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)

Related News from IntoMobile:

• iPhone web traffic to Google outpaces all other smartphones
• Not surprising: iPhone doubles global smartphone market share!
• Mobile OS market share stats confirm RIM, Apple leading the charge
• AdMob June metrics highlight rapid mobile web growth
• Smartphone segment keeps growing, but not for Windows Mobile or Symbian

The Motorola (NYSE: MOT) droid launched rolling large with Android 2.0, but for those with older Android devices, you can shelf away your jealousy; the biggest feature, voice-prompted driving directions in Google Maps, is now available on all Android 1.6 devices. Aside from a nice robot lady telling you when to turn, you can also set shortcuts for regular destinations, making it even easier to get to where you’re going. The update also includes Layers support, so you can keep an eye on specific points of interest, even when you’re on the way to your destination. The service is technically only available in the U.S, but there are workarounds. The Android 2.0 launch was hard enough on TomTom and Garmin, who make their business with premium versions of this service; I wonder how they’ll recover from this blow…

[via Official Google Mobile Blog]

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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]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Video: Google Maps Navigation – Voice guided GPS directions on Verizon’s Motorola Droid
• Nokia Maps navigation software gets an update – more features, more coverage
• Nokia’s Ovi Maps 3.0 goes live, you need a PC (can’t use a Mac) to install it on your mobile
• Tutorial: Turn back the clock – Downgrade your T-Mobile G1 to Android OS RC29
• Google Maps updated with NYC subway maps layer

Gameloft had previously been very excited about Android, jumping into the market with twenty titles last February, but they have since changed their tune, and are pulling away from Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s mobile platform. Gameloft’s director of finance, Alexandre de Rochefort, had this to say about their performance on Android at a recent investor’s meeting:

“We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like … many others … It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue … We are selling 400 times more games on iPhone than on Android.”

Ouch. The iPhone has definitely made a name for itself in mobile gaming, and combined with mass consumer demand for the handset itself, it’s easy to see why a big name publisher would side with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL). Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s droid is certainly pushing hard with its marketing and preliminary sales have been decent, but odds are slim that it will put a significant dent in iPhone’s numbers. The bigger question raised here is “is this attitude prevalent across application segments other than gaming?” Gameloft is a pretty big deal; I can only imagine how many other major app developers are openly neglecting other mobile platforms as a result of the iPhone’s massive gravitational pull. With resources shrinking for a lot of companies, devs have to be especially picky about which camp they chose.

[via Reuters]

Update: I don’t if that financial director was talking out of line, or what, but Gameloft just issued a press release reiterating their support for Android, including that they have plans for 2.0. VP of publishing, Gonzague de Vallois said:

“The arrival of this new generation of phones will allow the development of High Definition games that make the most of the technological capacity and the speed of execution offered by the new Android phones. Consumers will benefit from a top quality gaming experience.”

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Gameloft: We’ll release over 15 iPhone games this year
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• Sega’s Super Monkey Ball promises casual iPhone gaming

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!

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• Samsung Behold II Custom TouchWiz UI Caught on Camera
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• Samsung and T-Mobile unveiling the Behold II on Nov. 12
• T-Mobile Set to Launch Samsung Behold II on November 18th
• Samsung Behold II is smarter than its predecessor thanks to Android; Coming to T-Mobile USA just in time for holidays

HTC has released an updated version of its HTC Sync software, which allows the Android-powered smartphones to connect with Outlook data (to put it simply). Version 2.0.8 is a minor update, packing only few things such as:

• Media enhancements – allows syncing of contacts pictures along with contact information.
• The process now also syncs HTC phone’s time with PC’s time and vice versa.

And that’s it. As far as I see, if you’re satisfied with the current version of the HTC Sync, there’s no need to rush, except if you really want to sync those photos and are really that time sensitive.

Check out the details at HTC Support pages.

[Via: the::unwired]

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• Nokia N800 modding

Provider of IP multimedia processing solutions, Global IP Solutions (GIPS), announced its Android offering, allowing developers to build VoIP-enabled clients with GIPS VoiceEngine Mobile. And they already have the first customer — the folks behind the popular mobile social messaging app – Nimbuzz.

