Samsung Beats Apple as 2011′s No.1 Smartphone Maker
With 37 million iPhones sold, it’s no suprise that Apple dominated the smartphone market during the fourth quarter, but for 2011 as a whole, Samsung managed to edge out Cupertino as the year’s top smartphone manufacturer.
According to separate reports from Strategy Analytics and IHS Suppli, Samsung’s Galaxy line of devices help push it past Apple’s iPhone last year as the battle between Android and iOS continued.
Samsung shipped 95 million smartphones in 2011, an “explosive” increase of 278 percent from 25 million in 2010, iSuppli said.
“Samsung advanced in 2011 because of its strategy of offering a complete line of smartphone products, spanning a variety of price points, features and operating systems,” Wayne Lam, a senior analyst of wireless communications at IHS, said in a statement. “This enabled Samsung to move past perennial market leader Nokia and to slightly exceed Apple’s total for the year.”
There were reports yesterday that Samsung would not be launching the Samsung Galaxy S III at next month’s Mobile World Congress. When asked about that during an earnings call this morning, Samsung vice president Younghee Lee said “we are still reviewing several options [about] when to launch, so we’ll let you know when it’s decided,” according to SammyHub.com.
Apple still came in number two with 93 million smartphones shipped, thanks to the October releease of the iPhone 4S, up from 47 million in 2010.
But while Android-based Samsung devices thrived, similar devices from Motorola and Sony Ericsson did not fare as well.
“The relatively small growth of Sony Ericsson and Motorola may indicate that the Android smartphone market is becoming too crowded as the various licensees compete for limited consumer mindshare and shelf space,” Lam said.
Strategy Analytics reached similar conclusions.
“While Apple took the top spot in smartphones on a quarterly basis, Samsung became the market leader in annual terms for the first time with 20 percent global share during 2011,” Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement. “With global smartphone shipments nearing half a billion units in 2011, Samsung is now well positioned alongside Apple in a two-horse race at the forefront of one of the world’s largest and most valuable consumer electronics markets.”
Nokia, meanwhile, took a dive as it worked to produce the Windows Phone-based Lumias, which debuted at the end of 2011.
“Nokia’s global smartphone market share halved from 33 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2011,” said Tom Kang, Strategy Analytics director. “A lackluster touch-screen smartphone portfolio and a limited presence in the huge United States market caused Nokia’s shrinkage last year. Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft will be very much in focus during 2012, and the industry will be watching closely to see how swiftly the two companies can expand in the high-value 4G LTE market that is rapidly emerging across the United States, Japan and elsewhere.”
Nokia said yesterday that it has sold more than 1 million Lumia devices since their debut. the low-end Lumia 710 arrived in the U.S. earlier this month, while the high-end Lumia 900 is expected in the coming months.
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Samsung Beats Apple as 2011′s No.1 Smartphone Maker
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Categories: Technology Tags: cupertino, galaxy line, iPhone, senior analyst, wayne lam
New Information About Smartphone Application Development
Smartphone is an advanced handset device. Advanced technologies and new features have been squeezed into the Smartphone. its key features are Internet, e-mail and the ability related to e-book reader.
These modern devices of today carry out the function of pocket video cameras, digital cameras that are compact in nature and media players, which are completely portable. The latest devices also comprise website browsers that have the capacity to display standardized website pages and touch screens that are of high and improved resolution. it primarily functions on the basis of an operating system that lets the running of the various applications.
The services associated with it include Smartphone Application Development services as well as Smartphone development services. it comprises usually Android Application Development, iPad Application Development, Blackberry Application Development and iPhone Application Development. however the development of the applications varies from one organization to another.
It is the Android Smartphones that dominate the market as they account for 52% of the Smartphone sales as per the second quarter of the last year. The Blackberry and the iPhone OS accounted for 11% and 29% respectively.
The five best Smartphone Applications are:
1. Vouchercloud – it makes use of the GPS technology to locate the discounts as well as the offers available at the stores located in close proximity of the users. The user just needs to press the redeem button to choose any offer as per their wish and the voucher gets delivered to the display screen of the mobile device. it is available only for the Android and the iPhone.
2. Amazon Kindle – it is available for the Android, iPhone and the iPad. this application would be loved by the avid readers. it allows the easy installation of the Kindle software that allows the reading of the e-books, while the user is travelling to another place or is on the move. it allows the users to download a large number of e-books as per their desired wish.
3. Tesco – available for the iPhone. If the user suddenly finds out that he/she does not have the required item needed to cook a particular palatable dish, then he/she just needs to scan the item name. In an automatic manner it would get added to the website of the supermarket on its display page of online shopping.
4. RinGo Car Parking – it helps the users to find out the best affordable price for parking purpose. it also extends the meter time, so that the users does not have to pay a heavy amount of fine, if he/she is late by a few minutes or one/two hours to return back to the car. it is only available for the Android.
5. Onavo – it is available to the Android, iPad and the iPhone. The downloading of this application is useful in the respect that it allows the compressing of the data, which is made use of, while carrying out the function of web browsing.
