mwc

HTC is hoping a different tune may reverse its recent flagging fortunes.

The smartphone vendor is working on its own streaming music service, according to a report from GigaOm. The service would purportedly become the default music client on HTC phones and tablets, and pricing and plans are getting worked out.

An HTC representative wasn't immediately available to comment to CNET.

This wouldn't be HTC's first foray into the music scene. Last summer, the company acquired a majority stake in Beats Audio, the headphone business started by rapper Dr. Dre and music industry executive Jimmy Iovine. While … Read more

If you ask an average Android user to name the top smartphone brands in the United States, it's unlikely that Huawei would be an answer.

After releasing a string of entry-level and midrange devices across some of the smaller carriers, Huawei has been pushing steadily forward with high-end hardware. And with specs that rival the recent offerings out of HTC, Samsung, and Motorola, the company is positioning itself as a dark horse.

Take, for instance, the Ascend P1S, announced at CES earlier this year. At only 6.68mm thick, it somehow manages to sneak in a 1.5GHz dual-core … Read more

For a company that's expected to take a more cautious approach in the new year, HTC appears to have plenty of unannounced products in the pipeline.

Today sees yet another smartphone finding its way into the wild, this time in the form of an LTE-ready model with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

PhoneArena has obtained a number of images and details for what appears to be a direct successor to Verizon's Droid Incredible 2. The blog's source advises that the hardware includes a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 8-megapixel camera, and support for Verizon's … Read more

Well, well, well. Acer has already won an award for a phone that few in the mobile industry knew existed.

The electronics maker issued a press release today sharing its iF design award for the Acer CloudMobile, an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone that the company plans to launch later this month at Mobile World Congress.

Although it'll pack Android's newest operating system, Acer isn't positioning the CloudMobile device as just another Android phone. Instead, expect to hear a pitch about securely grabbing personal information through AcerCloud, an online home for photos, music, and documents … Read more

Though last month's CES offered plenty of mobile news, committed wireless watchers know that the annual Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona is the smartphone and tablet jackpot.

This year, the fun begins on February 27 with a full afternoon of press conferences coming the day before. And though a possible transit strike is threatening to muck up the logistics of an already logistically challenged event, we're already reveling in a flood of rumors as to what devices might make their debut. Yes, some of this gossip may not pan out, but you can bet that the four … Read more

Nvidia is one company that isn't being meek about its wares. Instead, its press invitation to Mobile World Congress shouts "quad-core" from the rooftops.

The chip-maker is properly veiling the actual products powered by its Tegra 3 processor, instead proclaiming that "quad-core firsts continue at MWC." Since the first "first" was a quad-core tablet, it doesn't take much deductive power to reason out that this show will spotlight smartphones.… Read more

LG has started dropping hints about its next Android device, an oversize smartphone known as the Optimus Vu.

Aside from its name and the fact that it features an unorthodox 4:3 aspect ratio, nothing else can be gleaned from a newly uncovered YouTube video. That's not to say, however, that there are no other details to speak of. … Read more

Microsoft will take the wraps off the consumer preview of Windows 8 on February 29 in Barcelona, a key milestone on the path toward launching the new operating system.

The consumer preview is the name Microsoft has given the beta version of the operating system. The company said in December it would launch the beta by late February.

Microsoft sent out invitations this morning to press to attend the "Windows 8 Consumer Preview." And while the invitation doesn't say anything about the debut of the preview itself, it stands to reason that it will coincide with the … Read more

With Mobile World Congress just three weeks away, rumors continue to fly about what we might see out of big players like Nokia, LG, Samsung, and HTC.

Sony has been a notable exception up until now, but a recent filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may finally offer some clues as to what the company has in store.

Filed on January 31, the application asks for a trademark on the name "Xperia Sola." Though there's no indication as to what type of device would carry the moniker, the long line of Xperia smartphones points … Read more