On the heels of their recent announcement regarding the upcoming rollout of the highly anticipated 4G network Verizon Wireless’s CTO Anthony Melone has targeted next summer as the time frame for the carrier’s first LTE handset release.  While the aforementioned 4G network is expected to be ready by the end of this year all of us tech junkies will have to wait a little longer for the first unlocked cell phone handset.

It should be well worth the wait though as these new mobile devices are expected to have the same downloading and uploading speed as your home computer.  In the current test markets in Boston and Seattle engineers were blown away by the results they were seeing which is a great sign for the possibilities to come.  Also, videos will be able to be seen in 1080p high definition which should really revolutionize the way people consume video content on their mobile devices.

There is one bit of bad news that is expected to come with the awesome power of the new 4G network.  It appears that Verizon and even AT&T are headed down the path of eliminating unlimited data plans and moving to a tiered structure.  While it does make sense for these companies to charge people for the amount of data they download or even upload it is still a bummer that we finally get some great internet speeds on our mobile devices like the Blackberry Pearl but will have to pay more to fully enjoy them.

Looking at comScore’s January quarter cell phone manufacturer and platform market share statistics in the United States, we see some interesting trends.  Despite a sharp decrease in global sales, Motorola mobile devices surprisingly still maintains a 22.9% market share of American cell phone subscribers.  They saw a 1.2% decrease since October 2009, which is strange considering the release of the success of the Droid in recent months.  Considering Motorola’s lack of smart phone offerings, it tells you that the smart phone does not quite dominate the cell phone market as much as one might expect.  Samsung recently claimed to hold the number one spot in U.S. market share, but as with any claim, you need to take with a grain of salt and dig a little deeper.  When referring to total sales, and not current subscribers, this claim could be feasible, as there are still a huge number of legacy RAZR phones floating around and inflating these numbers.

Looking at the other popular smart phone manufacturers and platforms, Blackberry, iPhone, and Android all saw gains this quarter, while Palm and Windows Mobile each saw large downturns.  Regarding the decreases, it seems as though most can be attributed to a large number of Palm OS and WinMO phone subscribers coming off their contracts.  At this point, at the tail end of two year contracts, those operating systems are antiquated at best.  It’s well known that WinMo is well past its expiration date, with most people who used Windows Mobile heading to the Droid, iPhone, or Blackberry.

Blackberry and iPhone still dominate the smartphone landscape, but it seems like Droid is determined to steal some market share, as they’ve already gained 4.3% since it was released in November 2009.  It will be interesting to see if the Droid can continue to win over loyal iPhone and Blackberry users in the next quarter.

According to CareerBuilders.com, 57% of mobile workers (meaning people who primarily work on the road), use their unlocked cell phone while in the bathroom.  And I’m not going to lie, I do this regularly myself.  Polling 5,200 respondents, they found a host of interesting stats.  Not only do we engage in dirty behavior, the majority of us also engage in extremely RISKY behavior.  54% of all workers admitted to checking their phones while driving, and in no surprise, in their never ending quest to make a sale, 66% of sales workers admitted to smartphoning behind the wheel.  In one of the most disturbing responses, half of all health care workers admitted to using cell phones in their cars.  We can only hope that statistic does not include ambulance drivers.

It truly is an addiction.  Almost one fifth of all respondents said they check their phone immediately after it vibrates or beeps, and the same percentage says that their employer demands they be reachable via cell phone after work hours.  Most professionals relay on their smart phones such as the Motorola Backflip, for a non-stop flow of incoming and outgoing information, and based on the above stats, I’d be surprised if we don’t see an increase in state and federal legislation penalizing those who use their cell phones while driving.  Some other interesting stats taken from this study:

• 62% check during a meal
• 60% check while on vacation
• 57% check while in the bathroom
• 50% check while lying in bed at night
• 25% check when at the movies
• 18% check while on a date
• 17% check while working out at the gym
• 17% check when attending their kid’s  events
• And in a move that will probably shock and disgust your Grandmother, 11% admit to checking their smartphones while at church!

