With Samsung and Nokia having already announced their upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices a couple of weeks ago, it was HTC's turn to show off its line-up of smartphones running Microsoft's latest operating system. HTC CEO Peter Chou unveiled two "signature" WP8 phones at a press event in New York City - the Windows Phone 8X and the Windows Phone 8S.

These are the first phones to have "Windows Phone" in their name, and also the first Windows Phones to integrate Beats Audio, which delivers studio-quality, crystal-clear music. Both phones are light, super-thin at 10mm, and are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 processor.

Sporting a 4.3-inch, Super LCD 2 display with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and 720p resolution, the 8X (pictured above) is HTC's hero Windows Phone 8 device. It has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of non-expandable internal storage. The rear camera is an 8 megapixel with LED flash and auto focus, while the front-facing camera has a resolution of 2.1 megapixel. Both cameras are capable of recording 1080p video. All this is encased in a polycarbonate unibody.

The camera technology on the 8X may not rival Nokia's PureView, but is impressive nonetheless. The front-facing camera has an 88-degree field-of-view, which is three times wider than most other front cameras, allowing more people to fit into the frame. Both cameras have a dedicated HTC ImageChip that helps start up the camera instantly and lets you take photos in quick succession. The F2.0 aperture on both cameras means you can take better pictures in poorly-lit environments. In addition to Beats Audio, the 8X also has two dedicated audio amplifiers that further improve sound quality.

The 8S (pictured above) is a mid-range phone and features a 4-inch, Super LCD, Gorilla Glass display with WVGA resolution. The dual-core processor has a clock speed of 1GHz, and at 512MB, you get half the RAM compared to the 8X. The 8S only has 4GB of built-in flash memory, but can be expanded up to 32GB by adding a microSD card. It has a 5 megapixel camera on the back with auto focus and LED flash, and supports 720p video recording, but has no secondary camera. The body is polycarbonate and has a two-tone color scheme.

HTC says both the 8X and 8S will be available starting November, in more than 50 countries, and through over 150 operators, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in the US. Both phones will come in mainly these four colors: blue, yellow, red and black.

With the announcement of these phones, HTC has made it clear that it is serious about Windows Phone, and it seems it wants to compete head-on with Nokia's Lumia 920 for the title of "Flagship Windows Phone."

Image credit: HTC