HTC in detailing its July results revealed that it had bought Dashwire in what may be an attempt to replicate Apple’s iCloud strategy. The Seattle-area company’s Dashworks media and file syncing for multiple platforms would be directly rolled into Sense’s fledgling cloud services. The new branch would keep its name but would become wholly owned by HTC.
“People want access to all of their important content wherever they are on any device,” HTC’s engineering and operations president Fred Liu said.
HTC has long been hinting that Sense would get more of its own cloud services. Sense is limited to phone tracking but is eventually due to become more independent. The timing is still convenient for HTC as it comes weeks after the unveiling of iCloud and shares some features while going beyond. Along with backing up media, calendars, contacts, and bookmarks, it can also back up test messages and even calls. Users can even continue SMS conversations on the web with messages that get billed to the usual phone account.
Currently, Dashworks works on Macs and PCs as well as “open” mobile platforms like Android and Symbian.
