HTC buyout of Dopod in final stages: i-mate, O2, HP wail (Unlocking Mobile)
HTC buyout of Dopod in final stages: i-mate, O2, HP wail
Filed under: Cellphones, HandheldsContinuing their skyrocket beyond ODM-dom, HTC’s buyout bid for Taiwanese Dopod has moved into the final stages. Having signed a memorandum of understanding, the only thing left in the estimated $150 million deal is approval from the Taiwanese government. Assuming HTC chairwoman and Dopod controlling shareholder Cher Wang, daughter of petrochemicals billionaire Y.C. Wang and wife of HTC boss-man Peter Chou, has enough influence to push this through (read: she does), then HTC is about to find themselves in direct competition with their own customers O2, i-mate and HP. HTC already confirmed their decision to self-brand phones in Europe, now the Dopod deal could result in HTC designs being sold exclusively under the Dopod branding outside of Europe. In fact, HTC has already cut ties with both O2 and i-mate in Australia, New Zealand, and India. So if Dopod’s claim that HTC manufactures 80 percent of Windows Mobile phones is true, well, O2, i-mate, and HP best be looking for fresh design and manufacturing blood on the quick. [Thanks, Ash] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Engadget Podcast 089 – 09.21.2006
Filed under: Cellphones, Features, Gaming, Handhelds, Podcasts, Portable Audio, Portable Video, WirelessWelcome to the new Engadget everyone! We’re sure you’ve all gotten well acquainted with the new site by now, but if you’re at all interested in hearing Pete and Ryan ramble on about the back story and new features, you’ve come to the right podcast. Oh, but there’s news, too. Puh-lenty going on in the portable media world as last week Apple announced their new slew of iPods, Microsoft finally announced the Zune, and SanDisk got together with Real. Oh, and videogame news, too: Nintendo announced the Wii, and Microsoft made their announcement of the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive. Yeah, it was a busy week over at Engadget HQ, which is why we’re looking forward to our meetup in Boston. Come on out, kick back a beer with Engadget, you know you want to!P.S. -iTunes users — please be kind if the iTunes Podcast Directory hasn’t updated for our new AAC feed yet!Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [RSS OGG] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in OGG) to your RSS aggregator. Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Solvent – Instructograph (Ghostly International) Program:0:40 – Welcome to the new Engadget!8:30 – Microsoft launches the Zune!17:53 – Live from the Steve Jobs Keynote — “It’s Showtime”24:29 – SanDisk partnering with Real on Sansa Rhapsody line29:10 – Live at Nintendo’s NYC Wii press conference35:13 – Xbox 360 adds 1080p, HD DVD drive is $170 US for November 17th in Japan39:05 – Netgear SPH101 Skype WiFi Phone unboxing and hands-on!45:43 – Hands-on with the HTC Excalibur47:30 – Treo 750v review roundup50:23 – Engadget Reader Meetup in Boston, Thursday, September 28th55:00 – Engadget’s relaunch giveaways: let’s start with a Zune LISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Nokia firmware scare bricks E70s
Filed under: CellphonesAs we recently reported, Nokia’s been dabbling with the whole do-it-yourself firmware upgrade phenomenon as of late. We applaud the effort — in our opinion, getting the latest and greatest software for your devices should never be any more challenging than connecting a cable to your PC. Murphy’s Law being what it is, though, initiatives like this are never going to be without their flaws. Many E70 owners who gave the update process a whirl in the past few days (present company included) were horrified to find that the procedure magically transformed their multi-hundred-dollar bundles of S60 joy into paperweights in just a handful of minutes. It happened to us, and it’s not pretty; the phone teases you by turning on and dutifully displaying the “Nokia” logo, but that’s as far as she goes. Rumor has it Nokia did the right thing by pulling the offending firmware and quickly replacing it with a new one, but that’s little consolation for the folks bidding farewell to their handsets as they get shipped off to Nokia service centers around the world. We’re going to give the upgrade another shot with our fresh E70 today and we’ll pass on the word if we end up with a second brick — wish us luck.Update: We’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that we don’t have another bricked E70 on our hands. The bad news is that the latest and greatest firmware being offered by Nokia isn’t yet available for the US-friendly E70-2 variant (which is what we have). Let’s go, Nokia! Americans want faster refresh times when switching to landscape mode just as much as Europeans do! Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com