HTC Looking To Take On The iPod Touch With New Handheld Device, Kickstand Included

(7:01 pm PDT, Mar 28th 2012)

HTC Looking To Take On The iPod Touch With New Handheld Device, Kickstand Included
According to an HTC patent filed back in 2011 and a new device design discovered by Patent Bolt, it appears HTC is working on a handheld PMP device to rival the ever dominant iPod Touch. With companies like Philips, Sony, and Samsung all failing to chip away at the iPod Touch’s domination, I guess it couldn’t hurt to give HTC a chance. This new device combined with the new Google Play model could give this HTC device a fighting chance but I wouldn’t put my money on it.

This future HTC handheld device features slide-out stereo speakers on the front of the device, a kickstand on the back, and unlike most HTC handheld patents, makes no reference to cellular bandwidths. The lack of smartphone verbiage makes a strong argument for this device being a PMP (Portable Media Player) similar to a Galaxy Player but with a unique and enhanced multimedia design.

What do you guys think, does an HTC iPod Touch competitor stand a chance at stealing PMP market share or is this another feeble attempt to take down a giant of mythical proportions?

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Comment »

  • Alan Liddell

    As far as Android PMPs go, I’ve never even seen one advertised. And I look for that sort of thing. You can’t take down the iPod if nobody knows you’re there.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=558860284 Mark Whitenack

    Way to get on that HTC…..the iPod is on the decline….it’s all about phones that do it all or tablets!  Thanks for playing.

  • http://twitter.com/howie_isaacks Howie Isaacks

    Meh

  • steffenjobbs

    The iPod won because of iTunes and the ecosystem.  It takes a lot more than hardware.  With all of Apple’s retail stores, it’s going to get harder and harder for the competition to compete against Apple.  I like the idea of having a PMP, and I’ll still go with the iPod even though Apple has let the iPod Touch stagnate.  What a shame.

  • http://twitter.com/markrlangston Mark Langston

    Hey, HTC PMP player. I’d like you meet my friend Zune. Zune this is…Zune? Zune? Zooo-uuuune? 

    Sorry about that HTC he was just here a minute ago. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for his sudden disappearance. 

  • Joe Smith

    HTC has the rights to put Beats in their products. Even though I’m not a fan of Beats at all, it’s extremely marketable. It’s like Apple’s “Retina” display. “What?It has retina display?Wow!That’s incredible!” There are so many other displays on mobile devices that blow away “Retina”. But the truth is-it’s marketable. People buy it (not just for that reason of course). So if HTC launched a PMP with slide out stereo speakers and put Beats inside, they could probably tack on an extra fifty bucks just because beats it says “Beats” on the back. People would buy it partly for that reason. All it needs to do is come in with AT LEAST Gingerbread, have AT LEAST a dual core processor, and AT LEAST have a higher pixel density than Retina and the Galaxy Player (which isn’t hard to accomplish at all). Then, you’ll have a totally marketable device, and HTC will be sitting on a pile of cash. I would totally buy this over an iPod touch. In fact, Google Play surpassed the App store in terms of the number of apps each has. So the ecosystem issue with Apple is really an irrelevant buying point now. I’ve been waiting for this device to come out, and when it does, I’m almost positive it’ll chip away at the iPod touch’s fame. Then again, some people stick with Apple “just cause” or hop on the bandwagon like everyone else. From what I can see, there’s a greater population of Apple fanboys than Android. But, if Android continues to grow at the rate it is, the tables will turn-very quickly.

About the author

Vincent MessinaVincent Messina has been writing and evangelizing about Android for the past three years. When he's not playing the part of "Loki" to his 5 and 4-year-old, he can be found here, covering all things Android. He adamantly believes Android has the greatest community around and can be harassed at any of the following locations: Google+, Twitter.

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