Apple, RIM and HTC win big in 2010 mobile handset race
In nearly all parts of the world, consumers’ appetite for purchasing the very latest handsets has not abated. Quite the reverse: research estimates 390 million handsets and smartphones were shipped in 4Q-2010, up 15.6% year-on-year. Overall, that takes the 2010 total of handsets shipped to 1.36 billion. This is a remarkable turnaround given that just one year ago, 2009 shipments had contracted 4.4% YoY.
Nokia’s market share slid marginally to 31.7%, because its revamped smartphone portfolio has yet to gain traction. Samsung made marginal gains in market share to 20.7%. Samsung’s smartphones, including the Galaxy-S, have helped to strengthen its competitiveness in the smartphone sector, but in the overall handset market, this vendor is treading water. Apple’s iPhone 4 continues to capture a growing chunk of the smartphone market (4.2%). RIM also showed respectable gains (3.6%) due to a refreshed lineup of keyboard smartphones as well as a hybrid touch-screen/keyboard smartphone, the Torch. Other overall handset market share winners include HTC, Huawei, ZTE and TCL.
LG (7.8%), Sony-Ericsson (2.9%) and Motorola (2.9%) contracted in global handset market share. However, Motorola has continued to show quarter-on-quarter growth.
A number of vendors have jettisoned their global handset market-share aspirations and are instead focusing their resources and expertise on growing their high-end smartphone market share. Over time, a number of Chinese and Indian handset vendors will corner an increasing slice of the global handset market. They are introducing aggressively priced handsets and smartphones that cater to the needs of emerging market consumers as well as mobile operators looking for operator-branded handsets.
According to sources, Huawei, ZTE and TCL/Alcatel Mobile are being joined by Indian vendors Micromax and Spice Mobile as regional and global handset movers and shakers.
Handset vendors are not the only beneficiaries: chipset companies ARM and Qualcomm have had one of their best financial performances due to the smartphone boom, while MediaTek is angling to capture the low-end smartphone segment.
Kodak patent complaint against Apple, RIM rejected
Eastman Kodak (EK) has announced that the U.S. International Trade Commission has issued an initial determination that the patent claim at issue is invalid and that the patent is not infringed.
According to Kodak, the patent at issue involved a method for previewing images on a digital camera-enabled device. Kodak reported that the patent was recently upheld as valid by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A final decision in the case is scheduled to be issued by the full commission by May 23.
Kodak also stated that the same patent had been upheld by another judge in an ITC case against LG and Samsung. The company that it expects the commission will ultimately rule that the patent claim at issue is valid and infringed by Apple and RIM.
Kodak had filed the complaint in January 2010. The company also filed patent infringement suits against Apple and RIM in federal court. A number of companies have licensed its imaging patents, including the one in question. Licensees include Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sharp and Sony, among others.
Indonesia to get filtered Internet access by RIM
Research In Motion (RIM) has planned to filter pornographic internet content for BlackBerry users in that country.
According to the company, RIM is fully committed to work with Indonesia’s carriers to put in place a prompt, compliant filtering solution for BlackBerry subscribers in Indonesia as soon as possible.
This marks the first time that RIM has applied internet filtering in any country, and the move came after Indonesian Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring threatened to shut down the BlackBerry browsing service. It is estimated that RIM has approximately two million users in Indonesia, and analysts report that the market represents one of the fastest growing for the BlackBerry.
Indonesia has also asked RIM to use a local server to enable the government access to data sent via BlackBerry. The company contended that establishing an Indonesian presence will have no impact on its ability to decrypt the data flow on its devices, should it be required to support an investigation.
RIM provides Messenger solution access to India
Canada’s Research In Motion Ltd. has provided solutions that will let India’s security agencies access the smartphone maker’s popular messenger and public email services, but not the corporate email services.
According to the company, the lawful access capability now available to RIM’s carrier partners meets the standard required by the government of India for all consumer messaging services offered in the Indian marketplace.
RIM has been under pressure from the government to provide access to data on its secure networks as India wants to monitor RIM’s corporate email and messenger services, fearing the BlackBerry’s heavy encryption makes the smartphones convenient for terrorists to use without being monitored. It had threatened to ban the services if the BlackBerry maker didn’t provide such access.
India earlier stated that it was testing solutions offered by RIM to access the BlackBerry messenger service and that it already had access to monitor Internet, voice calls and short-messaging services on the smartphones.
According to RIM, they also wish to underscore, once again, that this enablement of lawful access does not extend to BlackBerry Enterprise Server [corporate email], which is essentially an enterprise VPN solution.
RIM to install web filters in Indonesia
Research In Motion Ltd. is working to set up Internet filters for Blackberry services in Indonesia to comply with government demands.
