HTC buys iCloud competitor

HTC has bought the American company Dashwire. Dashwire makes software to store and access music, videos, and other files on phones via a web service, and is a minor competitor to Apple’s iCloud.

HTC is putting 13 million euros on the table for the acquisition of Dashwire, according to the announcement on the investor website from HTC. Neither the Taiwanese smartphone maker nor the US web storage company have released any further announcements about the purpose of the acquisition. However, it is obvious that HTC wants to integrate Dashwire’s technology into its smartphones and tablets.

Dashwire makes software that can store virtually any phone content on a server, including phone logs, text messages, and bookmarks, as well as photos and videos. That data can then be viewed on the desktop with a web browser. This means that the functionality goes further than what HTC now offers with its web service HTCSense.com. Apple will offer a similar service with iCloud from this fall. Incidentally, Microsoft is one of the shareholders of Dashwire.

Dashwire did not offer its services to consumers until the acquisition: manufacturers and providers could license the technology and thus offer backup services under their own name. Dashwire’s backup service works on legacy platforms such as Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile, but Android is also supported.