HTC Archives - Memeburn

Quadrooter: 900m Qualcomm Android phones vulnerable to security flaw
By Andy Walker: Editor on 8 August, 2016
The latest set of smartphone nasties floating around the internet has a pretty cool name, but could very well leave your own phone at risk. Dubbed Quadrooter, the set of four flaws affect all Qualcomm-powered smartphones running Android, which means around 65% of the LTE smartphone market, or 900-million smartphones in total. According to CheckPoiunt, the vulnerabilities could leave users' devices rooted, and open to remote access. These vulnerabilities can be targeted through the installation of a malicious app. But only one vulnerability needs to be exploited. In that event, an "attacker can trigger privilege escalations for the purpose of...
At what point does HTC stop making phones, shut down and return money to shareholders?
By Hilton Tarrant: Columnist on 11 February, 2014
Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC believes the middle-market will help it return to profitability this year. But the signs aren’t pretty. Sales have fallen year-on-year for 27 consecutive months. (What is that saying about ‘the trend being your friend’?) In 2011, it sold one in every 10 smartphones worldwide. Today, that number is below two percent. Shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange are down 90% from the peak in April 2011. Back then, HTC was a world-beater... Investors and analysts ignored the fact that just years earlier it was nothing more than a contract manufacturer for companies like HP and Palm. For...
Samsung owning numbers game as smartphone shipments go past 1bn
By Stuart Thomas on 28 January, 2014
Turns out 2013 was a landmark year for smartphones. Not because any particularly amazing models were launched, things were actually pretty slow on that front. No, what made 2013 special was the sheer number devices sold. According to research and tracking company IDC, the year marked the first time that global smartphone sales went past the one-billion mark. In order to get past that one-billion shipments mark, the global smartphone market had to grow 38.4% from the 725.3-million units shipped in 2012. That kind of growth means that smartphones now account for 55% of the total mobile market, which...

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BlackBerry, HTC squeezed tightest in consolidating mobile market
By Steven Ambrose on 16 October, 2013
Announcements by BlackBerry and HTC show the two companies are feeling the pressure and are likely to be increasingly marginalised into the future as consolidation in the mobile sector continues apace. BlackBerry and HTC have both released announcements highlighting how the mobile sector is being carved up by the likes of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, while smaller players like BlackBerry and HTC are rapidly being squeezed out. The first announcement was put out by BlackBerry with ads in papers in seven separate countries as well as an online announcement, entitled, “You can continue to count on BlackBerry”. It’s a fairly...

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5 great brand responses to Apple’s iPhone announcement
By Stuart Thomas on 11 September, 2013
Over the past couple of years it's become fairly common practice for brands to leverage on big, newsworthy events on social media. And, unlike the birth of royal babies, the launch of a new iPhone is a fairly safe event to target. Small wonder then that a number of brands jumped on the bandwagon and released tacticals around yesterday's iPhone 5S/5C launch event. We've rounded up some of the best examples we've seen so far. Denny's US Diner chain Denny's had a go at the gold iPhone 5S with this gem. pic.twitter.com/Uf24TaCUfa— Denny's (@DennysDiner) September 10, 2013 Nokia UK When Apple announced...
Microsoft’s Nokia purchase will change the technology landscape and its own future
By Steven Ambrose on 3 September, 2013
Microsoft has announced that it intends to buy Nokia’s devices and services business for €5.4-billion. In one fell swoop Microsoft has reshaped the technology landscape and its own business for the foreseeable future. Steve Ballmer recently announced the reorganisation of Microsoft to focus on devices and services. That focus had a deep flaw and analysts were quick to point out that Microsoft had no real depth or expertise in supply chain management and distribution. This made its problems in the hardware side of the business, with Zune, the abortive Kin mobile phones, and far more significantly the Surface tablet billion...

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HTC’s Chinese smartphone OS will likely fail: here’s why
By Tech In Asia on 30 August, 2013
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that HTC is working on a mobile OS that’s targeted directly at the Chinese market. It will reportedly feature heavy integration of Chinese social media platforms, and be released before the end of the year. It’s an interesting idea, but I am, to put it mildly, very skeptical of the company’s prospects for success. Here’s why: HTC isn’t really a software company Sure, obviously the company has some experience with developing mobile software to go along with its hardware, but there’s a reason no apps are listed on the company’s products page: HTC makes...

