Sep 20

As if there weren’t enough self-avowed iPhone Killers on the market, Steve Jobs reportedly has a new opponent entering the ring to duke it out with his reigning champ of mobile PCs for dominance over the smartphone market in one Michael Dell.

Dell Computers’ leader announced at the Citi Technology Conference, an investor’s conference in New York a week ago Wednesday that his company may come out with an iPhone competitor, though he asserts that the device, if it is ever made, will not see the light of day anytime soon. (That sounds like confirmation by denial if ever we’ve heard it).

What this says to us is that a “Dell Phone” is probably already in the works, but that the company’s namesake feels it too premature to make any definitive revelations, only willing to admit, “I think you will see us with small screen devices” and “You’ll see us with smaller and smaller devices that have capabilities of the device you are referring to” (ahem).

The recent hiring of a former Motorola exec helped fuel the speculation about the alleged new venture for Dell


written by admin \\ tags: , , ,

Sep 04

No doubt in response to Apple’s broad-sweeping (and industry dominating) success with mobile music offered through iTunes Mobile and the iPhones, telephony stalwart Nokia has introduced a new product/service (which is which these days – can anybody tell anymore?) called “Comes With Music”

“Comes With Music” provides compatible Nokia smartphone purchasers (starting with the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic “Comes with Music Phone” a full year of unlimited access to the entire music catalog of Nokia’s Music Store (honestly, I didn’t even know they had one).

In cooperation with Sony BMG, Universal Music Group (UMG), and Warner Music, Nokia is granting its customers access to more than 2 million tracks. And most excitingly, customers will apparently be able to continue to possess and listen to all the music they download using the service even after their one year subscription period expires.

A novel concept and a worthy attempt to compete with the near monopolistic iTunes Music Store (and more specifically iTunes Mobile), the new effort debuts in the UK sometime after its official announcement and launching scheduled in London, England on October 2.


written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 21

The Associated Press, the largest and oldest new agency in the United States, is now offering smartphone users around the world what it calls the "Mobile News Network", combining the AP's own coverage with that of local papers.

Content from the service will be localized for each user, displayed on their smartphones based on their zip code. The AP will provide all the international and national stories and local newspapers will be able to submit local news updates to the service with their respective logos printed alongside each report.

The localized news service will be available on the Apple iPhone, the premiere platform featuring the service, and other participating devices, with a special focus on providing users the ideal interface for delivering news reports, photos, and videos on mobile devices.

A free, ad-supported service, the Mobile News Network will be launched this summer.


written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: , , , ,

Mar 17

Recently this blog reported on results of a study that showed the RIM Blackberry OS to be the "best" smartphone OS among industry analysts. However, according to an informal survey conducted by internet technology review stalwart CNet, the preferred smartphone operating system among consumers (or at least, CNet readers) is Windows Mobile.

Smartphones running Windows Mobile include the Samsung Blackjack, the Motorola Q (the top two tier-1 smartphones), as well as many manufactured by HTC, including the widely-popular HTC Tilt.

Based on pure market share alone, the study of 130 users showed Windows Mobile at 42.3%, RIM Blackberry at 19.2%, Apple OS X at 17.7%, and Symbian and Palm OS at 10%. Those are the stats for operating systems. As for smartphone manufacturers, RIM and HTC both took the lead, tying with a 19.2% market share each, Apple following close behind with 17.7%, Motorola at third with 11.5%, Palm at 10%, and all the rest (Nokia, Samsung, etc.) taking the remaining 22.3%.

Interestingly enough, the praise for Windows Mobile was balanced out (read: marred or tainted), however, by half of the respondents reporting complaints of the very same OS. Finally, a whopping 66% of CNet readers responding the survey said they would be likely to consider purchasing an Apple iPhone as their next smartphone, three times more than those who said they'd opt for the second place contender, the Blackberry.


written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mar 12

A recent survey by Handango shows that smartphone users use their smartphones for far more than making and receiving calls and emails. It seems more and more people are using their smartphones more and more for entertainment purposes than in the previous two years when the devices were primarily used for professional and business purposes. Entertainment has just recently eked above business use 17% to 16% and looks only to be climbing higher from here.

