Microsoft was forced last week pulled the plug on the Kin, a two-phone lineup that debuted not long ago on Verizon Wireless. The flop is just the latest knot in a string of evidence suggesting that, when it comes to selling handsets, carriers still hold the key. Read more »
Microsoft last week pulled the plug on the Kin, a two-phone lineup that debuted on Verizon Wireless just a few weeks ago. The flop is just the latest knot in a string of evidence suggesting strong relationships with carriers are crucial to selling ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
If RIM can’t deliver a dramatic upgrade of its aging BlackBerry OS, its days as the dominant player in the mobile enterprise may be coming to an end. The question is, who is best positioned to become the new Number ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Research In Motion shares tumbled last week after the company reported disappointing shipments and subscriber adds, and a new study indicates developers are showing little interest in the aging OS. Which means the door is wide open to the mobile enterprise. Read more »
Since launching a month ago, YouTube’s unlisted videos feature has experienced exponential growth since launching in May. But just because a video is unlisted doesn’t mean it can’t rack up views — Nike’s World Cup viral ad being the prime example. Read more »
Motorola plans a 2GHz smartphone with all the bells and whistles it can cram into a handset. While the geeky chip side of me is excited about a phone that’s more powerful than the laptop I owned in 2005, it’s no way to sell a phone. Read more »
Hewlett-Packard has no plans to move aggressively into the smartphone business following its $1.2 billion pickup of Palm, CEO Mark Hurd said last week. That’s too bad, because the pieces are in place for HP to become a major player in ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
AT&T and Verizon Wireless have thus far been able to stay far above the brutal battleground that is the prepaid space. That will change, though, as smartphone sales continue to ramp up and mobile data traffic ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The patent fights erupting in the smartphone industry aren’t going kill of any of the major players, nor are they likely to prevent smartphone users from having multitouch on non-Apple devices. For patent holders, the goal is to force competitors to pay if they succeed. Read more »
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion broke into the top five handset vendors for the first time during the first quarter of this year, according to numbers released by research firm IDC. However, BlackBerry is just the first beneficiary of the wider transition to smartphones. Read more »
If you’re not ready to bid farewell to the feature phone just yet, you might want to start preparing your goodbyes. Nielsen today said that by the end of 2011, smartphones will overtake feature phones up from a mere 10% in early 2008. Read more »
The mobile industry has gathered in Las Vegas for CTIA, its annual dog-and-pony show featuring the latest handsets and technology. This year’s show is all about the mobile operating system, as evidenced by the first wave of announcements out this morning. Here’s what they mean. Read more »
ComScore today released research on the U.S. smartphone market and the trends from the past two years appear to be continuing. In fact, the numbers jive quite nicely with the worldwide data provided by Gartner just last month. Here’s a comparison and thoughts on future numbers. Read more »
Google has introduced a nifty app that allows users to search contacts and other data by drawing letters on the screen of their phones. But it’s available only on handsets running Android version 2.0 or later, which means a lot of users are being left behind. Read more »
Microsoft is making a clean break with the Windows Phone 7 Series and new handset requirements. But there’s a handset or two that might have the necessary “oomph” to handle the new operating system. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like any official upgrades will be appearing. Read more »
Google’s Android experience varies by handset and not just because of different hardware. Four Android versions are available, but one report says Google is planning to get all devices on version 2.1 soon. There’s pros and cons to the solution — is it too late? Read more »
A Palm webOS update expected before end of February could arrive today over Sprint’s network. Along with enhancements to the native main applications preparations for Adobe Flash support are arriving as is video recording right from the handset. But there’s still more to fix. Read more »
Skype yesterday pulled support for Windows Mobile 6.5, and today it’s Adobe’s turn. The promise of Flash 10.1 on Microsoft’s current handsets is a broken one, but the reason provided simply doesn’t make sense. Is this the sign of a bad trend for Microsoft’s phones? Read more »
Need to boost your cell phone’s signal strength? A universal booster like the Sleek works with just about any phone on any carrier. Watch the video to see how well this $129 accessory solves the problem of weak signal coverage. Read more »
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another Palm Press, our weekly look at the world of Palm. Palm warned that sales are not as good as expected, and quarterly revenue will not meet forecasts. The annual forecast will be “well below” forecast revenue figures. Read more »
Are you one of those iPhone owners that just uses the swipe and unlock feature on your handset? With this free utility for Windows or Mac, you can add a secure, alphanumeric passcode to your handset and keep data from prying eyes. Read more »
Shares of Palm tanked after the company said carrier orders for its webOS gadgets have been weaker than expected. Customers don’t want its phones, and no one seems interested in buying its business. So what can be left for Palm? Read more »
If you’re looking to install Skype on your Windows Mobile handset, you can stop looking. Skype pulled the software and there’s actually a very good reason. It’s been the same issue that’s hampered the Skype experience for years on Windows Mobile devices. Read more »
The Motorola Devour is like the Droid’s little brother, and it has some nice design features. It will be coming soon to Verizon, but videos of the phone in action are already appearing on the web. It looks like a solid effort by Motorola. Read more »
Wi-Fi has long been a staple of laptop users, but with the widespread inclusion of the technology in smartphones, statistics are showing a lot wireless hotspot activity comes from those using phones. Do you Wi-Fi on your phone or other handheld device? Read more »
When you see someone with an iPhone, do you automatically assume they can hear? I do — or at least I did until I heard about this free app that brings iPhone calling to the deaf and hard of hearing. Read more »
How many Windows Phone 7 Series chassis designs are there? “Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceedest on to three.” Read more »
It’s Tuesday and that can only mean it’s time for our weekly feature, the BlackBerry Buzz. RIM is firing up a new developer initiative to create “super apps”, and Verizon is rumored to be dropping the Storm and the Storm2 from its smartphone lineup. Read more »
Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d): Feature Phones: The Next Market for Mobile Apps Infographic by Column Five Media Read more »
Gartner offers up the worldwide smartphone market share numbers and 2009 shows some continuing trends as the new guard marches forward. But as a consumer, why do you even care about these measures? There’s at least one good reason I can think of. Read more »
Want to hear your handheld music subscription when you don’t have connectivity? If you have the new Slacker software for BlackBerry or Android, you can. The mobile app just added wireless music caching for offline playback when there’s no signal to be found. Read more »
Google Earth has landed on Android 2.1 and it’s a stunner to view. Plus there are new features that make it even better. But it’s hard to track this and all of the other Android apps, so I found a potential solution for that problem. Read more »