The developments of these applications are not an easy task. The applications developed should be compatible with the mobile operating systems. The organizations should therefore hire talented and capable individuals for this purpose.
New Information About Smartphone Application Development
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Categories: Technology Tags: application development services, gps technology, handset, iPhone, media players
Droid Razr Maxx is ‘longest-lasting’ smartphone
Verizon is now offering Motorola’s Droid Razr Maxx for $300, with a claimed battery life of up to 21 hours. with a dual-core, 1.2GHz processor, 4.3-inch screen, and an eight megapixel camera, the device is otherwise similar to the previously released Droid Razr, but it’s thicker by approximately 2mm.
The Droid Razr Maxx (pictured) is now available on the Verizon Wireless network for $300, after being announced with minimal detail at CES earlier this month. Motorola’s answer to the “but” that followed otherwise-positive reviews of its relatively new Droid Razr, the Razr Maxx is said to feature a battery life of up to 21 hours on a single charge, making it the longest-lasting smartphone on the market.
All those positive reviews should work in the Razr Maxx’s favor, as it’s equipped with all the same features as the Droid Razr, though in not as slim a form factor. Given the ruler treatment, the Droid Razr comes in at 7.1mm thick, while the Razr Maxx measures 8.99mm and the iPhone 4S 9.3mm.
Further filling out the Maxx’s resume are its dual-core, 1.2GHz processor and compatibility with Verizon’s super-quick 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.
The Razr Maxx runs Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, but is upgradable to 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”). it features a 4.3-inch AMOLED HD touchscreen, an eight-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video capture, and a front-facing camera for video chatting over 4G, 3G, or Wi-Fi.
The Maxx can enable up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices to hop on Verizon’s 4G network, comes with 32GB of memory and — asking to be taken to work — features remote-wipe capabilities and government-grade encryption.
Knowing what the Razr Maxx is up against, Motorola created “Smart Actions” as a sort of next best thing to Apple’s Siri. with the former, the phone can be made helpful in certain rules-based ways, such as launching Google Maps when the user is in the car.
Customers who purchase the Razr Maxx will need to subscribe to Verizon’s Nationwide Talk plan, which begins at $40 a month, and purchase a smartphone data package, which starts at $30 a month.
“we are a premium-priced product, but we will win in the marketplace. …. there are niches of people that want to be on the best network in the world,” Verizon CFO Fran Shammo told analysts during a Jan. 24 call on the carrier’s 2011 fourth-quarter results.
Despite pulling in $28.4 billion in revenue and selling more than twice the number of iPhones than it did the quarter before — 4.2 million Apple handsets, up from 2 million — Verizon finished at a loss of $2.02 billion. the two main contributors to its fall to red were pension costs, which it had warned investors of in advance, and the high cost of supporting the iPhone.
Verizon’s incremental spending during the quarter was up 6.3 percent, Shammo said, due to a combination of “3G capacity requirements, driven by the Apple iPhone, and the continued rapid expansion of our 4G LTE network.”
The price Apple charges the carriers for each iPhone also forces them to pay a higher subsidy than with any other handset, in order to offer the iPhone to consumers at a price competitive with their other handsets. But as the iPhone is a device users switch carriers for, and iPhone users are said to be the most lucrative customers over the long term, Verizon and its competitors find the iPhone’s initial right hook worth suffering.
Michelle Maisto is a writer for eWEEK.
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Droid Razr Maxx is ‘longest-lasting’ smartphone
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Categories: Technology Tags: ces, droid, iPhone, measures, megapixel, term evolution
Best iPhone Apps For Catching Up on National News
Some of the best iPhone apps aren’t games, but the uniquely crafted and assembled huge iPhone news apps These days, there is absolutely no excuse for not knowing the latest local, national and world news. the Internet made getting information and news of any kind more accessible, but gadgets like the iPhone have taken it even further.
Now with all the customization taking place, you should have very little trouble finding out your local news source now has an iPhone app, which you’ll be able to find easily at appfairy.com This is great for iPhone users for a number of reasons and 99% of the time those apps are free What do I like best about having a local news sources’ app on my iPhone? Well, it allows me to catch up on the local news anywhere while finding out things I really want to know: like what’s the weather going to be like tonight?
Because of all this, I would highly recommend that you find a local news app made available by a television station, radio station, or newspaper that you trust. To supplement your local app, I would say you need at least one or two of the following best iPhone apps for national news. All are free and have great content and layout. here are ten of the best iPhone apps for national news:
AP Mobile
Get the latest news from the always-reliable associated Press using this awesome iPhone application. What is the best trait of this app? It’s free you will never worry about being out of the loop when it comes to important news.
Bloomberg
Bloomberg is the undisputed authority when it comes to financial news all over the globe. with this iPhone news app, latest breaking news on the stock exchange and the latest business trends are easily accessible.
NYTimes
Get content from the world renowned new York Times using your iPhone. They’re really turning this app into one of the elite iPhone apps. Download it for free, play with it for a while and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
NPR News
This iPhone app from National Public Radio is probably one of the most used apps in many people’s collection. you either dig NPR or you don’t. Simply enough, if you’re an NPR fan, you must get this app and if you aren’t, it still may be worth a try.
