Windows Phone

Is Apple losing its coolness edge to Microsoft and Android?

In the contest for coolness, the amorphous concept potentially driving young consumers to smartphones, tablets and other devices, Apple has some competition. While the iPhone maker is seen as cooler now than previously by 60 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds, even more people point to Android as the king of cool.

Even more surprising is Microsoft apparently isn't your father's software giant. The Windows maker - long viewed as buttoned-down and behind the technology curve - has revamped its image, thanks largely to the firm's smartphone and Surface tablet...

Poll: my next cell phone will be…

These days, it's all but impossible to escape Apple hate speech. You know who to blame: big media. I mean, stock manipulators played even the credulous Wall Street Journal. It's not just WSJ - or NYT or Reuters, for that matter.

Anti-Apple Forbes hit new lows with clickbait headlines like this one or this one. And as crazypants analysts voice their concern regarding "Apple’s lack of a strategy in the lower-end phone”, they at the same time continue to hallucinate about a happiness or time travel machine from Apple.

And all of them get an assistance from traffic-hungry journalists like Dan Lyons whose write-ups sound bitter and idiotic. But in spite of all that FUD talk, Apple is demolishing Android in every metric that matters. None of this frenzy should matter when considering your next cell phone.

But real life can be a bitch and with so much negative publicity mounting ahead of Apple's earnings report, no wonder some of the faint-hearted fans are beginning to question their faith in the California firm. I know where my heart stands, but I want to know one thing: do you know where your heart stands? So, what's your next phone gonna be?

Microsoft launches free natural disaster helper app

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPYVHmW5GX8

Available now as a free download on Windows Phone, Android and iPhone, HelpBridge is Microsoft's new mobile app that everybody should have on their handset, just in case. Should you, God forbid, ever find yourself at the epicenter of a large scale natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy, the software will help you connect with those that matter to you most.

As a bonus, you can also use HelpBridge to rally everyone around one cause - that is, donate your money, time and resources to support relief and rebuilding efforts. The above clip shows off the Windows Phone version of HelpBridge, but you get the idea...

AT&T confirms ‘best-ever’ sales of iPhone and Android smartphones

Ahead of its earnings call pertaining to calendar 2012 fourth-quarter results scheduled for January 24, carrier AT&T just announced, reporting 'best-ever' sales of Apple and Android smartphones. The Dallas, Texas wireless company sold a record ten million smartphones powered by Apple's and Google's platform during the holiday quarter of 2012 as Android and iPhone sales hit all-time highs. The figure beats the year-ago quarter when AT&T moved 9.4 million smartphones, 7.6 million of them being iPhones.

The “best-ever quarterly sales of Android and Apple smartphones”, according to AT&T Mobility President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph de la Vega, came down to an average of 110,000 smartphone sales each day. “These are the industry’s most valuable postpaid subscribers with average revenues twice that of non-smartphone subscribers", he noted...

Samsung passes Nokia as the world’s top phone brand in 2012

The cellphone industry has a new king. South Korea's Samsung is #1 in the market, unseating the Finnish-based Nokia after fourteen years. As 2012 wraps up, Samsung is responsible for 29 percent of all cell phone shipments, up from last year's 24 percent.

Conversely, Nokia slips to #2, dropping to 24 percent of the market, a fall from 30 percent posted in 2011. Nokia's departure from a top spot it held since 1998 is largely due to the predominance of smartphones, an area where Samsung thrived and Nokia faltered, according to the hardware research firm iSuppli...

China is now the world’s largest Android smartphone market

Just how important is China to the top two smartphone platforms: Google's Android and Apple's iOS? The Asian nation is now the largest single market for Android, with the United States a distant second. What's more, half of the smartphones sold in America next year could be Android-powered unless Apple "makes radical changes to its aging iOS", one research firm warns Tuesday.