I’m not sure whether this will drive the explosion of VoIP-powered apps in the Android Market, and I’m don’t know whether that makes much sense, but having a choice is always a good thing in my eyes.

Commenting on the announcement, GIPS’ CTO Roar Hagen said: “GIPS VoiceEngine allows Android developers to build VoIP-enabled applications that offer HD voice, while tackling all the typical IP network issues – such as delay, jitter, packet loss, bandwidth constraints, noise and echo. Today, mobile users desire a smartphone that offers a unique experience, which includes the ability to have great quality communication. With GIPS engineering expertise, developers can quickly and effectively build their applications enabling them to concentrate on their core business.”

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Heavy-duty social networkers will be familiar with the name “Seesmic“, a desktop and web Twitter client. It has officially gone mobile for Android and BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), with the expected features such as home screen notifications, picture sharing, timeline viewing, saved searches, and basic tweeting. The one thing I haven’t seen elsewhere on a BlackBerry twitter client yet is lists support; more specifics can be found on the BlackBerry page. The Android version has a few cool tricks, like saving tweets as drafts and video sharing, but to get a closer look, check out Seesmic’s Android page. To get downloading, point your mobile browser to seesmic.com or find it in the Android Market.

[via Seesmic]

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Sprint (NYSE: S) users with BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) and Android smartphones can now use YouMail-powered visual voicemail service free of charge. You know how it works, right? Just like on the iPhone, plus more:

• You can scroll through incoming voicemail messages to see caller information including caller name, time of call, and length of message
• Play voicemails by simply clicking on them
• Share and forward voicemails as an email or post to a blog
• Delete, archive or save voicemails, forever

In order to use YouMail on your phone, you’ll need the YouMail application. Search for it in the BlackBerry App World or Android Market, depending which device you use. Then go to YouMail’s website, sign up for a YouMail account and follow the brief instructions for forwarding unanswered calls to YouMail. It’s that easy.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Visual Voicemail Arriving for AT&T BlackBerry Bold Users Tuesday?
• T-Mobile launches Visual Voicemail app for Android!
• PhoneFusion brings Visual Voicemail to Android OS, T-Mobile G1!
• YouMail partners with Salient Media to provide comedic voicemail greetings from Katt Williams
• YouMail announces new advertising program; To serve ads in voicemail SMS notifications

Those who use GMail regularly be familiar with the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Talk sidebar showing which of your friends are online, as well as the wide variety of customization options available. A new one fresh from the labs is Android icons that let you know if your contact is currently online thanks to an Android device, complete with yellow Away robots, and red Busy ones. This would be a great option even if it were just extra eye candy for the Android-obsessed, but knowing someone is mobile definitely helps contextualize the conversation, and potentially avoids anyone getting offended at short, terse replies. You can enable the option in GMail over here.

[via Official GMail Blog]

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• GMail for iPhone, Android gets better Labels support
• GMail web version for iPhone and Android updated with “Move” and “Enhanced Refresh”
• On-Screen Keyboard to Hit Android in January 2009
• Google updates Gmail, iGoogle for Android and iPhone
• T-Mobile to Offer Free Google Email on the G1?

Ow, did anyone else feel like their wallet just got kicked in the crotch? At a Swedish press event, Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) revealed that their Android-powered X10 to be released in February will be costing 6,000 Swedish kroner (which works out to $US 860 at the current exchange rate). Even among high-end smartphones that’s pretty steep, and considering SE’s history with selling the xperia brand unlocked, odds are we won’t see X10 carrier-subsidized for awhile. We’ve seen the super-slick user interface built on top of Android, 8 megapixel camera, slim profile, 1 Ghz processor, and 4-inch display, but it is a very small niche that will shell out that kind of money for this device. Anyone out there unfazed by the pricetag?

[via WSJ]

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Hey all of you Canadian Android-lovers, looking for a good price on a first-gen Android device? How about the Rogers HTC Dream? Sound good? The folks at Canada’s ‘Big Red’ have dropped the price on the HTC Dream (about time) to $49.99 on a 3-year contract. If you don’t mind being locked-in to a device that is already passé, then throw down your Mackenzie King and pick one up.

