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Back in September we wrote about a Digitimes article that stated Acer was planning on launching a smartphone in the first quarter of 2009, most likely in Western Europe and Russia. At the time, we were a little ho-hum, thinking it was just another manufacturer hopping in the smartphone pool.

Turns out, Acer had acquired E-Ten, a company not well-known here in the states, except for when we write about its Glofiish devices (or Glofish

It

Love it or hate it, you have to acknowledge that HTC's design with the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro with the sharp edges and multifaceted back was a pretty big leap for the Taiwanese manufacturer. (For the record, we still think it's pretty cool, even if a little rough on the hands in its early form.)

And after numerous iterations of sliders, some Palm devices and later with its own rounded Touch line, you have to give HTC props for looking outside its own walls in the design when it brought in San Francisco's One & Co. to lead the charge.

Now One & Co. has been rewarded, being purchased by everyone's favorite smartphone maker. Terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed.

From the news release (read the whole thing after the jump):

"Design is key, it is why you love or hate something," said Horace
Luke, Chief Innovation Officer, HTC Corporation. "Integrating iconic
design into HTC products is an inspiring and dynamic challenge that
requires a unique combination of consumer insight, creativity,
innovation and an appetite to take risks; attributes that embody One &
Co."

We also learn that the two companies began on the Touch Diamond all the way back in 2006. We can only imagine what HTC will have up its sleeves for 2009.

HTC Bolsters Design Credibility With Addition of One & Co

Leader in lifestyle design will be cornerstone of HTC's design
capability and philosophy while continuing as an innovative design consultancy

Taoyuan, Taiwan and SAN FRANCISCO, December 3, 2008 – Furthering its
reputation as a global leader in mobile innovation and design, HTC
Corporation today announced the continuation of its design focus with
the acquisition of San Francisco-based lifestyle design firm One &
Company Design, Inc. (One & Co).  Recognized for its award-winning
work with some of the world's best known and most design-savvy
lifestyle brands, One & Co will maintain its name and client base
while it joins forces with HTC to create an unparalleled force in
global mobile design.

"Design is key, it is why you love or hate something," said Horace
Luke, Chief Innovation Officer, HTC Corporation. "Integrating iconic
design into HTC products is an inspiring and dynamic challenge that
requires a unique combination of consumer insight, creativity,
innovation and an appetite to take risks; attributes that embody One &
Co."

HTC and One & Co first began collaborating in 2006 on the initial
incubation and creation of the HTC Touch Diamond, a highly touted
phone with iconic design that blended unprecedented use of material
and industrial design.

"One & Co is excited to bring our lifestyle, user focused approach to
HTC and we look forward to creating iconic, compelling products
together," said Scott Croyle, partner of One & Co. "Knowing about
HTC's cutting edge technology and proven track record of innovation,
we are excited to collaborate with HTC as a global lifestyle brand."

In addition to its work with HTC, One & Co has broad design experience
in a variety of industries that range from footwear, snowboarding and
skiing, furniture, packaging, houseware, timepieces and more.  One &
Co has been recognized by the design and business communities by
winning numerous BusinessWeek/IDSA IDEA Awards, the Good Design
Awards, CES Innovation Awards, and ID Magazine awards.

About One & Co

Privately held, One & Co is an internationally recognized design
leader that delivers design and engineering services to some of the
world's best known and most admired companies. With expertise in areas
ranging from ethnographic research and design forecasting and
manufacturing technologies, One & Co is committed to bring the highest
level of creative talent to every endeavor and provide an unmatched
attention to detail.

About HTC

Founded in 1997, HTC Corporation (HTC) designs innovative, feature
rich smartphones. Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong
R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations
and launched state-of-the-art PDA Phones and smartphones for mobile
operators and distributors in Europe, the US, and Asia. These machines
are available as HTC devices and as products individually customized
for operator and device partners.

HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device
market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under
ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

# # #

The names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.

While 320x320 users (Treo Pro, 800w, Epix, i780, Saga) and newer resolutions like 800x480 (Sony Xperia) have been suffering without any SlingPlayer support, we're getting word that may be ending very soon.

We're hearing that the latest version, which will update resolution support and perhaps other performance issues, has just entered private beta testing. Hmm...maybe this update will finally bump it to v2.0 along with their desktop software? One can hope at least.

Furthermore, we can tentatively expect an official update by the end of the month, right in time for the holidays.

For those wanting to lend Sling a hand, you can always sign up for their beta program here.

[Info via SlingCommunity + Deleted Posts]

Although Windows Mobile is still seeing progress in worldwide numbers, the situation isn't quite as rosy as it might be when it comes to smartphone marketshare. Gartner's new numbers [via Engadget Mobile] show a few distressing trends for WinMo fans.

Firstly, we've long said that even if WinMo isn't #1, there's plenty of space for everybody in the rapidly growing smartphone market. That's still true, but we may need to stop saying the market is 'rapidly growing,' since it had its lowest year-over-year growth ever.

Next up: BlackBerry is clearly holding onto its lead in the US market and RIM still managed to increase their sales over 80%. Apple also grabbed a big old chunk of marketshare (though whether they can hang on without another iPhone 3G-style launch is an open question). Speaking of the iPhone, their big big iPhone 3G sales pushed them past worldwide Windows Mobile shipments for the first time.

Meanwhile, other numbers from Needham & Co [via] basically reiterate the above trends. One notable bit you can glean from the graphs, however, is that it looks pretty clear that the iPhone is hurting RIM more than it is Microsoft -- but that steady downward trend since late 2006 needs to be fixed there Microsoft, and fixed in a hurry.

Oh, the dreaded question headline. It indicates that, in all likelihood, you will finish reading this post and not have an answer to the question.

And you won

Windows Mobile phones are becoming more powerful and getting bigger screens with higher resolutions, and that means more of us will start using them for media playback. (We