most of its attention onto delivering Android-powered smartphones. The arrival of these new devices, to coincide with the launch of Windows Phone 8, came as a bit of a surprise. By this point, former mobile phone colossus, Nokia had decided to work exclusively with Microsoft on Windows Phone devices but the platform was struggling to get traction compared to Android. The minimalist and modern design of the 8X, which was conceived under the stewardship of HTC’s Design guru Scott Croyle, immediately won plaudits. With rounded edges on all four sides of the device, it was quite a contrast to Nokia’s bulker products. It went on to win a Red Dot Product design award in 2013. The 8X came in a range of vibrant colours comprising “California blue, flame red, graphite black, and limelight yellow. The device featured heavily at Microsoft’s official launch of the Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco in October 2012 during which Steve Ballmer presented on stage.