By Aldo Panessidi

Google Android’s numerous handset manufacturers have made the mobile OS platform incredibly accessible to consumers across the world. The one downside is that each of these vendors goes through its own process to adopt the latest version upgrades. Some handsets are not capable of those major upgrades, like Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Luckily for Sprint Nexus S 4G owners, the wait should not be much longer. An internal testing ROM was seen on Google’s servers that will update the Nexus S 4G to Android v4.0.4 build IMM26. Of course that file was pulled once it was seen, but the more curious of you can get a mirrored copy at xda-developers. But, with the removal from Google servers, it is likely better to wait for the official release.

Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  Discover the latest innovative protection solutions… stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases specifically designed to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside these brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

The popularity of this device has customers of Verizon wishing it was available as an unlocked handset that could be used with their existing contracts. As LTE 4G becomes more mainstream across North America, the availability of smartphones capable of taking advantage of these speeds will increase. Carriers have been rushing to pair up with manufacturers to augment their product lines. The question of whether customers will be willing to pay the premium cost of these data plans.

Enhance your mobility and turn your device into a power tool!  Discover select accessories such as; stylus & pens, micro SD memory cards, batteries, docking stations, Bluetooth headsets, data cables and glider gloves all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

The good news is that there is no requirement to utilize the 4G LTE capabilities until the costs are more accessible. In the interim, these customers have the good fortune of not having to purchase a new handset to get the Ice Cream Sandwich update which leaves more funds to invest in the must-have and secretly-covet accessories to make the most of your pocket PC.

As this report indicates, the version had release keys which denote a fast-approaching launch date. So far, the next gen Android platform has had great reviews, so be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for your Nexus S 4G update!

By  Aldo Panessidi

A new report from industry luminary ABI Research indicates that more than 50% of all unlocked cell phones will be capable of running on 4G or 3G data networks.  Jake Saunders, VP of Forecasting for ABI Research suggests that . “As the festive cheer of the holiday season dies away, the mood among handset vendors remains quietly confident regarding 2012.   The outlook will yield growth in the order of 8%, netting 1.67 billion handsets shipped worldwide by the end of 2012. Particularly notable is for the first time, 3G and 4G handset shipments will capture more than 50% of total handsets shipped.”  The consumer’s appetite for  high end mobile devices will also drive the after sales cell phone and tablet accessories market.

Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  Discover the latest innovative protection solutions… stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases specifically designed to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside these brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

In an earlier report ABI Research identified the worldwide after-market wireless devices accessories sales increasing to more than $50 Billion by 2015.  Key accessory market indicators were identified as:

Protective Solutions – Bags, Sleeves, Cases and Screen Protectors – $1.2 billion

Hands Free Solution – BlueTooth Headsets and BlueTotth Car Kits – $920 million

Power Solutions – Desktop Chargers, Car Chargers, Wall Chargers, Batteries – $766 million

Memory Solutions – Micro SD Cards and Data Cables – $529 million

Personalization Solutions – Cases & Skins – $520 million

Audio Solutions – Speakers, Earpieces & Headsets – $308 million

In the second half of 2011, top tier mobile device vendors unleashed marketing promotions targeting the upward mobile market audience in emerging smartphone and table markets.   Samsung, used clever ads downgrading Apple users while extolling the benefits of the Galaxy S II X phones and Galaxy Tablet lines of business to make substantial inroads  into these market spaces. Apple is expanding sales channels in emerging markets, with greater success in China than it’s having in India, but is also targeting South American markets such as Brazil. HTC is gaining traction in China, but developed markets such as North America and Europe continue to be the mainstay of its “ship into” markets. RIM, despite its weakness in apps-capable smartphone markets, continues to do well in messaging-centric emerging markets such as Indonesia. Nokia hopes to benefit from Windows Phone 7 Lumia series launches in India (Dec-2011) and China (in 1Q-2012).

By Megan Fleet

The changing of the guard from one year to the next brings inevitable changes. This is especially true with mobile technology which is arguably one of the most competitive and innovative segments of the tech industry as traditional feature phones and carriers are challenged with smartphone technologies and apps and unlocked phones.

So even if you keep half an ear to the latest happenings in this niche of the world market, there is a plethora of information, rumors, and announcements to keep track of. To help make the focus more manageable, here are a few noteworthy notices to kick off your 2012 mobile tech watch.

