02/13, 6:45am
HTC Endeavor UI leaked all over the Internet
The yet to made official HTC Endeavor has had its ROM leaked on Chinese website ahead of its official unveiling expected at the World Mobile Congress. The leak has confirmed the rumored Tegra 3 processor and has also yielded screenshots of HTC’s revamped Sense 4.0 UI overlay for Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). In addition to confirming that the Endeavor will be one of the first Tegra 3 smartphones, it also offers the first look at how one of the leading Android smartphone makers has reworked Google’s stock ICS interface for its own hardware.
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02/11, 1:40pm
Apple lawsuit vs Samsung expanded
An expansion upon what few details have been available from Apple's new Samsung lawsuit has suggested that it reaches more at the core of Android and less at Samsung's specific actions. Along with accusing Samsung of violating a newer unlock gesture patent than what was covered in Germany, a second patent for a "universal interface" for retrieving data appeared to Florian Mueller to accuse Samsung of violating Siri-style searches, where stitching together keywords presents just the immediately needed results. While Android on a base level doesn't do this, it would prevent Google from providing a narrower search method in Android.
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02/10, 9:50am
HTC Droid Incredible 3 may go 2-core, Android 4
A telling scoop Friday has shown that Verizon plans at least one more HTC Droid Incredible phone. The hardware seen by Phone Arena, known at least temporarily as the Droid Incredible 3, would be a major leap in speed over the Droid Incredible 2 with both LTE-based 4G and a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon. The hardware is conspicuously using the same Android 4.0 plus Sense 4.0 interface as the Ville and could be the first US phone to get the updated layer.
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02/09, 2:40pm
HTC stalls some Android 4 updates despite vows
HTC had to backtrack on upgrade promises Thursday with a follow-up posting delaying most. Only the Sensation, Sensation 4G, and Sensation XE will get the new OS by the end of March. The Sensation XL would come soon afterwards, but the Amaze 4G, Desire HD, Desire S, Evo 3D, Evo Design 4G, Incredible S, Rezound, and Vivid would only get updates "later this year."
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02/08, 11:00pm
NVIDIA likely to show HTC Endeavor at MWC
NVIDIA has sent out invitations to a special event at Mobile World Congress that's likely a strong clue of what at least one partner will show at the event. It plans to show more "quad-core firsts," hinting that a Tegra 3 phone will appear at the event. Most likely, the reference is to either the HTC Endeavor or the upcoming Fujitsu Arrows phone.
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02/08, 9:10pm
First Android/LTE phone to hit Europe
Vodaphone will soon launch Europe's first smartphone to support both Android and LTE in the continent's first real adoption of 4G. The carrier has confirmed that it will soon begin shipping the HTC Velocity in Germany, with other countries arriving soon afterwards. It represents a white colored variant of the HTC Vivid being sold in the US by AT&T, and elsewhere as the Raider.
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02/08, 7:50pm
DOJ may OK Google-Motorola with conditions
The Department of Justice is leaning towards approving Google's takeover of Motorola, insiders leaked Wednesday. It wasn't clear what the motivating reasons were in the Wall Street Journal tip, but the approval could be publicized as soon as next week. Regulators would mostly be watching to see if Google abused the patents it would get with Motorola to attack competitors.
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02/08, 8:30am
Nokia moves smartphones to Asia to cut costs
Nokia showed the toughening conditions of the smartphone field on Wednesday after it detailed plans to cut 4,000 manufacturing jobs. Positions both in its home territory factory in Salo, Finland, as well as in Komarom, Hungary and Reynosa, Mexico, would be eliminated by the end of 2012. Smartphone production would be moving more towards Asia, where it wouldn't just be cheaper to make devices, but faster.
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02/07, 11:00pm
Promotion ahead of Valentine's day
T-Mobile has announced that its entire range of phones, and a number of tablets, will be offered for free during a one-day promotion on Saturday, February 11. The "Valentine's Day Sale" applies to smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S II, BlackBerry Bold 9900, HTC Amaze 4G and Nokia Lumia 710, along with the SpringBoard tablet and the Sonic 4G hotspot.
