Nielsen totals for 2012 see Google dominate the US

The Nielsen Company, one of the global leaders in consumer market research and trend analysis, has released its Nielsen Tops of 2012 report, which looks at the top Web and mobile companies between January and October of 2012.

On all fronts, Google was able to maintain its position at the top of the mountain.

Starting with Smartphone market share, Android continued to hold more than half the pie, despite Apple's all-time-high sales share for the three month period ending on November 25.

Google's portal is the number one U.S. Web brand of 2012, with 172.6 million unique visitors per month.

For online video, YouTube got some 132.4 million unique monthly visitors, more than three times Yahoo's video portal in second place.

In the app realm, Google understandably takes four of the top five spots, which is nothing remarkable as Google preloads those apps on most of the Android devices.

For iOS its the infamous Maps app which takes up the first spot, although likely not many figures represent their recent fiasco as the data is only until October.

Source

Google Nexus 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy S III: Fan favorites

Introduction

Android devices come from all walks of life, but in each generation there is a "chosen one". In 2012, it's the Nexus 4 and, as an overall package, this is probably the best Google has ever delivered. Yet, by a mean twist of fate, it has the most formidable opposition of any Nexus phone so far. Even with Google's official backing, the purebred Nexus 4 is not guaranteed a win against the Samsung Galaxy S III - the Android smartphone of the season, which has been selling in numbers that make Black Friday look like a slow day at the grocery.

The hook of the Nexus 4 is flagship specs at a hard-to-beat price. It has a top-notch screen and chipset, but some corners had to be cut to make the budget (the non-expandable inbuilt memory is particularly painful).

There's a clear objective but dethroning the Galaxy S III is a huge challenge. That beast of a droid has set the user experience bar quite high. Of course Samsung just cannot match Google's aggressive pricing, but the 5-month market advantage has made the Galaxy S III a little more affordable. The flip side of the coin is that the Galaxy S III hardware is no longer cream of the crop.

The Nexus 4 on the other hand, has availability issues - it runs out in minutes. Another thing is that it costs $350 only in countries where the Play Store is available too, elsewhere it gets quite steep.

Let's follow proper championship protocol and go over the highlights of each contender while they wait for the bell in their corners .

Google Nexus 4 over Galaxy S III

• Stock Android, quick updates
• Next generation CPU and GPU architectures, 2GB RAM on all models
• Unofficial, limited LTE connectivity
• Competitive price
• Full RGB strip IPS Plus screen
• Gorilla Glass 2 on the back, eye-catching pattern

Samsung Galaxy S III over Nexus 4

• Better camera
• 16:9 Super AMOLED screen
• More storage options, microSD card slot
• User-removable battery
• USB OTG out of the box
• Plenty of software perks (MultiView, Smart stay, excellent codec support and more)
• Color options
• FM Radio
• Readily available in stores, steady price

The Nexus 4 is using tech that will only go into full swing next year. The Galaxy S III in turn will inevitably start showing its age. Our experience with the two phones though is that the Samsung flagship is not to be easily dismissed.

The software is a different story - Google's approach is one of purist simplicity, while Samsung throws everything its R&D department has cooking up in the labs (and those guys are pretty prolific).

They say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but before we get to the actual experience with the Google Nexus 4 and the Samsung Galaxy S III, we do have to look at their bits and parts first. The hardware checkup is first on our list.

Google and Motorola said to be working on X Phone, to hit in 2013

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Google and its Motorola branch are working on a future high-end smartphone to rival the Apple iPhone and the Galaxy S lineup.

Dubbed simply the X Phone, the device is expected to show up some time next year, according to WSJs source. The project is reportedly being led by Lior Ron, who has previously worked as a Google Product Manager, but now is busy at work with the Motorola team.

Additionally, Motorola engineers are also working on an "X" tablet, that's going to launch after the X phone debuts. In the meantime, the company is going to continue its work on the DROID lineup of smartphones.

