SmartPhones

It was last November that Google announced their entry into the smartphone OS battle (alongside Symbian, RIM BlackBerry OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile, and of course the inimitable iPhone) but we have yet to see the first Google Android smartphone on the market. Well that is soon about to change.

A British chip maker named ARM has released a prototype of its unbranded handset running the Google Android operating system, equipped with:

• email (provided by Gmail)
• text messaging
• multimedia apps
• internet browser (with Google as the default home page)
• Google Calendar functionality
• GoogleMaps software

Meanwhile, Google's own engineering director has unveiled an Android smartphone prototype as well, this the Google branded GPhone. While Google won't be manufacturing the GPhones itself, it aims to design the basic handset in such a way that manufacturers of all capacities can still deliver a quality, Google-worthy product. The first of these looks to pack the equivalent power of the iPhone into a smaller, tighter package (and that includes the screen size).

The first Google Android smartphones are expected to hit markets later in the year.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Android, ARM, BB OS, Blackberry, British, Gmail, Google, GoogleCalendar, GoogleMaps, iphone, Microsoft, RIM, Symbian, text messaging, Windows Mobile

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: AP, apple, Associated Pres, iphone, Mobile News Network

That's right, there's a new smartphone coming to market - two actually - and they're not from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Palm, RIM, nor any of the familiar old diehards - not even Apple. No, this one is from Velocity Mobile.

Who? That's what I said.  

Formed by Invantec and some folks from Microsoft, this new dialer in the great, big smartphone conference call in the wireless skies is set to give its forerunners a run for their money. With the new Velocity 111 (which looks a lot like a BlackBerry) and Velocity 103 (which looks a lot like an iPhone), Velocity plans to improve on what's been working so well for its competitors and getting rid of all that doesn't meet up. It will have more icons and interfaces familiar to Windows PC-users and promises to be the most customizable smartphone yet.  

As might be expected, both devices will be running Windows Mobile 6.1.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: apple, Blackberry, customizable, Invantec, iphone, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, PC, Research in Motion, RIM, Samsung, Velocity Mobile, Windows, Windows Mobile 6.1

The ASUS P735 is a Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Pocket PC 3G smartphone. With tools and features for both the professional user and the general consumer, the P735 is bundled with an impressive combination of multimedia features and productivity tools.

For example, its multimedia features include:

• Dual camera
• Video calling
• Total multimedia playback
• Business card reader

And its productivity tools include the deft and dexterous ASUS Remote Presenter app that allows users to access and manage Microsoft PowerPoint presentations from your PC, as well as a meeting planner capable of scheduling teleconferencing across three time zones.

The ASUS P735 lacks GPS or HSDPA, but it does operate on GPRS Class 10 networks. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity as well as a miniSD card slot for extra data storage.

The look and feel of the ASUS P735 resembles the Apple iPhone with a large screen dominating the face of the smartphone, though it has a few other buttons surrounding its primary, multipurpose button. A touch screen smartphone, the P735 has no keyboard or numeric keypad.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: 3G, apple, ASUS, ASUS P735, Bluetooth, GPRS, GPRS Class 10, GPS, hsdpa, iphone, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, miniSD card, miniSD card slot, multimedia, Pocket PC, Remote Presenter, touch screen, touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Wifi, Windows, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6

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: apple, Blackberry, CNET, HTC, HTC Tilt, iphone, Microsoft, Motorola, Motorola Q, Nokia, Palm, RIM, Samsung, Symbian, Windows Mobile

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: apple, Blackberry, entertainment, games, Handango, IM, instant messenger, iphone, RIM, ringtones, Sudoku, Texas Hold'em, travel assistant, Windows Mobile Standard

Demographics is big business in any industry and nowhere is that more apparent these days than in the smartphone market. The number of studies on what a person's choice of smartphone says about the person themselves is staggering.

A Verizon Wireless communications analyst released a report on what the type, style, preferred features, and common uses of smartphones says about the user, stating for example that a flip phone user likes being in control whereas a candy bar phone user likes to keep things simple.

Forbes, meanwhile, published a huge article on the personal significance of color choice in smartphones, noting that the most popular color for smartphones is blue, that red smartphones indicate outgoing, dramatic, and spontaneous personalities, whereas virtually nobody wants a yellow smartphone, though gold is another story altogether, suggesting a penchant for wealth, luxury, and prestige.

A story on MSNBC, meanwhile, looks at the correlation between brands of smartphone and personality types, noting for example that Blackberry users like staying in touch at all times, while Palm users enjoy multitasking, whereas iPhone users are avid multi-media hounds.

Pretty soon, it seems, a simple personality test will become the preferred method for shopping for one's next ideal smartphone. Ah progress!

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Blackberry, Forbes, iphone, MSNBC, Palm, Palm Treo, verizon, Verizon Wireless

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: apple, Blackberry, Canalys, iphone, Motorola, Nokia, Research in Motion, RIM

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: apple, Apple iPhone, iphone, LG, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, touch screen, touchscreen

This week Barcelona, Spain hosted the 2008 GSMA Mobile World Congress. One of the highlights of the international conference, as always, was the unveiling of several new smartphones, among the top contenders for leading spots in this year's marketplace, the following:

• the HTC P3470 - a GSM mobile phone running Windows Mobile 6 with the TomTom Navigator 6 built in;
• the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - a touch screen smartphone with 100 adjustable panels poised to become the iPhone biggest competitor this year;

Also announced was the first mobile phone processor from Nvidia, world leading maker of visual computing, graphics processor technologies. The new technology, dubbed APX 2500, is - as you might expect - designed for handheld devices with multimedia capabilities.

Stay tuned here throughout the year for reviews of the above-mentioned products and many more of the latest and greatest new releases debuted at the event.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: 2008 Mobile World Congress, apple, APX 2500, Barcelona, GSM, HTC, HTC P3470, iphone, Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress 2008, Nvidia, Nvidia APX 2500, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, Spain, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6, Xperia X1