First, the continuing saga of the king of feature phones as it endeavors to make its mark in a smartphone world: Nokia. The mobile OS this manufacturer chose for its foray into smartphones is Symbian. Clearly this pairing didn’t fare well in the global marketplace. As a farewell gesture that is bound to drive the final nail in the coffin of Symbian, Nokia has opted to rebrand its latest smartphone as Nokia Belle. No Symbian to be mentioned in association again it seems. Perhaps the best rebranding for Nokia would be launching a new tablet featuring its next mobile OS choice.

Not to be left out, Google Android is bound to make this list. And, it is no surprise that it is causing waves with its much-buzzed-about OS upgrade: Ice Cream Sandwich. Global rollouts of this Android 4.0 update were supposed to have begun for Nexus S customers a few days ago, but according to the Google Community Manager, Paul Wilcox, announced that they are pausing updates to better monitor feedback for a while (this sounds oddly familiar to CarrierIQ scandal which highlighted the benefits of customers choosing unlocked devices).

On a more positive note for Google, they are now globally activating approximately 700,000 Android devices daily. The company’s willingness to work with many manufacturers (creating more opportunities for customers to choose carrier neutral unlocked phones), is significantly contributing to their continued growth around the world.

To follow on the heels of Google’s customer driven philosophy, carriers are having to fight the loss of their exclusivity on smartphones, tablets and accessories by dropping their prices. Recent reports show that 4G LTE pricing may drop by as 60% by 2016 as the additional speeds aren’t worth the cost for heavy users and the carrier specific devices that enable 4G are markedly more expensive than their 3G counterparts as well.

By Megan Fleet

Every brand and company has its shtick, its M.O., its press friendly sound bytes. Google is no different when espousing the virtues of its Google Android operating system at each event they are able to use a soapbox and spread their smartphone evangelism. The main gospel is the Android culture of openness and the lack of limitations is to the benefit of the consumer.

This is great PR spin. And this writer truly loves a good euphemism laced with truth. So, while Android is more open that its competitors, it is comparative. When held up to open-source software like Linux, it is actually quite closed. Hence, a Hollywoodesque Benniffer moniker is bound to catch: Clopen.

At the moment, Google makes the Android OS source code available to companies and individuals to customize to their liking. Very open and transparent, non? Flip side of this coin is the Google mobile suite: Gmail, Android Market, Google Maps, and the long list of “Google” stamped functions. These are closed sourced. The double talk is confusing for customers. Especially when end users purchase a no-Market Android device. Not good PR.

Throw in the custom skins and fragmentations used by the varied carriers and manufacturers and there is a varying standard of quality for the smartphones bearing the Android and Google names. This is damaging to a brand. In fact, Marketing Land’s Danny Sullivan wrote that these quality control discrepancies are resulting in customers with outdated devices in their hands. This particular quirk can be addressed with accessories (protective cases, upgraded screen skins etc), but what is under the hood is harder to resolve.

Case in point: the latest Android OS release, Ice Cream Sandwich. Various manufacturers have hedged and speculated about when the update would be available and on what phones and what carriers (at least with an unlocked phone, the customer will have more say in to get the latest Android OS). As of right now, only one physical device has the update on it. The flagship Android phone, Galaxy Nexus. Newer devices like the DROID RAZR, DROID Bionic, and the Rezound should see the update later in 2012, but there are many others like the LG Revolution (launched only 7 months ago) that will never get the ICS upgrade treatment because of the carrier (please see above note about unlocked phones!).

Luckily for customers, the Open Handset Alliance which encompasses major US players (LG, HTC, Motorola, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T to name a few) which has pledged with Google to bring an end to fragmentation and bring the latest Android OS to devices if the smartphone release is 18 months old or younger.

By Aldo Panessidi

It is common knowledge that both Apple and Google are the foremost thought leaders in the technology industry and as a result have secured global dominance of the smartphone OS market space. What is surprising is reviewing the numbers and trends that show an astronomical growth for the two giants over the course of 18 months. As can be seen in chart provided by comScore – the leading provider of online digital world measurement metrics – U.S. mobile subscribers are used to demonstrate the dramatic transition in market shares in the ever growing smartphone market. Discover the benefits of online shopping…. experience the largest assortment of wireless device accessories at the lowest prices on the Internet.

