By: Aldo Panessidi

The latest results are in for NPD Group’s monthly Mobile Phone Track service. It looks like Apple retails it’s top seat as the #1 smartphone vendor in the U.S.

Apple’s market ownership continues to strengthen. It’s market share increased by 7% in the first quarter year-over-year. In the past year, Apple’s iPhones were responsible for 29% of all smartphone sales in the U.S. Samsung with Its Samsung Galaxy S2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tablets seems to be the only company breathing anywhere down Apple’s neck.

I wrote another blog indicating that Samsung currently has the titles for the world’s largest smartphone vendor and largest overall mobile phone vendor. In the last year, Samsung recorded huge market share growth of 140%. That gives them ownership of 24% share of the market.

Why the confusion? Many analyst interpret market data differently... in addition a giant like Apple would react fervently to any news saying that its market position has been upset

Apple and Samsung together are responsible for 53% of all smartphones sold in the U.S. LG, HTC, Motorola and RIM sales continue to fall.

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“Samsung is the only market leader from the feature phone era to transition to market leadership in the smartphone era in the U.S.,” said NPD analyst Ross Rubin. “Its broad carrier support and advertising – particularly in the ascendant pre-paid segment – have helped it achieve the highest market share among Android handset providers in the U.S.”

NPD also reported that Google’s Android operating system is the highest selling mobile platform. Android use is trending in the right direction, and it regained some of the ground it had previously lost to Apple.

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Android smartphone sales grew 24% over the last quarter of 2011 to 61% of the market. Apple iPhone sales are down significantly. The high of 41% in the last quarter is now 29%, a decline of 29%.

Apple is still the People’s Phone. Regardless of what the market share number shows, Apple’s iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS still hold the top three spots in NPD’s overall handset ranking for first quarter of 2012. Samsung’s Galaxy S2 and HTC’s EVO 3D round out the top five.

Rubin tries to explain what the poll number show: “After some release of pent-up demand from customers adopting the iPhone 4S, coupled with the company’s strength in the holiday season, Apple’s share fell in the first quarter, as we’ve often see it do in the quarter following its introduction of a new handset. Now that the iPhone is available on Sprint, though, the increased carrier coverage has created a higher baseline for Apple’s share than we have seen in the past.”

This little hack will let you get the most out of your One X battery

By Adhurim Murtezai

Word on the street about the HTC One X from both users and critics is generally positive. However, there is one complaint that is pretty prevalent: battery life. Ever heard that before?

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Well, it looks like we don’t have to just wallow in acceptance of this all-to-typical problem. There appears to be a solution:

A developer on xda-developers forum has concluded that the poor battery life is due to an issue with the Nvidia Tegra 3 power management controls. The power control app, NvCPLSvc.apk, is in the wrong place. It has been placed in the system/bin folder instead of the system/app folder.

SD Flash Memory cards provide added security and extend your mobile device memory to hold a huge inventory of images, songs and documents

The fix is easy. Move the power control app into the system/app folder and watch battery life improve by 10-20 percent.

Duh!

By Aldo Panessidi

HTC Media Link’s maiden voyage at last year’s Mobile World Congress did not make much of a splash. The second go-around at this year’s MWC out-razzles and out-dazzles its predecessor. The HTC Media Link is a WiFi adapter that lets consumers make use of their HDTV to stream video, music, and pictures via DLNA.

That basic concept hasn’t changed since last year, but the product has been significantly refined to improve the end users’ experience. And, with the 2012 version you can wirelessly stream your phone display – oh the possibilities! With fairy godmother-like precision, a three-finger swipe of the display on the HTC One X or HTC One S will magically bring your display to the big screen via the Media Link.

This means bringing your web browsing session to the TV, or your Angry Birds game, or your email, or your applications. What is really magical about this year’s device is that you can show a feature film streaming from your phone to your home theatre. Does this mean you have to be phone free while the film is being shown? No sir! With a simple touch of the home button, this wonderful piece of smartphone gadgetry and accessorizing lets you continue to use your cell phone. Including phone calls!

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To bring the smartphone display back to the palm of your hand, another downward swipe of three fingers on the display will do the trick. For HTC fans that want to maximize the utility of their devices without adding to the tech clutter in the home, this could be the alternative to a docking station.