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HTC, Beats headed for splitsville
By Stuart Thomas on 19 August, 2013
So when was the last time you bought a smartphone for its audio qualities? Never? Well, then it looks likely that you'll never have to worry about HTC trying to sell you a device on that basis again. The beleaguered Taiwanese manufacturer is apparently set for a permanent split from audio company Beats by Dre, which it bought a 50% stake in back in 2011. According to The Wall Street Journal and its ubiquitous "people familiar with the matter", Beats Electronics LLC is looking to buy itself back from HTC, having already regained a 25% stake last year....

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HTC brings in Robert Downey Jr for massive ad campaign [video]
By Stuart Thomas on 12 August, 2013
HTC's had a hard time of it over the past few years. While it initially looked like a promising contender for the de-facto Android manufacturer, its lead was rapidly eaten away by Samsung and its financials took a pretty big hit. But it looks like the Taiwanese mobile manufacturer isn't about to just lie down and roll over. In addition to a string of more than decent phones, it's just unleashed a seriously aggressive advertising campaign starring Robert Downey Jr. The Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes star is not only front and centre of the new campaign, called...

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Apple and HTC play nice and settle differences… something for the future?
By Stephan Lourens on 12 November, 2012
Apple and HTC's more than 20 patent infringement cases around the world seem to be a thing of the past, as the two companies came to an agreement. According to The Verge, all charges have been dropped in favour of a 10-year patent cross-licensing agreement. Jeff Gordon, an HTC representative, said that HTC "does not expect this license agreement to have any adverse material impact on the financials of the company". That's basically...
Man gets charged twice for iTunes song, sues Apple for $5M
By Stuart Thomas on 2 May, 2012
In what some might say is a slight overreaction, a man in the US is taking Apple to court for US$5-million after it charged him twice for a song on iTunes. The class action suit alleges that Apple "double bills" for purchases made on iTunes with "troubling regularity". Robert Herskowitz filed the suit after buying an Adam Lambert Song from iTunes for US$1.29 before being charged again. After he lodged a complaint, Apple reportedly...
Women in tech: Leading the geek world one stiletto at a time
By Mich Atagana on 25 April, 2012
It seems no matter how much society evolves, women are always left just that little bit behind. No, this is not an article about gender equality -- this is a tech site for crying out loud. As Google's Marissa Mayer recently wrote about IBM CEO Virginia Rometty for her inclusion in TIME magazine's 100 most influential people of 2012, "women in the workplace and women in technology will be key drivers of global competitiveness and innovation in the future." Interestingly, Rometty and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg are the only two tech company heads on the list which included 38...

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Twitter breaks from industry norm, swears to only use patents defensively
By Nur Bremmen: Staff reporter on 17 April, 2012
Like a number of large tech companies, Twitter files patents all the time. Unlike other companies, however, the social network has just pulled the nuclear option out from under itself. The company today published a draft of its Innovator’s Patent Agreement, which it informally calls the IPA. According to Twitter “the IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps control in the hands of engineers and designers”. The social network claims that this means “that patents can only be used for defensive purposes” and that it “will not use the patents from employees’ inventions in offensive litigation...

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Apple wins against Motorola in slide-to-unlock patent suit
By Lauren Granger on 17 February, 2012
The topic in the latest Apple patent war is the slide-to-unlock feature on some of Motorola Mobility’s Android devices. A Munich court ruled in favour of Apple, who patented the feature in 2010, and placed an injunction on the sale of Motorola devices with the technology in Germany. It’s unclear how long the court-ordered ban will last, as Motorola has already indicated it plans to appeal the judgement. The slide-to-unlock feature (which allows...
HTC sees gloomy year for mobe sales
By Roger Hislop on 25 November, 2011
The Taiwanese cellphone mega-manufacturer has cut its immediate revenue forecasts by as much as a quarter, citing continuing global recession and competition from Apple and Samsung. It expects it’s fourth quarter revenues to be $3.4 billion – the same as this time last year. “Due to global macroeconomic downturn and market competition, the assumptions of 2011 Q4 financial forecast provided earlier are no longer applicable,” HTC said. Growth will return in the first...