Following its acquisition by HTC in 2011, Dashwire has announced today that it is relaunching to try to offer mobile operators a better software solution that can simplify and improve the user experience on smartphones.
Founded in 2006, the company is setting out to create a range of web-hosted software modules that mobile operators can use to “help people live harmoniously with smartphones”.
In particular, this relates to setting up a smartphone for the first time, as well as transitioning or switching users over to a new device.
Fred Liu, president of engineering and operations at HTC, said the relaunch would help Dashwire to support its global partners, including both operators and hardware manufacturers.
“We believe [this] will ultimately benefit the entire mobile device ecosystem, including HTC and our shareholders,” he said.
HTC announced its plans to acquire Dashwire for $185 million back in 2011. At the time it was running a service that allowed mobile users from various platforms to back up their content to the cloud. It was eventually shut down, however, in February last year.
The team has since integrated its core software platform into HTC’s devices, offering both mobile and web applications that owners can take advantage of to easily setup and personalize their device.
It’s unclear exactly how this relaunch will affect the company’s work, but from today’s announcement it seems Dashwire will be refocusing on operators and smartphone manufacturers outside of HTC itself.
Peter Polson, CEO of Dashwire said: “We’re not simply selling software, we’re re-launching as an initiative to build a movement, making smartphones more accessible and useful for millions – if not billions – of people.”
HTC had a difficult 2012, in part because its marketing spend simply wasn’t on par with rivals Samsung and Apple. Peter Chou, CEO of HTC admitted such failures to the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, adding that 2013 would “not be too bad.”
“Our competitors were too strong and very resourceful, pouring in lots of money into marketing. We haven’t done enough on the marketing front,” he said.
Not exactly inspiring words, but earlier this week the smartphone manufacturer launched the HTC One, a new flagship device carrying the same branding as the HTC One X, One S and One V unveiled the year before.
Originally codenamed as the HTC M7, it has an impressive 4.7-inch 1080p HD display with a pixel density of 468 PPI. It also includes a new homescreen feature called BlinkFeed – which works rather like Flipboard – as well as a new camera feature called ZOE.
Image Credit: oskay/Flickr
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