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While there have not been announcements around the availability of this nifty accessory, anyone who uses the media player functionality, apps, games and the many other capabilities of their HTC will add this to the must-have accessory list when suiting up their new HTC One S or HTC One X this spring.

By Aldo Panessidi

For all those who are using Android phones, such as, Motorola DROID Razr, Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC Amaze, and the Sony Xperia, can turn to AppAware.  They just re-launched a couple months ago with a completely overhauled version that turned the service into a social network for app discovery.

Perhaps the best ways to discover useful apps is to look at what people are actually updating, and not focus on which apps have the most installs. This is a good indicator of those apps having active support from their developers..

The following is the Pure Mobile Top 10 list of apps which were updated in the last seven days and received the most updates during that time period on AppAware.

Twitter – Version 3.1.0

What’s new in this version:

1. Swipe shortcut
2. Improved scrolling and network performance
3. Improved support for devices running Ice Cream Sandwich
4. Confirmation dialog for Find Friends
5. Security improvements
6. New languages: Filipino, Simplified Chinese
7. Many other bug fixes, improvements, and polish

This week Twitter rolled out a minor update focused on performance enhancements. Some power users prefer more control over their Twitter experience and go with apps like Tweakdeck, but if you just want pure Twitter then the official app is the way to go. The improved scrolling makes this version a must update.

Evernote – Version 3.5.3

What’s new in this version:

1. Note: calendar access is used to add context in empty titles.
2. fixes note processing issue when saving notes
3. fixes a crash when installing the update
4. improves setting interface
5. several other fixes and improvements

There are a lot of note taking apps out there, but Evernote is the most popular by far. It currently has 10 million installs and maintains an average rating of 4.6.

Google Docs – Version 1.0.54

What’s new in this version:

1. Create, view and edit Google documents with our new Android editor
2. Rich text formatting (bold, italics, underline, font color, background color)
3. Layout tools (bulleted lists, numbered lists, indentation)
4. Real-time collaboration – see edits from others in seconds
5. Cursor presence and highlighting

Paper Camera – Version 2.0g

What’s new in this version:

1. Supporting video on more devices
2. Supporting hardware zoom buttons
3. Paper camera now supports video recording on many high end devices.
4. All Android 4.X devices are officially supported.
5. Selected Android 2.3 devices are also supported.
6. Most other 2.3 devices have unofficial support. Please see the FAQ in the App description to learn how to enable it.
7. Android Beam support. Requires the NFC permission.
8. Media is now saved in a separate folder.

Finally a paid app makes the Top 10 list. Paper Camera retails for $1.99, but it’s well worth the price if you love taking photos with your phone. This app allows real time cartoon and painting effects displayed on your camera feed and adds many other effects to your photos.

Wiki Encyclopedia – Version 2.19

What’s new in this version:

1. **NEW PERMISSIONS*** New permissions are requested in the latest update in order to enable new features:
2. “Save Article to SD feature” (requires a new permission to Mount/Unmount file systems and Write External Storage)
3. Ability to upgrade to Pro for free (permission “Read phone state” to anonymously identify device)
4. GPS Permissions are for “wiki maps” which we are working on.
5. Autocomplete/Suggest on search
6. Widget

I have personally used this app countless time... it has over 5 million installs with an average rating of 4.4. Wiki Encyclopedia offers fast access to Wikipedia for your Android phone and also supports dozens of newspaper feeds. The latest update adds a widget and the ability to upgrade to the Pro version for free.

Viber – Version 2.1.4.588

What’s new in this version:

1. Bug Fixes
2. All new Voice engine!
3. Viber is now location-aware! Share your current location with your contacts so that they will know from where your message was sent.
4. Send and receive Photos.
5. New “is typing” indicator will notify you when he or she is typing a new message.
6. Landscape support for Messages.

While I personally have never used this app,  Viber allows you to call and text other Viber users, on any network, as much as you want. The app is available on Andorid and iPhone, which explains why they have over 40 million users. The latest update has a new voice engine that promises “HD sound quality.”

