Now that Facebook has finally fulfilled the prophecies, and entered the smartphone market, all eyes are on Amazon. The online retail giant has also long been rumored to be looking to get into the space with its own handset.
And today comes a new report that adds weight to the story. Citing sources familiar with the company’s plans, The WSJ says Amazon is working on a number of new hardware products, including a glasses-free 3D smartphone… Read More
Facebook’s media event just ended and as expected, most of what was talked about had to do with a new Facebook experience on Android. The social network unveiled a new ‘people first’ launcher, or shell if you will, for Android devices called Facebook Home.
But software wasn’t the only topic of discussion today. Right before ending the press conference, Mark Zuckerberg pulled a Steve Jobs’-like ‘one more thing,’ and called HTC’s CEO Peter Chou on stage to introduce the long-rumored HTC First smartphone… Read More
HTC has sent out invitations for a huge media event tomorrow morning. How huge? Huge enough to spread across two continents. The handset-maker will be hosting simultaneous keynotes in both London and New York.
What’s on the menu? Well, it’s no secret that the company has a new flagship handset in the wings. And word has it that it’s readying a new version of its ‘Sense’ Android shell. But the real question is: does anyone care? Read More
Let’s file this prediction by uber accounting firm Deloitte under ‘been there, done that’: world smartphone shipments will top one billion during 2013, and near two billion by year’s end.
Back in October 2012, we reported that industry analyst firm Strategy Analytics announced the mark was passed during the third quarter of last year.
However, Deloitte adds a wrinkle to the smartphone race, forecasting we should top the 2 billion mark by the end of 2013. This means that an astounding billion shipments are expected throughout the calendar year 2013. That appears to suggest demand for smartphones is increasing across the globe. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that Strategy Analytics projected it would take until 2015 before we hit two billion smartphones… Read More
The Facebook Phone is one of the longest-running urban legends in the tech world. I can remember it being reported on as far back as 2010, and I’m sure it goes back further than that. But thus far, nothing has materialized, and Mark Zuckerberg himself has even denied its existence.
Despite all of this, a new report is out today claiming that the social network indeed has a handset in the works. And according to the usual “sources familiar with the matter,” it’s going to use its just-announced January 15th media event to unveil it to the world…
Since its debut last year, the Kindle Fire has garnered quite a bit of attention in the tablet space. Despite Amazon’s reluctance to release actual sales numbers, there’s no doubt that the slate has made at least a small dent in Apple’s majority marketshare.
And now it looks like Amazon is ready to take on Apple and others in the smartphone space as well. A new report today adds to previous rumors that the online retailer is working on a handset, claiming it’s already in production, and set for launch next year… Read More
For the eighth time in a row, Apple is ranked with the highest customer satisfaction. The iPhone received 849 points out of 1,000, according to J.D. Powers and Associates. HTC ranked second with 790 points and Samsung earned 782 points, below the 783-point survey average.
The iPhone “performs well in all factors, particularly in physical design and ease of operation,” the ratings firm announced Thursday. The company measured smartphones for performance, physical design, features and ease of operation. Read More
Rumors that Facebook has been working on its own smartphone have been around for more than a year now. Last fall, a report came out that the social network had tapped HTC to help it build the handset.
Since then, the speculation has only gotten louder. Yesterday, Bloomberg even threw its hat into the ring. But this afternoon, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to squash the chatter… Read More
You know that crazy rumor that keeps bouncing around that Facebook is building its own smartphone? Well, a little more fuel was just added to the fire today.
A new report is out this afternoon claiming, once again, that the social network is pairing up with Taiwanese handset-maker HTC to develop its own mobile phone… Read More
The initial idea behind the patent made sense: by filing them, inventors could prevent others from stealing and profiting from their ideas. But nowadays, it seems like companies use them more or less as legal weapons.
Well, Apple just added a nuclear missile to its arsenal. The US Patent and Trademark Office published a series of 25 newly granted Apple patents yesterday. And one of them virtually covers the entire smartphone… Read More
Over the past few years, the smartphone race has essentially come down to just two manufacturers: Apple and Samsung. HTC is struggling, as is Nokia, and RIM is all but done.