Motorola's CEO Dennis Woodside (former Google top sales exec) said in an interview with the WSJ that the company is investing in a team and a technology that will do something quite different than the current approaches.

The projects leader, Lior Ron, reportedly has demanded the phone to sport killer camera. In its quest to make the phone truly unique, Motorola has looked into incorporating different materials such as ceramics, which would make the X Phone more resistant to drops.

WSJ sources add that Motorolas acquisition of gesture and facial recognition company Viewdle will also be thrown in to the mix to bring some truly unique features to the device. Could the X Phone, intriguing as it sounds, be ready for Googles I/O 2013 event in the summer of 2013? Well have to wait and see.

Source | Via

Oppo's Find 5 won't be getting a European release

Oppo was one of several Chinese manufacturers to make headlines with devices sporting 5" displays of 1080p resolution. The smartphone is slated to hit the US market at the very wallet-friendly price of $499 off contract, quite a bargain compared to the $599 price tag of the HTC DROID DNA.

Unfortunately, the Find 5 won't be making its way to Europe, at least not in the near future, and it's unknown whether it's due to inability to get enough units, or Oppo simply does not think the European market is lucrative enough.

Either way, the only way you can get a Find 5 on the old continent is to have it shipped from the US or China or via a third-party supplier.

Update: An Oppo spokesman has since contacted us and denied this story, but unfortunately declined to to be specific as to an exact European launch date.

Source | Via

RIM's first full-touch BB 10 phone to be called BlackBerry Z10?

RIM has a January 30 event on its calendar when it will probably officially announce its new BlackBerry 10 OS and the first smartphones to carry it. We've seen them leak several times before, but now a marketing image has made its way to the Internet.

It shows the L-Series phone we've seen on video before, but this time it comes with a name - the BlackBerry Z10. We also got to see its white version, as the black one was the only one to leak so far.

The L-Series is RIM's upcoming full-touch BlackBerry 10 line of phones, the ones with a physical QWERTY belong to the N-Series. The first of those phones might be called the BlackBerry X10.

From the specs that leaked earlier this year, the BlackBerry Z10 should pack some decent specs - a 4+ inch screen with HD resolution (720p or WXGA), dual-core Krait processor and 8MP / 1080p camera. That sounds a lot like the Windows Phone 8 current top dogs, so we might see some tough competition between the two platforms.

Source

Rumor: Sony Yuga to be called Xperia Z, to get IP57 certification

Sony's flagship for next year, the C660X Xperia Yuga, is bound to get a more market-friendly name before launch and rumor has it that it will be Xperia Z. The phone will also have IP certification for dust and water resistance and a low-reflectivity screen.

The Sony Xperia Z is set to receive IP57 certification for dust and water resistance, similar to the upcoming Xperia V or the HTC J Butterfly. Despite this however, the smartphone will have a pretty compact slim body measuring 139 x 71 x 7.9mm. There's no info on the weight yet, though.

One of the key features of the Sony Xperia Z will be the 5" 1080p screen. It will reportedly use Sony's OptiContrast technology (Xperia V and Xperia Tablet S use the same tech). Sony mostly uses it on TV's to reduce glare.

The official announcement of the Sony C660X Xperia Z won't happen this year but it may come as early as the second week of 2013 at CES.

Source

Samsung starts the Premium Suite rollout for the S III in the UK

The Premium suite update for the Galaxy S III has started rolling out in the UK.

Most of the new features come from the Note II phablet, including MultiView, which lets two apps share the big screen for better multitasking. There are improvements to the camera (easier sharing, low-light mode, Best face mode, panorama expanded to 360 degrees), page buddy for the homescreen, Facebook for the lockscreen and more.

You can watch the two promo videos to see the new features in action. The rollout begins today in the UK and you can check for FOTA updates through your Galaxy S III's settings menu or use Kies. By the way, the update should be available in Russia too.

