Anticipation has been building over the last few months about the HTC One Max and surely, we must be just weeks away from its release now?! 

Scanning the web for the latest clues, two dates are circulating in the rumor mill - one for October 17 and one for October 15.  Not much between them really.  

The October 15 date came from a message posted to the Chinese social network Sina Weibo that HTC is considering making an announcement about its next phablet on October 15.  

Also from China, the Chinese electronics website ePrice reports that the HTC One Max will be launching on October 17.  

Both dates would pitch the release of the HTC One Max at around the same time as the release of Apple's new iPads.  

ePrice predicts that the device will be priced will be much closer to the Samsung Note 3, which is retailing at around $700 in the US and £600 in the UK.  

In terms of specs, there have been multiple leaks of images purporting to show a fingerprint sensor on the HTC One Max.  It's also expected to run on Android 4.3 with a 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 chip processor or possibly a Snapdragon 600.  

The screen is rumored to be a spacious 5.9 inches, with 1080p display.  A photo leaked by the Chinese Weibo site appeared to show the HTC One Mix alongside its rivals, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Samsung Galaxy Note and dwarfing both of them.  

Confirmation of the HTC One Max's imminent release comes from its apparent appearance on the website of TENAA, China's regulatory body for the telecommunications industry.