In less than a year and a half (between August 2010 and November 2011), the combined U.S. market share for Google and Apple – based on the number of mobile subscribers of iPhones and Android phones – jumped from 43.8 percent to 75.6 percent! When one considers the exponential growth of the mobile market and the rapid consumer adoption of wireless devices such as unlocked cell phones and tablets as well as for the associated branded protective accessories… it becomes apparent how staggering the revenue potential of these combined markets really is.

Another drastic market shift is the fall of beleaguered Canadian high-tech giant, Research In Motion. RIM has been plagued with technology based challenges, security issues, lackluster apps, production setbacks, numerous litigations and dismal product design, which all contributed to its fall from grace. Losing subscribership in the 18 month period, RIM’s BlackBerry market share dropped from 37.6 percent to 19.7 percent. Microsoft didn’t fare any better when it’s popularity poll was cut almost in half. Lastly, market laggard, Palm who? Enhance your mobility and turn your device into a power tool! Discover select accessories, such as stylus & pens, SD Micro memory cards, batteries, speakers and glider gloves all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

So how and why did Android and Apple win over so many consumers? Analysts and industry experts seem to agree that unlocked phones for carrier neutrality, provided subscribers with the freedom to break away from being tied in with long term service provider contracts and negotiate lower priced service plans that best met their lifestyle needs . Secondly, the branding of not only the device, but the wide array of innovative top brand accessories drew customers in. Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky! Discover the latest innovative protection solutions of stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases specially designed to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with our. Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside our brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

By Megan Fleet

Have you ever tried to research existing patents? It is a crazy and convoluted process that is often counterintuitive. For example, there are companies that purchase patents as a means of earning revenue through lawsuits instead of for developing and promoting new technology. They are called Patent Trolls. If you find a new way to make toast? Patent it!   Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  the latest innovative protection solutions allow you to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside our brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

This may be the route Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, HTC, may take after Monday’s ruling by the United Stated International Trade Commission which found HTC in violation of Apple patents.  XMI speakers deliver uncompromised sound quality and a revolutionary design accentuating today’s interactive lifestyle.   In addition, earpieces and headsets combine sophisticated style and precision engineering that deliver brilliant sound for your total listening pleasure.

Right now, a ban on the manufacturer’s smartphones that incorporate the offending technology will go into effect April of next year. This ban could mean seriously bad news for their US sales. Still waiting to hear which smartphone and  tablet devices will be affected and what their strategy to sidestep this checkmate will be.

Apple’s late CEO, Steve Jobs, initiated this legal flurry in March of 2010 with a filing of 10 complaints against HTC for patent infringement. The verdicts have so far been mainly in Apple’s favor and validate Jobs’ comment at the time: “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it.”  Get powered up for work, life and play easily and conveniently with desktop chargers , wall chargers and car chargers.   Get all the power and energy you need for the mobile lifestyle.

For some more clarity in a mutli-level maze of lawsuits between Apple and HTC, patent expert Florian Muller of FOSS Patents shed some light on the technology in question and the injunction applied to it. According to Muller, the injunction will affect handsets that use “data tapping.” This is a feature that users have come to expect in their smartphones regardless of manufacturer, carrier, or operating system. Google will have to use some creative thinking to work around patent infringement to avoid a negative impact on sales when the ban is put in place.

Discover wide selection of top quality, innovative protective solutions and premium electronic accessories from the industry’s most leading brands .

The Hottest Brands · The Coolest Products · The Lowest Prices

PureMobile has an accessory solution for every lifestyle…. This is personal. This is you. This is  Shopping Simplified.

By Aldo Panessidi

Imagine shopping with the need to not : to find parking, to navigate in crowded malls, to compete with other shoppers for items and to wait in line for checkout.  These are the major inconveniences driving more and more people to shop on line.  Ah!…. finally shopping simplified.  Accessories are designed to protect, personalize and enhance your mobile devices.  Discover stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases that enable to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside these brand name innovative protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

Online retailers are rejoicing as the number of people that transact business online continues to grow! Tis the season for full-blown consumer spending that can shore up fledging sales and re-energize retailer’s momentum going into 2012. Considering the volatility of international markets and Wall Street, a little bit of consumer driven good news is welcome to all. Even better news is that holiday spending is up a full 15% from this same time last year. According to a report released by comScore, US consumers have spent almost $25 billion to date this holiday season. In a surprise twist, it is online retailers that are leading the pack.  Let trend setting fashionable accessories express your unique style!  Discover an  extensive array of award-wining design protective cases and skins deliver modern style, stunning design and smart protection.  Make your mobile devices stand out.  Customize your look – how cool can you be?

