The iPhone is a data hog. Just ask AT&T (NYSE: T) and their strained 3G data network. Data-hungry iPhone users seemingly aren’t able to satisfy their thirst for online information. They’re so ravenous for the all things internet that, according to AdMob, the iPhone accounts for 50% of all smartphone web traffic around the globe. Here, in the US, the iPhone pulls down 55% of all smartphone traffic, mostly through AT&T’s 3G network. That’s a lot of data!

It’s not just the iPhone, either. The smartphone boom has raised Android awareness high enough to boost traffic from Android smartphones to 11% worldwide. In the US, the effect is even more pronounced – Android handsets are responsible for 20% of all smartphone traffic in America. Compelling new Android offerings like the Sprint HTC Hero and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) myTouch 3G (as well as their European variants) have helped drive up Android market share. Android is fast closing the gap between itself and the iPhone platform.

But, it’s not all roses and rainbows in the smartphone sector. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has long led the mobile phone market in terms of market share, but has recently been losing share to the likes of iPhone and Android smartphones. The Finns (Nokia) are responsible for 24% of worldwide traffic, with the Symbian platform sending out 25% of all worldwide smartphone web requests. The BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) OS dropped to just 7% of global smartphone requests. Windows Mobile fared even worse, claiming just 3% of global requests. Palm (NSDQ: PALM)’s webOS, despite a European launch of the Palm Pre, dropped down to 2% of the world’s smartphone traffic.

The moral to this story? Smartphones are on the rise. But, it’s not enough to just run a smartphone operating system – consumers are flocking to intuitive touchscreen platforms with desktop-class web browsers. The iPhone and Android platforms obviously meet these criteria. Nokia, BlackBerry, Palm and Microsoft should be asking themselves why their offerings don’t.

[Via: AdMob] (PDF link)

Previously, there were rumours that Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE)’s X1 would get an update to Windows Mobile 6.5 after a supposed leaked ROM hit xda-developers. Well, sources close to the matter are apparently dashing those hopes, saying that no official update is actually in the works. Considering the X1 already has a customized user interface, you aren’t really missing out on the facelift, and Marketplace is coming to 6.1 anyway, so the only substantial feature X1 owners won’t be enjoying is My Phone. Big loss? Not really.

[via CNET]

Smartphones are going to be hot sellers this holiday season. With the holidays fast approaching, HTC will be pushing hard to cash in on the smartphone boom. How, you ask? By giving $100 to anyone buying a qualifying HTC handset between November 27th and December 31st! If you’re shopping for a new smartphone, better deals will be hard to find.

As part of HTC’s “YOU” marketing campaign, the smartphone maker will mail you a $100 check for buying an HTC smartphone from Verizon (NYSE: VZ), T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) or AT&T (NYSE: T). The only catch, you have to send your old smartphone to HTC – think of it as a trade-in program for your aging mobile phone.

Details after the break.

Read the full article »

You might have seen Stefan’s post recently, mentioning that the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E72 is finally in stores (and long while after it was announced, judging by the dates given) – well, eXpansys have just pinged me an email to let me know that they have the Nokia E72 in stock – at a pretty reasonable £349.99!

Rather than repeat the specs for the device, I’ll note what eXpansys say is in the box:

- Nokia E72
- Battery BP-4L
- Stereo Headset WH-601
- Data cable CA-101
- 4GB Memory Card (MU-41)
- Carry Case & Strap
- Clean Cloth
- Mains charger (AC-8)
- User guide

That’s a decent size memory card, and it’s nice to see the inclusion of a cleaning cloth – most devices these days are grease and dust magnets, so something to clean them off with is always appreciated!

If you want to grab the E72 for yourself, you can reach eXpansys by clicking here.

[Via: eXpansys]

Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) (and Sony in fact) have been right out there in recent years, with their Marketing campaigns – largely they have focused around the use of colour, relating to Sony (Bravia) TVs being great at displaying it, and Sony Ericsson cameraphones being great at capturing it.

The recent campaigns for the Satio and Aino devices featured people on hoppers (check it here) – and now they’ve gone one step further in the land of weird, by asking people to visit their site, and take a look at a webcam focused on room full of empty hoppers. To inflate the hoppers, you need to Tweet #pumpt – now of course you might be asking why you should want to inflate the hoppers, and the answers would be that apparently they are going to release the hoppers somewhere if you suggest it whilst Tweeting – see, I told you it was Leftfield!

ANYWAY – back to the mobile-related bit – whilst you are on the site you can check out their Satio and Aino devices – or you could just go to any other Mobile News site (say, for example, IntoMobile) and read stuff about the handsets!

If you’d like to see what’s going on in the room full of hoppers, and/or check out some device info, click here.

O2 has announced that the HTC HD2 will be on sale in-store (in the UK) from today. Available from free on O2 Pay Monthly, the HD2 packs in a pretty massive 4.3-inch touch screen, fast processor and camera with LED flash – all into a package just 11mm thick and weighing in at 157 grams!

“The HTC HD2 is the first HTC branded phone to be sold on O2. We love the large screen and combination of Windows Mobile 6.5 with HTC Sense,” said Steve Alder, General Manager Devices for O2 in the UK. “We are proud to be the home of smartphones and the HTC HD2 adds a new dimension to the range of devices we offer to our customers.”

