Phone Manufacturers Archive

  • HTC buys Abaxia, gets cozier with carriers in the process

    HTC buys Abaxia, gets cozier with carriers in the process

    French software firm Abaxia has made a name for itself create white-label modules that help carriers brand phones -- its two flagship products are search and active home screen apps (pictured) -- so the fact that HTC has shelled out €11 million (about $13.1 million) for the company this week should offer you a solid clue where this is all headed. Naturally, HTC isn't talking about exactly how Abaxia will fit into the big picture, but boss Peter Chou says that the acquisition will "deepen and broaden [their] software development capabilities so that [they] can innovate at an even faster pace." Software value-add is becoming even more important for phone manufacturers these days as hardware all converges on a fairly standard full-touch prototype that doesn't offer much opportunity for differentiation -- even as Microsoft is putting the kibosh on serious customization in Windows Phone 7 -- so it'll be interesting to see how this ultimately affects HTC's products, particularly those with carriers' logos silkscreened around back. Follow the break for HTC's full release.

    [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

    Continue reading HTC buys Abaxia, gets cozier with carriers in the process

    HTC buys Abaxia, gets cozier with carriers in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • iPhone HD to Tout 5MP Camera?

    iPhone HD to Tout 5MP Camera?

    Despite the recent revelation and tear-down of the next-gen iPhone, there are still many questions surrounding the device (just less than there were before...). One of those questions concerns the camera in the upcoming device. We know that there is a flash on it, but what of the resolution? Well, according to The Chosun, LG Innotek have ramped up production of a high-quality 5MP sensor for the next iPhone.

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  • iPhone Beats Droid, Nexus One And Droid Eris In Touchscreen Performance

    iPhone Beats Droid, Nexus One And Droid Eris In Touchscreen Performance

    To be honest, I don't really care which is the better smartphone (or super-duper phone): the iPhone 3GS, the Motorola Droid, HTC's Droid Eris, Google's Nexus One, Nokia's N900 or the Palm Pre. It's just great to witness this seemingly never-ending advancements in mobile technology, both on a hardware and software level, and to see increased competition drive innovation at such rapid pace. Just compare the market today to five years ago, and you can't help but be amazed by how far we've come - I still remember my epic struggles to get my previous phone (HTC S710 with Windows Mobile) to do half of what I really wanted it to. In short: if all phone manufacturers keep on pumping out better phones, I'm a happy camper (for the record: I'm still very pleased with my iPhone 3GS as my primary device). But comparisons will be comparisons, and MOTO Development Group this morning announced the results of its DIY touchscreen analysis, based on some touchy testing of the capacitive screens of the Nexus One, the iPhone, the Motorola Droid and HTC's Droid Eris.

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  • Analysis: iPhone’s touchscreen slightly better than Droid, Nexus One and Droid Eris

    Analysis: iPhone’s touchscreen slightly better than Droid, Nexus One and Droid Eris

    To be honest, I don't really care which is the better smartphone (or super-duper phone): the iPhone 3GS, the Motorola Droid, HTC's Droid Eris, Google's Nexus One, Nokia's N900 or the Palm Pre. It's just great to witness this seemingly never-ending advancements in mobile technology, both on a hardware and software level, and to see increased competition drive innovation at such rapid pace. Just compare the market today to five years ago, and you can't help but be amazed by how far we've come - I still remember my epic struggles to get my previous phone (HTC S710 with Windows Mobile) to do half of what I really wanted it to. In short: if all phone manufacturers keep on pumping out better phones, I'm a happy camper (for the record: I'm still very pleased with my iPhone 3GS as my primary device). But comparisons will be comparisons, and MOTO Development Group this morning announced the results of its DIY touchscreen analysis, based on some touchy testing of the capacitive screens of the Nexus One, the iPhone, the Motorola Droid and HTC's Droid Eris.

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  • Why Nokia and Sony Ericsson are failing

    Why Nokia and Sony Ericsson are failing

    Fosfor posted an incredible look at what has befallen phone manufacturers and why they're all faltering. Mikael heeded over to Nokia and Sony Ericsson's sites and tried to list all of the models available. Nokia had 44 and S-E had 70. He then points out that there are three iPhones at best and in reality there are only two. It costs money to manufacture and sell things. While many of the phones on Nokia's site may be out of production, they still show them to users as if they were available. This is wrong-headed and ridiculous. The manufacturers will complain that carriers make them offer so many phones. Carrier A wants a cheap phone to sell to grandmas in Latvia while Carrier B wants a fancy phone to sell to the rich in South Africa. Cry me a river. Are we really that neophiliac that every country and every carrier has to have something a little different? Do we really have to bend our desires to what companies that essentially sell the transmission of bits over radio waves want?

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