USA Today
This app will provide you with all the national news you could possibly want. the site is broken down much as the classic newspaper is. You’ll get that feeling of checking out a fresh USA Today newspaper every time you open this app.
WSJ
The cult following of the Wall Street Journal is similar to the hold NPR has on its fans. Similarly, this app doesn’t disappoint the newspaper’s fans and followers. get the latest global news, in depth stories and reporting at your fingertips. there are a bunch of options available for the user to customize the app to his/her liking. that and the other features available make this one of the best iPhone apps.
TIME Mobile
This is one of the best iPhone apps to have if you want to delve a bit deeper into a couple of stories. or, as I like to do with TIME magazines, it’s great to flip through and learn a bunch about nothing or something like that. anyways, I really love this app and they’ve done a great job configuring this app for their readers.
Yahoo
This Yahoo app can do much more than simply bring you the news. but for that reason, I believe this is truly a must-have app. This is one of the best iPhone apps because it can bring you news about any possible topic from literally any source in the world.
PopSci.com
This is a news-reader app that is based off the ultra-successful Popular Science magazine. If you like to keep up on the science world, this is a great iPhone app to have. Gadgets, green tech, scientific research and many more fun topics can fill your iPhone with plenty of fun news to read about.
HuffingtonPost.com
Historically known for its left-leaning news commentaries rather than for its straight news, they’re changing all that. This app lets you access the nonetheless authoritative content of the Huffington Post’s website.
Best iPhone Apps For Catching Up on National News
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Categories: iPod, iPhone, Xbox 360 Tags: iPhone, weather
Windows Phone garners raves for Microsoft design
Redmond , Wash. — gorgeous,” raves The Huffington Post.
“Best-looking smartphone operating system in the industry,” gushes Slate.
“Far superior to most if not all the Android smartphones,” says TechCrunch.
Sounds like the usual adulation for a gadget from Apple. In fact, they’re actually accolades for a new product from Microsoft.
Exactly. Long ridiculed as the tech industry dullard, Microsoft actually has a hit, at least with the technorati. it is the cell phone software called Windows Phone – and they need it to be a blockbuster here at Microsoft Central.
Yes, Windows and Office products are ubiquitous and highly profitable. But they’re about as inspirational as a stapler. while the likes of Apple have captured our imaginations with nifty products like the iPhone, Microsoft has produced a long list of flops, from smart wristwatches to the Zune music player to the Kin phones.
Steve Jobs used to deride Microsoft for a lack of originality. In his opinion, the company didn’t bring “much culture” to its products. with Windows Phone, though, Microsoft is finally getting some buzz.
“I am a devoted Apple fan – I was in line for the iPhone,” said Axel Roesler, assistant professor for interaction design at the University of Washington in Seattle, but Windows Phone “strikes me as quite different and an advance.”
Windows Phone, which began appearing in devices last fall, certainly stands out visually. it has bold, on-screen typography and a mosaic of animated tiles on the home screen – a stark departure from the neat grid of icons made popular by the iPhone. while most phones force users to open stand-alone apps to get into social networks, Facebook and Twitter are wired into Windows Phone. The tiles spring to life as friends or family post fresh pictures, text messages and status updates.
Even so, relatively few consumers have been tempted, and sales have been lackluster. a big problem is that, initially, the handsets running Microsoft’s software, made by companies like HTC and Samsung, were unexceptional. Even more important, wireless carriers, the gatekeepers for nearly all mobile phones, have not been aggressively selling Windows Phones in their stores. most promote the iPhone and devices running Google’s Android operating system.
And so Microsoft has struck a partnership with Nokia, and executives at both companies have high hopes that their handsets will catch on with consumers.
On Monday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nokia introduced a sleek metallic Windows Phone called the Lumia 900 that will be sold by AT&T in the U.S.. unlike other handset makers creating devices with Microsoft’s software, Nokia is not also developing Android phones.
“We are doing our best work for Windows Phone,” said Stephen Elop, the chief executive of Nokia and a former Microsoft executive.
While the customers’ verdict is still unknown, the group that developed Windows Phone has already profoundly affected Microsoft itself, influencing work on other consumer products. The next major version of software for PCs, Windows 8, will look a lot like Windows Phone, which Microsoft hopes will help it work better on tablet devices. a Windows Phone-like makeover was also part of the new software update for Xbox, which along with Kinect is one of Microsoft’s few consumer hits.
Bill Flora, one of the designers of Windows Phone, said the care that Microsoft took in designing its products had changed vastly since he joined the company out of art school in the early 1990s.
“Now, instead of 80 percent of its efforts being unenlightened, just 20 percent are unenlightened,” said Flora, who recently left Microsoft to form his own design firm in Seattle.
The tale of how Microsoft created Windows Phone starts with the introduction of the iPhone, in 2007. to Joe Belfiore, now 43, an engineer who oversees software design for Windows Phone, that was the spark.
Windows Phone garners raves for Microsoft design
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Categories: Technology Tags: gadget, interaction design, iPhone, redmond wash