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02/07, 6:30pm
Telus goes all-in on Optik console and mobile
Telus' Optik IPTV service got much more control over non-traditional viewing on Tuesday. Optik TV for Xbox 360 takes advantage of the fall Xbox 360 Dashboard update to use the console as the set-top box, including for remote DVR viewing if there's a traditional DVR on the same network. The support includes full Kinect motion control.
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02/07, 4:40pm
Industry slipped in Q4 without Apple help
Looking at fourth-quarter results, Apple now represents almost half of cellphone/mobile computing industry revenues, and over 80 percent of its profits, says Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt. The industry is in fact said to have risen about 34 percent with Apple results included, but actually dropped 0.4 percent without the company. Some businesses might actually crack in the face of Apple competition and leave the market this year, the analyst argues, calling it a "make or break" period.
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02/06, 4:15pm
Samsung tracks close behind, takes full year
In terms of shipments, Apple was the top smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a new IDC report. The company shipped roughly 37 million phones, giving it a 23.5 percent marketshare. Close behind was Samsung, which took a 22.8 percent share with 36 million phones. Nokia, Research in Motion, and HTC rounded out the top five, but trailing behind with shares of 12.4, 8.2, and 6.5 percent, respectively.
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02/06, 12:05pm
HTC regrets 2011 focus on 4G at all costs
HTC during a call discussing its low forecast and results backtracked from the strategy that dictated 2011. CFO Winston Yung acknowledged a lukewarm reception for fall devices but added that the company's philosophy throughout all of last year, where it was willing to make thick, short-lived devices for the sake of having 4G, was a mistake. The "next product cycle" of devices would fix this, Yung said, hinting at the Ville and Endeavor.
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02/06, 6:35am
HTC revenue down, but expects to bounce back
HTC has said that it expects to record lower than forecast revenue
for Q1, according to Reuters. The news follows its revenue dipping last October for the first time after it had experienced spectacular growth over 2010 and most of 2011. At the time, the launch of the iPhone 4S was thought to have had an impact on its performance, however, it is arguable that the rapid rise of Samsung as the leading Android player has damaged HTC’s income stream more.
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02/04, 10:30pm
Dashwire phases out service February 15
Dashwire gave warning late this week that its mobile sync service was ending February 15. The Windows Mobile-oriented service was recommending that users download and otherwise back up any content they had in cloud storage before servers were shut down and wiped. Despite active updates to the service having stopped years earlier, some users were still online, the company said in an e-mail.
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02/04, 4:05pm
Windows Phone Tango and Apollo dated
Microsoft's roadmap for Windows Phone was given a possible outline in a rumor Saturday. Tango, the first minor update, was pegged by Digitimes contacts as going live in March or April if Microsoft clinged to its roadmap. The rumored second Tango update would arrive in mid-year.
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02/04, 1:25pm
Motorola royalty demands of Apple uncovered
Newly uncovered documents from Apple's opposition to a Motorola attempt to silence its requests have uncovered Motorola's demands for a 3G patent license. In explaining why it needed to get details of Qualcomm's patent deal with Motorola, Apple mentioned that Motorola had wanted a 2.25 percent royalty on Apple product sales as its attempt at a FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) patent licensing offer. Florian Mueller, who unearthed the details, saw it as likely an excessive rate given that Apple wouldn't only be licensing from Motorola and that it could significantly raise the price of selling an iPhone or 3G iPad.
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02/02, 9:45am
HTC gets special Android 4 version of Sensation
HTC Netherlands has made the unusual decision to finish the Sensation's life with a special version with an early upgrade. The new version will come in Ice White like the Sensation XL but is also HTC's first phone to ship with Android 4.0. The software will give it Face Unlock, the bottom favorites tray, and faster browsing, among other upgrades.
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02/01, 6:00pm
Qualcomm fiscal Q1 2012 and outlook hit records
Qualcomm posted record results for the fall that could be credited to the rapid rise not just of mobile devices as a whole but specific partners. Its revenue was up 40 percent to nearly $4.7 billion, while its profit also climbed to 20 percent, or $1.4 billion.
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02/01, 4:30pm
Apple, other wireless makers driving semi market
Apple spent by far the most amount of money in buying tablet chips during 2011, says research firm IHS iSuppli. The company is said to have dished out $4.6 billion, easily trumping Samsung's $603 million, and HTC's $199 million. A recent Gartner estimate put Apple's total semiconductor purchases for last year at about $17 billion.
