HTC and Beats Audio to launch music-streaming service?


15 Feb 2012

HTC is rumoured to be working with Beats Audio on a music-streaming service for its devices. The mobile company purchased a major stake in Beats Audio last year.

GigaOm reports that HTC is working on a pricing plan and other details for the service. It will reportedly make the result of this as the default music client of HTC devices. It is also reportedly working on a wireless audio player which could stream music from HTC devices through Bluetooth.

The service could be launched later in February during the Mobile World Congress. HTC will reportedly launch a number of new products, including a tablet, at the show.

Last year, HTC invested US$300m in Beats Audio to gain a major stake in the company. It integrated its audio technology into a number of HTC smartphones, such as the HTC Sensation XE.

Jimmy Iovine, who founded Beats Audio, holds significant influence in the music industry and could get record labels to sign up for this service.

HTC has reportedly been in talks with other music-streaming firms, such as Spotify, however, those talks did not pan out.