GO SMS Pro – Version 4.34

What’s new in this version:

1. Restructure application center
2. Feature to add conversation as desktop shortcut for quick access (Long press certain conversation)
3. Copy/paste support in MMS
4. Optimize the ring and vibration
5. Optimize the Groups in Contacts
6. Optimize screen shot
7. Optimize stranger’s avatar
8. Fix bugs of Pattern Lock may frozen after trying wrong input for 5 times
9. Fix some other minor bugs

It is one of the most full featured SMS apps and it’s great for Android phones that have crappy custom UIs that replace the default message app. The latest update is mostly bug fixes and optimizations, but give it a try if you are tired of your boring old SMS app.

Movies by Flixster – Version varies with device

What’s new in this version:

1. New “My Movies” tab to see your movie reviews, collections, and friends’ movies
2. Merged Box Office and Upcoming into a single tab
3. Fixed Facebook logout crash on ICS
4. Numerous other bug fixes and improvements

Flixster is one of the most popular movies apps. The latest version includes a new “My Movies” feature that might be worth checking out if you like to log all the movies you watch.

Dropbox – Version varies with device

What’s new in this version:

1. Allows you to automatically uploads photos and videos in the background using Wi-Fi or data plan
2. Up to 3 GB of free space for uploading photos automatically (in 500 MB increments)
3. Upload files of any size
4. Various performance improvements & bug fixes
5. Heads up, Dropbox can no longer be installed on your SD Card due to more secure credential storage

Dropbox is currently being used at Pure Mobile. Their latest app adds support for automatic uploads of your photos, a feature that’s been available on Google+ for awhile now. They are also offering up to 3 GB of free cloud storage, but then again Box is offering 50 GB for free.

Astrid – Version varies with device

What’s new in this version:

1. Entirely new design and themes
2. Subtasks!
3. Ability to outsource tasks with TaskRabbit
4. More reliable sync with Google Tasks
5. Tablet version!
6. Fixes for a few bugs experienced in 4.0.0 launch
7. New permission GPS Only used when you specify location for tasks through TaskRabbit

Astrid has been available on Android for a long time and they continue to release new updates that add a ton of features. If you are looking for a personal assistant to help you manage your tasks and to-do lists, then give Astrid a try. The latest version 4.0 adds a completely new look and adds support for tablets. It also supports sync with Google Tasks, which is a popular feature among to-do apps.

By Aldo Panessidi

With the Mobile World Congress on the horizon, the top smartphone vendors (Apple, Blackberry, HTC,  LG Mobile, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony) are ramping up products that were introduced and released earlier this year and fine tuning the messaging for the upcoming event that will give them the opportunity to leverage the publicity, innovative mobile accessory launches that accompany these global gatherings. So, Samsung is in a great position to capitalize on the momentum on the world stage for its latest international device, the Samsung Galaxy Note.

As with other Samsung offerings, this unlocked cell phone has gone through a series of transformations before reaching the shores of North America and will align with its American siblings in certain areas. With four touch sensitive buttons under the screen and a Snapdragon S3 chipset under the hood, the 1.5 GHz dual-core Scorpion processor is a differentiator from the Exynos silicon found in the global version of the handset.

And, with the added LTE connectivity, S Pen (stylus and pen), and large 5.3” Super AMOLED screen, this device looks to create its own niche and make its own waves in the mobile device industry. There is a slew of features that make this smartabletphone a good fit for some customers including a microSD slot (a nice consideration for a device that is likely to eat up a lot of storage), video recording in 1080p that has USB host and TV-out support, and full Flash support which is definitely sought out in media playing devices. The specs are long and worth checking out, but I would venture to say that the peripheral devices and accessories that will come along with this device will also be key.

The size of the handset will make headsets and Bluetooth devices all the more imperative for those customers using the Galaxy Note as one-handed use is bound to be tricky. Purchase of a protective accessory that precludes the need to fit this smartabletphone in your pocket is also a likely necessity. All in all, Samsung has created a device that answers the needs of consumers who are looking to consolidate the number of devices they tote around. The functionality will please many, but to truly get the most from this handset, customers will have to plan carefully and invest in the best accessories and peripheral devices to fit their usage and lifestyle – all of which we look forward to seeing and reviewing at the MWC!