China is rushing to turn in their feature phones for more powerful smartphones, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. Smartphones grew at an 85 percent clip compared to 2011. That's nearly double the 45 percent year-over-year growth worldwide. Just in 2012 alone, an astounding 786 million smartphones were sold in the 1.33 billion people market...

Another survey says more than half want an iPhone 5 for Christmas

After getting off to a shaky start, more than half of consumers shopping for a smartphone plan to buy an iPhone 5, according to a new Wall Street survey. Likewise, Twitter chatter indicates a growing number of Internet users hope to find Apple's new handset under the Christmas tree.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster told investors Thursday that 53.3 percent of a group polled Wednesday said they plan to purchase the iPhone 5 over the next month. That number is just slightly below the 54.9 percent found in mid-October, following the new smartphone's launch...

RIM lost Nokia suit, now faces BlackBerry ban

An interesting opportunity has presented itself to Microsoft following news that Canada-based Research In Motion has lost a legal dispute with Nokia over wireless technology patents. As a result, RIM could see BlackBerry handsets banned unless it agrees to pay royalties to Nokia. As things stand, Nokia has already filed cases in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom to enforce the ruling, a move that could see all Blackberry smartphones removed from store shelves.

"In order to enforce the Tribunal's ruling, we have now filed actions in the US, UK and Canada with the aim of ending RIM's breach of contract", Nokia said in a statement. If the courts enforce the sales ban, consequences for the ailing BlackBerry maker could be devastating while opening door to Microsoft's Windows Phone becoming the #3 mobile platform...

Ad assault: Windows Phone commercials are heavy on celebs and great overall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y29tpFjWyUE

Microsoft is sparing no expense in promoting its freshly updated Windows Phone software platform. The massive advertising blitz that will end up costing billions over the next twelve months kicked off during NFL games on Sunday with a series of effective commercials. They're all heavy on celebs who explain how Windows Phone makes their lives more personal.

The basic message the campaign wants to instill in the mind of the consumer is that Windows Phone is "reinvented around you" (it reminds a bit of the "inspired by nature, designed by humans" tagline for Samsung's Galaxy S III, doesn't it?). "When we set out to make a smartphone, we didn't make one for all of us", the ad above proclaims. "We made one for each of us".

Right below the fold: more ads showing Gwen Stefani arranging Live Tiles, Jessica Alba using Kid's Corner parental controls and even Microsoft's boss Steve Ballmer messing with the Live Apps on the Start screen...

Microsoft said to be building its own smartphone

Once Microsoft unveiled its Surface tablet, its first foray into designing its own mobile hardware, this summer, you had to imagine that a Redmond-built smartphone wouldn't be far behind.

And sure enough, according to a new report from a highly regarded news outlet, the Windows company is currently working with suppliers in Asia to test its own smartphone design...

Samsung bets on Windows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC9ZJf_CUTA

Say what you will about Samsung, but it's always been a multi-platform player. True, the company's bet on Android has paid off big time, but Samsung also maintains another smartphone operating system, its own Bada software, and pledges to build a plethora of desktop and mobile products driven by Microsoft's new Windows 8 desktop operating system and its Windows Phone 8 counterpart.

The South Korean conglomerate currently makes Windows-based Smart PC and Smart PC Pro, in addition to a Windows Phone 8 tablet and smartphone. All are marketed under the new ATIV moniker (whoever thought of that one?). I kinda like how the commercial above highlights different usage scenarios for these devices. By the way, what's up with the evident James Bond theme to advertising recently?

iPhone share rising, everyone else looks flat or down

Analytics firm comScore is out with new research data concerning the mobile landscape in the United States during August. Good news for Apple: the iOS is on the rise among smartphones, going from 31.9 percent during the three-month period ending in May 2012 to 34.3 percent in June, July and August.

During the same timeframe, Google's Android went from 50.9 percent to 52.6 percent smartphone market share. Better still, Apple grew at a faster clip than Google. Microsoft's Windows Phone, Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Symbian? All losing ground...