The iPhone OS is the most popular smartphone operating system for browsing the web. AdMob’s latest report will have you believe that the iPhone claims 40% of the smartphone market, up from 33% in February. While that figure isn’t necessarily true – AdMob’s numbers only represent mobile browser share within AdMob’s ad network – the report does show that consumers are browsing more using smartphones powered by the iPhone OS, Android OS and webOS. Windows Mobile and Symbian on the other hand, are losing the mobile browser war.

Breaking it down, AdMob’s has seen the Android OS pulling down 7% of mobile ads in their network, up from 2%. The webOS, which powers the new Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre, is responsible for a healthy 4% of AdMob’s mobile ad impressions. The Symbian OS has lost considerable market share, dropping from a solid 43% to just 34%. Windows Mobile’s market share also took a hit with only 4% of AdMob’s mobile ads finding their way to the platform.

What’s going on? It seems that the new wave of smartphone operating systems are making it easier and more enjoyable to browse the web. Consumers are more willing to hop on the mobile web with smartphones running the new school of smartphone platforms. Traffic from the older school Symbian and Windows Phone platforms just isn’t keeping up. The trend echos a recent study that showed significant growth in the smartphone market for the iPhone, but at the cost of Windows Mobile and Symbian’s declining market share.

But, there’s still hope. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) plans to get serious with Symbian in a couple years and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is just about ready to take the wraps off their revamped Mobile Internet Explorer browser with the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 on October 6. For the sake of competition, let’s hope these two industry giants can reclaim a part of their market.

[Via: AdMob] (PDF link)

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has released a new S60 app called Ovi Mail Setup, allowing users to sign-up for an Ovi Mail account directly from their S60 smartphone. The application will guide you through the process of signing up and, as a result, install a new icon in the Installations folder for quick access to Ovi Mail.

So, it’s not an email client — you’ll still use Nokia’s existing email client — it’s an app that will help you setup Ovi Mail and ultimately stay in the Nokia ecosystem… It’s available as a free download from Nokia Beta Labs.

[Via: Nokia Beta Labs Blog]

Smartphones are becoming the norm in the mobile space. Thanks to the iPhone, consumers are now more aware of smartphones and their capabilities than ever before. And, according to a new survey from CFI Group, the smartphone that sparked the current smartphone boom is still tops in consumers’ minds. The survey gives the iPhone a score of 83 (out of 100) in customer satisfaction. The webOS-powered Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre and Android-powered smartphones tied for second-place with a customer satisfaction score of 77 points. Smartphones running the Windows Mobile or Symbian operating systems are lumped together with a last-place score of 66.

But, the surge in smartphone adoption isn’t without its own drawbacks. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s always satisfying iPhone has been something of a bane for AT&T (NYSE: T)’s 3G network. With droves of iPhone users hammering away at the wireless network, AT&T has been having a tough time keeping up with demand. The exclusive US iPhone carrier scored the lowest in customer satisfaction ratings – 69 and 66 in customer satisfaction and likelihood of recommending the carrier to others, respectively. T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) (79/76) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless (70/77) were virtually tied as the most satisfying wireless carrier in the US. Unfortunately, only 38% of Verizon customers felt their smartphone was the ideal smartphone. That last bit highlights how far behind the market Verizon lags in bringing compelling hardware to their subscribers.

It seems that the iPhone is the smartphone to have. But, it also comes tied to the worst wireless network in the US. If you’re looking for the best wireless performance, you’ll have to trade cool hardware for Verizon’s superior network. T-Mobile looks like the best compromise. Especially with the Android-powered myTouch3G and Motorola CLIQ boosting its smartphone portfolio.

For what it’s worth, there’s a lot of cool stuff happening in Android development circles. With a little more time to mature, Android devices like the HTC Hero and Motorola Sholes could finally give the iPhone reason to sweat.

[Via: Cnet]

It’s good to see Nokia (NYSE: NOK) finally making true world phones. By this I mean a single device that sings on both 900/2100MHz and 850/1900 MHz, used in Europe/Asia and North America, respectively. On that note, the Nokia N97 mini has been spotted at the FCC with a quad-band 3G radio, meaning you’ll be able to use it both in the U.S. and Europe, which is cool. You know rest of the mini’s specs, so I won’t repeat them here. I’ll only add that I’m hoping this will be the Finnish giant’s practice for all high-end devices in the future. No one wants to have a special phone when travelling, right?