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02/01, 12:25am
LG smartphone team gets 10m in fall 2011
LG had mixed news on Wednesday that showed a possible turnaround of its long-suffering mobile group. Although the company as a whole posted a loss equivalent to $97.7 million, its mobile division turned a slight $10 million profit. Most of the recovery came on the back of the Optimus LTE and its US variant the Nitro HD.
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01/31, 11:15am
HTC Ville gets spied live for first time
HTC's repeatedly rumored Ville has been caught live in a hands-on video (below) and leak. An unnamed source for HTC Hub in the Montenegro city of Podgorica has shown the slim, tapered phone and confirmed that it's running Android 4.0. HTC's custom Sense 4.0 interface is on top and appears to be closely related to Sense 3.5 and 3.6, although it has new visual transitions for jumping into menus.
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01/30, 7:55pm
HTC may be subject to renewed lawsuit in US
HTC saw a further setback in its attempts to survive patent conflicts on Monday after a US Court of Appeals in Washington ruled (PDF) that an earlier decision invalidating an IPCom patent in a lawsuit couldn't be upheld. The judge who had overseen the original case, where HTC had sued IPCom to negate its patent, would have to listen to arguments from IPCom as to why the patent was still valid. It would revive a lawsuit HTC had initiated in 2008 and thought it had resolved with its victory in 2010.
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01/30, 4:35pm
T-Mobile leak shows five phones phasing out
T-Mobile will soon phase out a number of Android smartphones, with a couple of fairly new ones among them. The list comes from an inventory screen capture shared by TMoNews. The handsets reaching their end-of-life status include the HTC Sensation 4G, HTC Amaze 4G, LG DoublePlay, LG myTouch Q and LG myTouch.
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01/29, 11:50pm
Moto RAZR Dev Edition gives what carriers won't
Motorola on Sunday night briefly teased (now pulled) a special Developer Edition of the modern RAZR. The new version will make the promised unlocked bootloader readily available so that users can easily load custom firmware or otherwise go beyond what carriers and Motorola allow. It should ship this week in Europe, and a "developer device" that may or may not be the RAZR should come to the US in "coming months."
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01/29, 7:05pm
HTC may run afoul of patent after decision
An examination of a decision in a Chicago court in Apple's lawsuit versus Motorola could see most any Android device face inherent patent violations. Florian Mueller has noticed that Judge Richard Posner interpreted a realtime API (app programming interface) in such a way that Motorola and other Android supporters not only would be infringing on the technology, but wouldn't have an easy way around it. HTC had already been found violating the patent and could now see that definition enshrined in the courts.
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01/27, 5:45am
HTC Sense 4.0 leak gives details of revamped UI
HTC’s forthcoming Sense 4.0 interface overlay has been leaked ahead of its expected unveiling at the Mobile World Congress. The team at Pocketnow have given HTC’s latest user interface a preview, although they did not have photos to share at this time. Instead, some of the new features and UI elements have been plausibly described and suggest that HTC’s latest skin may have more going for it than in the past.
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01/26, 7:25pm
Verizon/HTC deny phone globally enabled
Verizon owners of the HTC Rezound may be getting more of a phone than they realized. A member of the XDA-Developers forums has posted claims indicating that the phone which runs on the carrier's CDMA network may be a truly global phone, packing GSM/HSPA radios as well. Both HTC and Verizon claim it doesn't have this multi-band capability.
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01/26, 2:00pm
HTC turns to halo devices to fight Apple, Samsung
HTC's UK head Phil Roberson in an interview Thursday made clear that HTC was scaling back its strategy of flooding the market with devices. The executive argued to Mobile Magazine that HTC had "tried to do too much" in 2011 and oversaturated the field with devices. This year would be about making "something special," or having fewer but more distinctive devices.
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01/25, 8:20pm
Good Technology shows iOS widening lead at work
Good Technology broke down its latest enterprise stats Wednesday to show that the iPhone 4S had a tangible impact on share at work. The new Apple phone made smartphone activations through the enterprise platform "skyrocket," making up for any pent-up demand from the summer with a record in the fall. iOS as a whole made up 70 percent of the newly switched-on activations, keeping its summer share even in the face of theoretically tougher competition.
