You would think that after a while we’d get tired or reporting on HTC’s quarterly financials.  If the numbers were flat, we’d most likely soon forget all about it, but HTC’s latest numbers for Q3 show that their new profits nearly doubled from last year during the same period.  HTC is reporting $360 million in profits on $2.459 billion.  It’s no secret that HTC’s Android phones have been wildly successful lately, but HTC even outperformed analyst’s expectations by nearly 50%.  HTC is already gearing up for a great holiday season with the launch of the T-Mobile G2, new myTouch, Desire HD, and Desire Z.

Let’s also keep in mind that those handsets listed are only half of what HTC has planned for Q4.  HTC is expected to unveil their complete Windows Phone 7 lineup within the next few weeks.  So far, it looks like HTC is planning on launching between 3-4 WP7 phones before the end of the year, but we’ll have to see how it all plays out. 

Source: Reuters

If you’re dying to know what HTC has been working on for the past few months, we suggest you mark September 15^th on your calendar.  HTC has just send out invitations to the media to a press event they will be hosting on September 15^th in London.  As usual, no details about the event have been revealed, but we’re pretty sure that HTC will be showing off at least a few different Android and Windows Phone 7 devices.  The date does fall pretty close to the expected launch of the HTC Vanguard on T-Mobile USA, but HTC typically does not announce U.S. specific devices at their international press events.  That being said, the HTC Vanguard could be launch in both the U.S. and EU just like the HTC Dream.   

Other phones we could expect to see unveiled at HTC’s London event include the HTC Ace (Desire HD), HTC Mozart, HTC Vision, HTC Schubert, and the HTC Glacier.  If that list looks a bit long, keep in mind that HTC is expected to unveil 6 new phones and ship over 8 million units in Q4 alone.

U.S. customers have been enjoying the HTC EVO 4G’s 4.3 inch screen for about a month now.  We have heard that HTC fans would love to see the phone make its way over to Europe and Asian markets, so we’re glad we can share some good news with you.  No, HTC is not launching a GSM version of the EVO 4G any time soon, but it looks like the rumored HTC Ace might actually be a better replacement for its CDMA counterpart.  The new phone will most likely be named the HTC Desire HD and will feature most of the same specs as the EVO 4G on the hardware side, but a more Euro friendly uni-body aluminum design rather than the stark black slab.

Some of the highlights which will make the HTC Desire HD a more … desirable phone include Android 2.2, 4GB of internal memory, 720p video capture Xvid video playback, and surround sound.  The HTC Desire HD is expected to launch some time in October in European and Asian markets. Be sure to check out the full list of rumored specs below.

HTC Desire HD specs

• 4.3 inch WVGA Touch Screen
• 8 Mega Pixel Camera
• 1 GHZ Qualcomm Processor
• Android 2.2 OS
• HD 720p Video Capture
• Xvid Video Playback
• SRS Surround Sound
• Automatic Face Tracking
• Adobe Flash 10 Support
• 4GB Internal Memory (up to 32GB)
• E-book Reader Feature
• Uni-Body Aluminium Design

Source: Superetrader

While most HTC customers are simply satisfied to buy their handset and wait for HTC to roll out their own updates, there’s a fairly large community of developers and hackers who devote a lot of their time to tweaking and rereleasing  ROMS for HTC handsets.  HTC has always a little quiet on the whole topic since they know that the ROM development for the fan community helps retain a lot of their customers and keeps quite a few people busy until they can get around to rolling out their official ROM updates to their Windows Mobile and Android phones.  But it looks like ROM distributor might be out of the game for a bit.  Conflipper, who runs shipped-roms.com, has just received a cease-and-desist letter from HTC.  While most ROM cooks take HTC’s build, tweak them, add their own twist, and share them with the comminute, Conflipper’s site was known more for hosting official ROM builds from HTC.  While we’re still waiting to hear back from HTC on the matter, Engadget was able to get a short statement from them.

While HTC tries to take a hands off [approach] about the modder / ROM chef community, this site’s sole purpose [is] to make HTC’s content available for download from a source other than HTC. That content is not just the open source parts and kernels of Android but all of the software that HTC itself has developed. This is a clear violation of our copyrights and HTC needs to defend itself in these cases.

For now, it doesn’t look like HTC will be going after the developer community, just those who are hosting and distributing HTC’s official ROM builds.  Let the cooking continue!

Source: Shipped-ROMs

Over the year, HTC has transformed itself from a faceless OEM to one of the most trusted name brands in the smartphone market.  Just to give you an idea of invisible the company’s name has been over the years, I’m sure a few of you didn’t know that HTC was the one who manufactured the HP and Compaq iPaq, Palm Treo 750, Palm Treo Pro, and the SONY Ericsson EXPRIA X1.  HTC finally started making a name for themselves when they introduced HTC Touch in 2007. Since then, the HTC brand has taken huge strides in the mindset of consumers.  Today, you’ll find it hard to watch a TV show without seeing a commercial for one of HTC’s new Windows Mobile or Android powered phones. 

