HTC announced via a press release on Thursday that it's not caving in to Apple's recently filed patent lawsuit. Google has previously said that it would back its partner, since this lawsuit is obviously really about Android, and not HTC.

The company said that it would "fully defend itself" and that it (naturally) "disagrees with Apple’s actions." Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation, said in the press release:

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible. From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition, our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

HTC apparently hasn't filed an official legal response yet, and the press release doesn't really respond to the points that Apple raised. Still, it is clear that they won't back down without a fight.

Here is the full text of the press release:

Seattle – March 17, 2010 – HTC Corporation today outlined its disagreement with Apple’s legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices. Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people’s lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. mobile operators.

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA[i] and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition[ii], our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

The industry has recognized HTC’s contributions through a variety of awards including Fast Company’s 2010 Top 50 Most Innovative Companies and MIT Technology Review’s 2010 50 Most Innovative Companies. The GSMA also recently awarded the HTC Hero as the “Best Phone of 2009.” Some of HTC’s technology firsts include:

• First Windows PDA (1998)
• First Windows Phone (June 2002)
• First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
• First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)
• First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
• First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008)

In 2009, HTC launched its branded user experience, HTC Sense. HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. This experience was fundamentally based on listening and observing how people live and communicate.

“HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business. This has led to long-standing strategic partnerships with the top software, Internet and wireless technology companies in the industry as well as the top U.S., European and Asian mobile operators,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “It is through these relationships that we have been able to deliver the world’s most diverse series of smartphones to an even more diverse group of people around the world, recognizing that customers have very different needs.”

For more information on HTC’s history of innovation, please visit: www.htc.com/history.

Tags: Android, Apple Lawsuit, Chief Executive Officer, Creating A Portfolio, Disagreement, Edge Innovations, Google, Innovators, Intellectual Property Protection, Legal Actions, Legal Response, March 17, Mobile Experience, Mobile Operators, Patent Lawsuit, Smartphone, Smartphones, T Mobile, Touch Screen, Xda

Google has expanded its Android version coverage for its Gesture Search app, announced earlier. Previously the app, downloadable for free from the Android Market, supported only Android version 2.0+; it now supports 1.6+.

Gesture search allows users to allows you to search your phone (contacts, bookmarks, applications and music) by drawing alphabet gestures on the touch screen.

It can now also be downloaded in any country where the Android Market is "open for business." However, it still only recognizes the English alphabet.

It is obviously still a work-in-progress, and would definitely be better if it was integrated into the OS instead of being a stand-along application. Additionally, there are still plenty of Android 1.5 devices out there, including some just introduced (like the Backflip on AT&T).

Tags: Backflip, Blogspot, English Alphabet, Gesture, Gestures, Google, Music, Touch Screen, Work In Progress

On Tuesday, Google announced it had filled a major hole in the HTC Nexus One's feature set, adding support for 3G on both AT&T and Canada's Rogers network.

Earlier, we noted that HTC Nexus One sales have been underwhelming. There are several possibilities for this, but one was pigeon-holing it with one GSM carrier in the U.S., T-Mobile. The Nexus One ships unlocked, meaning you could drop in any SIM, but it previously wouldn't support the 3G frequencies of AT&T and Rogers prior to this.

However, T-Mobile remains the only carrier that subsidizes the Nexus One. If you buy an AT&T 3G compatible version, it will be sans contract (a good thing) but at $529 instead of $179 subsidized (a not-so-good, but not necessarily bad, thing).

Check out the new option at Google's Nexus One site.

Time will tell if this change will cause a spike in Nexus One sales. Quite a few consumers have been waiting for a decent Android phone to hit AT&T, but it appears that that Motorola Backflip ain't it, according to many reviewers.

Tags: 3g, Amp, Backflip, Blogspot, Canada, Compatible Version, Consumers, Google, Motorola, New Option, Nexus, Pigeon, Possibilities, Reviewers, S Rogers, Ships, Sim, Spike, T Mobile

Fandango, which earlier this year said that it was experimenting with paperless ticketing, is finally launching a trial. There will be eight markets in the initial tests.

The Mobile Ticket, as the system is called, is sent to your cell phone via SMS or MMS. The barcode can be scanned, but only with special scanners, which is why Mobile Ticket is only available in a few markets.

According to Fandango's press release, the system does not require a smartphone. The trial is running in 100 theaters in eight markets, in the Reading Cinemas chain.

Here are some of the theaters, and the eight markets, participating in Fandango’s trial:

• New York: City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3, Angelika Film Center, East 86th Street Cinemas, Village East Cinema, Beekman Theatre, The Paris Theatre.
• New Jersey: Manville 12 Plex.
• Houston: Angelika Film Center.
• Dallas/Plano: Angelika Dallas; Angelika Plano.
• San Diego: La Mesa Grossmont Center, Clairemont Town Square Stadium.
• Bakersfield: Valley Plaza 16.
• Sonoma County: Rohnert Park 16.
• Hawaii: Ward Stadium, Kahala Theater, Kapolei 16, Mililani Stadium.

For those who want to know, based on the list above, why San Francisco, and Los Angeles are missing, it seems, based upon the Reading Cinemas' U.S. site, they don't have any theaters in those markets. Boo!

Tags: Angelika Dallas, Angelika Film Center, Angelika Film Center Dallas, Angelika Plano, Beekman Theatre, City Cinemas, Clairemont Town Square, Fandango, Grossmont Center, Initial Tests, Kahala, Kapolei, Mililani, Mobile Ticket, Paris Theatre, Reading Cinemas, Sonoma County, Street Cinemas, Ticket Program, Ticketless

Anyone who remembers the (still-ongoing) fiasco that is charging adapters on smartphones can see the potential for similar issues as electric cars or plug-in hybrids become more popular. Thus, it's good to see at least an initial move in the direction of standardization: Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan announced on Monday they have helped to set up a fast-charge station standardization group.

The group, Chademo, is led by Japan's biggest utility, Tokyo Electric Power, along with Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors, and Fuji Heavy Industries. It plans to set a Japanese standard and later aim for an international standard. It is expected that some 158 companies and government bodies are expected to join, including 20 non-Japanese firms such as PG&E, Enel, Endesa, and PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Although ranges for electric vehicles have risen, they are still mostly a commuter car, as they are tied to the need to recharge. While that's not an issue while roaming locally, it would be an issue for any long trip.

The press release announcing the consortium notes that group is not without punmasters:

"CHAdeMO" is an abbreviation of "CHArge de MOve", equivalent to "charge for moving", and is a pun for "O cha demo ikaga desuka" in Japanese, meaning "Let's have a tea while charging" in English.

It will, indeed, take some (long!) time to charge a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle.  Further, the press release explains:

"This logo means smiles which associate a bright future and happiness with a combination of the circuit symbol of battery  representing "Charge", and a dynamic curving line  representing "Move".  This ecological green is the color of "Green Tea".

Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said, "We will compete when it comes to vehicle performance, but we should cooperate on areas such as infrastructure." Nissan will begin selling its first electric car later this year.

Tags: Commuter Car, Electric Car, Electric Cars, Electric Vehicle, Electric Vehicles, Endesa, Fuji Heavy Industries, Government Bodies, Green Tea, Initial Move, Japanese Automakers, Japanese Firms, Long Trip, Mitsubishi Motors, O Cha, Plug In Hybrids, Psa Peugeot Citroen, Shiga, Tokyo Electric, Vehicle Performance