Source

Motorola launches a white version of the RAZR i in the UK

Motorola is releasing a white version of the RAZR i for the UK market. Each of the smartphone's panels has been colored in white, including the Kevlar back. We must say, the result is pretty great.

Beginning December 22, the white RAZR i will be available at Phones4U. At first, the smartphone will be exclusive to the online retailer, but will later become available to other UK retailers, even though it's not known exactly when that might happen.

The MOTOROLA RAZR i is free on a 2-year contract with prices starting at 20.50 per month from Orange. You can check out the source link below for more information regarding the different plans.

Launched back in October, the RAZR i sports a 4.3-inch qHD edge-to-edge display covered with Gorilla Glass. Inside ticks a 2GHz single-core Intel Atom processor.

Be sure to check out our in-depth Motorola RAZR i review.

Source | Via

Galaxy Note II Developer Edition headed to Verizon

Samsung USA's official website revealed an upcoming Galaxy Note II Developer Edition for Verizon. As you've probably guessed this is a version with unlocked bootloader, but otherwise identical to the regular version, which has been available for a while now.

The Galaxy Note II Developer Edition isnt yet available, but it should hit Verizon's stores soon. Its quite likely though the phone wont be available on contract and you'll have to pay its full price.

In case you already own a Verizon Galaxy Note II and you want to enjoy the goodies of an unlocked bootloader without buying this special edition, there is still a way. Just head over to the XDA forum for the tools and instructions.

Source | Via

iSuppli: Samsung tops Nokia as the cellphone top dog in 2012

IHS iSuppli has released a preliminary forecast report for the total shipments of cellphone companies in 2012 and has unsurprisingly it shows that that Samsung is in the lead. This is the first time in 14 years that a company other than Nokia has topped the charts. Meanwhile, Apple is in third place.

iSupply expects Samsung to be responsible for 29% of the total global cellphone shipments in 2012. This is 5 percent points increase over 2011, when Nokia was in the lead with 30% of global cellphone shipments. In 2012, the Espoo company's share stands at 24%.

Apple is taking the third spot with estimated market share of 10% in 2012, 3 percent points up over 2012.

As far as smartphone shipments are concerned, Samsung is still number one, with Apple securing second spots, the respective market shares at 28% and 20%. iSupply's expectations for 2012 show a significant jump in global smartphone shipments by almost 36%.

Another report was brought by Informa Telecoms, which points out that Android is dominating the smartphone market in China, accounting for two-thirds of all the handsets sold there..

The company points out that 41% of all smartphones running Android didn't use an "authentic" build, meaning that the Google services were missing. Apple has just 5% market share in the country, while the Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile OS takes up just 1% of the pie.

Source | Via, Via (2)

Lenovo unveils K860i Android smartphone with beefier chipset

Lenovo is looking to update its K860 smartphone with the upcoming K860i, but the changes aren't what you'd call groundbreaking.

The K860i features double the RAM and internal storage of the original, at 2 GB and 16 GB, respectively. The quad-core Exynos has also been bumped up to 1.6 GHz, compared to the 1.4 GHz found in the original.

In terms of design, the K860i is identical to its predecessor, and sports the same 5-inch HD screen, 8MP camera coupled with 2MP front-facer, and 2250 mAh battery. Software updates don't factor into the picture either, as both devices will continue to run Android 4.0 ICS out of box.

No word on pricing or availability of the new K860i yet, although it will most likely hit Chinese markets first.

Source (Chinese) | Via

Acer V360 Jelly Bean droid leaks again, this time with more photos

The Acer V360 leaked a few days ago, but now it's back with even more photos. The V360 will come with Jelly Bean out of the box. It has a slightly bigger screen than the S500, though it's a step down in terms of specs.

Most of the specs of the Acer V360 have been confirmed - it has a 4.5" qHD screen with 245ppi pixel density and it runs Android 4.1.1 with customized UI. The phone is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor, though there's no info what kind of architecture it employs.