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

TuneWiki is bringing its social media player to the Symbian S60 5th Edition devices. The company showcased the application at this year’s DEMOfall 09 demoing it on Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s recently announced X6 smartphone. Of course, the app can work on other S60 devices as well (non-touch enabled S60 smartphones included), and the version for Series 40 feature phones is in development.

What’s especially interesting about the S60 version of TuneWiki is that it offers a “Follow Me” feature, allowing a user’s social network to see what that user is listening to. The player also allows music videos to be viewed with subtitled lyrics, and the user can “blip” a link to his or her social networks to display the music being played.

Want it? Simply search for TuneWiki in the Ovi Store and take it from there.

Kinoma Play, the media browser which we’ve covered in the past, is going Symbian S60. As a result, millions of S60 smartphone users can easily find media by browsing the extensive built-in Kinoma Guide app or searching leading media sites such as YouTube, Flickr and SHOUTcast. The application can play media in all popular formats including Windows Media, MPEG-4/H.264 and iTunes AAC. Finally, once you find something you like, you can easily share it on Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, and other destinations.

Kinoma Play for Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Symbian S60 devices is optimized to work on S60 3.1 and 3.2 (Feature Pack 1 and Feature Pack 2) devices, and I guess the touch-enabled (for S60 5th Edition) version is also in works. The application supports an array of languages — including Dutch, English, French, French Canadian, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish — and is available for $29.99.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s N86 cameraphone isn’t just your run-of-the-mill smartphone with an 8-megapixel camera. With a mechanical shutter, 8-megapixel image sensor, incredible low-light sensitivity and decent shot-to-shot times, the N86 enjoys its place at the head of the cameraphone table. And, it’s now available with full AT&T (NYSE: T) 3G support in the US! Nokia has finally given Americans a chance to own the latest and greatest cameraphone from Espoo, and it’s available online for $469 – Nokia flagship stores in Chicago and New York are asking $499 for the unlocked handset.

There’s a catch, though. The Nokia N86 NAM (North America) will only be available in the Indigo color scheme. The N86 features an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera (with dual LED flash and autofocus), 2.6-inch AMOLED display, GPS, WiFi and 3G data – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Check out our review of the Nokia N86 here.

[Via: TheNokiaBlog]

Vopium, the folks behind the popular mobile VoIP solution/application, is the latest member of the Symbian Foundation, the move that will give the company the “immediate right to license the Symbian Foundation platform, royalty free and without source code fees; participate in the governance of the foundation; and take part in joint marketing and branding campaigns.”

This doesn’t come as a surprise as Vopium was already a member of the Symbian Partner Network, and extending its membership to the Foundation seems as a next logical step.

Commenting on the new member, Symbian’s David Wood said: “The Symbian Foundation welcomes Vopium into the community. Applications developers are crucial to creating the richest possible user experiences. We are eager to see the innovations that Vopium will bring to Symbian consumers.”

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is preparing to release a new firmware update for its camera-flagship N86 8MP. According to AllAboutSymbian, with the new software installed, N86 8MP device owners will have the “Face Detection” option, a completely new feature for Nokia camera-phones.

You know how it works, right? If this option is turned “on,” the camera application will search for faces in the viewfinder and automatically focus on any that it finds.

In addition, we’re hearing the overall photo quality will be improved after the update — meaning better colors and less artifacts.

What we don’t know, however, is the exact release date, but judging by the fact that the first information has been leaked, I’m sure we’ll have more details in a week or so. Stay tuned…

[Via: AllAboutSymbian]

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has issued a new update for its all-touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic smartphone. Once you’ve pushed the trigger and installed the latest firmware (version 31.0.008), you’ll see few changes on the device, including:

• Ovi Maps 3.1
• Updated Ovi Store client (to version 1.05)

In addition, the phone should be snappier after the update, freeing more RAM as a result.

As usual, we advise you to backup prior to proceeding to the firmware upgrade. You can do that either using Nokia Software Updater or over-the-air by typing *#0000# from the dialer and then “Check for updates.”

[Via: AllAboutSymbian]