The Rogers (NYSE: RCI) HTC Dream features a 3.2″ touchscreen (320×480), built-in accelerometer, full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, GPS, 3.2MP camera with auto focus and video… and much more.

Check it out at Rogers.

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• HTC Tilt video tour; The best business smartphone ever?
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• It’s Business Time: Rogers Launches HP iPAQ 910 ‘Business Manager’

I’ve no idea why it took so long for Fring to embrace Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s mobile platform, but whatever the reasoning is, it’s good to see them jumping on board. Yap, Fring is now an Android thing, too — joining the likes of the iPhone/iPod Touch, Symbian S60, Windows Mobile, Linux (Maemo) and Java ME-enabled devices.

Just like that’s the case with other smartphone platforms, Fring for Android allows users to chat with their buddies across multiple IM networks, make free calls, post status updates, as well as make calls to mobile and land-lines using SkypeOut or some of the available SIP VoIP services — either via WiFi or 3G.

And that’s it. Simply search for “fring” in the Android Market and take it from there. And check out the introductory video after the jump.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• fring goes JavaME, Maemo Linux!
• Fring now works with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
• fring now supports Samsung 550W, Nokia E71
• Fring adds support for Nokia N96 and N78
• Fring – VoIP service coming to Windows Mobile!

Rhomobile announced that its Rhodes smartphone app framework now supports Android 2.0, allowing interested companies to utilize their HTML and Ruby skills and create native applications for the Android platform. As a result, using the company’s RhoHub, development costs can be reduced by up to five times.

Among the RhoHub features we highlight:

• Support for multiple platforms — including iPhone, BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android
• Developers can write apps in HTML and simultaneously build for all smartphones
• Generate UIs and sync source adapters from a high level object description
• Collaborate with other users by sharing projects
• Hosting of synchronization server for backend app integration and availability of offline data

As for the availability information, RhoHub comes in three “flavors”: the Free tier is for public apps with 3-runtime users and 50MB disk space; the Basic service allows for 3 private apps, 3 private collaborators with 100-runtime users and 2GB disk space; and RhoHub’s Premium service which offers 100 private apps, 100 private collaborators with 1000-runtime users and 20GB disk space… Additional information is available from Rhomobile’s website.

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• Rhomobile launching Rhodes 1.2 with support for Push Data
• Rhomobile Announces Rhodes Support for iPhone 3G S
• ShoZu adds support for even more social media/networking sites to the list!
• Did You Get the Memo? Android Market Gets an Update!
• ThinkFree Mobile for Android Debuts

You see the handset in this here blurry spyshot? It’s apparently the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Motus that was rumored in a leaked roadmap not too long ago. We know, it looks like it was taken by Mr. Blurry-cam’s drunken step-brother after a booze-fueled night of fun, but Engadget Mobile has confirmed that what we’re looking at is another Android-powered smartphone from Motorola.

The Motus looks like a respectable smartphone from what we can see in the spy pic, but we’ll have to wait until we put hands on it to really get a feel for it. That keyboard might prove to be a sticking point, but, again, that’s us just talkin’ to the wind. The Motus has a lot to live up to…

[Via: EngadgetMobile]

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• Motorola Sholes tablet spied in roadmap?
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• Updated T-Mobile Android Roadmap Reveals Motorola ‘Morrison’

Those with an iPhone, Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre, or any Android device will be happy to hear about some new changes to the mobile Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News. The new version allows you to add custom keyword, local, and recommended sections, as well as shuffle and move the sections as you like. That’s the main thing, but it looks like there are a lot of optimizations in terms of layout and navigation that make Google News on mobile all the better. Personally, I’m still waiting for an official Google Reader application, which would make News pretty much a moot point, but you might as well go ahead and check out news.google.com in your mobile browser in the meantime.

[via Official Google Mobile Blog]

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• Google drops new iPhone-optimized search portal
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I just finished watching Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s live webcast announcement of Google Chrome OS and besides being let down that we, as in general consumers, are not going to be able to play with it for a year, I was stunned to hear Google admit that they’re going to be creating reference hardware. Google will not only be building the software for Google Chrome OS, but they’ll be handpicking, and optimizing software for, the hardware that will be under that thin Chinese plastic case we call an exterior. This is big stuff.

