Tag Archives: MicrosoftWindowsPhone

Nielsen: more than half of US teens now own smartphones

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Nielsen more than half of US teens now own smartphones, Android stays in front

Yes, we know Android is holding steady at about 52 percent of US smartphone market share. What's interesting is just who's driving growth as a whole. According to Nielsen, 58 percent of American teens between 13 and 17 now have a smartphone -- that's a big jump from 36 percent a year earlier and a sign that the youngest owners have a significant sway over where the market is going. Not that young adults don't have an impact. Although the 25-to-34 crowd isn't making as big a comparative leap, its smartphone ownership has climbed from 59 percent to a dominating 74 percent in the same space of time.

No matter how much youth set the pace, it's clear Android is still having an effect. Among the US smartphone buyers Nielsen tracked in the three months leading up to July, 58.6 percent went Google's direction. Most of that gain came from BlackBerry owners switching allegiances, which doesn't bode well when RIM is counting on existing owners to fuel BlackBerry 10 demand. We'd be careful about citing a one-point shrink in iPhone sales as a shift in the balance of power, however -- while it could be part of a trend, it could also represent the habitual lull in Apple's sales during the weeks before a major iPhone introduction.

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Nielsen: more than half of US teens now own smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Accord may become the mid-range 8X, make a little more Sense

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HTC Accord may be the midrange 8X, make a little more Sense

HTC's plans for Windows Phone 8 may be filling out fast. We saw XDA-Developer member Football4PDA post a schematic of the Accord less than a week ago, and today he's posting what could be more concrete information. Supposedly, HTC's inaugural device might be named the 8X -- not quite as charming, but definitely simple. More importantly, the software in the claimed leak suggests the company will bring a trace of Sense UI style to the home screen, rather than having to relegate it to the HTC Hub: a live tile would bring the oversized clock and weather that One owners know so well. Just don't anticipate a flagship device here. If the specifications are real, the 8X would bear more in common with the Droid Incredible 4G LTE, sharing its 1.2GHz dual-core chip, 8-megapixel rear camera, Beats Audio and NFC while picking up a slightly larger 4.3-inch screen and 16GB of storage. Our main question centers around the unveiling. While HTC has an event lined up for later this month, there's no guarantee that the 8X will show up at that gathering or even launch side-by-side with Windows Phone 8 itself.

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HTC Accord may become the mid-range 8X, make a little more Sense originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocket-lint  |  sourceFootball4PDA (Twitter), (2)  | Email this | Comments

ComScore: Android tops 52 percent of US smartphone share, iPhone cracks the 33 percent mark

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ComScore Android tops 52 percent of US smartphone share, iPhone passes 33 percent

Both Apple and Google have reasons to break out the champagne in the wake of ComScore's latest market share figures. Android is still sitting prettier than ever and just reached a new high of 52.2 percent for US smartphone share as of this past July, no doubt in part through at least a few Galaxy S III sales. Not that Apple is worrying about its US stake just yet, as the iPhone just passed the one-third mark to hit 33.4 percent -- it gained share faster than Android in the space of the preceding three months. We don't have much good news elsewhere, though, as the BlackBerry lost its hold on two-digit market share at the same time as Windows and Symbian continued to cede ground.

As for the overall cellphone space? The familiar pecking order of Samsung, LG, Apple, Motorola and HTC remains intact, although only Apple and HTC gained any traction with their respective 16.3 percent and 6.4 percent slices of the pie. LG has dropped quickly enough that it's now within Apple's crosshairs at 18.4 percent. As significant as the shifts can be, we're most interested in what happens two months down the line, when ComScore can report September share: a certain phone's launch is likely to skew the numbers, regardless of what HTC and Motorola bring to the table. Just be advised that US market share isn't everything.

Continue reading ComScore: Android tops 52 percent of US smartphone share, iPhone cracks the 33 percent mark

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ComScore: Android tops 52 percent of US smartphone share, iPhone cracks the 33 percent mark originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone companion surfaces for Windows 8, could take over syncing duties

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Windows Phone companion surfaces for Windows 8, takes over mobile syncing duties

It's tough to ignore that the Zune era at Microsoft is quickly winding to a close. That doesn't mean you'll necessarily be out of options for syncing a Windows Phone's contents by the time the Zune desktop app fades away, however. A tip to The Verge has shown a companion app for Windows 8 users that will reportedly load the first time a Windows Phone 8 device syncs up, giving a fully Metro-friendly place to transfer any media. Windows 7 would get its own parallel, just in case some of us aren't willing or able to upgrade our PCs in concert. The replacement desktop apps could be available at about the same time as the Windows Phone 8 launch, if the claims are at all accurate -- which might leave less than two months before one more vestige of Microsoft's MP3 player days goes away.

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Windows Phone companion surfaces for Windows 8, could take over syncing duties originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shocker: smartphone users like bigger screens, market share may respond accordingly

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Shocker smartphone users like bigger screens, market share responds accordingly

There's been a trend towards big smartphones. Sometimes, really big. Even so, concerns have persisted that the cart is driving the horse -- that customers are buying big phones because that's what's available, not because they have a preference. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech might not put that issue to bed once and for all, but its latest study suggests that there's at least some appeal to all that extra glass. Among Android phones sold in the past three months across eight countries, 29 percent of them had a screen larger than 4.5 inches. Their owners were unsurprisingly more active as well, using the internet and watching videos more often than those whose phones have more modest displays.

