After topping the mountain in February when the U.S. passed 50 percent smartphone ownership, It’s all downhill: Nielsen notes 2 of 3 new phone purchases in the U.S. last month were smartphones. Android and iOS continue to pull away from the pack while BlackBerry fades away. Read more »
After Nokia axed development of its semi-secret Meltemi operating system, hundreds of workers in Ulm, Germany, found themselves jobless. Now they’ve set up a ‘talent and job offer’ campaign to hawk around their services. Read more »
Research firm IDC offers up its look at smartphone market share through 2016 and suggests several surprising trends: Android may peak this year while Windows Phone will jump past iOS in 2016. A year ago, IDC said the same thing for 2015. Here’s the problem. Read more »
Microsoft unlocked an new achievement this month, surpassing 100,000 apps for its Windows Phone mobile platform. But there are several reasons why this number isn’t equating into sales of Windows Phones. There’s a still a key question Microsoft hasn’t answered about its mobile platform. Read more »
Nokia has launch the Lumia 610 at a low, £15 per month price point with service in the UK. It’s not high performing hardware, but Windows Phone runs well on meager silicon. The bigger issue is limited memory, which means some top tier apps are incompatible. Read more »
Nokia is launching its Reading app and e-bookstore for the Lumia Windows Phone in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK. In doing so, the company hopes to bring more local-language e-books to countries where e-readers haven’t yet taken off. Read more at paidContent »
AT&T introduced its third Microsoft Windows Phone handset with LTE: The Samsung Focus 2 launches on May 20 for $49 with new two-year contract, which is priced lower than the $99 Lumia 900 and $199 HTC Titan II. At this price, the specifications aren’t shabby. Read more »
LG is reportedly focused on Google Android smartphones and not new Microsoft Windows Phone handsets. LG only built two Windows Phones in 2010 and none in 2011 even though it has kind words for the platform. Unfortunately for Microsoft, actions speak louder than words. Read more »
Although Microsoft invested $300 million in a Barnes & Noble spin-off on Monday, this isn’t the first time Microsoft played the e-book game. Typical for the company, it often has great ideas, but it errs on the timing: Microsoft debuted e-book software back in 2000! Read more »
Microsoft’s Research division is testing home automation market software it developed that makes it easy for devices to speak to each other. This HomeOS platform can help demystify smart home systems with numerous protocols. Plus it works nicely on smartphones for remote control and monitoring. Read more »
Eighty-five percent of the global population owns mobile phones. This report forecasts the global handset market, examining the Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia-Pacific. Drivers include an increased number of subscribers in developing countries and the rollout of 3G and 4G wireless networks. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
After 14 years as the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia has lost the top spot to Korean rival Samsung. The question facing the Finnish company’s bosses now is whether they can ever regain the momentum they’ve lost. Read more »
For developers, consumers and even carriers, Android seems irreparably broken. But Google’s not likely to “fix” Android anytime soon, because despite the fragmentation problem, the company is getting what it wants: massive amounts of user data. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Facebook may not have a phone of its own (yet), but it continues to improve its mobile clients: On Tuesday, the company outlined updates coming soon for the Windows Phone version of Facebook. The refreshed software will add threaded messaging, tagging and other features. Read more »
Depending on whom you believe, Microsoft will either offer Windows Phone 8 as an upgrade to all current Microsoft-powered handsets or it won’t provide the software to any of them. Windows 8 could be the issue here, but Microsoft needs to publicly state its intent. Read more »
Smartphone sales surged both in the U.S. and worldwide, carriers struggled to cope with the ever-increasing consumption of mobile data, and the fight for spectrum remained front and center in the first quarter. Our latest quarterly wrap-up analyzes these trends and more. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Nokia still has a long road to return to prominence: the company sold 2 million Lumia handsets in the first quarter of 2012, but it is lowering guidance. Nokia says it faces “competitive industry dynamics” even though its new Windows Phone handsets are gaining momentum. Read more »
Eight Symbian handsets gained Microsoft Office support on Tuesday. There’s no question that Microsoft’s software — both Windows Phone and Office — are helping Nokia manage a transition to the modern smartphone age. But is Symbian’s death greatly exaggerated or is it a Plan B? Read more »
The Nokia Lumia 900 is AT&T’s “hero” phone, the carrier tells me; a highly regarded status essentially owned by Apple’s iPhone since 2007. Might this be a true Windows Phone flagship device in the U.S.? After a week of using it, I think so. Read more »