By Aldo Paneesidi

Managing Customer churn as well acquiring new customers is an ongoing problem for all carriers... as such, they make it difficult for customers to switch providers.  To this end, practically all carriers worldwide engage in 'false highly-persuasive' advertising.  They will typically lure consumers with the offer of FREE smartphone and then hook, reel and lock them in with long term service plans that are designed to not only subsidize the cost of the cell phone but provide wireless voice & data services at premium prices.  To further enforce customer loyalty, carriers lock their giveaway phones to only work within their network frequencies - thus making it difficult for consumers to leave them for another carrier.

In some cases, the programming may be easy to reverse, with the user simply reformatting the cell phone or removing the phone's memory card.   In other instances, the phone may be designed in such a way that it is impossible to use it with another network, with most cell phone brands, like Apple, Blackberry, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, HTC, LG Mobile and Sony to name a few,  manufacturing specific phones for particular networks.

In contrast, an unlocked phone are simply handsets that aren't handcuffed to a specific carrier's service package can be used on any network.

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Unlocking a phone - How it works

A cellphone handset is like a body without a brain. It can't make calls unless it has a thumbnail-sized chip called a SIM card installed. The SIM card identifies an individual phone on a cellular network so that calls can be routed to it as the handset is carried from place to place, so the owner's account can be billed for air time and long-distance fees, and so on.

When a phone is bought on a service plan, the SIM card in that phone is linked to the subscriber's ID information for billing. Most carriers lock the phone by programming its software so that it will only work with the SIM card they provide — try to swap it with a card from another carrier because it has a cheaper service plan, for example, and the phone won't recognize it.

An unlocked cellphone is one that will recognize any SIM card. So if you're travelling in Europe and don't want to incur roaming charges or have every local call billed as long distance by your regular North American cellphone carrier, you can buy a local European carrier's card during your stay and pop it into your regular phone.

The caveat is that there are two main cellphone networks, and they aren't compatible with one another. One is based on the CDMA standard, which is popular in North America and parts of Asia, and used by Bell and Telus in Canada. The other is GSM, which is used by Rogers in Canada and is the most common cellphone standard outside North America, used by more than 2 billion subscribers in most countries around the world.

An unlocked phone will work on a compatible network — CDMA phones on CDMA networks and GSM handsets on GSM networks. But many CDMA phones have the SIM card built in, and have to be reprogrammed directly to make the phone work on another carrier's network. Most GSM handsets, on the other hand, have a slot that allows a SIM card to be swapped easily by the user.  As a result, unlocked cellphones available in Canada are predominantly GSM models.

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By Aldo Panessidi

We all agree that Apple’s iPhones are iconic. They have three models on the market compared to Android’s plethora of offerings with a multitude of manufacturers including the Samsung Galaxy S II, the HTC Amaze, the Motorola RAZR Droid and the LG Optimus 2X . But, Apple’s offerings have made it one of the most valuable companies in the world and has handed its partners a brilliantly branded and easily sold product. Add great activation figures every quarter for carriers that sell the smartphone and it sounds like a great partnership for both Apple and the carriers.

Alas, the reality paints more of a love-hate relationship.   Carriers see the AT&T/iPhone exclusivity model and drool.   No competition from unlocked phones, other carriers, and seemingly one-of-a-kind device fits into the highly controlled model carriers prefer.  This explains why Sprint was willing to guarantee Apple $15.5 billion over four years to sell the iPhone. Then the mobile carrier posted a $1.3 billion financial loss last quarter. Then there is the bad blood with T-Mobile after failed negotiations over the iPhone which has resulted in the carrier offering iPhone users free microSIM cards to give up their 3G speeds and join their network.

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Recently Nomura Securities analyst Mike McCormack told CNNMoney, “A logical conclusion is that the iPhone is not good for wireless carriers […] When we look at the direct and indirect economics that Apple has managed to extract from the carriers, the carrier-level value destruction is quite evident.” This can be seen with Verizon’s drop in EBITDA service margin from 46.4% to 42.2% since adding the smartphone to its arsenal last year.  Whether iPad sales and service plans can make up for that remains to be seen.  However, they should be able to leverage the equally iconic and addicting Apple accessories.

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.

Alas, for now the iPhone is not going anywhere because of news like Sprint’s: best quarter in the past six years for net subscriber additions which can be attributed to the 720,000 new postpaid subscribers who changed to the carrier to get their hands on the iPhone. And by all accounts, the money should follow with increased price points and the newest iPhone release coming this year.

