There’s no denying the almost magical draw of the iPhone and the world of good it’s done for Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s bottom line. A new report from Gartner today backs up that notion with data that has the Apple iPhone accounting for 17.1% of global smartphone sales in Q3 2009. That figure puts Apple in the No. 3 spot, behind Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Research In Motion (BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM)), as far as global smartphone market share.

Apple shipped some 7 million iPhones in the third quarter of 2009. The continued success of smartphones like the iPhone is fueled by a disproportionate growth in the mobile phone market that has the smartphone segment growing 12.8% year-on-year while the overall mobile phone segment languished with just 0.1% year-over-year growth.

It’s clear that smartphones are here to stay and will soon become the “norm” in the mobile space. Can Apple sustain its third-place position in the face of hot new smartphones running the Android operating system? It’s going to be a tough battle, and we can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

[Via: MacRumors]

T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) is something of an underdog in the US wireless ecosystem. Going by subscriber counts, T-Mobile trails Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Sprint (NYSE: S) as the No. 4 US wireless carrier. That apparently isn’t going to cut it for T-Mobile. The carrier has announced plans to go big with their 3G network, in an effort to close the technology gap with its rivals. T-Mobile will enable 7.2Mbps HSPA data speeds on its entire 3G network, which is also planned to expand to reach 200 million people, by the end of 2009. And, by the middle of 2010, T-Mobile expects to have 21Mbps HSPA+ data speeds across its entire 3G network. That’s some high-speed data!

With Sprint pushing to roll out its nationwide 4G WiMAX network, via Clearwire, and Verizon gearing up to light-up its 4G LTE wireless network in early 2010, T-Mobile doesn’t want to fall too far behind. T-Mobile makes a lot of money from data plans, making a competitive 3G network all that much more important.

For now, though, Philadelphia is the only market to enjoy T-Mobile’s blazing fast 21Mbps HSPA+ network. Live it up while you can, you lucky Philadelphians, you.

[Via: InformationWeek]

Any smartphone worth its salt these days comes packing an integrated GPS receiver that allows you to pin-point your location on, say, a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Map. But, GPS mapping on a smartphone has a critical Achilles Heel – the handset needs an active wireless data connection to pull down map data. Without map data, the GPS hardware is basically useless. That is, unless you have a Windows Phone with NaviComputer installed. The NaviComputer app downloads GPS maps from your favorite mapping service, allowing you to map your position without a data connection.

Whether you’re out in the cuts without wireless reception, or just don’t feel like paying for an unlimited data plan, NaviComputer will help you make the most out of your smartphone. The app works with Windows Mobile 6.1 and Windows Mobile 6.5 devices with integrated GPS hardware (obviously).

You can choose to download map data from services like:

• GoogleMaps
• GoogleSattelite
• GoogleTerrain
• OpenStreetMap
• OpenStreetOSM
• YahooMap
• YahooSatellite
• VirtualEarthMap
• VirtualEarthSatellite
• VirtualEarthHybrid

Better yet, you can jump between different map data from with NaviComputer. That feature alone is worth the download.

Find NaviComputer here.

[Via: WMPowerUser]

Streaming music services like Spotify seem like n0-brainer winners. You get unlimited access to a virtually unlimited catalog of music for a nominal monthly fee. How could streaming music not be a runaway success? By not catching on with the all-important youth/student demographic, that’s how.

A new survey of 10,000 university students, conducted by the University of Reading, finds that 75% of students would rather pay for songs and download music to their hard drive or music player. The survey indicates that the streaming music model, while attractive, just doesn’t give students the kind of semi-tangible goods that music downloads provide.

With more and more music stores eschewing DRM, digital-rights management, protection, it’s getting easier to take music libraries from the desktop to mobile. And, with on-board smartphone/music player memory stores hitting 32GB, storage space is fast becoming a non-issue. Is it any wonder college students prefer to own their music rather than rent it from a streaming music store? Take Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s Comes With Music, for example, that has yet to sign up 200,000 customers. Best Buy’s decision to put their Napster iPhone app on ice is starting to make more sense now.

What say you? Is streaming music something you’d pay for? Or would you rather stick to the pay-per-song model and own your music?

[Via: PRNewswire]

You see this little snippet of a photo of an HTC smartphone? This may just be an image of the rumored Verizon (NYSE: VZ)-bound HTC Passion/Dragon’s display. The photo comes bundled with new speculation that has the big-screened Android phone bringing its 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera and Android 2.0 OS to Verizon Wireless sometime in the middle of December.

How do we know this is the Verizon Wireless HTC Dragon? We don’t know anything for sure at this point. But we do know that the clock widget comes from HTC’s Sense UI, so the handset is definitely HTC hardware. The high resolution fits in nicely with what we’d expect from a 4.3-inch display rocking 800×480 pixels. And, to top it off, BGR has confirmed that the pictured handset is headed to Verizon Wireless. Mid-December seems to be the date to mark on your calendar, but we’ll update you as we get more detailed info.

The Motorola Droid might be getting the lion’s share of the media hype right now, but if the HTC Dragon hits Verizon Wireless before the holidays, it’s going to be hard to keep fawning over the Droid. The Dragon sports a larger display, a 5-megapixel camera, the same Android 2.0 OS, and Sense UI as a bonus. Sure, the Droid has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but will that be enough to woo consumers away from the Dragon?

[Via: BGR]

When times gets tough, big corporations get to slashing jobs. Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel knows this all too well. Following a round of job cuts that gave thousands of Sprint Nextel employees the dreaded pink slip, Sprint has announced that it plans to lighten their employee-load by another 2,000 to 2,500 by the end of the year.

