HTC is rumoured to launch its M7 flagship at a huge event in New York City on February 19th. In addition to a 1080p display and a super-fast 1.7Ghz quad-core chip, the company plans to improve its digital imaging reputation by replacing megapixels with ultrapixels.

In theory, the new name is likely just marketing speak, but the idea here is similar to what we saw in Nokia’s PureView 808: interpolation. The plan is to take take three layers of 4.3MP sensors and combine pixels into a comparably smaller-sized shot that is less noisy, especially in low-light situations.

The Ultrapixel sensor is expected to be a core feature of the new HTC M7 smartphone – the name of which is still to be officially confirmed – and, presumably, the way that HTC will stop consumers being confused that its new flagship phone will come with what, on the surface, is a 4-megapixel sensor.

Nokia had a similar issue with the Nokia 808 Pureview’s boasts of a 41-megapixel sensor which was available in only one mode, whereas the smartphone’s more common settings would restrict output to 8-megapixels for best-clarity shots.

Just hours after the Ultrapixels rumors hit the web, HTC published a fancy infographic on the history of camera on its blog. While the story depicted in the infographic covers the evolution of the smartphone over the years, HTC took the opportunity to poke a little run at Apple and Nokia towards the end and finished things off a little tease: “HTC kicks off a new sound and camera experience in 2013?

HTC is also claiming it will improve its sound experience in 2013, though the company had already taken the lead in this regard by combining Beats Audio and a powerful headphone amplifier into its latest products.

Ultrapixel is ultimately remarketing the megapixel. Whether it will become a part of your daily vocabulary from 19 February, well, we’ll just have to wait and see.