HTC acquires cloud sync developer Dashwire

PanARMENIAN.Net - HTC has acquired Dashwire, a Seattle firm that specializes in cloud services to synchronize smartphones for $18.5 million.

According to PC Magazine, HTC will utilize Dashwire's cloud sync and device set up products to extend the HTCSense.com cloud services it launched last year, the company said. Dashwire will serve as a subsidiary of HTC.

The new Dashworks platform will allows people to set up and synchronize their smartphones, as well as to access their content across devices.

HTC may be feeling pressure to offer a cloud service in the wake of Apple's iCloud, which launched as abet a site this past week. "Cloud services are key to delivering the promise of connected services to our customers," said Fred Liu, president of engineering and operations, HTC Corporation, in a statement.

On a legal front, HTC has also been involved in ongoing litigation against Apple. Dashwire doesn't hold any patents, according to a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office search, but it has an application pending for a mobile device patent.

On July 6, HTC acquired S3 Graphics for $300 million in order to add it to its patent portfolio. The following week, however, Apple won a patent battle of its own when the International Trade Commission said HTC may have infringed on two Apple patents.