In this week’s mobile tech audio podcast, Matt and Kevin share hands on impressions with 2 LTE devices: the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7. Plus thoughts on RIM, Apple’s new iPad, and Nokia’s Lumia 900 along with a free task manager for Windows Phone handsets. Read more »
With a growing number of mobile apps to track excercise, it’s becoming difficult for software to stand out from the crowd. The team behind Endomondo is making the attempt with updates to its app on both Android and Windows Phone, gaining interval workouts and social integration. Read more »
Windows Phone handset owners have good reason to hit their app store today: Wunderlist, a free task management app, landed on the platform. The software, found in the Windows Marketplace, offers cloud-based task synching and the ability to email tasks directly to the app. Read more »
Nokia’s Lumia smartphone line is expected to launch in China on March 28. China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile will all reportedly sell Nokia Lumia handsets; combined, these three operators have nearly 1 billion subscribers; a huge opportunity both for Nokia and for Microsoft. Read more »
The audio file is no longer the product when it comes to digital music. Instead, the experiences built around it are, and services like Spotify, Facebook, Topspin and others are leading the way into this new era of dynamic, interactive and social music. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
With each passing March Madness tournament, we’re a more mobile society. So what apps can we best leverage to enjoy all 67 NCAA games? Here are my “final four,” with links for each supported platform so you’re ready for tip-off; most are free or relatively inexpensive. Read more »
TextPlus, maker of the popular TextPlus communications apps, is betting on Windows Phone 7 over BlackBerry. The company released its TextPlus messaging app on Windows Phone and expects to roll out its TextPlus Free Calls VoIP companion app in the first half of this year. Read more »
The industry has moved beyond starry-eyed soothsaying about a world of 50 billion connected devices to start talking about how these mammoth networks of objects and appliances would actually work and how they would be managed. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
After recently capping my running streak at 425 days and buying a Bluetooth 4.0 heart monitor, I’m adding more mobile tech to my health-tracking obsession by tracking daily nutrition on my smartphone. After some research, I settled on the free MyFitnessPal app. Here’s why. Read more »
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Windows was a fact of life for an entire generation raised on the PC. But we live in a different world now, and perha… Read more at paidContent »
One year after it dramatically altered the course of its history by signing a landmark deal with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) to use Windows Phone… Read more at paidContent »
Nine months after purchasing Skype for $8.5 billion, Microsoft Windows Phone handsets have a beta version of the audio and video chat service. There are some notable limitations in this first release, but as the software gets refined and integrated, Microsoft’s platform could gain more momentum. Read more »
Searching for a new lease of life, Mozilla is joining forces with Spanish operator Telefónica to build handsets that have web technologies at their heart. But can Mozilla succeed where Palm failed? And is there room in a difficult market for more players? Read more »
Nokia kicked off its Mobile World Congress festivities with new Lumia Windows Phone devices, but also made sure to highlight new Symbian devices that appeal to lower-cost smartphone markets. China is now also in the company’s short-term plans. Read more »
This year’s Mobile World Congress event kicks off this Sunday, and there will be a bevy of wireless developments, news and devices. Without a doubt, everything will be focused on connectivity and mobility, but what specific devices might we see? Here’s what we expect. Read more »
It is too early to call success or failure on Nokia’s strategy to build Windows Phone devices, but the handset maker is already shipping more Microsoft smartphones than its rivals. While shipments don’t equate to actual sales, Nokia might catch its peers too focused on Android. Read more »
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has cleared up some of the confusion regarding its plans for Windows 8 computers that will use ARM processors, the fi… Read more at paidContent »
Is 2012 “the year of mobile?” No sir. Mobile is simply too disruptive to have just one year. After all, who remembers the year of the TV or… Read more at paidContent »
Today brings news of yet another round of capital-intensive cost-cutting for the challenged mobile phone maker Nokia: the company today anno… Read more at paidContent »
For the most part, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has found the mobile industry willing to bow to its patent-licensing strategy. Barnes & Noble (NYS… Read more at paidContent »
