HTC (High Tech Computer), well known maker of Windows Mobile based mobile phones, plans to further develop music playing functions in its handsets in the future, while it will slowly phase out infrared.
While HTC already offers Windows Media Mobile-based music functions on its Pocket PCs and Smartphones, HTC will going forward by adding more flash memory and other hardware to make its phones increasingly music-friendly, said Peter Chou, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of HTC, in a group interview published by Nnet.
HTC is also going to remove some functions from its mobiles. The company has already phased infrared out of some of its latest mobile phones and expects to continue to remove the function since it is no longer a necessity, said Chou.

HTC, which has been a longtime partner of Microsoft in the mobile business, could also expand to using the Symbian OS. The company said it would only use Symbian if it sees value in doing so, for example, if operators placed orders with it for phones using the Symbian OS.

"We're not limited. We're not Microsoft, we can do anything," Chou said.

Currently, however, the company sees little value in offering Symbian-based phones, since there is already brisk competition among handset makers offering the OS on their mobiles.

HTC forecasts it will sell about 10 million mobile phones this year, up from 7 million [M] last year. The majority of its handsets are smart phones, or handsets that combine the function of a PDA (personal digital assistant) and a mobile phone.

Cheers ~ Arne