Things to note: this device isn't the sequel to the Butterfly S people have been talking about . No, it's a rejiggered version of the existing One M8 that shares the same 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 chipset and 5-inch 1080p screen as the version floating around in Asia. The big differences is that those components are packed into a more colorful chassis made of plastic... so much for the aluminum and liquid silicone mix that's rumored to comprise the One M8 Prime's body.

Not every one of the M8's niceties made the leap into the Ace, sadly -- the render seems to lack that fancy Duo camera and the IR blaster built into the sleep/wake button. There's no word yet on when the Ace will make its grand debut, but expect it to launch in mainland China first before possibly trickling onto store shelves around the world down the road. For what it's worth though, HTC's been doing just a little teasing of its own -- it warned its Twitter followers last night that "more beautiful curves are coming soon," so the wait for something new and shiny shouldn't be too long.