Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile  It’s no secret that Android is starting to take more and more of the smartphone market from Apple, RIM, and others. We already know that Android phone shipments were up an incredible 886% year-over-year. That doesn’t mean that the phones are selling any better, but now we have confirmation that for the first half of this year Android phones have sold better than iPhones.
According to NPD data, for the first half of 2010, Android phones made up a total of 27% of smartphone sales. Apple’s iPhone sales, on the other hand, made up 23% of all smartphone sales for the half. It’s not terribly surprising given that Android smartphones are available on all the major US carriers, and the iPhone is only available for AT&T. There’s also quite a few more Android phones than the iPhone, of which there’s only ever two models available at any given time. It’s also worth noting that the iPhone 4 was only available for a few days in the half, and may already knew that they would wait for the new version when it was leaked. Although, there’s always new and better Android phones looming just ahead that could prevent many from buying Android phones at the same time. Coming to the iPhone 4 from an Android smartphone, I can see why Android sells more. There are some aspects of the OS that are simply easier to manage, like notifications, and there are some apps that are nice to have. The constant stress of knowing the next best phone will be outdone by another one in six weeks or so, as well as the perpetual waiting for an OS update was worth it to get out of the OS. It could be that we’ll see a bit of a shift back towards Apple in the second half. The new Android phones, like the Samsung Galaxy 2 phones, do look good, though. We also can’t count out BlackBerry 6 and Windows Phone 7 which should both be coming soon. Read [Mashable] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 FROM GAMERTELL - The eighth annual China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (aka ChinaJoy) recently concluded and, much like E3, it had its fair share of ladies in skimpy outfits. Besides being fodder for several photo galleries, it’s also notable because, last month (July 2010), the Chinese government barred online gaming companies from,… MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones  We’ve seen a few UI renditions of MeeGo, the netbook and smartphone OS from Intel and Nokia, so far. The last time is was shown off from Nokia, it looked similar to Samsung’s TouchWiz, if not a bit generic. Now it looks like we have a new version of Nokia’s smartphone UI for the OS, and it’s looking pretty good.
The UI video surfaced apparently from an online survey given by Nokia. What we have is about 90 seconds of example footage of how MeeGo will work. The homepage widgets look slick, and show off the social networking integration with the OS. We also see an app dedicated to social networking, with Facebook and Twitter pulled into it. This being Nokia, we of course have a glimpse of the Ovi Store, complete with Adobe Reader, Facebook, Angry Birds and a few other example apps. The whole thing can be viewed in the video below. It looks like MeeGo does look a bit better than Maemo did on the N900, if this is similar to the final skin. We can only hope that Nokia takes this opportunity to switch more of it’s upcoming phones to MeeGo rather than Symbian.  Read [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile  In a letdown to many a Droid owner, the Android 2.2 update, known affectionately as Froyo, won’t allow many of the features 2.2 promises. Topping that list is the update will not turn the Droid device into a mobile WiFi hotspot. Verizon cites incapable hardware.
“Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brenda Raney said to Phone Scoop in an email, “The Droid by Motorola doesn’t have [the] hardware to support a Mobile Hotspot. With tethering there is no Connection on the PC side that will allow you to tether the device so the answer is that option isn’t part of this update.”
Android 2.2 natively supports tethering and WiFi hotspots. Due to the Droid’s incompatible hardware, it won’t see those benefits. Better security, voice dialing via Bluetooth, Flash 10.1 and others are unaffected and will be in 2.2. Word is the 2.2 update will begin rolling out to customers in typical fashion: your friends will all get the update until you convince yourself you don’t care. Just kidding, kinda, Verizon will roll this out in small test batches until all are updated. Read: [Phonescoop] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile  Analysts from Canalys have been working on some facts and figures now that companies have all filed their Q2 financial reports. And the results are astounding.