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01/25, 2:00pm
Sprint to phase out PlayBook, Evo 4G, more
A leaked End-of-Life (EOL) report shared by SprintFeed reveals Sprint will phase out the BlackBerry PlayBook, HTC Evo View 4G, and Evo View 4G before month's end. The shipments to carrier stores will decrease before ceasing altogether. The discontinuation of the two tablets could be an indication Sprint is readying sequels, although only the PlayBook refresh has been hinted at so far.
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01/25, 12:45pm
Nokia Lumia 900 leak hints low price
Nokia's launch of the Lumia 900 in the US may compete fiercely on price. A leak at BGR, corroborated by previously accurate Windows writer Paul Thurrott, has the 4G Windows Phone costing just $100 on an AT&T contract. The same tip likewise supports earlier talk of a March 18 ship date.
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01/25, 11:55am
Aims at tougher measures
Apple is appealing a US International Trade Commission ruling on its first complaint against HTC, notes FOSS Patents. The appeal is actually said to have been filed with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on December 29th, but remained out of the limelight until it was referenced today in a filing with the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. There Apple is trying to assert a real-time API patent against Motorola, and told the court that an administrative law judge agreed with Apple's construction of the term "realtime application programming interface," but that the ITC "reversed the ALJ's construction."
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01/25, 8:20am
Samsung Galaxy Tab may get S Pen too
A conversation with Samsung product marketing manager Ryan Bidan late Tuesday has hinted that the next Galaxy Tab line may make interface a core selling point with a possible return to the early days of tablets. The division lead told Laptop that he expected the S Pen from the Galaxy Note to make its way to tablets. Slates and other devices would also get "3D gestures" using the front camera, face recognition, and voice in certain circumstances.
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01/24, 11:25pm
iOS hits 315m devices so far
Apple as part of its fall fiscal results revealed that a total of 315 million iOS devices had been activated in the platform's 4.5-year history. The marker included the over 62 million devices shipped just in the fall alone. Total 2011 iPhone sales by themselves were strong enough to outsell those from the previous four years combined.
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01/24, 3:55pm
T-Mobile hopes to discourage iPhone unlockers
A leaked strategy document from T-Mobile has shown TMoNews that the carrier is actively trying to discourage the large number of unlocked iPhones on its network. Incorrectly referring to the devices at the "iPhone 4G" and "4G S," the staff memo insists that T-Mobile users are getting a "poor" experience by being on the carrier's EDGE (2G) network. Moving to one of its '4G' phones like the HTC Amaze 4G or Radar 4G will be free them from being "stuck in the 2G slow lane" with Apple's device.
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01/24, 11:45am
Corporation leaps ahead of Samsung
Apple has become the biggest semiconductor buyer in the world, having spent $17 billion on chips in 2011, says Gartner. The research group notes that Apple spent 34.6 percent more last year than it did in 2010, leapfrogging out of third place to beat Samsung, which managed $16.7 billion for 2011. HP sits at third in the new results, having paid out $16.6 billion. Apple saw the fastest growth of any party in the top 10.
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01/24, 6:10am
HTC Primo could appear as entry-level ICS device
The rumored HTC Primo could be the first ‘low-end’ Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) handset to reach the market according to a Stuff tipster. It is said that the phone will come with ICS from the outset, although with HTC’s Sense 4.0 interface overlay sitting on top. It is expected to fall into the entry Android 4 segment courtesy of its smaller 3.7-inch, although still Super AMOLDED, display.
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01/23, 9:05pm
InterDigital decides against sale to others
InterDigital provided mixed news to the mobile industry as it decided against exploring a possible sale. The company had decided against possible offers following a review and would instead focus on "patent sales and licensing partnerships." It declined to say who it was talking to.
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01/23, 6:55pm
HTC joins rush to upgrade Android devices to ICS
The HTC Flyer tablet could be in line for a relatively quick official update to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) according to a report from HTC-Hub. The tablet was recently updated to Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) from Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), but the new report suggests that the upgrade to ICS could come as soon as this quarter. It is expected that HTC’s custom interface layers will remain intact in the next update, as it did when upgraded to Honeycomb.
