Phones

Mobile browsing market share

In the mobile browsing arena, Net Applications reported that it had taken its first detailed look at market share and pronounced Apple’s iPhone as having a "commanding lead" with 66.61 percent of the market. But, Net Applications noted, "Android and BlackBerry are rapidly gaining market share. This does not mean that iPhone web browsing is shrinking, because the overall market is growing rapidly." Android, which Google released in October 2008, came in fourth with 6.15 percent, following No. 2 Java ME’s 9.06 percent and No. 3 Windows Mobile’s 6.91 percent. Interesting point to note, the leading smartphone OS, Symbian makes up 6.15% of the mobile browsing figure which is really low if you consider the amount of Symbian handsets throughout the world and just proves the point that most users of Symbian maybe don’t use all the features available to them.

via Cnet

Asus P835 video tour

The folks over at pda.pl have got hold of the recently announced Asus P835, you know the one with the 3.5” touchscreen that runs at WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) resolution, has the Asus Glide overlay and a trackball similar to what you find on the Blackberry devices. We have the video after the break and it looks like a lovely device. Take a look for yourself .

O2 sell their 1 millionth iPhone in the UK

O2 has announced that it managed to shift its millionth iPhone onto the UK public last quarter, helping it achieve positive year-on-year revenue growth. In its quarterly results, the network showed a 5.9 per cent growth in revenue, which was squarely in the middle of what was expected.

BlackBerry devices have also fared well for the network, which has twice seen queues around the block for a new device when it launched both iterations of the iPhone in the UK.

While the company is also a relative minnow in the broadband market, it has seen some strong growth in that area too, with a four-fold increase in the customer base.

via Techradar

Nokia netbook to be made in partnership with Taiwanese companies?

Rumours of Nokia entering into the mobile computer biz has been one of the hot topics on the internet lately, and according to Digitimes, Nokia is actually in talks already with several Taiwan netbook makers and EMS companies for possible tie-ups in their latest venture. As opposed to their traditional handset-making practice wherein only the manufacturing is outsourced, Nokia is mulling the idea of a joint design manufacturing (JDM) process this time around for netbooks. An Intel Atom and Qualcomm Snapdragon are the candidates for its processor while other possible partners include Compal and Foxconn. Safe to say, this will definitely be more than just a successor to the yet-to-be-released Nokia N97. No exact date when their first model will be released, but nonetheless, this does give us something new to look forward to from Nokia apart from their usual handsets.

[digitimes via PMPtoday]

Nokia upsets networks with Skype plans

A alleged rift has emerged between Nokia and operators over its plans to incorporate Skype onto its Nseries handsets. O2 and Orange responded furiously to Nokia’s declaration that it will equip its upcoming flagship Nseries device, the N97, with Skype.
If the row is not resolved the two operators may refuse to stock the N97 – or any future Nseries handsets containing Skype – unless Nokia strips out the Skype client. The two operators are understood to have vented their anger in high-level discussions, which involved group level executives from Nokia.
The row centres around  ownership of the customer, as well as potential lost revenue from calls from Skype’s internet call service.

A spokeswoman for O2 said: ‘We are currently working with Nokia to understand their Skype service and the business model around it. We continually evaluate new applications and mobile services for our customer base.’
Vodafone and Orange declined to comment.

via Mobiletoday

HTC Touch Diamond ROM update

An updated ROM is now available for HTC Touch Diamond users to download. HTC advise Diamond users to reapply this update on the models with the language version listed below if you installed this update prior to February 27:

Release Date: 2009-02-27 Category: ROM Upgrade

[The update is available for the following languages: English (Pan Europe and UK), Italian, French, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Middle East English, S. Africa English, Russian, and Arabic (Egypt and Middle East)] Full details and link to the ROM after the break.

Asus announce P835 Windows Mobile Pro phone

ASUS, a leading producer of innovative handhelds, today launched the P835, a PDA phone that delivers an Internet browsing and multimedia viewing experience without equal. Designed for business-savvy professionals who appreciate a screen as big as their ambitions, the P835 is equipped with a large 3.5” touchscreen that runs at WVGA resolution—offering five times the number of pixels of most phones and delivering the best document, photo, movie and website viewing experience possible. Apart from being able to display more of a webpage onscreen, the P835 boasts features that greatly enrich users’ online experience, including blazing fast HSUPA 7.2Mbps download speeds, a responsive trackball that makes scrolling effortless and Opera Mobile, a user-friendly and full-featured Web browser. It wraps all of its impressive functionality in an elegant touch-optimized interface which is intuitive, interactive and attractive.

LG video demo’s from MWC 09

LG have released three videos via their blog of some of the devices that were announced at Mobile World Congress last week. The first video is a short demonstration of the GD910 watch phone and it looks pretty groovy. Next up is the Windows Mobile running KM730, this has the S Class user interface and finally we see the LG Arena with its innovative cube interface. Check out the videos after the break and a word of warning, the last one is over 9 minutes long.

Documents To Go for iPhone status update

Documents To Go is still on track to be released in the second quarter of 2009 for the iPhone according to some information we have just received from DataViz. It was recently shown at Mobile World Congress and the reports were very favourable, something to note however the version being shown would only allow editing of Word documents and not Excel or any others file types. It will be interesting to see how it comes out next quarter and if the copy paste functions extend beyond the application. We will keep an eye out for more information.

DoCoMo halts BlackBerry Bold sales due to overheating

NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan’s biggest mobile phone operator, said on Friday it has halted sales of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Bold because the phone can overheat while the battery is being recharged. DoCoMo said it has sold about 4,000 high-end Bold phones, and about 30 users have complained the phone’s keyboard area had heated up. The company said it has received no reports of users getting burned or of phones catching on fire.

"This issue appears to be specifically limited to the BlackBerry Bold devices sold in Japan since last week and sales of BlackBerry Bold devices in other countries are unaffected by this matter," RIM said in a statement. RIM also said it had ruled out a battery problem, but the root cause is still being investigated.

via Reuters