As far as Verizon devices are concerned, the Droid Bionic probably holds the crown for “Most Anticipated Handset,” but newly leaked shots of the HTC Vigor may steal a bit of that spotlight.
Rumored to be the newest addition to Verizon’s LTE line up, the Vigor sports a name that’s downright ancient in comparison: it was first spotted in a trademark application from 2009.
The Vigor made waves earlier this month when an ersatz version was spotted on a Dutch retailer’s website, but the real deal sports a less angular body that matches up nicely with HTC and Verizon’s design language. Specifically, with its funky textured back plate and red camera trim, the Vigor could easily pass for another entry in Verizon’s Incredible series. → Read More
Surprise! Even a clever little gimmick like a dedicated Facebook button can’t save a bad phone from an early demise.
After just 36 days on the shelves, a trusted source close to AT&T tells us the carrier is already prepping to ditch HTC’s so-called “Facebook Phone”, the Status. The reason? The thing just isn’t selling. → Read More
“We welcome the news of today’s acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem.”
That was Peter Chou’s line from right after the Google-Motorola deal was announced, and it would appear he’s sticking to it. Today, the HTC CEO has announced his intention to stick it out with Google and Android in spite of the multi-billion dollar acquisition. → Read More
It’s only been a few days since HTC got its bootloader unlock tool up and running, but unfortunately it was only made available to owners of the European/international version of the HTC Sensation. Obviously that didn’t do a lot to help our American hackers get what they want.
But today, HTC threw some love our way making the bootloader unlock tool available to owners of the HTC Evo 3D, according to HTC’s Facebook page. → Read More
For lack of a better term, Apple has been more than a little litigation-happy lately. While they’ve focused most of their recent efforts on Samsung and Motorola, Apple is now coming under fire from a company they’ve already sued: HTC. → Read More
HTC has spent the past few weeks hinting and teasing us with the availability of their bootloader unlock tool, but at long last the wait is over. If you own an international HTC Sensation, then congratulations: you’re free to mosey over to HTC Dev to get your fix. → Read More
Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility is, in the end, a mercenary effort to cement Android’s position in the handset ecosystem and to prop up a stalwart proponent of the platform. That’s fine. Google is a big company and it can now pick and choose – and buy – its own friends without input from the peanut gallery. But what does a Googorola merger mean?
First, we must understand that this is not a merger of equals. Motorola split itself in January after years of lagging phone sales. Motorola’s revenue dropped from a high of $10.6 billion to $4.89 billion in Q3 of 2010. They lost half of their portion of the handset market between 2008 and 2009, thus forcing the split from what is now called Motorola Solutions, a company that does everything except make handsets.
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Earlier this week, smartphone maker HTC revealed its first NFC-based device, reportedly called the “HTC Stunning.” The phone is being released in China and will include support for mobile payments through a partnership with China UnionPay, a Chinese bankcard network.
What we didn’t know, however, was what kind of phone the Stunning is. Now we do: it’s just the HTC Incredible S with a NFC chip. Also, it’s not called the “HTC Stunning.” That was a slight mistranslation from the Chinese for “Incredible.” → Read More
Late last night, HTC announced that they had a “Major News Announcement” to share this morning.
With HTC having made some of the finest smartphones we’ve ever seen (like the Thunderbolt, the 7 Pro, and the world’s original Android device, the G1), anything they consider “major news” is probably worth tuning in to.
So, what might they announce? Thanks to some late night leaks, we’ve got a pretty good idea — find the details, along with our live notes from HTC’s teleconference, below.
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Cat, meet the outside of the bag.
You know that “major announcement” that HTC has scheduled for tomorrow morning? The details have just made their way out a bit early.
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The word is out, folks: HTC CEO Peter Chou has something big on the books for tomorrow. A live teleconference is scheduled for at 8:30 PT/11:30 ET, and while the email making the rounds offers no insight, you can rest easy knowing that people will be speculating the night away. Personally, given the email’s reliance on the word “major,” I’d expect the announcement to be more than your just your run-of-the-mill handset unveiling, but I’d gladly be proven wrong.
Our own Mobile Editor Greg Kumparak will be covering the event as it happens, so tune in for the full scoop tomorrow. → Read More
Today’s tidbit of Tango news comes not from the far-flung Asian shores it is expected to storm, but rather the small, landlocked nation of Slovakia. As it turns out, the first Tango device has gone on sale, but probably not the one you were hoping for.
A photo has gone up on Pretaktovanie.sk’s Facebook page advertising a HTC HD7 for sale with three choices of software: 7.0.7392, 7.10.7720 (Mango), 7.10.8200 (“Tango”). Awfully thoughtful of the salesman, yes?
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Smartphone maker HTC has committed to launching its first NFC phone, the HTC Stunning, which will debut in China sometime later this year. The phone will be an 4-inch, Android-based device, and will support bank card network China UnionPay’s mobile payment standard.
This will enable the phone to perform mobile payments at point-of-sale, using the contactless technology known as NFC, or “near field communication.” → Read More
Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC this morning announced that it has agreed to acquire, through its HTC America Holding unit, 100% of Seattle-based mobile-web connected services company Dashwire for a maximum purchase price of $18.5 million to boost its HTCSense.com mobile cloud services offering.
Dashwire offers a range of consumer, social and device management software services for mobile operators, device makers and retailers. The company’s platform is available for Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian and BlackBerry. → Read More
Looks like things are going well over in Taiwan, as HTC has reported record-breaking Q2 results this morning. In fact, the company sold 12.1 million units in the second quarter totaling a 123.7 percent year-over-year growth rate. After Q2 taxes, that brings YOY growth to 102.9 percent.
If you aren’t good with percentages, that’s huge. In terms of quarterly growth, HTC is up 24.8 percent from the first quarter. → Read More
Perhaps it’s a product of Schmidt’s carefree attitude or maybe it’s a little tinge of fear after their latest lost, but HTC now appears to be ready to negotiate with Apple. With a win on each side, settlement talks may be the only detour before this patent battle turns into a full-fledged war.
In early July, the ITC found Apple in violation of two S3 Graphics patents, which were then taken over by HTC when it acquired the graphics company for $300 million. On July 15, Apple got an ITC win against HTC over two of its own patents. → Read More
Facebook is the largest social networking site in, well, the world. But not in China. Facebook and Twitter are blocked by China’s Great Firewall. The micro-blogging service Sina Weibo is the whip in China. HTC knows its market and therefore slightly retooled the Status/Salsa for the China market. Gone is the Facebook logo and a Weibo burning eye logo is on the dedicated button instead. → Read More
It’s looking like big brother Google is stepping in to help out HTC in its current patent battle with Apple.
At a Google mobile conference in Tokyo, executive chariman Eric Schmidt seemed confident that HTC would somehow pull out a win against Apple, despite the fact that a judge approved Apple’s ITC import ban request. → Read More
The patent battle between HTC and Apple that had been so quiet for so long has really heated up in the past few weeks.
Apple filed yet another ITC complaint against HTC just last week, and this week a judge has ruled that two of the ten proposed patents Apple presented in its case were infringed upon by HTC.
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The patent tussle between HTC and Apple looks like its shaping up to be a doozy, as HTC has released a formal response to the matter. Meanwhile, Apple’s legal team is facing the very recent loss of its chief patent counsel, as an HP attorney takes his spot. Just yesterday, Apple’s second ITC complaint against Apple surfaced on the ITC website, stirring a pot of what ‘til then had been a rather quiet legal battle. The complaints were with regards to “portable electronic devices and related software.” → Read More
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