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01/23, 5:05pm
Apple gaining little for anti-Android campaign?
Apple has spent about $100 million in legal fees trying to prosecute just its first set of patent claims against HTC, a rumor suggests. The information is potentially inaccurate, coming from a person "close to the situation" citing "a rumor going around among the lawyers," according to Newsweek columnist Dan Lyons. Apple's initial volley against HTC, in Feburary 2010, did however consist of 84 claims, linked to 10 patents, shrinking down to four patents by the time the case reached a judge.
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01/23, 12:00pm
Apple wants ex parte discovery of Ericsson patents
Apple on Friday is now known to have called on information from Ericsson to help defend against Motorola's patent lawsuits in the US and Germany. An ex parte request for discovery is asking Ericsson whether or not it has a license to the same Motorola patents that are being used to sue Apple. The requests would be used primarily in German courts, where Apple has so far lost to Motorola.
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01/21, 6:30pm
HTC to use IBM business apps on Android devices
HTC and IBM together said in an interview Friday that they were working together to get Android into the workplace. IBM's business apps were running on HTC's phones and tablets, HTC's Global Enterprise and Services director David Jaeger told eWeek. On its side, HTC was making sure both that the devices took full advantage of the IBM apps and that they "focused extensively" on security.
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01/21, 3:30pm
iGR shows most Andorid phones bought without study
A new study from iGR has suggested that Android might be dominant in the US but that many of those buying weren't making a conscious choice for the platform. About 47 percent of the smartphone base in the country reportedly was using Android, but only 45 percent of those were knowledgeable about Google's OS and chose it by name. Another 27 percent picked their phones based on Google's reputation.
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01/20, 8:45pm
Apple hopes to derail Kodak lawsuit via loan terms
Apple in an objection (PDF) late this week hoped to stop Kodak from getting some loans to recover from its bankruptcy status based on patent disputes. The iPhone producer asserted that Kodak, in using its patents as collateral, was using "certain patents" for digital camera technology that were either Apple's or were still the subject of lawsuits. Kodak had "misappropriated" Apple technology and tried to patent it on its own, Apple said, prompting the 2010 countering lawsuit.
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01/19, 7:10pm
Update process expected to be complete in 10 days
Sprint has confirmed that it is set to release over-the-air updates for Samsung's Epic 4G handset and HTC's Evo 4G and Evo Design 4G models. The updates primarily focus on removing Carrier IQ's controversial tracking software, though the company suggests it has also "bundled up a few other fixes."
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01/19, 1:35pm
EU sets deadline for decision on Google, Motorola
The European Commission on Thursday set a February 13 deadline for its decision on whether or not it will approve Google's acquisition of Motorola. The fixed date came after Google brought forward documents requested during a temporary freeze of its approval process. EC staff haven't given clues as how they might rule and are likely to remain silent on their opinion until the ruling.
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01/19, 4:55am
Kodak seeks Chapter 11 protection
A recent prediction that Kodak was on the verge of bankruptcy has proven true with the iconic American company officially filing for bankruptcy protection. Despite a number of restructuring attempts as well as the sale of patents and a string of patent suits seeking damages, the 130-year old pioneering photographic company was forced to seek protection from creditors. It has also secured $950 million in credit from Citibank while its buys time to sell some of its 1,100 patents, and reposition itself while also maintaining the salaries of its 17,000 employees, reports Reuters.
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01/18, 5:05pm
Kodak claims Samsung violates camera patents
Kodak showed the mounting extent of its troubles Wednesday by suing Samsung over camera patents. It accused the Galaxy Tab designer of violating five patents for "electronic camera" technology, such as capturing photos during previews and transferring them online. It unusually singled out tablets, not smartphones, as purportedly infringing its work.
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01/18, 3:15pm
Early entry for a quad-core processor in a phone
HTC may be changing its codename for its new as-yet-to-be-released quad-core handset. Pocketnow reports that the company's future flagship phone would be referred to internally as the Endeavor instead of the Edge as it was previously known. In the global retail market, the smartphone may be branded the Supreme by the time it ships.
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