The HTC Ocean is shaping up to be an incredibly intriguing device, or perhaps even devices. We first saw a concept design of the phone a few months ago, and it showed no physical buttons and a new Sense Touch UI that relies on gestures and Google Assistant to navigate. Soon after the concept was shared, Twitter user LlabTooFeR said there will in fact be three versions of the phone: Ocean Master, Ocean Note and Ocean Smart.

Now, Taiwanese news outlet ePrice has added further weight to that rumour by saying it has received information which confirms those three devices.

ePrice says all three will be announced on 12 January, a date which HTC has set for an event called 'For U', and adds the phones will go on sale on 24 January, which will likely make HTC the first major manufacturer to launch a flagship in 2017.

The Note will likely come with a larger, phablet-style screen although official specs have yet to be revealed. All we know for now is that the Note will come with 64GB and 128GB storage options.

The other two smartphones in the Ocean series, the Master and Smart, are said to be the main version of the phone, a sort of HTC 11 and a lighter version more akin to the Desire series. Again, specs for these have yet to be revealed, although it's likely the phones will come with the Snapdragon 835 processor.

There's just over two weeks to go until HTC's 'For U' event, so we don't have long to wait to see what the Taiwanese company has up its sleeve for 2017.