Why would Google want to do such a thing?

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Windows operating system runs on over 90% of the computers on the market today. It wasn’t easy getting 90% market share, they had to make sure Windows ran on every type of hardware configuration known to man. Most people who experience Windows crashes are not actually experiencing Microsoft Windows crashing, they’re experiencing faulty drivers written by 3rd parties crashing and in turn bringing down the whole operating system. Google is going to hand pick which configurations they’re going to support and then tell the people in China and Taiwan who build netbooks to use said specified components. Doing this will let Google worry less about driver support, and pour more resources into optimizing their software.

What about Google’s Android operating system?

It would not be a stretch to say that Google could start doing the same thing for Andoird. As versatile as Android is today, supporting multiple processors, screen resolutions, and input methods, what is to stop Google from saying something along the lines of “we’re going to optimize Android 3.0 for the Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) Snapdragon, so if you want to be first to market with an Android 3.0 device we advise you to call Qualcomm.”

I’ve been teasing Michael Arrington from TechCrunch, telling him he is totally wrong about Google making a Google Android phone. Well maybe he is partially right. Google isn’t exactly making a phone, but they could be telling OEMs that they’ll be optimizing Android to run on a tightly knitted set of specifications.

[Image above via Flickr user "sammyfung"]

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• Google Sued over Android Name

The very handy (or should I say hands free?) Drivesafe.ly app for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) has apparently reached the 1 million user threshold. Wowza! Congrats to the folks at Drivesafe.ly. If you’ve never heard of the app before, Drivesafe.ly enables you to put your phone DOWN while driving your car. It reads emails and SMS messages to you, allowing you to focus on the road (which is what you should be doing in the first place). Other key features of the app:

• Hands Free – No need to touch the phone while driving
• One-touch activation – no complicated setup
• Bluetooth and radio transmitter compatible
• Reads text message shorthand (lol, brb)
• Optional customizable auto-responder

Ideally you’d turn your device OFF, or throw it in the glove box out-of-reach, but Drivesafe.ly is the best compromise I’ve seen yet.

Versions for both BlackBerry and Android are available, and new editions for the iPhone and Windows Mobile are coming soon. For more information hit up Drivesafe.ly.

[Via: BerryReview]

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• California Man Could Face Up to 9 Years in Prison in Texting While Driving Manslaughter Case

An over-the-air software update for the Sprint (NYSE: S) Hero is now available, the biggest change being a fix to SMS and daylight savings time bugs. There’s no documented changelog, but if you notice anything different, feel free to drop a comment. If you didn’t automatically recieve the option to update to 1.56.651.2, go to Settings, About, System Updates, then Firmware Update.

[via BGR]

Update: Oh, snap. Official change log here.

Feature Updates and Enhancements

HTC Hero Software Enhancement SW 1.56.651.2 provides feature updates and enhancements to address the following:
• Improvement to camera picture quality
• DST (Daylight Savings Time) issue addressed
• Unable to receive SMS due to full memory
• Memory leak when Bluetooth is in connecting state
• 3.5mm mono when not using headset with mic
• Dialer application causing excess battery draw

Important note: Dedicated Mute/Speaker buttons have been added to the Talk screen

Verification of updates:
To verify the customer has the updated build after the update:
1. Press Menu, Tap Settings
2. Flick Up, Tap About Phone
3. Scroll up and check Software version: After update 1.56.651.2

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• Sprint’s Palm Centro gets an upgrade
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ZTE wants its piece of the Android pie. The Chinese company is apparently in the midst of talks with all four major carriers in the U.S., pitching them with what will officially be their first Android smartphone, which they’ll launch in 2010. Moreover, we’ve heard they are already testing some devices on one of the big four networks.

Details are unknown at this stage, but we do have ZTE’s managing director of handset business marketing, Dale Ying, saying they [ZTE] are serious when it comes to smartphones. “We hope to sell our smartphone to these operators next year. We see big potential in the smartphone market. We are targeting to ship more smartphones in the coming few years which will help to improve our gross margin,” he added.

As the smartphone market evolves, prices go down and ultimately consumers win. We’ll certainly be watching where this goes. Stay tuned…

[Via: PhoneArena, Total Telecom]

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