On January 6, 2006, Coolsmartphone pointed readers to HTCAmerica.net after a tip from MobileGadgetNews. The site listed an office in Bellevue, Washington, and featured phones including the Cingular 2125 and HTC Wizard. HTC’s own records put the formation of its U.S. subsidiary three years earlier. The January item captures the moment the company made its U.S. presence easier for phone owners to find.
The company was already there
HTC lists January 6, 2003, as the establishment date for HTC America Inc. in its 2011 annual report. The report gives a Bellevue address and describes the subsidiary’s business as selling smart handheld devices. The 2006 coverage documents the public website and the office it showed. It gives no opening date for the premises.
Two Windows Mobile phones with different jobs
The names in the January report reflect how people found HTC hardware in the U.S. Cingular sold the 2125 as a Smartphone, while the Wizard appeared in the carrier’s Pocket PC line as the 8125. Cingular and Microsoft’s June 13 announcement shows why the distinction mattered. Both ran Windows Mobile 5.0 and could get Exchange email through Direct Push from June 19. The carrier highlighted integrated Wi-Fi on the 8100-series Pocket PCs and listed separate business data plans: $44.99 for the 8100 series and $29.99 for the 2125, each requiring a qualifying voice plan.
The carrier name and model number are the useful starting point for finding an old manual or update. The HTC development name helps connect one carrier’s device to related hardware sold under other names. Our HTC Breeze photo archive shows how the development and retail names followed the same phone into different listings.
HTC put its own name on two phones that June
In June, HTC announced the TyTN and MTeoR under its own brand as it moved away from Qtek. The TyTN was a touchscreen Pocket PC with a sliding keyboard. The MTeoR was a candy-bar Smartphone. Contemporary coverage put European availability in late July. HTC’s 2010 annual report also dates the brand launch to 2006. The Bellevue listing in January, Cingular’s carrier-branded devices and HTC’s own June announcement show three ways a buyer could encounter the same manufacturer in one year.