HTC

HTC is starting to tout its brand name

Sue Marek — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:55:36 -0400

High Tech Computer, or HTC, has always sold its phones anonymously by allowing carriers to brand the phones. But the company has recently shifted its focus and is starting to tout its brand name through an ad campaign in the U.S. Called "Set your fingers free" the multimillion-dollar campaign is running in print, outdoor, online and cable TV. Article (sub. req.)

Rumor Mill: T-Mobile will launch an Android phone when it debuts 3G

Sue Marek — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:19:32 -0400

More rumors are circulating about T-Mobile USA's UMTS rollout. The company has been offering 3G service in New York since March and has said it will launch additional markets throughout 2008, ending the year with 3G coverage in 20 to 25 core markets. Last week we heard that the firm had launched 3G in Chicago, but the carrier would not comment on that report.

Now comes speculation that T-Mobile USA will debut 3G in 20-plus markets on Oct. 1 and it will introduce the HTC Dream smartphone, which many believe will use the Google Android operating system, as one of its first 3G phones. The launch of the first Google Android phone would give T-Mobile some much-needed buzz as it rolls out UMTS.

T-Mobile spent more than $4 Billion on AWS spectrum in 2006, which gives it the ability to roll out UMTS in several markets nationwide.

For more:
- see this CNET story

Related stories:
With little fanfare, T-Mobile launches 3G in New York
Rumor Mill: T-Mobile launching 3G in Chicago today

iPhone: Here's what the naysayers are saying

Sue Marek — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:53:58 -0400

Not everyone is happy with the new iPhone 3G, which made its official debut yesterday at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Critics say the iPhone 3G doesn't have any new exciting application to make it a "must have." Others say that while HSPA will certainly help the user experience, as will the promise of third-party applications, they were hoping for more capabilities. Here's a breakdown of some of the most vocal critics:

-- Ovum analyst Steven Hartley says that despite the iPhone's support for things such as Exchange and Cisco's VPN, most IT departments will be fearful of using iTunes to synchronize enterprise applications. "Fundamentally, the 3G iPhone is little different from its forebear. It offers nothing that many other devices can not offer."

-- John Wang, HTC's chief marketing officer, told Forbes that Apple's announcements were "old news." HTC, he notes, has been making "enterprise-ready" phones for five years, 3G phones for nearly a year and phones with global positioning system technology for more than six months.

-- Speaking at an event hosted by iHollywood Forum yesterday, Anu Kirk director of product management at Rhapsody, said that he doesn't think the iPhone 3G can duplicate iPod's success, at least not with just AT&T as the phone's only carrier. He also said that Rhapsody isn't threatened because the iPhone still doesn't provide over the air downloads on AT&T's 3G network, only over WiFi.

For more:
- see this Forbes article
- see this CNET article

RIM inks distro deal with Brightpoint

Fri, 02 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has inked a distribution deal with Brightpoint that aims to extend BlackBerry's popularity outside of the North American market. Only one-third of RIM's customers are outside the U.S. and Canada and Apple is quickly making strides to court enterprise users all over the world with its iPhone handset. The deal is a big win for Brightpoint, which already has deals with HTC, Nokia and others. Brightpoint expects to handle 100 million devices this year, or about 8 percent of total devices shipped.

For more on the deal:
- read this report from the WSJ (sub. req.)

SPOTLIGHT: Taiwan manufacturer ASUS debuts smartphone

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:59:52 -0400

ASUS hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Taiwanese manufacturer HTC by launching a smartphone. The firm debuted its P527 high-end Windows Mobile GSM smart phone targeted at the enterprise user. The P527 sells for $500 to $600 online and sports a bunch of features including a touch screen, WiFi connectivity and a camera. The company doesn't have an operator deal but sells an unlocked version of the phone through Amazon and TigerDirect. Article

Google: Android will outsell iPhone

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

Google's manager of mobile platforms told attendees at the Emerging Communications Conference that the forthcoming mobile phones running on Android are more flexible than Apple's proprietary handsets because developers can easily create applications for the open Android platform. Miner said the first Android handsets will hit the market late this year.

"It's great that people are finally building tools so all of these third-party applications can be built and get out there, (but) there are things I saw people doing with the first version of the Android SDK that it seems like you can't do with the iPhone--at least at the moment," Miner said.

"Once you have devices out there from Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and so on, there's a much larger potential market on Android than for the iPhone," Miner said.

For more on Miner's comments:
- read this article from InformationWeek

What will happen to Motorola's handset division?

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 06:59:59 -0500

What will happen to Motorola's handset division?