Since many are not familiar with the history of HTC, they have decided to put together a short video and page on their site quick highlights some of the company’s innovations and handsets over the years. 

Source: HTC

The T-Mobile myTouch 3G was initially launched in August of 2009. It was T-Mobile’s second Android powered phone and came with T-Mobile’s “make it mine” promise. The idea was that customers could customize the handset to their heart’s content, making it unique the the users needs and style. Unfortunately, the original myTouch 3G suffered from low memory and lacked a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack. Rather than ordering up a new handset from HTC, T-Mobile chose to keep the phone, but bumped up the specs a little.  Before we get into it, I’d like to thank the team at WireFly.com for making this hand-on review possible.

Hardware
The new myTouch 3G 3.5mm features the same exterior look as the original. I spent a few minutes going over the details and the only real change is the addition of the 3.5mm headphone jack located at the top of the handset. Like the original, the new myTouch comes in white, black, and merlot. The front of the phone is covered in a shiny plastic casing, six hardware buttons (tops: home, menu, back, search; bottom: call, end) with a white trackball right in the middle. The back side of the myTouch 3G is coated with soft-touch rubber which allows for a solid grip on the handset. The left side features the volume rocker, while the bottom sports a mini USB port and microphone. Screen size and resolution also remains the same as the original (HVGA 480×320 3.2 inches) and well as dimensions (113×55.56×14.65 mm ) and weight (116 grams).

On the inside, the myTouch 3G 3.5 still has a 1350 mAh battery, 3.2MP camera, and 528 MHz Qualcomm® MSM7201a processor. The only difference in specs is the bump to 288MB of RAM from 128MB. It may not sound like much, but the extra memory gives customer more than double the memory for running and installing apps on their phone.

Software
Though the Nexus One, HTC Desire, and Legend feature the newest Android 2.1 update, the myTouch 3G 3.5mm still sports the Android 1.6 build that was released last fall. However, T-Mobile has given it a little boost by adding in the new Swype keyboard and swapping out the standard Android music player with the HTC Music app found on the HTC Hero and all their other HTC Sense equipped phones. Android 1.6 may not be the most up to date version of Android, but myTouch 3G owners will be able to take advantage of the new turn-by-turn navigation feature included in Google Maps.

Conclusion
It’s easy to say that the new myTouch 3G 3.5mm is not going to blow anyone’s minds. If you own the original, you’re not missing much. The addition of the 3.5mm headphone jack, new music app, additional RAM, and the Swype keyboard do give the phone a much needed boost, but many of these features should have been included when the myTouch was originally launched. However, the phone was a pleasure to use and the size of the handset seemed to be perfect for my daily routine. To be honest, I found myself using the myTouch 3G a lot more than the HTC HD2 I have sitting right next to it. The reason for this could be the difference in operating systems, but I can say the myTouch feels a lot more like a phone while the HD2’s monstrous 4.3 inch screen makes it feel like a tablet.

If you plan on picking up the new myTouch 3G 3.5mm, WireFly is currently featuring the handset for $87.99, much cheaper than the $149.99 asking price at T-Mobile stores.

We all know that HTC has never been in the same categories as the other big players in the handset market.  Samsung, Nokia, LG, and all the other handset manufacturers churn through millions of phone per months, while HTC struggles to hit those same numbers in a quarter.  But with the ever-increasing adoption rate of the Android platform, HTC sales are expected to rise significantly in Q2 of 2010.  HTC is expecting revenues of $1.6 billion in Q2, based on sales of 4.5 million handsets.  Those numbers are significantly higher than the 3.3 million phones HTC sold in Q1.  HTC’s CFO, Cheng Hui-ming the upward trend to the “growing popularity of the Android platform in Europe and the US”.  It’s no secret that Android is HTC’s new OS of choice. 

The HTC Incredible launched today on Verizon, and Sprint and T-Mobile are expected to launch flagship HTC Android handsets within the next month or two.  We still do not know what HTC has planned for Windows Phone 7 later in the year, but we can be sure that the sales numbers from HTC will continue to trend upwards.

Source: Financial Times

Over the past year, the relationship between Microsoft and HTC seems to have cooled off a bit.  HTC seems to be focused more on Android, but late last night, Microsoft and HTC announced a new agreement between the two companies.  Microsoft and HTC have signed an agreement which gives HTC access to Microsoft’s patent portfolio, but it may not be what you are expecting.  The agreement covers HTC handsets which run on Google’s Android OS and have nothing to do with Windows Mobile or Windows Phone 7. 

“HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property. We are pleased to continue our collaboration with HTC.”

Microsoft has been licensing out its patents and IP for the past seven years and has made it a point to collaborate with other companies that may be infringing on their proprietary technology.  Microsoft has a long history of patent claims over Linux and has a few licensing agreements already in place for the OS.  We’re not entirely sure what claims Microsoft thinks they have on Android, but it’s good to see a licensing agreement between them and HTC rather than a lawsuit.  I find it a little humorous that HTC is paying Microsoft to use Google’s FREE Android OS. 

Source: Microsoft via Engadget