A new Android-based HTC handset has surfaced this week which may prove to be be the world’s first quad-core smartphone.  Dubbed the HTC Edge, specifications are said to include a 4.7-inch 720 HD display, 1GB RAM, an 8-megapixel camera and Beats Audio integration. Described as “slightly over 10mm thick”, the handset should offer a quad-core 1.5GHZ NVIDIA Tegra 3 CPU, 32GB internal storage, and Bluetooth 4.0.

Anticipated for late Q1 or early Q2, the HTC Edge could also be the first handset to feature a new 4.0 Sense UI on top. Providing this phone launches with Gingerbread, this should certainly see an Ice Cream Sandwich update in short order. It’s also expected that the phone debuts with new and/or improved HTC content services, including HTC Listen (music), HTC Read (books), and HTC Play (games). According to Pocketnow, the handset may be among the first to offer HD versions of movies in HTC Watch.

Although a step forward in many areas, additional details in the HTC Edge include 21Mbps HSDPA connectivity. By comparison, the recently launched HTC Amaze 4G offers up to 42Mbps speeds.

Add the HTC Edge to our list of phones we hope to see at CES come January!