Market share might be following suit. Throughout the countries Kantar is tracking, Android still has roughly half or more of the market, ranging from 46.8 percent in Brazil to a staggering 86.8 percent of Spain. In Europe alone, it was up by just over a fifth from a year ago. We know iOS is taking a beating outside of the US as a result. Before anyone calls the trend irreversible, however, remember that we're on the edge of an unpredictable period: we know some mobile fans have been holding out for a new iPhone, and all the apparent rumors have Apple choosing a bigger screen that might satisfy some outstanding gripes with screen sizes. We're also anticipating at least a few Windows Phone wildcards that could shake up the status quo and make this a three-horse race.

Continue reading Shocker: smartphone users like bigger screens, market share may respond accordingly

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Shocker: smartphone users like bigger screens, market share may respond accordingly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TechCrunch  |  sourceKantar Worldpanel ComTech  | Email this | Comments

Nokia Lumia wireless charging pad breaks cover

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Nokia Lumia wireless charging pad breaks cover

That was quick: we'd heard rumors through The Verge of wireless charging coming to the repeatedly leaked Lumia 920 alongside a pseudo-PureView camera, and the mysterious @evleaks has come through with what looks to be press photos showing the wireless charging pad in action. As long as they're more than just wild imaginings, they reveal a puck-like surface that could juice up both the Lumia 920 and the less ambitious 820. We don't know much more about the charger, although it's expected to use Qi and wouldn't limit the phones and pad to coupling solely with each other. We'll know the bigger picture on September 5th; in the meantime, check after the break for a bonus picture showing both Windows Phone 8 devices with an unnamed Bluetooth headset (likely a Luna variant) that might join the charger in Nokia's accessory line.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia wireless charging pad breaks cover

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Nokia Lumia wireless charging pad breaks cover originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark/Space Welcome Home eases us into new Nokia Lumias, lifts the burden of app hunting

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Nokia, MarkSpace ease us into new Lumias with Welcome Home

So you just bought a Nokia Lumia 900 and are wondering how on Earth you'll get all your old phone's data over to that new Windows Phone. Nokia and Mark/Space have you covered with a new, Lumia-tuned Welcome Home to Windows Phone app. The Mac- and Windows-based utility goes beyond just shuffling calendars, contacts and media; if you're jumping ship from Android, a BlackBerry or an iPhone, it will scan apps linked to the outgoing hardware and offer QR codes to download either direct or close-enough equivalents for the Windows Phone world. Fresh Lumia owners might appreciate the price more than anything -- unlike the Android porting tool, the Lumia version is a free treat just for joining the Nokia flock. It's available today, but we have a feeling that most of the demand will come after September 5th.

Continue reading Mark/Space Welcome Home eases us into new Nokia Lumias, lifts the burden of app hunting

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Mark/Space Welcome Home eases us into new Nokia Lumias, lifts the burden of app hunting originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video out enabled on Windows Phone 7, just not for you

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Video out enabled on Windows Phone 7, just not for you

The video out feature in Windows Phone 7 is reserved for select Microsoft employees, and now one enterprising member of the XDA Developers forum. With certain files ripped from an LG Panther 7003 ROM, the help of someone on the inside and many months of work, forum member marsrogers succeeded in pushing video from his Samsung Focus to a companion PC app. Don't get too excited though -- this particular trick will not be released to the masses so the MS confidant involved is not exposed. However, it's not all bad news, as marsrogers' source reports that Windows Phone 8 will have remote desktop capability straight out of the box. Sadly, for those of you carrying around current-gen WP devices, there's still no hope.

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Video out enabled on Windows Phone 7, just not for you originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Arrive makes its exit, leaves Sprint with a Windows Phone-shaped hole

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HTC Arrive review angle

Call it the end to a brief chapter in the Windows Phone saga. While there had been murmurs that the HTC Arrive was on its way out soon, any doubt has been removed now that the smartphone has vanished from Sprint's website and is likely on the endangered list at retail stores. The QWERTY slider's retirement leaves Sprint without any sort of Windows Phone in its roster, cutting the number of major US carriers backing Microsoft's platform down to three. Before you ask, we honestly don't know if the CDMA provider has a replacement waiting in the wings anytime soon: rumors of a Sprint Windows Phone 8 model surfaced as early as March, but the Yellow Swoosh network was nowhere to be seen among the Windows Phone 8 launch partners slated for this fall. The gap is conspicuous enough that Sprint subscribers may need a heaping amount of patience if they're not willing to switch networks for a Windows Phone fix in the near future.

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HTC Arrive makes its exit, leaves Sprint with a Windows Phone-shaped hole originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Arrive makes its exit, leaves Sprint with a Windows Phone-shaped hole

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HTC Arrive review angle

Call it the end to a brief chapter in the Windows Phone saga. While there had been murmurs that the HTC Arrive was on its way out soon, any doubt has been removed now that the smartphone has vanished from Sprint's website and is likely on the endangered list at retail stores. The QWERTY slider's retirement leaves Sprint without any sort of Windows Phone in its roster, cutting the number of major US carriers backing Microsoft's platform down to three. Before you ask, we honestly don't know if the CDMA provider has a replacement waiting in the wings anytime soon: rumors of a Sprint Windows Phone 8 model surfaced as early as March, but the Yellow Swoosh network was nowhere to be seen among the Windows Phone 8 launch partners slated for this fall. The gap is conspicuous enough that Sprint subscribers may need a heaping amount of patience if they're not willing to switch networks for a Windows Phone fix in the near future.

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HTC Arrive makes its exit, leaves Sprint with a Windows Phone-shaped hole originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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