The Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC unveiled its flagship Windows Phone 8-powered smartphone, HTC 8X, at a press event in New York on Sept. 19.

"We've been inspired by Windows Phone 8 to create new smartphones that give the platform the iconic design and personality it deserves," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "Windows Phone has clearly emerged as one of the top mobile ecosystems and is competitive against any other smartphone platform in the world."

An array of WP8 devices have been launched earlier by Nokia and Samsung and now HTC follows suit.

The HTC 8X sports a 4.3-inch super LCD 2 display with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, 341ppi, and is equipped with Gorilla Glass 2. The large display WP8 plenty of room to show off its small-, medium-, and large-sized tiles.

A 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM powers the handset. The device has 16GB of internal storage; however, it has no microSD card slot option for expandable memory. An 1800 mAh battery boosts the device and the HTC 8X sports an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture and 28mm lens with a dedicated ImageChip for fast focus speed. The device also includes a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera for video calling. Judging by the past, HTC smartphones have provided users with an excellent camera experience, and users will be happy to see a high-end camera in the new offering.

The HTC 8X will be available to users in California Blue, Graphite Black, Flame Red, and Limelight Yellow. The smartphone will come equipped with Beats Audio for a better music experience. The device will also support Near Field Communication (NFC), Wi Fi, and 4G LTE.

"Pairing HTC's beautiful new Windows Phone 8X and 8S with our brand is a big milestone for both companies, together we are offering customers a clear choice and a truly unique experience. I'm thrilled to take our longstanding partnership to the next level," said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO.

The HTC 8X is expected to hit the shelves in November this year and will face stiff competition from rival WP8 smartphones like the Nokia Lumia 920 and Samsung ATIV S. It is anybody's guess if Windows Phone-powered smartphones can grab a major chunk of the mobile operating system market and oust competing operating systems like Android and iOS.