Posted 11/05/09 at 05:20:48 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Though nobody expected Windows Mobile 6.5 to break any ground, it even failed to fulfill whatever few expectations people may have had. It is hard to imagine Windows Mobile 6.5 spurring handset shipments. However, HTC CEO Peter Chou claims there is strong demand for the company’s Windows Mobile 6.5-based HTC HD2 smartphone.

According to a Digitimes report, Chou is confident that his company’s handset shipments and revenues will both grow sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2009. His confidence stems from the strong demand for the HTC HD2 phone. In fact, the demand is so strong that the handset maker is finding it difficult to keep up with it. Chou said that the HD2 will be available in North America in the first quarter of 2010.

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Posted 10/29/09 at 05:28:15 PM by Bart Salisbury

Forbes sat down recently with Peter Chou, the chief executive and president of HTC, and had a little chinwag. You might be wondering so what--who’s Peter Chou and what is HTC? Good questions, and your lack of familiarity is one of the things on Chou’s mind. HTC is the fourth largest global producer of smart-phones, and seventh larger global producer of cell phones (based on market share). HTC makes the Pure for AT&T, the Dash for T-Mobile, and the Ozone for Verizon. But, until recently, has packaged its phones for cell phone providers, so HTC remains a tad less known than Apple, which ships fewer phones than HTC.

HTC’s strengths are innovation and diversity. HTC was first on the scene with an Android phone, and is produces Windows Mobile powered devices. HTC has struck deals with nearly every major cell phone provider. All that’s missing is visibility, Chou hopes this will be corrected with an up-coming global ad campaign: “You.” HTC wants to move itself into the first tier of cell phone makers: Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, and Apple. It has the products, Chou believes, it lacks the name recognition.

Chou’s outlook on the market is interesting for a CEO. Competition doesn’t frighten him. Instead he views it as a positive: “You cannot expect you are the only player in town…You need other players to come and make the ecosystem stronger.” And Chou is still bullish on Windows Mobile, even though the brand has taken a bit of a dive because “innovation has been a little slow.” (A polite way to say Microsoft messed up on development.)

Chou, however, is careful not to spread HTC too thin. With all the portable electronic opportunities available: netbooks, eReaders, tablet computers, HTC plans to stick with what it knows best. “There is a lot of pressure to do these things, but we are a relatively small company and need to be very picky,” Chou said.

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Posted 10/28/09 at 05:44:26 PM by Jason Barry

Verizon’s new Android based phones are expected to be released in early November. During the launch, the Motorola Droid is going to be paving the way for those looking for the latest and greatest Android product with Verizon.

However, Verizon is also launching another Android based phone, the HTC Droid Eris. This phone does not boast the same hardware specifications as the MotoDroid. It is running Android 1.6 on a 528MHz CPU, but it comes in at the ultra-competitive price of $99.

That will make the HTC Droid Eris the cheapest Android phone available on one of the top 3G networks in the country. It may not be ready for the November 6th launch date of the Motorola Droid, but it might be worth waiting for if you want Android on the cheap.

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Posted 09/17/09 at 10:00:00 AM by Paul Lilly

Remember when T-Mobile's G1 was being billed as a potential iPhone killer? Powered by Google's Android platform, the open-source mobile OS was supposed to usher in the end of the iPhone OS era, and who knows, maybe someday it still will. But it won't be on the G1 (otherwise known as the HTC Dream), the chunky alternative that misses the mark of mobile greatness. But while the G1 might leave a lot to be desired out of the box, power users who aren't afraid to take matters into their own hands have the ability to significantly enhance the handset's capabilities.

On the following pages, we're going to show you how to hack your G1 the easy way so you can do things with your phone that other G1 owners only wish they could, like install apps to an SD card. And for you old school traditionalists who like to get your hands dirty, we'll also show how you to root your G1 the old fashioned way and wade through all the necessary code step-by-painstaking-step. After it's all said and done, we'll cover some of the most popular third-party ROMs and tell you which one we're rolling with.

Are you ready to hack? Grab your G1 and hit the jump to get started!

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Posted 07/10/09 at 04:17:04 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Buying proprietary accessories for any device can either be a costly affair or a vexatious one or both. Soon, HTC phone owners won’t have to experience the torment of buying proprietary mini USB headset jacks. The upcoming HTC Hero will be the first Android-based phone from HTC’s stable to have the industry standard 3.5mm jack.

“The vast majority of devices we launch after Hero will have a 3.5mm jack. Devices that we have already announced but that still come out after Hero will not necessarily be a part of this change,” HTC informed Mobile Crunch.

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Posted 11/24/08 at 11:32:33 AM by Paul Lilly

Asus is on target to ship between 300,000 and 400,000 handsets by the end of 2008, which isn't nearly as many as the company would have liked. Part of the lower than expected shipment numbers can be attributed to not having enough models to choose from. So far in 2008, Asus has launched just seven new smartphones, or only half as many as the company had hoped with its initial target of 13 to 15.

Going into 2009, Asus plans to make a bigger push into the smartphone market with at least 10 new models, almost all of which will support 3G and come with a touchscreen. Both the transition to 3G and developing handsets based on Google's Android platforms have prevented Asus from releasing as many models as it would have liked up to this point, but according to industry sources in Taiwan, Asus has strengthened its R&D to address both of these areas. If Asus meets its new goals for 2009, it could prove interesting as Asus and rival handset maker High Tech Computer (HTC) try to one-up each other with new devices.

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Posted 09/28/08 at 07:10:12 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Taiwan-based HTC might be committed to the progress of Android but it hasn’t forgotten Windows Mobile - its favorite mobile platform. Not that it has the luxury of forsaking Windows Mobile. It happens to be the leading manufacturer of Windows Mobile-based devices in the world.

The company’s CMO John Wang said that Android and Windows Mobile can coexist. However, Wang let it be known as to where HTC’s allegiance actually lies. He stated that Windows Mobile will continue to be most important for the company.  This statement appears to be targeted at Microsoft rather than the average smartphone consumer.

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Posted 09/23/08 at 03:22:48 PM by Tom Edwards

For more than a year, Apple’s iPhone has garnered the lion’s share of press and remained a must-have device for gadget junkies. In an industry in which $300 products quickly become free incentives for signing a contract, the iPhone has managed to remain relevant. This is due in part to Apple’s marketing savvy, which made many people—consumers and journalists alike—look past the device’s shortcomings, but also because the iPhone’s innovative interface and full web browser provided consumers with something truly new.

Now, handset-maker HTC, T-Mobile, and Google hope to get some of the attention the iPhone has received by releasing the G1, the first mobile phone to use Google’s mobile OS, Android.

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