By Aldo Panessidi

Android. Apple. Apple. Android. The mobile OS brands and their respective handset manufacturers are in the grip of a fierce, cyclical competition to be the best and win global mindshare. Which is why we follow the momentum and progress of their sales and innovation so closely. So how did the vendors stack up against one another?   The usual culprits are present: Apple’s iPhone 4S and Samsung’s Galaxy S 2.

OEM Market Share

For the three-month average period ending in December, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG Mobile with 20 percent share and Motorola with 13.3 percent share. Apple continued to gain ground in the OEM market with 12.4 percent share of total mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.7 percent share.

Smartphone Platform Market Share

97.9 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in December, representing 40 percent of all mobile subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 47.3 percent market share, up 2.5 percentage points from September. Apple maintained its #2 position, growing 2.2 percentage points to 29.6 percent of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 16 percent share, followed by Microsoft (4.7 percent) and Symbian (1.4 percent).

According to the another market research firm, The NPD Group, the top three best-selling smartphones in the United States of last quarter all came from Apple: the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4, and the iPhone 3GS (which consumers can receive at no cost when signing a contract at AT&T). Two of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S II made the top 5 list as well. The availability of some of these handsets as unlocked devices likely contributed to their success as well.

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When diving into the details of this buying behavior, NPD analyst, Ross Rubin, noted that customers are motivated by “a fast processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent, most iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making is the top-selling handset in Q4.” In fact, the latest iPhone 4S outsold its predecessor by a whopping 75% and lapped the iPhone 3GS by a ratio of five to one. Throw in an OS that ties in the number one selling tablets in the world and customer get hooked.

When looking at the mobile OS platform of choice amongst first-time smartphone buyers, Android won out with 57% - Apple only saw 34% of those first time buyers choose their solution.

Much as there are solid tech reasons for Apple’s great performance with the iPhone 4S, NPD’s Rubin also outlines the rationale of Android’s growth and popularity amongst first-time buyers. “Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” Rubin noted. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.”

By Megan Fleet

Taiwan’s top smartphone manufacturer, HTC, cannot seem to catch a break when pitted against Apple’s iPhone 4S. The many patent cases that have flown between the two companies have mainly had judgments in Apple’s favor. Based on recent revenue reports, the trend seems to be continuing.

On Monday, earnings for the fourth quarter of last year were released and projections for the first quarter of this year that fall shy of industry expectations. When following the numbers, HTC has seemingly been stuck in second gear since Apple released the iPhone 4S.

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To put it in hard numbers, HTC reported consolidated revenue of NT$101.42 billion (US$3.43 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2011, a drop of 25.33 percent from the previous quarter.
HTC also said its revenue may drop 31 to 36 percent sequentially to between NT$65 billion and NT$70 billion in the first quarter of 2012, as it is still undergoing a product cycle transition.

The news doesn’t look much brighter to kick of 2012. The expectation was that HTC would net $85 billion this quarter. Instead, the money looks closer to $64 billion.

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So is the manufacturer going the way of Research In Motion (albeit without the bad-boy executive behavior and panache)? Well, that remains to be seen. New products are bound to be released in 2012 that could turn things around, but what how will those smartphones and tablets compare to the Apple competition.  Their availability of 4G LTE and unlocked handset options could boost interest and sales as well.

By Megan Fleet

The hype and buzz have died down a bit from CES, now we are on our way to the build up and news out of the Mobile World Congress. So without further ado, let’s fill you in on the latest  HTC cell phone -  the HTC Ville.  Get a detailed review of the svelte metal uni-body design that is less than 8mm thick that  is  HTC Ville.

Potential customers can expect an Android 4.0 mobile OS which will please those who don’t want to have to wait for their device to roll out upgrades. Additional specs are Sense 4.0, a 4.3 Super AMOLED display, with a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor under the hood. What’s really exciting is that this Snapdragon’s Qualcomm Krait CPU will increase performance by 60% compared to the existing Scorpion micro-architecture in previous Snapdragon versions. A face-lifted Adreno 225 GPU will make graphics perform 50% faster too. Get ready for a little zoom zoom in your HTC Ville!   Get a complete view of the HTC Ville preliminary specs at GSM Arena

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