Acer V360 leaked photos

Anyway, the V360 packs a 5MP main camera with LED flash and a VGA front-facing camera. The phone carries the DTS logo, which promises some premium sound. The phone measures 132 x 68.5 x 9.9 mm and weighs 140g.

It will go on sale in mainland China for $300 and should be available in Taiwan too. There is no word on a world-wide release yet. There's no exact launch date yet either.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

Sony gives an update on the Jelly Bean release schedule

As promised Sony gave more details on the Jelly Bean released schedule plus which phones wont be getting the update and why.

The first phones to get the Jelly Bean update are Xperia T, TX and V. The roll out will start in February and should be completed by the end of March.

The next trio to get the Jelly Bean treatment is the Xperia P, J and go. Sony will start seeding the updates for those at the end of March.

The last four phones to get Android Jelly Bean are Xperia S, SL, ion and acro S. The rollout for them will begin a few weeks after the second batch of phones get the Jelly Bean treatment, presumably sometime in late April.

This means Xperia arc S, U, sola, miro and tipo are out of the loop and will be stuck on ICS forever, at least as far as official updates are concerned. Sony already responded to those angered by the news.

Here is the quote about the Xperia U, sola, miro and tipo:

"The quality of Xperia's software experience is dependent on a number of factors including: screen resolution, hardware platform and RAM. In the case of Xperia go, this combination came together in a way that meant the user experience running JB was not adversely affected.

Unfortunately, in the case of Xperia tipo, Xperia miro, Xperia U and Xperia sola this wasnt the case so we made the decision to keep them on Ice Cream Sandwich."

And this one is about the arc S:

"Xperia Arc S is part of our 2011 portfolio, which wont be upgraded beyond ICS. The reason being user experience is at the heart of our product development and support; after thorough evaluation, we concluded that the user experience for our 2011 Xperia smartphones will be superior if they remain on Ice Cream Sandwich versus being upgraded to Jelly Bean."

In case you are wondering how is that the low-end Xperia J is getting the Jelly Bean update, while the dual-core U and sola aren't - despite Sony didn't make any statement, we guess the GPU is the one to blame.

All three phones have 512MB of RAM, but the Adreno 200 GPU on the Xperia J uses far less RAM than the Mali-400 inside the Xperia U and sola. We also know that Project Butter needs more GPU power than what the ICS UI. And the insufficient RAM due to GPU usage is probably the reason why these phones won't be getting to taste Jelly Bean.

Source | Source 2

Galaxy S II and Note to get 4.1.2 Jelly Bean in January

Here is some good news for the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note loyal users. The Jelly Bean update is coming as soon as early January.

As indicated by the leaked test ROM, both devices will skip the initial Jelly Bean 4.1.1 release and move straight to the 4.1.2.

The update, in addition to all the Jelly Bean goodies we showed you in our Galaxy S III Jelly Bean review, will also bring some of the Note II features to the two devices.

Canadian carrier Rogers officially confirmed The JB 4.1.2 updates will be hitting the S II LTE and Note LTE versions in late January and given that unlocked models always get new firmwares before carrier-locked ones, early January rollout seems like a safe bet.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S III users are also expecting the 4.1.2 update availability to expand beyond Poland and Germany sometime around Christmas.

Thanks, Nikhil Parmar, for the tip!

Source

HTC M7 upcoming flagship leaks, said to boast a 468ppi screen

After outing the HTC Butterfly/DNA last month, HTC is once again looking to make waves with a ultra high-res screen, except with a more compact size.

The latest bit of online gossip has it that the company's upcoming M7 flagship is set to feature a 4.7-inch 1080p display, which amounts to an unprecedented 468 ppi. The display panel will be of the SoLux variety, which is claimed to feature superior outdoor visibility, viewing angles, and color reproduction.

Inside, you'll find a quad-core 1.7 GHz Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32 GB of internal storage. The camera sensor will have 13MP resolution, while the lens will have a bright f/2.0 aperture capable of super slow-mo and video HDR in 1080p. The 2MP front-facer will also be capable of 1080p video.