Sprint will now be carrying another environmentally correct cell phone.  The LG Cell Phone (Remarq) is primarily a messaging phone, which will also allow you to utilize many social networking features.  The biggest deal about this phone is that it is eco-friendly.  It is partially made from recycled plastic and the packaging that the mobile device comes in is mostly made from materials that are recycled as well.  To carry the theme on further, the charger is Energy Star.  We have seen an emergence of environmentally friendly phones, which also includes the Sony Ericsson Aspen unlocked cell phone.

Not only is the phone good for the earth, being manufactured and produced with 87% environmentally friendly products, but it also comes with a really cool eco-calculator application, which will tell you how much CO2 you are saving when you walk or cycle instead of using a car.  The phone also comes with additional features as well.  It has the full slide out QWERTY keyboard.  It also has a 1.3 mega pixel camera, MP3 player and has the MicroSD card slot, which gives you up to 16GB of additional memory.  It is also has stereo Bluetooth.  The phone is great for social media such as Facebook and the phone makes it extremely easy to upload photos to the variety of social networks and Photobucket.

It has all of the built-in accessories we use, such as the alarm clock calculator, notepad clock.  You will be able to send and receive instant messages and e-mail, as well as the ability to access any of your e-mail accounts.  The phone is available in dark silver, as well as turquoise.  Give you 5.5 hours of talk time and has a 320x240 QVGA screen with 262K of color resolution.  It should be available around May 9^th.

The Blackberry Pearl 8220 up on first examination may look a little bit too big.  In fact, though, it is a lightweight, mobile phone device at 3.6 ounces.  It's overall size is 4”x2”x.07.  This folder type phone flips open on the rounded hinge.  It has the smooth curves, the elegant metal trim and the glossy finish.  On the left side, there is the 3.5 audio port and the microUSB data and charger port.  Right underneath the volume control buttons on the right side is the microSDHC memory card slot.

The QVGA display is 240x320 pixels.  The keypad utilizes the 20 key SureType.  It also has the Pearl looking trackball that is recessed so it will not press into the display when the phone is closed.  It also is complete with a 2-megapixel camera so you can share them between all of your social medias.  You will be able to send them instantly through messaging or upload them directly to sites such as Facebook.  The phone supports GPRS, Edge and Wi-Fi.  The phone also has twin displays with the external enabling you to view status information as well as previewing e-mail and text messages.  This way, you do not have to worry about opening up the phone unless you want to.  It will also enable you to do voice dialing and has predictive text, buildings.

The Blackberry Pearl 8200 unlocked cell phone has built in hands-free and works with Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP.  It will give you up to four hours of talk time and up to 336 hours of standby time.  It will use Blackberry maps and has the MP3 player.  It also has a spell check feature, and other business-related applications including the calculator.  It is an extremely sleek looking phone in addition to being quite reliable.  The other bonus is that it currently is on sale at PureMobile for $149.00.

If you are a movie aficionado like me then you will want to pay close attention to this post.  Movie ticket website Fandango announced today that will start selling movie tickets that can be scanned from your mobile device immediately.  Similar to the 2-D barcodes that are available with some airlines Fandango’s tickets can be scanned at the ticket booth at selected theaters.

Currently this new technology is only available in a few select theaters and cities such as New York, Dallas, Houston and San Diego but is expected to be rolled out to more cities in the coming months if the tests prove effective.  The costs of movie tickets will be the same if you use this new feature on your cell phone.

This is truly fantastic news if you like going to the movies but hate standing in those lines to get your tickets.  You will never miss a show again because of it being sold out while you are waiting to get your tickets.  You will be able to purchase your tickets to the show at home and then just skip the line all together when you get to the theater.  I am quite excited to use this new technology from Fandango and looking forward to save some time waiting in line the next time I am at the movies.

In more news about the upcoming Windows 7 phone Microsoft released a few more details about what we can expect with this new mobile device.  Charlie Kindel, who is in charge of Microsoft’s Windows Phone developer strategy, said that Microsoft is working with developers to make sure that Windows Phone 7 handsets come equipped with enough memory for applications, 3D games and media storage.  Kindel also went on to suggest that these phones may have microSD cards embedded in them but will be locked in place so that the end user can not get to them.

