In some pretty cool news to report to Android fans, Android smartphone maker, Nextbit, was just acquired by the computer accessory company Razer. This is really exciting news because if you did not know, Nextbit is a relatively new startup company based out of California. Nextbit has already produced an Android smartphone called Nextbit Robin.
Startup Nextbit Acquired by Razer
If you have never heard of Nextbit before, the startup company produces reasonably-priced Android smartphones. The main Android smartphone to come out of Nextbit at this point in time is the Nextbit Robin. The Nextbit Robin has been a pretty popular Android smartphone because it comes in a couple fun and interesting designs and it is a basic smartphone at a really good price. The company announced today that it was acquired by the PC accessory company Razer.
While this might seem like a weird acquisition for Razer, it is actually not outside of the normal for Razer. In fact, the company has already purchased THX and Ouya in the past few years. Razer though might be going into uncharted territories with the acquisition of Nextbit, mostly due to the fact that a lot of Android smartphone companies, even established ones, seem to be lagging a bit in the marketplace.
Even the more popular companies like HTC are having trouble right now in terms of generating revenue. That does make this acquisition right now seem a little questionable for Razer, but it is likely the company is looking at the long-term possibilities as opposed to the short-term uncertainties.
In the announcement, Nextbit said that it was excited to join with Razer, talking about how both companies like to push the boundaries while also being true to company values. In terms of the deal, the details of the acquisition were not disclosed. This means we do not know how much Razer paid to acquire the California-based startup company. We do know from the announcement by Nextbit that it will be an independent division within Razer.
Nextbit said it wants to provide different and unique experiences and Android smartphones, which is what the company is already doing and has been doing. The only difference here, according to Co-Founder and CEO of Nextbit, Tom Moss, is that it will be on a much bigger scale than before.
The bad news with Nextbit being acquired by Razer is that Nextbit is ceasing the manufacturing of Nextbit Robin and will not be selling it anymore. This means you will no longer be able to purchase the Nextbit Robin or any accessories that go with the Android smartphone through the company website. Of course, you likely can find the now discontinued smartphone through websites like Ebay, but this smartphone will not be available in stores anymore to purchase. Nextbit said that it will be fulfilling warranties for the Nextbit Robin for another 180 days, and there is still support out there for people who have the Nextbit Robin Android smartphone. Even better, the company will provide regular security and software updates for the smartphone through February 2018.
The fact that Nextbit will provide regular security and software updates for another year is pretty nice. A lot of manufacturers of the cheaper Android smartphones do not push out regular security and software updates. To add to that, a lot of the manufacturers still in business making the Android phones do not push out regular updates for consumers, which is pretty sad.
The fact that we have Nextbit here saying it will continue update for a year after the Android phone is discontinued is pretty nice and it says a lot about the company in terms of wanting to maintain a good relationship with the customer base.
At this point in time, we do not know a timeframe of when a new Nextbit Android smartphone will be out and available for purchase. We can probably expect a new phone though within the next year. The company seems eager to get to work with Razer to come up with more cool designs for the next big smartphone. Only time will tell if this acquisition works out for both parties, but it definitely sounds promising.
0 comments:
Post a Comment