The research group, comScore, looked at purchasing trends starting in November and reports that $479 million was shelled out on Thanksgiving Day. And the subsequent day, Black Friday? Spending significantly jumped to a whopping $816 million. That weekend (Saturday and Sunday) totaled up sales of $886 million.  PureMobile is the exclusive online dealer for XMI Speakers.  Uncompromised sound quality and a revolutionary design accentuating  today’s interactive lifestyle.   Earpieces and headsets combine sophisticated style and precision engineering that deliver brilliant sound for your total listening pleasure

Think that would be end of the marathon shopping? No way. Cyber Monday brought in record sales: 1.25 billion! Purchasing sweaters and shoes from online retailers comes with a greater degree of risk compared to the web slingers of the latest and greatest tablets, media players, and the associated accessories. Consumers are hot for the latest unlocked cell phones, BlueTooth Headsets, and other memory and electronics accessories hits that online retailers can easily bundle and promote.

Not to be outdone, comScore writes, “Monday, December 5, 2011 now ranks as the second heaviest spending day in history at $1.18 billion,” the report said, “followed by Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at $1.12 billion and Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at $1.11 billion.”

The newest addition to shopping days christened with unique names is “Green Monday” which will really kick off the heaviest sales week of the holiday season for online retailers. Add the convenience of avoiding the mall and easily comparing promotions (huge when making tablet and mobile device purchases). And, based on the numbers released so far, all retailers are looking to close the season on a high note.  More and more consumers are protecting, personalizing and enhancing their mobile devices such as, stylus & pens, glider gloves, additional batteries, earpieces and headsets and other premium electronic accessories

By Aldo Panessidi

Do you know what unbiased opinion is? No. Not teen spirit. It’s the results from the report released by VisionMobile on Monday comparing the top eight open source platforms on the market. Not to be found under the shade of Google’s umbrella, this report sheds light on the marketing spin on Google’s Android OS.  .   Accessories are designed to protect, personalize and enhance your mobile devices.  Discover the innovative protection solutions that allow you to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside our brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression

Any newbie to the mobilization market knows that Apple’s iOS is a closed platform. It has also done remarkably well in winning over the creative geniuses in the sub-markets for apps and accessory creation. Google’s comeback to this success is that it is truly the best friend of app developers because of its “open source” concept.  Let  trend setting fashionable accessories express your unique style!  Discover an extensive array of award-wining design protective cases and skins that deliver modern style, stunning design and smart protection.  Make your mobile devices stand out.  Customize your look – how cool can you be?

True, the leviathan’s OS is more widely available to mobile device manufacturers and more easily distributed globally thanks to unlocked phones, but is it truly all that “open”? VisionMobile votes NO!   In fact, the new report ranks it the most closed of the open source platforms out of the eight reviewed projects. As can be seen in the Open Governance Index (please see below), an in-depth review of the relative openness for Android, Wt, Symbian, MeeGo, Mozilla, WebKit, Linux, and Eclipse yields results that defy the lip service of the Google executive team.   Enhance your mobility… turn your device into a power tool.  Discover select electronic accessories specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

By excluding licensing models and instead employing governance as a core metric, VisionMobile determined that Eclipse is actually the most open of these projects, pulling in a score of 84%. In contrast, Google’s Android came in dead last with an index score of 23%. With all the benefits of open source touted by Google, how does this add up?  XMI Speakers have built a reputation for delivering  uncompromised sound quality and a revolutionary design accentuating  today’s interactive lifestyle.   Our earpieces and headsets combine sophisticated style and precision engineering that deliver brilliant sound for your total listening pleasure.

Follow the money. The firm concluded that the success of Android OS is in major part thanks to the significant financial backing of Google and its primary source of revenue. “Google has made Android available at ‘less than zero’ cost, since Google’s core business is not software or search, but driving eyeballs to ads,” the report states. “As is now well understood, Google’s strategy has been to subsidize Android such that it can deliver cheap handsets and low-cost wireless Internet access in order to drive more eyeballs to Google’s ad inventory. Get powered up for work, life and play easily and conveniently with desktop chargers, wall chargers and car chargers – all the power and energy you need for the mobile lifestyle.

This is no garage grown start up. Instead, Google’s global presence, billions of marketing dollars (grace a carriers and vendors) and a drive to gobble up Apple’s grassroots momentum are behind Android’s success. Not its open source licensing philosophy. Nor its iconic, proprietary devices and end-user inspired mobile accessories.

