Google is making another big buy into smartphone hardware — or at least the people responsible for creating it. The company has just confirmed that it plans to acquire part of HTC’s mobile division team for $1.1 billion. “These future fellow Googlers are amazing folks we’ve already been working with closely on the Pixel smartphone line, and we’re excited to see what we can do together as one team,” Rick Osterloh, Google’s hardware boss, wrote in a blog post. “The deal also includes a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property.”

However, HTC will reportedly continue onward with its own smartphone business even after sending a good portion of its talent and operations over to Google. This deal will not result in Google obtaining…

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