Taiwan's HTC acquires US technology firm

Taiwan's leading smartphone maker HTC on Friday announced the acquisition of Seattle-based Dashwire Inc. for up to $18.5 million, saying it would strengthen its skills in a new technology. Dashwire specialises in cloud services, which allow users to remotely store data rather than keep it on their own servers and are seen as a new driver of growth for the technology sector. "Cloud services are key to delivering the promise of connected services to our customers," said Fred Liu, HTC president of engineering and operations, in a statement. "People want access to all of their important content wherever they are on any device. The addition of Dashwire’s cutting-edge sync services and deep mobile cloud experience strengthens our ability to deliver these services." HTC said in a separate statement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange website that the acquisition via its unit HTC America Holding will cost up to $18.5 million. Hi-tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft have branched into "cloud computing."