TechNow: The HTC One M8 Harman/Kardon edition on Sprint is official for all those who missed Beats audio on the new 2014 flagship

Earlier this month, back when sales of the HTC One M8 were just starting to expand to include non-Verizon carrier in-store availability, we checked out an interesting story about Sprint’s version of the Androidflagship. A rumor suggested that Sprint was going to get a special editionHarman/Kardon One M8, but then a close look at the currently available SprintM8′s software appeared to reveal that a number of Harman/Kardon-branded audiosettings were already present, and simply hidden away from the user. Was the Sprint M8 already this Harman/Kardon edition, and the carrier was just waiting to announce the partnership and activate that dormant software? Well, it took long enough, but today Sprint’s finally stepping up to explain the situation.

Sprint’s hosting an event in NYC this morning, where it’s announced that it will start selling a Harman/Kardon edition One M8 on May 9. The phone will come with a $150 pair of Harman/Kardon earbuds, hook users up with Sprint Sound Sessions for some advanced access to music, and offer an FM tuner.

In-store availability begins May 9, but online orders began this Friday, May 2. On a two-year plan the special edition will cost $28.32 a month, versus $27.09 for the regular One M8, putting this model at a not-at-all-bad $30 premium (~ $680 vs $650). We also hear about a Spotify partnership, giving users on a Framily plan a six-month free trial and discounted ongoing rates. Non-Family subscribers get a three-month trial.

Now, Rather than activating the Harman/Kardon software enhancements via an update to Sprint’s existing M8, the carrier instead introduced a whole separate model, bundled with H/K earbuds. Well what if you already bought the One M8? Are you out of luck? Far from it, and the enterprising minds over on the XDA-Developers forums have come up with a method to add these Harman/Kardon software tweaks to the One M8 you already own.

This doesn’t just work on the Sprint M8, but reportedly all available variants – Verizon, AT&T, whatever. The process is quite straightforward, with an enabler package you just have to flash from recovery – the only real prerequisite is that your phone’s flash must be in s-off mode, but the already available Firewater tool should get you all set for that.

In addition to activating the hidden H/K settings, this process also updates the firmware on your M8′s Advanced Digital Signal Processor, meaning the improvements should be a little more substantial than just some EQ fiddling. If you’re curious to see what all the fuss is about, hit up that source link and start reading through the directions.

Link for the crack