The HTC HD2 is powered by a 1Ghz processor and has built in Wi-Fi, GPS, and FM radio. It also has YouTube, Facebook and Twitter integration and a MicroSD card slot, along with a standard 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth and microUSB charging port. ??The HTC HD2 will be available in-store and over the phone. To find your nearest O2 retail store, visit http://www.o2.co.uk/shop/retailstores.

One of the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid’s headlining features is its Android 2.0 OS and the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps Navigation app. Sure, the Droid’s huge display and geeky-cool design make it one of the coolest Android phones on market, but the turn-by-turn GPS navigation feature allowed the Droid to truly stand apart from the crowd. Not anymore, though. The ambitious hackers over at XDA Developers have figured out a way to port the Google Maps Navigation app to other Android devices (like the T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) G1). Then, to take it one (huge) step further, they’ve managed to get the app working outside the US!

The latest set of instructions allows your G1 to work with Google Maps Navigation for directions outside US borders. Until now, even the Droid would stop dead in its tracks if you tried to get GPS navigation directions to, say, Canada. But, for those of you fearless enough to mess around with the some terminal commands and risk bricking your G1, you can trick GMN into giving you voice-guided directions to any destination in the world.

Here are the instructions from XDA, but we strongly recommend you read through this entire thread first:

If you have root, uninstall the current Maps app.

adb remount
adb shell rm /system/sd/app/*Maps*
adb shell rm /system/sd/app/*maps*
adb shell rm /system/sd/dalvik-cache/*Maps*
adb shell rm /system/sd/dalvik-cache/*maps*
adb shell rm /data/app/*Maps*
adb shell rm /data/app/*maps*
adb shell rm /data/dalvik-cache/*Maps*
adb shell rm /data/dalvik-cache/*maps*
adb shell rm /system/app/*Maps*
adb shell rm /system/app/*maps*
adb uninstall com.google.android.apps.maps

Next, install the SpeechSynthesis Data. You can do this either by going into the market and searching “SpeechSynthesis Data Installer”, or on some ROM’s, like CM 4.2.5, Menu -> Settings -> Speech synthesis -> Install voice data

If you have root, download http://drop.io/rxbqaw4/asset/maps-root-aligned-apk
If you do not have root, download http://drop.io/rxbqaw4/asset/maps-no-root-aligned-apk

Install the new file:
adb install -r maps-root-aligned-apk
or
adb install -r maps-no-root-aligned-apk

Be warned, you are taking a risk by modifying your smartphone’s code. We do not take responsibility for anything bad that might happen as a result of your hacking efforts. But, if you get GMN working and you love it, feel free to thanks us!

[Via: GadgetVenue]

This holiday shopping season is dominated by Android. Smartphones running Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s mobile operating system are flooding the market, and we really couldn’t be happier. The latest Android smartphone to find its way into our eager hands is the Samsung Behold II. Just in time for the holidays, T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) is offering the Samsung Behold II for $229.99 when purchased with new 2-year contract. It’s slightly pricier than the iPhone and the Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid, but with a sleek design and a quirky new 3D Cube UI, you might not mind shelling out the extra bucks for the Behold 2.

Unlike the original Samsung Behold, the Behold II sports Android 1.5 OS. It sports an impressive 5-megapixel camera (with LED-flash), 3G data, WiFi, GPS and microSD card slot. But, the one feature that outshines them all is the Behold 2’s 3.2-inch capacitive AMOLED touchscreen. The display doesn’t need a backlight, so it draws less power than traditional LCD displays, but manages to deliver a brighter, crisper, more color-rich picture.

The camera is a bit laggy, but serves up some impressively crisp and well-balanced pictures. The 3D Cube UI is quirky, to say the least. We’re sure some people will find it useful, but we just don’t see ourselves using it for more than just showing off to our friends. But, with a speedy browser and an incredible OLED display, the Behold II will more than make up for its confusing UI.

Enjoy the hands-on/unboxing gallery and video!

Good news for those who have been following the rumors about the Samsung Omnia II i920: Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has set a pricetag and release date! Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface built on top of Windows Mobile 6.5, a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and dual-LED flash, GPS, and Wi-Fi all round out the Omnia II. Initially, we thought it would be launching with Windows Mobile 6.1, but it’s possible that originally-planned release dates were pushed back to include 6.5. You can expect to pay $199.99 on contract after mail-in rebates to pick up the i920 from Verizon stores on December 2.

[via Verizon]

The upcoming Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Kurara, which got a brief glimpse of last week, just got an extensive review. This is clearly Sony Ericsson’s competitor to Samsung’s OmniaHD i8910, and meets the challenge on a few levels, such as processor (Cortex A8) and camera (8 megapixels), but the display loses a few points for not being AMOLED. The Symbian-based OS is similar to the Satio, complete with Facebook and Twitter integration, but the reviewer’s final conclusion is that this handset’s success will depend entirely on the price point – there’s not a lot of innovation going on, but a 300 Euro price point would likely be enough to win over a few folks. Even with the pricetag taken into account, I’m not sure why anyone would pick up the U5 over the X10…

[via Mobile-Review]