14 DAY TRIAL // In a recent interview, an HTC official confirmed for the press that the company is indeed working to bring to life a wearable and a new tablet.
Earlier this week, prior to the kick-start of the all-new HTC One event in New York, we wonder whether the company will be taking the opportunity to unveil a new wearable too?
The timing seemed right and the stage was already set by Samsung, which unveiled at MWC 2014, a smartphone (the Galaxy S5) and three new wearable products. But HTC restrained from doing the same. Nevertheless, the question lingers. Will HTC ever go into wearables?
It appears the answer is yes. Speaking with China Post, HTC CEO Peter Chou confirmed the company is working on a “wearable computing product” but he did not say whether that was a fitness tracker or smartwatch.
If you’re already getting excited, hear this piece of news: we have to tell you its launch date is not on the horizon, as Chou said the wearables would arrive on the market “at the appropriate time.”
As we already stated, speculation about HTC having a wearable up its sleeve existed before the HTC One event this week. Chou himself has talked about smartwatches before, calling them an emerging niche and a “critical segment.”
More indication that an HTC wearable is coming is the post on Google’s Android Wear OS website that lists the company as one of the official partners. If you don’t remember, Google has just launched its own dedicated OS for wearables, dubbed Android Wear.
Motorola and LG have already given clear indications they are working on Android OS products and the recent sneak peeks detailing their plans have already surfaced online. Bottom line, it’s not a stretching of the imagination to suggest HTC is also concerned with building a wearable of sorts.
More interestingly, Chow didn't limit himself to talking about wearables. He also confirmed a new HTC tablet was in the works and we might be spot it in the while around the same “appropriate time.”
Rumors about HTC partnering up with Google to produce a Nexus tablet have surfaced for a while now. First, it was said HTC will probably take up production of the elusive next-gen Nexus 10, but then the tide changed.
Now the more recent theories speculate HTC will be taking up the production of the Nexus 8 / 9 tablet, the one set to arrive with an 8.9-inch screen and high-end specifications. Chou didn't give any indications of what kind of tablet the company might be working for, but we’re pretty excited about it, no matter the size.