Recent reports are claiming that HTC is supposedly set to release a version of the HTC One M8 that is based off of Windows Phone 8.1.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is now reported to be gearing up for an official announcement about exactly what's included in Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1. While the update is not expected to incorporate substantially visible changes, it will include some small improvements just a few months after the original Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview release. Developer Preview users may see the Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 arrive next week.

Cortana, Microsoft's personal digital assistant, is making its way to China and the UK in beta with the Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 release. Moreover, it is also being made available in Canada, India, and Australia in an alpha version. The UK as well as the Chinese versions of Cortana won't have the same Jen Taylor voice as the US version.

Microsoft is localizing the voice and a lot of content for each region, but the Chinese version is getting some interesting changes. In China, Cortana will have a different visual appearance with slightly tweaked animations and sounds.

Another report says that Microsoft is reported to be having a difficult time convincing smartphone manufacturers to produce devices running on it operating system - Windows Phone. Nokia, which is now owned by Microsoft, currently holds nearly 90 percent market share of smartphones running on Windows Phone.

Hence, Microsoft pressured a number of smartphone manufacturers like Samsung, HTC and Huawei to produce at least one smartphone each this year. The Richmond-based tech titan says that this will help to improve the sales of smartphones based on Windows Phone 8.

Engadet reports that HTC is already working to fulfill the deal with Microsoft and is preparing to launch its Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone - a variant of its extremely popular HTC One M8 handset that runs on Android. The report claimed that the new smartphone will be christened "HTC One (M8) for Windows" and it will be released by Verizon.