The original HTC One Max. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

HTC is reportedly gearing up to take on the iPhone 6 Plus and the Galaxy Note 4 with a flagship phablet of its own called the HTC One M8 Max. The device will reportedly offer a 5.5-inch display — the same as the 6 Plus — with a super sharp Quad HD resolution.

Photo: Huawei

Huawei’s new Ascend G7 isn’t its only device that was inspired by the iPhone, it seems. At IFA 2014 in Berlin today, the Chinese company also announced a new phablet — the 6-inch Ascend Mate 7 — which has a one-touch fingerprint scanner that offers almost instant verification just like Apple’s.

The long-awaited Sense 6 upgrade for the HTC One max is finally rolling out to Verizon customers. In addition to HTC’s latest apps and user interface, the package brings an improved BlinkFeed, customizable fonts and themes, and a whole bunch of important bug fixes and improvements.

HTC’s One M8 is one of the finest smartphones you can buy today — but its bigger brother, the upcoming One M8 max, is claimed to be even better. According to one source, the device will have a larger 5.9-inch display and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 805 processor.

As promised, Verizon has begun pushing out the much-anticipated Android 4.4.2 over-the-air (OTA) updated to all carrier-branded models of the HTC One Max currently located in the United States. In terms of added functionality, the upgrade brings the latest build of KitKat and Sense 5.5, in addition to the usual bug fixes, speed optimizations and stability improvements that we’ve grown to expect from any major software update.