A new One will be coming next year. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

OnePlus has confirmed that it will launch its second-generation One handset during the second or third quarter of 2015. The Chinese company has also revealed that it is thinking about making a smaller device for those who prefer their smartphones to be a little more pocketable.

Photo: OnePlus

The OnePlus One’s fancy StyleSwap covers, one of the things that made the handset unique, have been abandoned before they even went on sale. OnePlus says that it ran into “technical difficulties” during mass production, and the number of covers that passed its quality control tests was “much lower” than the company had anticipated.

The HTC One (M7). Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android.

Verizon has started rolling out an over-the-air (OTA) update to its carrier-branded variant of HTC’s previous flagship smartphone, the One (M7). This upgrade brings a handful of new features and stability improvements, in addition to the much-anticipated Android 4.4.3 software build.

The OnePlus One is still incredibly difficult to obtain. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android.

Still waiting for an invite to purchase the OnePlus One? So are thousands of others — but come October, the device should be a great deal easier to get hold of. OnePlus has today confirmed that it is finally preparing to abandon its invite system altogether and introduce a more traditional pre-order system instead.

OnePlus One owner “MiYzu”  has suffered minor skin burns after his device exploded in his pocket while he was walking through a subway. OnePlus has agreed to send out a replacement handset, while the original will be collected and examined in an effort to establish what caused this incident.