Analysts attribute this shift to a shift in the predominant market for smartphones, that being from techies and executives to everyday consumers. The reining leader in the world of smartphones - still RIM, despite the big splash made recently by the Apple iPhone - reports that the 10 best-selling applications for their revered Blackberry includes:

  • Ringtones and ringtone libraries
  • Games (like Sudoku and Texas Hold'em)
  • Instant messengers
  • Travel assistants

And the Blackberry isn't alone in this. One of the main activities used on Windows Mobile Standard devices is the viewing of streaming media.


written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Feb 22

Did you ever wonder who makes the best smartphones in the world? The answer to that question can't help but be subjective. However, if popularity among consumers is any indication of quality, then we can easily identify the top smartphone makers simply by looking at market share.

According to Canalys, a company that provides "expert analysis for the high-tech industry", the number one smartphone maker is Nokia, with a stunning 53% market share. To translate - that means more than half of the smartphones sold last year were Nokias.

That puts them leaps and bounds ahead of any other competition, even second place holder Research in Motion with just an 11.3% market share for its trendy and innovative Blackberry smartphones.

This all may come as little surprise to anyone paying attention to the smartphone industry. The shocker, however, comes when realizing that the far and away third place winner is Apple with only one smartphone to its name - the iPhone, of course - which, if you glance at your calendar, you'll notice only came out 7 months ago.

No wonder every smartphone maker in the world, including fourth place contender Motorola, are looking to the iPhone to give them a lesson in how to make the next best thing in smartphones.


written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: , , , , , , ,

Feb 21

The world’s largest mobile phone maker has finally decided to join the touch screen revolution. Is it too late for Nokia to compete in this arena, though – with LG, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung already upping the stakes set by the Apple iPhone? Doubtful.

Apple may have pioneered consumer-friendliness in technology, but Nokia pioneered quality, and they’ll do it again, and continue to do so, with the increasingly coveted touch screen next up at bat.

A flurry of blog postings in late 2006 about the Nokia Aeon (which doesn’t exist yet) gave a sneak peek into Nokia’s plans for improving upon Apple’s greatness. The innovation? A full-phone touch screen. In other words, a touch screen display that occupies the entirety of the face of the phone.

It was in the Research and Development stages then, and it’ll still be a while longer before such technology can be made viable, but that hasn’t stopped Nokia from putting its proverbial nose to the grindstone nonetheless and coming up with its first entry in the touch screen arena.

Proving that battling Apple requires strategic planning on multiple fronts, Nokia’s as yet unnamed first touch screen venture will be an unlimited music phone. Look for it later this year.


written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Jan 26

With the increasing popularity of Virtual Desktops, the increasing capabilities of smart phones, and the increasing pervasiveness of speedy networks, the day will soon be upon use when people start using their smartphones as a secondary laptop or desktop PC.

One writer looked forward to the day this "Nirvana SmartPhone" comes to market and offers readers a sneak peek at how this product of the future will look and feel, and what it will do.

Like the Nokia N95 and certain PDAs, the Nirvana smartphone will have a Video Out. The iPhone already has such functionality, but it's limited. The upcoming i-Mate promises to improve upon it. The Nirvana smartphone will also have a keyboard and mouse and a docking station.

It's probably obvious to most technophiles that such a Nirvana smartphone would have improved and enhanced music, video, photo, and voice capabilities, but there are endless other innovative uses for the burgeoning technology including: web-enabling all of the televisions in your home, and conducting video conferences through your TV.

Read more about it at BrianMadden.


written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jan 21

On Tuesday, January 15, Apple's top exec Steve Jobs gave a keynote address at the Macworld 2008 convention. Key among his comments was that in the first 200 days on the market for the cutting-edge iPhone, Apple sold 4 million units.

With 20,000 more units shipped each day, the iPhone currently has just under 20% of the U.S. smartphone market share.

Jobs promised that the iPhone software development kit will be released within the next month, allowing programmers everywhere to start developing great new features to integrate into the iPhone.

In the meantime, Apple released Firmware version 1.1.3 and is soon to be introducing a whole bunch of new features into the product including:

  • Web Clips - a GPS-like update of GoogleMaps that allows user to triangulate their location
  • The ability to send an SMS out to multiple recipients
  • A customized home screen

Jobs also made mention of how many of the iPhone's features like mail, notes, weather, and stocks are now being made available in the iPod Touch.

Read more about it at BetaNews


written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,