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from the alphabet-is-gonna-be-in-everything-from-a-to-z dept.
A report from a Taiwanese news outlet called Commercial Times says Google is in the final stages of acquiring all or part of smartphone maker HTC.
The news follows a separate story from late August that suggested Taiwan-based HTC was interested in some sort of sale.
HTC, once one of the more popular smartphone makers in the United States, has fallen off of most carrier store shelves after several consecutive unsuccessful smartphone launches. It recently launched a separate division that sells virtual reality headsets.
The report seems fishy, since Google has already been down this road, but there's a reason why Google might be interested in HTC.
The Taiwanese company builds the Google Pixel, which means it could be a good fit for Google as it continues to cater to consumers with its "Pixel" smartphone brand.
In the end, there can be only one.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/google-buying-htc-report-says.html
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Sunday September 10 2017, @07:00PM (2 children)
Every attempt to prop up a third mobile OS has failed (Windows, Tizen, WebOS, Ubuntu Touch, Firefox OS, BlackBerry, MeeGo/Sailfish...). Is Android too entrenched now for Samsung to come in with Tizen? The more hundreds of millions of Android devices that Samsung sells, the greater the entrenchment.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by crafoo on Sunday September 10 2017, @09:27PM
I think you're right. I had an N9 and it was awesome. I could write software for it in C++ with Qt - any custom application I wanted, including some very handy engineering and analysis tools. It was great having a truly open system I could download my personal software utilities to over a USB cable, and I could use the same Qt framework I use for desktop. Nothing is going to make serious in-roads against iOS and Android though. It would have to offer normal, KFC-eating ET-watching assholes something valuable. Maybe an OW! My Balls app.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 10 2017, @10:40PM
I agree that it is increasingly unlikely that Tizen ever will or even could suceed, especially since the transtion to the replacement of Dalvik with ART. That is what killed BlackBerry's compatibility layer that was stuck on masquerading as Android 4.3 with no chance of an upgrade. However, Samsung is still spending money developingn it for some reason. If they really wanted or had to, they are well placed to try and compete on their own. Imagine if all Samsung TVs and othehr appliance could operate natively with Tizen phones, but you had to pay extra for Android. Or if they released Tizen as an update for the last generation or two of their Galaxy phones, possibly OTA and automatic like the Windows 10 debacle. They could also hit developing markets like India and Brazil hard, not to mention their native Korea. Perhaps Intel has some cash to burnn on another mobile attempt, and they are obstensibly a partner on Tizen, which was the "successor" to Meego which was in turn what replaced Moblin. All together unlikely, but they keep it around as a threat in case Alphabet/Google goes too far for their liking.