High Tech Computer (HTC), the world’s biggest maker of Windows Mobile and Google Android OS smartphones, is working on technologies for applications used in handsets and application stores and plans to put this software to use but not until a later time.
Rumors about an upcoming app store from the company have swirled for months but HTC CEO Peter Chou finally put them to rest at a news gathering in Taipei prior to the Mobile World Congress, which is currently running in Barcelona.
He said the company does not have anything ready currently but has been working on apps and creating app store technologies. These could be used on an HTC store but could also be used in conjunction with partners, he said.
He also said HTC has been actively designing tablet-like devices and netbooks, but that doesn’t mean HTC will put those products out.
“We will design, we will study, we will research, but that doesn’t mean we will do it,” he said. If the company does put out a tablet, it will do so with a partner, he added.
Companies around the world have studied tablet device designs more carefully now that Apple has launched theiPad. The tablet computer sports a 9.7-inch touchscreen and is aimed at Internet and multimedia use.