Struggling Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC previously confirmed that it would release a wearable device this year — and today Bloomberg reports that the company will preview a smartwatch at Mobile World Congress later this month.
HTC will only be letting carriers have a glimpse of the smartwatch prototype, which will feature the Mirasol display technology seen in Qualcomm’s Toq device , Bluetooth connectivity and a music player, though there are no plans to unveil it publicly, Bloomberg reports.
HTC is also reportedly developing another smartwatch using Google Now, which will likely have an AMOLED screen, as well as a smart wristband that plays music and comes with activity-tracking features, though these two may not be demonstrated.
The company hasn’t decided yet if any of these devices will go into final production, Bloomberg reports. With its entrance into wearables, HTC is set to enter an increasingly crowded market — and it faces a tough challenge in trying to reverse sagging revenue and earnings performance last year.
➤ HTC Said to Plan Smartwatch Preview Amid Declining Market Share [Bloomberg]
Image via Mandy Cheng/AFP/Getty Images
Apple sold a record 51m iPhones and 26m iPads in Q1 2014, up 6.7% and up 13.5% year-over-year respectively
Apple today announced earnings for its first fiscal quarter of 2014, revealing that it sold 51 million iPhones and 26 million iPads. According to those figures, the company’s iPhone sales were up 6.7 percent year-over-year while its iPad sales were up 13.5 percent year-over-year.
Last quarter, Apple sold 33.8 million iPhones and 14.1 million iPads , but the jump shouldn’t surprise anyone given the holiday season is included this time around. In Q1 2013, Apple sold fewer phones and fewer tablets than this past quarter: 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads.
Q1 2014 industry estimates for iPhones ranged between 54.88 million and 56.20 million while estimates for iPads ranged between 24.82 million and 24.95 million. Apple thus easily beat estimates for iPads but failed to do the same for iPhones.
More specifically, Apple managed to beat both the institutional consensus and the independent one when it comes to its tablet, but the number for its hottest gadget was below both. This is slightly worrying given that the iPhone line is definitely more important than the iPad for the company.
Then again, given that the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c have already been out for a while, while the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina arrived this past quarter, the results aren’t too surprising. It’s also much easier to purchase a new tablet for someone as a present than a phone, and given that a large chunk of sales were related to the holidays, the figures make sense.
Overall, Apple is still impressively selling more devices than the comparable quarter last year, despite increased competition from the likes of Google, Samsung, and Microsoft. As always, the company didn’t offer numbers for specific device types (iPhone 5s versus iPhone 5c or iPad Air versus iPad mini), so it’s impossible to see which ones are performing better or worse.
See also – iPad Air vs. iPad 4: What has Apple changed? and iPad mini with Retina vs. iPad mini: What has Apple changed?
Top Image Credit: Wang Zhao/Getty Images
This isn’t the Amazon Echo, but LG’s new smart home hub looks… familiar
While Samsung is betting on its 2016 range of smart TVs to become the center of your connected home, LG has announced a device for the job that looks more than a little like the Amazon Echo .
LG says that the SmartThinQ Hub will allow you to control and monitor washing machines, refrigerators, ovens, robotic vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, as well as sensors around the home. It’s not just its looks that recall the Echo, like Amazon’s device it can keep you up to date with your personal calendars and stream music.
What’s particularly notable here is the LCD screen, which indicates that voice control won’t play much (if any) role here. Instead, it looks like you’ll be checking the screen and pushing buttons.
In addition to LG’s own connected home appliances, the hub is compatible with devices and sensors that are part of the AllJoyn Alliance open-source framework, as well as Iris by Lowe’s devices.
LG will be revealing more about the SmartThinQ Hub at CES next week. I wonder if any other manufacturers will be channeling Amazon’s Echo with their own devices?
➤ LG advances smart home ecosystem with SmartThinQ Hub at CES 2016 [LG Newsroom]