Mobile Phone Reviews

We are only 24 hours into the start of the Windows Phone 7 series device launch in Europe and we’ve already seen widespread sell outs.  If the sell outs were not overwhelming, Morgan Stanley has just announced that they expect Microsoft to sell between 3.5 million and 4 million WP7 devices during the fourth quarter, plus another 1.5 million of the older Windows Mobile devices.  A grand total of 5.5 million devices in Q4 2010 for Microsoft sounds like a great quarter for a company in a smartphone standoff with Android and iOS that many, present company included, expected them to fail.

Sure, we might be jumping the gun with our overzealous optimism for Windows Phone 7 series, but honestly I believe competition is good.  The smartphone market is not a zero-sum game and there’s room for more players if they are willing to put in the time and money to build a developers network and work with manufacturers to require outstanding hardware.  The next six months will tell the tale of where Windows Phone 7 will lead Microsoft, but one thing’s for sure- Microsoft is ready to swing the big stick for advertising.  Don’t believe us? Simply watch broadcast television this holiday season and see if you can go more than one commercial break without being reminded of WP7.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you know Sprint has the nation’s first (and only) 4G network.  Other carriers (T-mobile USA) claim to have a 4G network, but we know this is simply not true and instead the term 4G is being used as a marketing ploy rather than the technical specification we expect.  In ABI Research’s “4G Subscriber, Device and Networks Market Data”, published today, the research firm forecast 4G handset sales for Sprint in 2010.

According to ABI Research director Philip Solis, “Sprint’s 4G smartphone sales have been partially responsible for its recent subscriber growth. ABI Research forecasts that the carrier will ship almost three million 4G handsets for its WiMax network by the end of 2010.  That number is greater than many observers expected.”

It looks like Sprint will soon have 3 million reasons to keep the drive for 4G WiMax expansion if the forecast is accurate.  While other carriers transition to their LTE upgrade path for 4G, it seems that Sprint’s early decision to opt for WiMax is working out just fine for the ‘Now Network’.

You may already know all about Weather HD -- the app made a nice splash when it was released early in the iPad's life. But Vimov has just released it for the iPhone, and even on the smaller screen, it leaves quite an impression. The idea is that instead of a tiny little icon or a big number telling you the weather, you get a full, bright screen of whatever the weather's like near you (or what it's going to be like in an hourly or daily forecast).

The app is super simple on purpose, so if you're looking for full maps, video, or more detailed information, you'll have to go elsewhere (I usually use the free Weather Channel app for more in-depth weather updates). Still, for just 99 cents, Weather HD is worth having around if all you need to check every once in a while is the temperature and forecast.

And heck, if you already bought it for the iPad, the new version is universal, so you've got iPhone and iPod touch support anyway.

TUAW's Daily App: Weather HD for iPhone originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who would have thought that with all the new legislation for no talking or texting while driving would actually result in a decreased volume of Bluetooth headset shipments this year.  Well if Bonny Joy, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, is to be believed then shipments will decline by 28 percent in the United State during 2009.  In 2008 shipments reached 19.2 million units, but this latest forecast shows that shipments for 2009 will only reach 13.9 million by year’s end.  The likely culprit in the downturn is the economy, but the real question is what are all these people who are not buying Bluetooth headsets using instead.  My guess is either speaker phone or the included corded headset, assuming your device manufacturer was nice enough to include one.

[via]

According to Research Firm Gartner’s forecasting the aforementioned question has already been answered thanks to a future valuation of mobile market share.  The firm predicts that by 2012 Android will own nearly 18 percent of the market and maintain the number 2 position below top ranked Nokia who will own 37.4 percent.  Android will be followed by BlackBerry OS with 13.9 percent and iPhone with 13.6 percent.  While the news that Android will move to the number 2 position is impressive, the outlook for Windows Mobile is bleak at best thanks to a forecasted 9 percent market share in 2012.  It’s sad but somehow the Windows Mobile news is not that surprising considering the lackluster effort of WM 6.5 which debut this month.

[Via MobileBurn]