According to the company, it will put in place a solution as soon as possible and is in discussions with carriers and the government on the matter.
According to Muhammad Budi Setyawan, Director General of Post and Telecommunications at the ministry, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology will meet Jan. 17 with RIM and six mobile-service providers to ask them to filter pornographic websites. They are not specifically targeting RIM, but pornography. Most of Indonesia’s providers already block the sites. If RIM agrees to filter, they may take two to three days to discuss or hold the meetings with the operators. If they do not want to filter, they will ask RIM to close the browser service as a whole.
Tifatul Sembiring, Communication and Information Technology Minister stated that RIM has until Jan. 21 to begin filtering pornographic websites. If it doesn’t comply, Indonesia may begin legal proceedings, which could include revocation without elaborating. All telecommunications operators doing business in Indonesia have to obey the regulations in Indonesia. RIM also has to respect and obey the rules.
He added that RIM hasn’t complied with several of the government’s requests, including blocking pornographic sites and building a server in Indonesia so authorities can conduct investigations against perpetrators of crime.
Sprint Network to offer WiMAX Version of the BlackBerry PlayBook
Research In Motion (RIM) has announced that its upcoming tablet device, the PlayBook will be offered on Sprint’s WiMAX network. The tablet computer is expected to be available from Sprint in the summer.
According to Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion, the company believes a significant portion of the tablet market will want a higher performing, multitasking, professional-grade tablet and that is why they chose to design the BlackBerry PlayBook for premium performance with a powerful dual-core processor and multitasking OS. Together with Sprint, they are now building on that performance advantage with 4G and providing an unparalleled mobile experience for users.
In addition to Wi-Fi support, the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook features a 1 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and the new BlackBerry Tablet OS. Additional details and pricing will be released closer to launch.
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BlackBerry PlayBook specifications
- 7″ 1024×600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen
- Ultra-portable at less than a pound and less than one-half inch thick: 0.9 lbs (400g) and 5.1″ x 7.6″ x 0.4″ (130mm x 194mm x 10mm)
- 1 GHz dual-core processor
- BlackBerry® Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
- MP3, AAC and WMA audio playback
- Support for 1080p HD video playback (H.264, MPEG4, WMV)
- HDMI out
- Dual HD cameras for video conferencing and video capture
- 1 GB RAM memory
- Up to 64 GB internal storage (16, 32 and 64 GB models)
- Wi-Fi® (802.11 a/b/g/n) connectivity
- Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR support
RIM rejects PlayBook poor battery life report
Research in Motion has rejected reports that its upcoming tablet device has a poor battery life, claiming that the reports are based on pre-production models.
According to sources, the PlayBook battery lasted only a few hours. By comparison, Apple’s iPad lasts around 10 hours and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab offers at least six hours. The delayed launch for the Playbook may have been due to the battery problems.
But according to the company, any testing or observation of battery life to date by anyone outside of RIM would have been performed using pre-beta units that were built without power management implemented. It added that development of the battery was on schedule and its performance would be comparable to competitors.
BlackBerry Bold 9780 available with Vodafone and Optus (Australia)
Vodafone and Optus are selling the BlackBerry Bold 9780 in Australia selling the mobile phone on plans starting at $59 per month.
Vodafone and Optus are expected to carry the BlackBerry Bold 9780 mobile phone, but the telcos are yet to announce final pricing and availability of the handset.
Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Bold 9780 is the first BlackBerry Bold smartphone to come with the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, promising new versions of the popular BlackBerry Messenger software among other tweaks and refinements to the BlackBerry phone user interface.
According to Adele Beachley, Managing Director for Australia at Research In Motion, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 melds business and social needs perfectly. The BlackBerry Bold series has always been very popular in Australia and so it’s great to be able to introduce the BlackBerry Bold 9780 with the new BlackBerry 6 operating system.
The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is available on Optus business plans starting at $59 per month, with Vodafone selling the BlackBerry Bold 9780 on business cap plans starting at $65 per month.
CNN Launches iPad App, removes mobile app Fee (USA)
CNN has launched a free application for Apple Inc’s iPad and has also eliminated its fee for mobile application. The Time Warner Inc owned news channel’s decision to charge nothing for its apps comes when other large news organizations, such as the New York Times, are working on plans to charge for their apps on smartphones and tablet devices.
According to KC Estenson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CNN.com, CNN is a brand of scale and at its best when it’s in the hands of as many people as possible. Making it free will unleash a whole new audience.
CNN’s iPad app highlights news, photos and videos. The app also prominently features comments that run alongside the news. It is building tablet apps for other platforms including Google’s Android and RIM’s Blackberry.