The depressed economy has proven to be another obstacle to the  No. 3 US wireless carrier’s push to return to profits. Sprint recently reported a Q3 loss of $478 million, despite the carrier’s snazzy new smartphone lineup that includes headlining devices like the HTC Hero and the Palm Pre.

Sprint is also still struggling to get their WiMAX network deployed nationwide. With controlling stake in WiMAX operator Clearwire, Sprint is betting that their 4G WiMAX network will help turn things around. Sprint Nextel is reportedly putting up an additional $1.176 billion to help Clearwire build out its nationwide 4G WiMAX network in the US. That’s going to put a serious dent in Sprint’s pocketbook.

Sprint’s upcoming job cuts are aimed at saving the company $350 million in annual expenses, but will cost the company $60-$80 million in severance pay this quarter.

[Via: WirelessWeek]

Clearwire finally looks poised to go nationwide with their 4G WiMAX network. The company announced today that it has secured an additional $1.5 billion in funding from its partners to help build out the Clearwire network. Clearwire has been pushing to get their 4G WiMAX network up and running throughout the US, but it’s been a slow process. It takes a lot (seriously, a LOT) of money to build out wireless network infrastructure, money that Clearwire doesn’t necessarily have on tap. Sprint (NYSE: S), somehow, does have the money.

Most of the $1.5 billion comes from Sprint Nextel, which is putting up $1.176 billion in additional funds. Despite quarterly losses that just keep adding up, Sprint is fully invested in the Clearwire network. Sprint has majority interest in Clearwire. The carrier donated its own WiMAX assets to Clearwire as part of a deal that would allow Sprint to use Clearwire’s WiMAX network for its own 4G wireless broadband service. And, with their wireless voice business hurting, Sprint really needs WiMAX to be a success.

In comparison, big-name backers like Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Intel will be giving Clearwire $196 million, $103 million and $50 million, respectively. In that light, it’s clear that Sprint is committed to pushing WiMAX to every corner of the US. Let’s just hope it works out.

[Via: paidcontent]

The Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N900 inches closer to a retail launch today with Espoo’s announcement that they’ve started shipping their N900 to distributors and retailers. Nokia recently missed its initial October 2009 window for shipping the N900, so today’s announcement is great news for fans of the N900’s 3.5-inch touchscreen, powerful ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 5-megapixel Car Zeiss camera and Maemo 5 OS. Nokia says that the N900 will soon be available in retail stores with an estimated price-tag of €500 EUR. We had a chance to go hands-on with the N900, read up on our impressions here.

“The Nokia N900 has generated a lot of interest since its public launch in August, which has been reflected in the device preorders,” says Jose-Luis Martinez, Vice President, Nseries, Nokia. “What’s exciting is the Maemo software, which takes its cues from the desktop computer and offers a full browsing experience like no other handset. We believe the Nokia N900 will be a very compelling device for people who are passionate about technology.”

Nokia has officially announced that they’ll be launching a completely revamped Maemo 6 OS next year, which is expected to blow Maemo 5 out of the water, but won’t work with the N900. For some, that’s not going to stop them from picking up an N900 this year. Will you be picking up the N900 with Maemo 5?

Full press release after the break.

Read the full article »

The Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid isn’t just the first Android phone to run the latest Android 2.0 OS, it’s also the first Android phone to record video in DVD-quality 720×480 resolution. Putting clarity and video-quality arguments aside for a second, the Motorola Droid’s video camera is as high-res as you can expect in a smartphone today. Qik, the real-time video streaming service, has taken notice and will soon be releasing a new beta that will support high-resolution streaming from the Droid’s video camera.

Qik’s upcoming beta will make Qik the first video streaming service to support live streaming for the 720×480 resolution. According to MobileCrunch, the new Qik update will bring with it a UI refresh and enhanced “Speed Sharing Ribbon,” Qik’s speed-dial, of sorts.

Droid owners can get in on the Qik beta by shooting an email to droidbeta@qik.com

Here’s a sample Qik video taken with a Droid:

Here’s another Droid video sample, for comparison. Background: I recently forgot my SD card for my HD video camera and had to resort to recording video using the Droid.

[Via: MobileCrunch]

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is reportedly doing well with their Motorola Droid. Despite reports from some bitter bloggers about not finding any lines outside their local Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless store on Droid launch-day, the latest word on the street has Motorola pushing some 100,000 Android-powered Motorola Droid phones into anxious customer hands over the weekend. The estimate comes from an analyst citing Verizon’s nationwide stock of 200,000 Motorola Droid, of which roughly half have already found new homes.

We haven’t heard a peep from Motorola as to just how well the Droid is selling, but Broadpoint AmTech analyst Mark McKechnie believes that Verizon Wireless had about 200,000 Droid phones on hand for the November 6 launch. “I see the first few days as encouraging,” McKechnie said. “There seems to be pretty good demand — they’ve taken the right steps and picked a good partner with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) on the Android side.”

The encouraging launch-weekend sales estimates could signal Motorola’s return to relevance in the mobile space. Motorola is expected to sell 1 million Android-powered smartphones this quarter, with 10 million units sold in 2010. Still, the numbers pale in comparison to conservative predictions that have Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) selling 8 million iPhones this quarter and about 28.5 million iPhones in 2010.

The Droid is obviously a good start for Motorola’s comeback, but the mobile phone maker has a lot of work to do in the long-term. It should be interesting to see how the Droid sells throughout the holiday shopping season, which has traditionally been a boon for iPhone-maker Apple.

[Via: Bloomberg]