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‘smartphones’ Stories

Smartphones still at only 27% of global market share

Rue Liu, Nov 28th 2011 Discuss [4]

Market research firm VisionMobile has released a report, revealing that the worldwide mobile phone market is still dominated by feature phones. Despite all the craze around the latest iPhone or Android device and the spike in smartphone shipments, their global penetration has only reached 27 percent. Read The Full Story

Windows Phone 7 Facebook app usage spike suggests strong holiday sales

Rue Liu, Nov 28th 2011 Discuss [6]

Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 sales may finally be seeing a stronger performance as we approach the holiday season. The number of people using Microsoft's Facebook Integration for Windows Phone 7 has shot up in the past two weeks from 1,000,000 on November 11 to 1,100,000 on November 25. According to previous calculations by the WMPU blog, this could mean a gain of over 600,000 new Windows Phone users this holiday. Read The Full Story

LG schedules special launch event for December 1

Rue Liu, Nov 22nd 2011 Discuss [0]

LG Mobile has sent out invitations today to a special launch event that it's hosting on December 1 in New York City. The invite doesn't reveal much in the way of details, stating only that "all will be revealed." However, the gamut of recent LG rumors suggests that it will likely be for a high-end smartphone unveiling. Read The Full Story

Google boasts 200 million Android devices activated

Rue Liu, Nov 16th 2011 Discuss [4]

We're covering live the special star-studded Google Music event taking place right now in Los Angeles. And before diving into all the juicy details, Google has revealed that its Android platform has continued to grow at an astounding pace. The company boasts now having 200 million Android devices activated. Read The Full Story

T-Mobile announces “Magenta Saturday Sale” for November 19

Rue Liu, Nov 15th 2011 Discuss [3]

T-Mobile today announced a special sale which the carrier is calling its "Magenta Saturday Sale." The promotion will take place a week ahead of Black Friday for one day only this Saturday, November 19. T-Mobile will be offering almost all its smartphones and tablets for under $49.99 after a mail-in rebate. Read The Full Story

comScore: Android still way ahead, but Apple now grabs 10% US market share

Rue Liu, Nov 4th 2011 Discuss [26]

Research firm comScore has just released a US smartphone market report for the period ending in September 2011, revealing as expected that Android is still way ahead of the pack, but that Apple continues to grow steadily. In fact, one in ten mobile subscribers in the US now own an iPhone and this is even before Apple released the iPhone 4S. Read The Full Story

Samsung Focus S and Flash WP7 Mango phones headed to AT&T on November 6

Rue Liu, Oct 28th 2011 Discuss [12]

AT&T will be launching Samsung's upcoming Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handsets, the Focus S and the Focus Flash, on November 6. The carrier made the announcement today via its Facebook page, revealing that the Samsung Focus Flash will be priced at a very budget-friendly $49.99 while the Samsung Focus S will be priced at $199.99. And of course that's each with a new two-year service agreement plus a $15 minimum data plan. Read The Full Story

Nokia Windows Phones may not hit US until 2012

Rue Liu, Oct 24th 2011 Discuss [8]

According to leaked advertising plans, Nokia may not be releasing its Windows Phone 7.5 Mango devices in the US until 2012. That means the much anticipated Nokia N9 look-alike called the Nokia 800 along with the Sabre and Ace, which are all expected to be unveiled at this week's Nokia World conference, may only be available in Europe and other parts of the world in time for the holidays this year. Read The Full Story

iPhone 4S delay caused Q3 smartphone slump

Rue Liu, Oct 24th 2011 Discuss [1]

Smartphone sales in the third quarter slid for the first time in the US. According to Morgan Keegan analyst Tim McCourt, the slump may have been caused by the delay of the iPhone 4S launch. Effects on iPhone sales by consumers holding out for the next-gen device were expected, but the wait also affected Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone sales. Read The Full Story

PlayStation Suite to hit non-Sony Android devices

Rue Liu, Oct 21st 2011 Discuss [5]

Sony may finally be loosening up its grip on the PlayStation suite platform. Currently, the platform is only available to Sony-branded Android devices, including the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Sony Tablet S and Sony Tablet P. In an interview at the AsiaD conference, Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman Kaz Hirai confirmed that the company was working on having the platform available on other non-Sony devices. Read The Full Story

Microsoft invites you to Windows Phone 7.5 events in five major US cities

Rue Liu, Oct 20th 2011 Discuss [0]

Microsoft will be hosting several events in the next two months to show off its upcoming Windows Phone 7.5 Mango devices, which include the HTC Titan, HTC Radar, Samsung Focus S, and Samsung Focus Flash. The events are open to all and will be hosted in five major US cities: New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Read The Full Story

Samsung Galaxy Nexus, DROID RAZR, and more may launch November 10

Rue Liu, Oct 18th 2011 Discuss [0]

A leaked screenshot of Verizon's product release schedule reveals the tentative launch dates for a slew of upcoming Android smartphones, including what could be the just unveiled Motorola DROID RAZR as well as the soon to be unveiled Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The latter of which we're expecting to see tonight at the Android Ice Cream Sandwich event hosted by Google and Samsung in Hong Kong. Reminder: we'll be there to cover it live at 10pm EST, so stay tuned! Read The Full Story