![Google announces HTC cooperation agreement](/media/k2/items/cache/a8eb8426e89b0a31189e42fbb6bf5553_Generic.jpg)
Google announces HTC cooperation agreement
Some employees and rights pick up
After many quarters of financial decay and many rumors, Google has announced that it plans to acquire HTC employees and some of the IP licensing rights.
![Google hires Apple chip bloke](/media/k2/items/cache/8e4ed8c0eea4ddbbb300e69d59d927a0_Generic.jpg)
Google hires Apple chip bloke
Should Qualcomm be worried?
Google has head hunted Apple’s chip man to come up with future versions of Google's Pixel phone.
![Google admits some Pixel mics are borked](/media/k2/items/cache/c045b863648204ce293e75b725c1689f_Generic.jpg)
Google admits some Pixel mics are borked
"Only a small number" will need to be replaced
Google has admitted that a "small number" of its Pixel phones have shipped with borked microphones which will need to be returned so they can be replaced.
![Pixel laptop goes the way of the Dodo](/media/k2/items/cache/83c50f67c4f428055bd5ec87065804c0_Generic.jpg)
Pixel laptop goes the way of the Dodo
Did all it was supposed to do
Google’s senior vice president for hardware Rick Osterloh has hinted that the Pixel laptop will be going the way of Ned Stark from the Game of Thrones.
![Pixel phone scores 644 Mbps on Wi-Fi](/media/k2/items/cache/4a3de286b34d23c006112e920445c609_Generic.jpg)
Pixel phone scores 644 Mbps on Wi-Fi
Outperforms Galaxy S7 by almost 2x
There is one generally incorrect conception that Wi-Fi is fast enough and that Wi-Fi is simply fast enough. The reality is that Fudzilla managed to prove that a Google Pixel phone powered by Snapdragon 821 SoC and Qualcomm Wi-Fi scores almost twice the performance of the Galaxy S7 phone.
![The bezel will be a celeb death this year](/media/k2/items/cache/6db95871ba75e12363f1bb8d32612aa2_Generic.jpg)
The bezel will be a celeb death this year
Living on the edge
This year we will see the end of the bezel, or at least phones with very slim ones.
![Daydream VR gets Netflix support](/media/k2/items/cache/f19754a2c0b362f8bf564c6331ea18f6_Generic.jpg)
Daydream VR gets Netflix support
Makes it more useful
Netflix is now available for Google’s Daydream VR platform. The app supports HBM and Hulu too.
![Pixel predicted to sell six million](/media/k2/items/cache/79441d04a0b486afddb735bbd9f3b0da_Generic.jpg)
Pixel predicted to sell six million
Will make Google a cool billion
Beancounters at Morgan Stanley have added up some numbers and divided by their shoe size and worked out that 5-6 million of Pixel and Pixel XL mobiles will be sold this year.
![HTC denies flogging off its smartphone business](/media/k2/items/cache/3819fc16a1e3238bd803bd4e55635dc7_Generic.jpg)
HTC denies flogging off its smartphone business
Things are not that bad yet
Troubled maker of smartphones HTC has denied rumours that it could be about to flog off its smartphone business.
![Google’s Pixel XL is easy to fix](/media/k2/items/cache/e337676888d0903e0011e2c4e818d7c1_Generic.jpg)
Google’s Pixel XL is easy to fix
Easier than the Galaxies, but that is not exactly difficult
The latest bare bones Android handset is actually easier to mend than the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Note 7 according to iFixit.