Year to year the smartphone market has grown 64% globally, proving that mobile really is exploding throughout the world. But that growth was expected. What was not expected was Android growing an estimated 886% to further its lead on companies such as RIM and Apple. And although Nokia has dominant market share thanks to its cheap phones and dominant display in Asia, Android is set to overtake them within a couple years. I usually do not find facts so astounding from analysts just because they claim to be analysts. But this press release from Canalys was extremely exciting to see, just because of the fact that it confirmed what I had a feeling was happening. Android and Open Source software has solidified itself in the world as a dominant player with the top mobile manufacturers around the world. Read [Canalys] Via [IntoMobile] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks 
The Kindle 3 is already seeing tremendous demand that is stressing Amazon. After only being announced last week, both the Wifi and Wifi + 3G versions have been completely sold out with the Wifi not expected to catch up with demand until September 4th. The new reader has started a fire in the ereader market by lowering costs considerably in the space.With the starting prices for the Wifi and Wifi+3G being $139 and $189 respectively, it is no wonder why everyone wants to get their hands on the slim-downed sequel. Via [SlashGear] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other Typing and keyboard geeks rejoice—you now have a pair of sneakers sporting a QWERTY keyboard sole. In other words, you can wear some geek clothing without having to let your full geek flag fly. That is, as long as you stay out of soft sand which is sure to leave the pattern behind as you stroll along. Good stuff, now where can I get a pair? Read [Device Magazine] Via [Gizmodo] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  According to a recent report in Bloomberg, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile are preparing to begin testing a new mobile payment service. This would mean that some smartphone users on those carriers may soon be able to make a payment at a local store using nothing but their phone.
Bottom line here, the talk of mobile payments is not anything new. Its stuff that we have been hearing about for a while now and while the shift seems to be towards more and more digital this seems to make sense. The part that is new (and encouraging) is that three of the big four US carriers seem to be behind the plan. Of course, as always this will be done initially on a limited basis in a limited area. So far it looks like a pilot plan is set to begin in Atlanta. So how about you, are you ready to swipe your smartphone instead of your credit card? Read [Bloomberg] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  It looks like the BlackBerry has been severely limited in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Well, more accurately, the BlackBerry will soon be limited.
Both nations are unhappy that they are unable to monitor such communications via the handsets. This is because the Blackberry handsets automatically send the encrypted data to computer servers outside the two countries.
According to a recent BBC report, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be blocking email, instant messaging and web access from BlackBerry devices as of October. In terms of Saudi Arabia, this one is not quite as restrictive, however it still takes one important service away—BlackBerry to BlackBerry instant messaging. The Saudi ban is set to go into effect as of sometime later this month. And just like that, the BlackBerry has become as semi-functional device in both areas. Read [BBC] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Video, Content, Video Providers, Web, Online Music/Video It would appear as if some of those who requested an invitation to the Hulu Plus service are beginning to get access. Certainly good news for those who had been waiting to check the service out. Personally, mine has not arrived yet, but I am ok with that. Otherwise, once you have access to the Hulu Plus service you will then have access to more shows, the ability to watch them in HD and even check them out from your iPhone or iPad. Of course, the Plus service comes with a price—$9.99. Read [Hulu Plus] Via [Gizmodo] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile  Sprint has quickly followed up on their last announcement of seven markets with five more. This is of course referring to the rollout of the Sprint 4G network. The good news today comes for those in Modesto and Stockton, California, Jacksonville, Florida, Wilmington, Delaware and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Certainly good news for anyone in those areas carrying either an Overdrive Mobile Hotspot device or an HTC EVO 4G. Otherwise, the Epic 4G is also expected to arrive soon, and that is another solid 3G/4G offering.
Read [CNBC] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Communications, Smartphones, Mobile  The iPhone Dev-Team has announced the return of the jailbreak.me website, which that alone is good news because it was a simple method jailbreak. But perhaps more importantly is that it will work on the iPhone 4. Yup, the iPhone 4 jailbreak has finally arrived. Bottom line here, grab your iPhone or iPod touch, launch Mobile Safari and surf on over to jailbreak.me. From there just follow the simple steps and come out jailbroken.
A few words of caution, as always when jailbreaking, connect to iTunes and perform a full backup, just in case. Otherwise there are some known issues with Facetime and MMS after the jailbreak but they are already known and therefor in the process of being corrected. Otherwise, those on the iPhone 4 should also be aware that a carrier unlock is not yet available. That said, ultrasn0w is noted as needing to undergo a “short testing period” so it should hopefully not be all that much longer of a wait. Read [Dev-Team Blog] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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