I-mate was one of the pioneers of the smartphone segment, no doubt about that, but at some point they were claiming that they created the first Windows Mobile phone, a title disputed by many companies. Last we heard, they weren’t doing so well, because of some financial and internal issues, but now word’s out that they were bought by HTC.

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The Taiwanese company might be in this for the useful patents owned by I-mate, or maybe for its rugged designs, but it would be nice to see a couple of products spawned by this buyout. If you remember, at some point I-mate was borrowing technology heavily from HTC, but the latter cut them loose and trouble started afterwards.

In case you’re wondering what went wrong here it is: ODM disputes, internal fraud, total closure, employees getting fired and… the end. Keep in mind that the buyout is only a rumour we found via Phonenews, so take it with a grain of salt.

[via wmpoweruser]

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