In terms of connectivity, the M7 will support LTE up to 42Mbps, as well as the new 802.11 ac wireless standard. Beats audio enhancements are also included, and it will all be powered by a 2300mAh battery.

On the software side of things, the M7 will offer Android Jelly Bean out of box, coupled with HTC's updated Sense 5 UX.

As far as pricing and availability go, the M7 is supposedly set for a MWC unveiling, scheduled for late February of next year. The M7 is said to eventually become available on at least two major US carriers: Verizon and Sprint.

Source

New photos of Sony Xperia Yuga appear, some specs confirmed

The next-generation flagship from Sony, the C660X Xperia Yuga, has already made a few unofficial appearances and now it has fallen into the hands of Eldar Murtazin. He posted two new photos and confirmed a couple of features, which the rumor mill was uncertain about.

The back of the phone is flat and made of black glass as previous rumor indicated. There's also a shutter key on the side of the phone.

As for the screen, it's a 5" LCD with 1080p resolution (and not OLED). The chipset inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro and not a Samsung Exynos 5 Quad, as previously rumored. It's interesting that Eldar reports that the Yuga can get quite warm when the chipset is under load (we've seen a similar thing happen with the LG Optimus G and the Nexus 4, which use the same chipset).

Sony C660X Xperia Yuga

What Eldar didn't clarify was the camera resolution. Early rumors pointed to a 12MP or 13MP camera (settling on 12MP), but a new rumor cropped up saying the Yuga will pack a 16MP shooter.

Sony is expected to unveil the Xperia Yuga (under another name, of course, Yuga is just a codename) at CES and bring it to the MWC later too.

Source (in Russian) | Via

Full HD Sharp Aquos Phone SH930W goes on sale in Russia

The Sharp SH930W was announced back in November and it was supposed to hit the shelves in Russia a few days later. Well, as it appears things didn't go as planned, but the smartphone still made it to the shelves in time for Chrismas.

Sharp has just released the Aquos Phone SH930W in Russia. It costs RUB21,900 or about 540. Surely it's not one of the cheapest phones around, but given the hardware you get, it still seems like a good price.

Sharp Aquos Phone SH930W

In case you need a refresh, the SH930W packs a 5" 1080p Sharp IGZO display and is running on the Qualcomm 8260A chipset (2x Krait @ 1.5GHz, Adreno 225, 2GB RAM). The rest of the specs include 32GB internal storage, 8MP rear and 2MP front cameras, and a 2100 mAh battery.

The 5" smartphone gadget runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box with some minor Sharp customizations on top of it.

There is still no info when this phone will reach other countries, but at least you know what the pricing is likely to be.

Source

Verizon Galaxy S III Jelly Bean update starts rolling out

The Verizon Galaxy S III in the US is being treated to some Jelly Bean. Verizon has started pushing out the update to devices and you should see a notification on your phone soon. If not, you can try checking manually if the update is available for download.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S III in Korea is getting the Android 4.1.2 update. The update will be available over the air or through Kies. This update brings with it Samsung's Premium Suite features, which includes stuff like multi-view mode, new Gallery app, Paper Artist app, improved notification panel and much more.

Source 1 Source 2

Motorola Atrix HD receives Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update

Following closely behind its Verizon Wireless relatives, the Motorola Atrix HD for AT&T got treated to an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The OS update is available over-the-air at the moment.

Just like it the case of the Motorola DROID RAZR M and DROID RAZR HD, the Atrix HD gets all the usual Android 4.1 goodies such as Google Now and Project Butter. Motorola's own light custom UI keeps the experience as close to Pure Google as possible.

The Motorola Atrix HD for AT&T is the carrier's fourth phone to run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. With a price tag of $49.99 on a contract, Moto's offering makes for an enticing proposition this holiday shopping season.

Source | Via