A blogger has claimed that Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) was preparing to launch a smartwatch that can make phone calls.
“HTC fans, you’ll finally have One watch to call your own come February,” wrote Evan Blass, a blogger known for leaking information on tech gadgets, in a post on Thursday on the Twitter page of evleaks.
Blass did not reveal any other information about the rumored watch, which would be another wearable device said to be under development by the smartphone marker.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of the Executive Yuan
The blogger posted information about a possible HTC watch in July last year, but that claim is yet to become reality.
HTC unveiled the Grip fitness band, which was developed with US sports clothing and accessories supplier Under Armour Inc (UA) in March in Spain ahead of the Mobile World Congress show, but the product has not been launched commercially.
Earlier this week, several tech Web sites cited documents found on Bluetooth.org, and reported a possible upcoming product called the UA Scale, which is a connected scale created by HTC and UA.
Some speculated that it could replace the HTC Grip.
Last month, documents related to an HTC smartband codenamed “2PPN” were found at the Web site of the US Federal Communications Commission, which determines if an electronic device meets technical standards, but it was not clear if the documents were for the HTC Grip or the UA Scale.
HTC is seeking to venture into new products as its core smartphone business has struggled amid intense competition and a maturation of the global smartphone market, which has led to slower industry-wide growth.
The company’s sales maintained growth momentum last month, with consolidated revenue increasing 14.96 percent to NT$10.29 billion from October, compared with a month-on-month rise of 26.05 percent in the previous month, company data showed yesterday.
Market watchers said the results showed that the firm retained sales momentum in its flagship One A9 and mid-tier Desire series.
However, on an annual basis, revenue remained contracting by 39.25 percent last month, following the 43.2 percent yearly decline seen in the previous month, data showed.
Compared with the year-earlier levels, cumulative revenue for the first 11 months of the year decreased 33.32 percent to NT$115.17 billion (US$3.51 billion), according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
HTC shares rose 1.1 percent to close at NT$82.4 yesterday in Taipei trading, outperforming the TAIEX, which dropped 0.68 percent. Year-to-date shares have slid 41.97 percent, compared with the broader market’s 9.76 percent fall during the period.
Additional reporting by Kevin Chen
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure