Last Year's Smartphones Selling Better Than the Latest and Greatest

Hardware companies are in the business of convincing you to buy the hottest new item. And save for Apple, it looks like smartphone makers aren't doing a good job of it.

Four of the top five best-selling consumer smartphones of the second quarter were all made over a year or more ago, according to a recent report.

The iPhone 4 was the best selling smartphone among non-corporate consumer purchases from April through June, according to research firm NPD, with the iPhone 3GS coming in at a close second. Representing the Android operating system, HTC's EVO 4G ranked as the third most purchased smartphone in Q2. And finally, the lesser-known Samsung Intensity 2 (released in June of 2010) came in fifth place. Samsung's Inspire 4G ranked fourth, the only phone released in 2011 to make the top five.

To some extent, the increased iPhone sales make a certain amount of sense. The price of the 3GS dropped after Apple debuted its iPhone 4, attracting the bargain hunting demographic. To boot, the iPhone 4 saw a surge of new buyers after the release of a CDMA version on Verizon's 3G network. Most recently, Apple released its white iPhone 4, resulting in another spike of sales.

With the slew of new Android phones released this year, sales have spread across the myriad Android-powered options consumers face. As a result, no one particular Android model has emerged as a true victor.

Instead, Android continues to dominate in operating system market share, as 52 percent of new smartphone purchases run Google's operating system. Apple's iOS emerges in a not-too-distance second place, with 29 percent of the OS market share. And of course, much of this growth is at RIM's expense; the Canadian company bled out over half its share of sales compared to the same period last year. As usual, Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile, and webOS each held less than 5% of the market.

Image courtesy of NPD Group

source: Gadget Lab

Google Closing Android Market Developer Support Forums

If developers weren’t already peeved enough, we have some more bad news for them – Google’s shutting down the developer support forums where the coders of the market convene to discuss issues with the Android market or application development. The site has been home to huge discussions and complaints from market developers with massive threads usually spawning when developers are seeing diminished returns due to Android market bugs, errors or what have you.

Now, Google’s going to focus on supporting developers one-on-one, handling issues only when developers directly contact them. We like to think they’re getting a bit annoyed when a big ****storm brews over market issues and seeing the entire tech community immediately alerted to it.

But what’s the alternative? Developers can continue to contact Google independently for each issue as they always have. The problem with that is, more often than not, developers are met with canned responses. And in some rare instances, they are met with no response at all.

If you do get that canned response, you probably won’t get a status update on whatever fix you’re concerned with. I imagine a lot of isolated issues are handled in a timely manner, but the widespread issues that have popped up in recent months have taken Google forever to fix, with some not even having a resolution in sight.

Many would say that Google’s taking the easy way out (or being a “cop out”) by shutting the developer support forums down. I’m not so sure I’d disagree. As one Reddit user put it, their customer service and support were already rock bottom with the forums, and to take away the avenue developers use to discuss issues in hopes to fix problems Google drags their feet with is doing nothing at all to help. [Google]

source: Android Phone

Acer M310 Windows Phone said to have HDMI-out, 8GB storage

We first heard about the existence of the Acer M310 Windows Phone last week, but literally no information was given besides the fact that two test units were discovered on a developer's traffic sheet. How about a few more shreds of meat to chew on? According to WindowsPhoneNZ, the Mango device was sighted at TechEd New Zealand with HDMI-out support. We may be seeing this feature across a large variety of Windows Phones coming out this fall, as the HTC Eternity has been rumored to include video output via HDMI as well. The observer claims the M310 has a "black shiny look" and "bevelled edges," has a similar appearance to the Acer W4 (shown in the above image), and includes DLNA support over WiFi. The handset was also seen snuggling up to Asus' entry into the Windows Phone market, which was said to have a matte black finish and may have a front-facing camera. Certainly, if these factoids are correct, this fall's Mango lineup looks to be laden with all kinds of hidden gems we haven't seen on Microsoft's OS yet.

source: Engadget

Samsung intros the Galaxy W, Y, Y Pro and M Pro

Samsung has announced four new Android phones that conform to their new naming scheme for the Galaxy brand.

The first of the lot is the Galaxy W. It has a 3.7-inch, 800 x 480 touchscreen TFT LCD touchscreen, 1.4GHz single-core processor, 5 megapixel camera, 14.4Mbps HSDPA, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and a 1500mAh battery. It runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and come will with Samsung’s Game, Social and Music Hubs.

Next is the Galaxy M Pro. It’s a slim, 9.97mm thick, QWERTY smartphone with a 2.66-inch, 480 x 320 TFT LCD touchscreen and optical trackpad. It will have a 1GHz processor, 5 megapixel rear camera and VGA resolution front camera. Connectivity features include 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. Being a business phone, Samsung is also offering a variety of enterprise solutions, including Exchange Active Sync, Sybase Afaria, CISCO Mobile and CISCO WebEx. It will be running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and powered by a 1350mAh battery.

Third is the Samsung Galaxy Y. It’s a candybar touchscreen phone with a 3-inch 320 x 240 resolution TFT LCD touchscreen, 832MHz processor, 2 megapixel camera, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Android 2.3 and 1200mAh battery. The phone will come with SWYPE built-in and will be sold in a variety of colors.

Last one is the Galaxy Y Pro. Samsung did not divulge much information about the specifications of this phone but they should be similar to those of the Galaxy Y, except the Galaxy Y Pro has a QWERTY keypad instead.

You can look forward to more information regarding these four new smartphones at IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) next week.

source: GSM Arena

Samsung Hercules confirmed as a T-Mobile Galaxy S II variant

The picture almost says it all: the Galaxy S II is coming to T-Mobile. Except it's slightly more complicated than that. According to TmoNews, you're actually looking the back of the new Samsung Hercules - a handset rumored to possess godly specs, which we already knew was heading to both T-Mo and Telus, and which is now confirmed as an honest-to-goodness Galaxy S II variant. It's similar to the original superphone in many respects, but it has a slightly larger 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen like the Infuse 4G, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor that's possibly a Qualcomm instead of Sammy's own Exynos, and a 42Mbps HSPA+ radio. The rounded corners of the back cover also look distinctly similar to the Within - the GSII variant coming to Sprint. You'll find full-frontals after the break, which also recall the design of the Nexus S. The only thing missing is any mention of NFC, which featured in the initial rumors, but this is still a hotch-potch of the best Samsung phones around and we can't wait for it to arrive.
source: Engadget

Huawei Vision shown off in 360 demo and video

The Huawei Vision, an upcoming high-end Android device, was just announced last week and while we were given detailed description of the phone's specs, we only had a couple of press shots to look. A phone's appearance is just as important as its specs for some people - I mean, who wants to spend money on a good device if it doesn't look great at the same time? So for those who are considering purchasing a phone based on its looks, Huawei has something just for you.

Huawei recently updated its Facebook page with a Huawei Vision demo that users can play around with to check out how the phone looks like from every angle. They've also updated its YouTube page with a video demonstrating the UI of the phone. One thing which I didn't notice from before is that the phone looks like it's running on a customized version of SPB Shell 3D for Android, which is one of the nicest looking Android UIs around - in my opinion. And it's not often you see it come preloaded with a phone.
source: Ubergizmo

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro available now in the UK

If you're in the UK and are looking for a new, affordable QWERTY Android smartphone, Sony Ericsson may have the perfect solution for you, as it has just launched the Xperia Mini Pro there.

As of today, the new member of the Xperia family is available at Carphone Warehouse and Mobiles.co.uk, and can be yours for free on plans starting at $20 per month. You can choose plans from Orange, T-Mobile, or Vodafone.

Offered in either black or white, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro features Android 2.3 Gingerbread, TimeScape UI, a 3 inch HVGA multi-touch, scratch-resistant display, HSDPA, Wi-Fi (with hotspot capability), GPS, 5MP rear camera with 720p video recording, VGA front-facing camera, 512MB of RAM, and a 1GHz single-core processor.
source: Unwired View

Google Prepping Updated Android Search App

Minutes ago Google published a post to their Mobile Blog detailing an update to the Search app for Android devices. For whatever reason, the post has since been pulled, but not before Phandroid reader and screen-cap ninja Art preserved a copy to share with the rest of us. The new Google Search app features an updated interface simplified for use and more in line stylistically with Android Gingerbread and Honeycomb. Search suggestions are now grouped by type — web searches appearing first — and country-specific suggestions and results are now offered depending on location. You can delete history items with a long press or edit them before searching by tapping the arrow next to the item in the drop-down.

The update will be available for handsets running Android 2.2 or later, and should be hitting the Market any minute now.
source: Android Phone

HTC Puccini To Be Unveiled September 1st?

Apparently, HTC has been busy sending out invitations for a big September 1st event but is remaining tight lipped on exactly what will be unveiled. According to those that have received an invite (we're still waiting on ours) no device was mentioned. Seeing how HTC has yet to release a Honeycomb tablet this is leading many to assume this event could be centered around the launch of HTC's first 10-inch tablet, the HTC Puccini, that's been leaked all around the net lately. The device was originally rumored for a mid August launch but again, those were only rumors. Has anyone been holding out or excited to get their hands on this particular Honeycomb tablet?
source: Android Phone

HTC Bliss has mediocre specifications

The HTC Bliss might not make you a, say, blissful person upon purchasing one if you are looking to find the latest and greatest hardware underneath the hood. No sir, this puppy which is said to make its way over to Verizon Wireless will carry a Qualcomm MSM7x30 processor that clocks in at 800MHz – and on a single core to boot. There is the Adreno 205 GPU to help the processor out whenever it needs more muscle to process graphics, while Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread is there right out of the box so that you need not look out at the far horizon for a software update.

Since this is a smartphone by HTC, it will rely on HTC's very own Sense user interface – albeit whispers on the grapevine has it that this will be HTC Sense 3.5. Yes sir, that's a good half version ahead of the current HTC Sense 3.0 that ships with the top of the line HTC Sensation and EVO 3D. No idea on whether Sense 3.5 will introduce a far better user experience or not, but this is where patience and its virtue comes in handy.
source: Ubergizmo