But that doesn’t seem to be stopping Amazon from entering the market. Another report is out this evening claiming that the retail giant is cooking up its very own smartphone… Read More
A new report form the boys and girls of Google has revealed a couple of interesting facts about mobile phone usage across five key markets.
Looking at the five countries that are leading the charge towards a connected life – United States, UK, Japan, France and Germany – the search and mobile giant has come to a couple of interesting conclusions.
Firstly, and perhaps not such a surprise, it appears that Smartphones are rapidly eating into the remaining feature phone share, with the proliferation of iPhones, Android phones and the like causing users to upgrade to more powerful handsets.
More interestingly however, it appears there are now more people connected with a smartphone than people connected with a computer… Read More
Amazon recently unveiled the Kindle Fire. The new tablet has seen a fair amount of success, although it’s definitely not an iPad killer. What’s next for Amazon? A phone, of course!
While details on such a device are scarce, it’s believed that Amazon will launch a KindlePhone in 2012. Android is expected to be the operating system of choice… Read More
Have you ever wanted a bird’s eye view of the smartphone industry? Wouldn’t it be cool to look back at the evolution of handsets from the 90s until now?
TechKing has put together an awesome infographic that demonstrates how smartphone design has changed throughout the years. Starting with the IBM Simon and ending with the upcoming iPhone 5/4S — it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come… Read More
As smartphones become increasingly popular and we enter an age in which everyone has Internet access in the palm of their hand, unlimited data plans are becoming obsolete. Carriers are no longer happy to give us all the data we so desire.
Verizon Wireless will be the next carrier to drop its unlimited data plans, and on Thursday, July 7, new customers will have to sign up for one of four tiered plans.
A Verizon spokesperson confirmed the move to FierceNews today and confirmed the new prices, which happen to make AT&T look like a better choice for some… Read More
In a mouth-dropping report, Asymco states that Apple would be able to buy the entire mobile phone industry – in cash.
Nokia, RIM, HTC, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson could all be bought with Apple’s treasure trove of $70 billion in available funds. Apple’s profits are expected to continue in growth, while most handset makers are suffering from a decline in profits. Read More
While the Verizon iPhone doesn’t seem as popular as Apple had expected, it has helped Cupertino in various ways.
According to NPD’s quarterly results on U.S smartphone sales, the availability of the iPhone on Verizon Wireless not only bumped Apple to the third largest phone seller in the U.S, but also helped eat into Android’s market share for the first time since 2009. Read More
In Apple’s Q1 earnings call, the company released very impressive numbers for its sales in the first three months of 2011. The iPhone’s fastest growing market is China, with an over 250% increase in iPhone sales since this time last year.
China is a major hub for technology and smartphone innovation, and most iPhone knockoffs are Chinese-made. 10% of Apple’s revenue comes from China (to the tune of about $5 billion). The iPhone is doing extremely well; now accounting for 8.3% of China’s 850 million mobile customers. Read More
Although they are still far behind other companies like Nokia and Samsung in total mobile market share, Apple is making a name for itself in the smartphone industry. Because of its popularity, Apple’s products and sales garner a lot of speculation from marketing research firms. These companies do tons of research and conduct poles to analyze a company’s performance.
This data is useful for a number of reasons, such as, guiding investors who are looking to make large stock purchases. Popular tech intelligence company comScore has done some number crunching that should give anyone contemplating Apple stock the green light.
Not only did Apple gain more mobile phone market share in the last 6 months than any other company, their Verizon branded iPhone was the most acquired handset in the month of February…. Read More
The iPhone has undoubtedly had a profound impact on the smartphone market since its release in 2007. The idea of a large, touchscreen-based phone wasn’t that popular before the original iPhone, and the general design of mobile handsets has drastically altered since Apple set the bar in the mobile space years ago.
Plenty of iPhone “killers” have come and gone. Devices with copied features and designs can never really hold weight next to the original.
This clever little cartoon/infographic depicts what happens when the iPhone killers meet… Read More