Perhaps Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop, stated it best this past June: “Apple created the conditions necessary for Android.“

By Aldo Panessidi

The Big Brother-esque actions of major carriers like ATT&T and Sprint has many consumers in an uproar and clamoring for vindication.  There is major concern of the possibility of Carrier IQ installed a tracking device that monitors texting keystrokes and cell phone usage on mobile devices.  The vendor is known for its root kit software which may be reporting users’ keystrokes, messages, and browsing history. This is an amazing case touting the many benefits of unlocked smartphones where you as the consumer can choose a carrier that does not work with Carrier IQ.

According to aforementioned vendor, the carriers use the software to “collect enough information to understand the customer experience with devices on our network and how to devise solutions to use and connection problems.”  That is fine and dandy, but the capability of the software to stealthily share sensitive information is alarming and Carrier IQ gives the carriers access to most or all of it.   Enhance your mobility… turn your device into a power tool.  Discover how premium electronic accessories specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

There is, however, a new app from BitDefender that will put Android phone users at ease to protect against the Carrier IQ intrusion. This neat app detects the Carrier IQ software on the Google OS phones within seconds. Google Market has made the Carrier IQ Finder app free. Upon installation, tap the icon and voila! You’re an informed consumer with the knowledge of whether the software is on your handset or not. This action is still advisable to consumers shopping for an unlocked phone that will be carrier-neutral.

Where to go from that point? Well. There are limited options. You can install the removal tool developed by Eckhart (the security researcher who discovered the Carrier IQ software on his handset) which can be found at this Android Market link: Logging TestApp Pro Key. Or, you can install a third-part ROM.  Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  Protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with our stylish top brand accessories.

Because both of these actions require rooting the device (which makes sense in eradicating rootkit software), it is advisable to casual smartphone users to seek out a smartphone savvy friend or professional. The last recourse option is to wait for the carriers to issue software updates to uninstall the tool. This could come quickly as Carrier IQ related lawsuits are building up steam and the carriers will want to mitigate damages.   Let our trend setting fashionable accessories express your unique style.  Make your mobile devices stand out.  Customize your look – discover how cool you can be.

The public is currently in the dark on how this technology and collected information has been used by the carriers in question. No doubt there will be more news and details made available in the coming legal circus, but until there is a true fix in removing the root kit on your smartphone, user beware of what information you’re making available and considering sidestepping the carrier-smartphone manufacturer exclusivity fray the next time around with an unlocked phone.

By Aldo Panessidi

As mobile devices become increasingly integrated into our lives as an extension of the personal computer; the same threats posed to our PCs creep into our day to day mobile phone and tablet usage.

According to a research paper released by the North Carolina State University, certain Android vendors including Motorola, Samsung, and HTC) are not following Android’s best practices for pre-installed apps.  An undesired side effect of this negligence is that those applications access to send SMS messages, wipe a phone’s data, or even read your address books. In effect, they are able to do all of the aforementioned tasks without your knowing. This is stark contrast to Apple iPhone and iPad tablet propietary applications / OS practices which may be on your list of considerations.

As a Google prodigy, these Android vulnerabilities are not quite so present on Google phones such as the Nexus One and Nexus S. There are unfortunately some symptoms of an underlying weakness in the Android platform. This shortcoming points to an inherent flaw in the OS for its permissions-based exploits. Luckily today’s marketplace offers a variety of smart phone OS and device options.  Discover the innovative protective solutions and premium electronic accessories from the industry’s most leading brands.

Google and Motorola (now a subsidiary of the internet giant) have both acknowledged these issues. Interesting enough, HTC and Samsung have presented considerate difficulties for researchers in terms of reporting these issues. An interesting delineation between manufacturers, it may be in a consumer’s best interest to review unlocked phones for security purposes before locking into a contract with an unsecure smart phone.

The silver lining is that it is the likelihood of these soft spots being exploited is low. This is due to the necessity of side-loading an app on the device to interface with the permissions of the pre-installed applications’ weaknesses. But buyer bewares – the potential for serious privacy infringement is there. Be an informed and engaged consumer and take precautions when downloading applications from the Android Marketplace.  Ensure that you are downloading apps from trustworthy sellers and take a few moments to read over reviews, protection, smart phone and tablet accessories and additional smart phone options at online retailers such as puremobile.com.