Microsoft also noted that much like the iPhone the Windows Phone 7 will not be a true multitasking device.  Third party applications will not be able to run continuously in the background and those using VoiP will be limited.  “Apps that run arbitrarily in the background create an end user experience where battery life and responsiveness of the system becomes … inconsistent," Kindel said.  "We focused on getting a set of experiences right where we didn't have to support [multitasking,] but we will over time."

While it is sort of a bummer that true multitasking will not be supported with the onset of the Windows 7 Phone it is reassuring that they will be working on it for the future.  One of my biggest pet peeves about the current mobile devices is their lack of multitasking abilities.  It sounds like future releases of the Windows Phone 7 might just have that problem solved though.

While the new Windows 7 phone that is set to come out very soon has generated a lot of buzz this might be some buzz that is less popular.  It appears as if the only way to get apps for your new Windows 7 phone will be to purchase those apps through the Windows Phone Marketplace.  Much like the Apple’s App Store for the iPhone there will be only one way to get apps onto the new Windows 7 device.

Also, developers of any new apps for the Windows 7 phone will have to submit their apps to the marketplace where their app will be approved or rejected for inclusion into the Windows Phone Marketplace much like a developer does currently for the iPhone.  Microsoft plans to learn from Apple’s mistakes however and provide much more transparency into their approval process.  This will be welcomed news for programmers as they can get a much better sense for what goes on behind the scenes and what will and will not be approved by the marketplace.

Apps for the new windows phone can be purchased through the device itself or via the Zune desktop client.  One cool feature of the Windows 7 phone app’s is that once a customer has downloaded an app it can be deleted and downloaded again at a later date as the apps are linked to a customer’s Microsoft Live account and not with the phone itself.

All of this news sounds pretty standard as Microsoft is just following the path set forth by Apple.  It should be pretty interesting to see what kind of apps the Windows 7 phone has that the iPhone does not.  Also, I will be interested to see if Microsoft sticks to their word about providing a more transparent app approval process.

In a recent survey performed by Crowd Science ArsTecnica is reporting that 40% of BlackBerry users indicated they have plans to switch out their BlackBerry for an iPhone when their contracts are up.  Some other interesting facts that this survey dug up are:

• 33% of iPhone owners and 16% of BlackBerry owners use their device exclusively for personal use, not work
• 1% of iPhone owners and 7% of BlackBerry owners use their device exclusively for business purposes
• 66% of iPhone owners and 77% of BlackBerry owners are using their device for both business and personal purposes

While the 40% might not be all that accurate and is probably a little on the high side, the survey had a margin of error of +/- 10%, it is still an alarming number for BlackBerry to consider.  Even at 30% BlackBerry has to do some careful evaluation of their product to ensure some customer loyalty and not lose their entire customer base to the more personal use friendly iPhone and Droid devices.

This survey should be an eye opener for BlackBerry and show that their consumers are looking for a device that they can use for both their personal and business needs.  By offer some more apps that cover the personal uses their consumers are looking for BlackBerry will certainly be making their current users much happier.

Paypal just updated their iPhone app to include several new handy features.  The biggest change to the app with this current upgrade is the ability to “bump” payments via paypal using the technologies developed by Bump Technologies.  Bump Technologies is famous for their contact and photo sharing app that transfers files when two iPhone users running the app bump their phones together.  This bump triggers an accelerometer action that will move the contents of one phone over to the other.  Now users who are both running the Paypal app can transfer money between their paypal accounts in the same fashion.

Also included in the update is the ability for paypal users to send money requests to contacts in their iPhone address book.  Paypal users can now also initiate withdrawals to their bank accounts via the iPhone app which can save them a lot of time by not requiring them to sign onto a computer.  This is probably the best addition that was included in the current upgrade.  Being able to withdrawal funds from my paypal account while on the go with the iPhone is sure to be a great convenience.

It sounds as if Paypal was busy making some much needed upgrades to their iPhone app.  This current upgrade has addressed several of the issues that I had with the app especially the ability to withdrawal funds directly to my bank account.  This will be very handy when I am on the go and receiving payments to my Paypal account.