First look at the refined Sense 6 coming on the HTCM8

A purported screenshot of the homescreen of the upcoming HTCM8 shows on-screen buttons, a familiar look, and a few design tweaks.

We’ve already had a pretty good idea about the hardware and physical appearance of the HTCM8 (i.e.: “strikingly similar” to the HTCOne), but now we’ve got our first legit look at the KitKat-based Sense 6, courtesy of the one and only @evleaks.

The most striking thing about the screenshot is, of course, the on-screen navigation bar. With the M8, HTCis said to be finally ditching capacitive buttons in favor of the more flexible and arguably more attractive virtual buttons. Another big change is the move to transparency for the dock background, while the entire theme seems lighter and more cheerful. The refreshed white battery icon is in line with Google’s directions for KitKat, while the icons in the dock seem to have remained unchanged. BlinkFeed, the feed aggregator that HTCfirst launched a year ago, is also untouched.

The M8, expected to launch under the HTCOne (2014) name, will feature a 5-inch screen, a Snapdragon 800 processor, and an innovative dual camera, while in the design department, HTCwill continue on the path opened last year by the well-received One. The device will launch in March, possibly towards the end of the month at a New York event.