Yesterday Motorola announced that it may separate its cell phone unit from the rest of its business and possibly even sell it (see related story below). Even though Motorola's recent struggles with its handset unit have been very public, yesterday's news was surprising to many in the industry. "I can't think of a good rationale for selling or spinning off what should be their flagship business," says Avi Greengart, research director of mobile devices at Current Analysis.

Motorola, of course, is an icon in the wireless handset world. Some of us remember a time in the mid-1990s when everyone carried a Motorola phone and the company's popular StarTac flip phone was a must-have for all business executives.

Admittedly it's been several years since I carried a Motorola phone. Like many consumers, I was lured away by sporty handsets from Korean manufacturers. "People are still buying Motorola handsets," says Iain Gillott, founder of IGR Research. "Just not enough of them are."

Nevertheless, Motorola's brand still carries a lot of traction in the market and that alone could be very valuable, particularly to a company that has little brand awareness in the market. "If you are a vendor and you want to get into the global handset market, this is a great opportunity," Gillott says. "A Chinese vendor such as HTC or Foxcom could buy Motorola's brand name, its distribution channels and its carrier relationships. I think that's what will happen."

Other possible buyers could be firms that currently don't make handsets but see this as a great growth opportunity. For example, Gillott says that some of the personal computing firms such as Dell or HP may view Motorola's weakness as their opportunity to get a leg up in the market.

The potential sale of Motorola's handset division will have some huge ramifications for Motorola partners. Privately held semiconductor firm Freescale owes a huge portion of its business to Motorola. If Motorola sells its handset division to an existing manufacturer such as a Chinese vendor, they could potentially use local vendors for their semiconductors instead of using Freescale. "Freescale is a potential loser," Gillott says.

Perhaps the biggest loser is already embattled operator Sprint. The company earlier this week announced its commitment to iDEN and now Motorola, the only maker of iDEN phones, could be getting rid of its handset division. Will a new owner support iDEN? That's a big uncertainty that Sprint doesn't need right now. -Sue

SPOTLIGHT: USPTO grants generic smartphone patent

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:59:52 -0500

A company has won a patent for "a mobile entertainment and communication device" then, at 12:01 a.m. the next day sues Apple, Nokia, Sprint, RIM, AT&T, HP, Helio, Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson, UTStarcomm, Samsung and a number of lawsuits. Article

Google Android round-up

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:59:57 -0500

More details about Google's mobile plans rolled out yesterday afternoon. To recap, Google has buddied up with 34 different partners in the technology space (including NVIDIA, Intel, Texas Instruments, Synaptics, Marvell, Qualcomm, Motorola, Samsung, T-Mobile, Sprint, Skype, LG, HTC, KDDI, DoCoMo and China Mobile) to create the Open Handset Alliance (OHA)--a group focused on building an open, fully customizable alternative to closed operating systems like Windows Mobile 6, Symbian S60 and the iPhone OS. The OHA's first product will be Android, an open-source mobile OS and associated application suite that's built on the Linux operating system (and will be open-sourced via the Apache v2 License). The Android SDK will be made available to developers on November 12th and Android-sporting handsets will flood the market next year, from device manufacturers like HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung. These handsets will be available during the second half of 2008 in the U.S. (from T-Mobile USA and Sprint) China, Japan, Germany, Italy and Spain. As has been reported earlier, the Android OS will be targeted toward consumers and will be available to OEMs free of charge (the OS will be ad-supported, like all of Google's other apps).

For more on Google's plans:
- check out these promotional videos from the company
- read this blog post from Google
- read how Android might affect IT departments (WSJ sub. req.)

Related Articles:
June: Google outlines mobile strategy Article
Google now running Adwords on mobile Article
Google's latest moves show prep for gPhone Article

Google details cell phone agenda

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:59:58 -0500

After months of rumors and speculation, Google has finally revealed some details of its ambitious cellular phone agenda. The company said today that it is creating a new cell phone platform, called Android, that will include an operating system, user interface and applications.

But the company isn't going it alone. Instead it has enlisted the help of at least 30 high profile partners as part of the initiative, called the Open Handset Alliance. The group includes manufacturers such as HTC Corp., Qualcomm, Samsung and Motorola and operators T-Mobile International, Sprint Nextel and NTT DoCoMo. Of course, noticeably absent from the list are the two largest U.S. operators: AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

For more:
- see this WSJ article. (sub req.)
- see this NY Times piece

Related Articles:
June: Google outlines mobile strategy Article
Google now running Adwords on mobile Article
Google's latest moves show prep for gPhone Article