Hasta La Gadget!

After much fanfare including a mundane video teaser, HTC just released the first part of their latest advertising campaign. Starring Robert “Iron Man” Downey Jr. the video spot is, well, memorable. It’s a touch crazy, a bit confusing, and doesn’t showcase anything HTC makes. But you won’t forget it. And that’s what makes for an effective ad.

As Natasha explained when HTC released the teaser, HTC is asking, almost rhetorically, what their initials stand for. Like “Humongous Tinfoil Catamaran” and ”Hipster Troll Carwash,” says the ad. You get it. Hyper Tongue Circus. Hello, Titicaca Coast. Hippopotamuses Tightroping Carelessly.

There’s good reason for this. Despite being a major player in Android since the very beginning, HTC isn’t a household name. These clever, and mostly silly acronyms, will act as a sort of mnemonic for the brand.

Because, really, anything is better than High Tech Computer Corporation, which is what the initials really stand for. Not very catchy.

Back in June, Verizon gave us fair warning that it would start selling the HTC One “later this summer.” Well, we’re just about halfway through August, and while you can’t buy a VZW One just yet, you can at least let Verizon know you’re interested. The carrier has added a sign-up page to its website, where eager beavers can put in their e-mail addresses so that they’ll be the first to receive more information as it becomes available. Unfortunately, that splash page says nothing about when the device might ship or what it will cost with the usual two-year agreement. So for now, then, this page is really just for the most impatient of HTC fans.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, Verizon

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Source: Verizon Wireless

With the longstanding duopoly of iOS and Android, a number of mobile platforms constantly wage battle for the third position in the global market. In some markets BlackBerry is ahead of Windows Phone 8, in others its the other way around. Many analysts believe that Windows Phone 8 is actually in a much better position as opposed to BlackBerry, even with its new BB10 platform. Nokia is one of the biggest manufacturers of WP8 devices, its Lumia range has produced decent hits. On the other hand there’s HTC which is yet to see immense success with any one of its WP8 device. Rumor has it that HTC is likely to move away altogether from Microsoft’s mobile platform.

Before Microsoft and Nokia signed a billion dollar deal making Windows Phone the default OS on Nokia smartphones, HTC was the biggest vendor of Windows Phone device. Now it accounts for roughly 5 percent of all WP8 devices, as opposed to Nokia which has the lion’s share of 80 percent, followed closely by Samsung in second place. Digitimes cites sources based in Taiwan who claim that HTC might move away from WP8 and focus even more than it is already doing on development of Android devices. One reason cited for this change is HTC’s desire to gain more share in the global smartphone market, and given Android’s popularity, the move seems perfectly logical. Does his mean HTC will stop making WP devices altogether? Presumably not, the company hasn’t dropped any such hint as yet.

HTC Likely To Move Away From Windows Phone 8 original content from Ubergizmo.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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HTC has revealed its new global brand strategy, “Here’s To Change”, signing up Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. as the new face of the struggling smartphone company. The deal will see Downey Jr. not only represent HTC in advertising over the next two years but, the company claims, use the actor’s “own style” in […]